Gratitude Friday

I am thankful...
1. getting a closet organized
2. for finishing one project
3. for the client of that project - as he was really easy to work with and the project went very smoothly
4. for Facebook allowing me to keep connected to old friends, new friends and family
5. for some unexpected surprises I found the closet I organized - little presents that my Mom had sent me and some how got put in the closet.

Brownies!

These are superfudgy brownies. Full of chocolaty goodness! Typing the recipe out how I did it - it is very very close to the original. The original is from The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. The cookbook is great cookbook for those that haven't ever baked before because it gives lots of glossary terms, tips, equipment lists and so on to make it a first time bakers dream. The instructions for each recipe also are so good for first time bakers. Very easy to understand and follow. But this book is also great for those that just are short on time and can only bake on weekends. It gives good tips on freezing and prepping to bake. I hope to make a few more recipes before I return this cookbook to the library but have already put it on my wish list as it just has so many recipes I would like to try that sound so good.



Prescription-strength Fudge Brownies

12 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder - sifted if lumpy
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup topping - optional (anything you want - peanut butter chips, milk chocolate or semi-sweet chips, walnuts or pecans)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish.

Microwave the butter in small bowl for 30 seconds or until the butter is melted. Pour the butter in a large mixing bowl and add the coca powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each just until blended. Whisk in the vanilla with the second egg. Sprinkle the flour over the cocoa mixture and mix until blended.

Scrape the batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Scatter the topping evenly over the batter (if using.) Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it - about 32 minutes. Don't overbake or the brownies won't be fudgy. Transfer the baking dish to a rack to cool.

Using a knife cut the cooled brownies. If the brownie is still warm it will be hard to cut cleanly (as you will notice from the pictures of mine.)

Recipes says you can freeze the uncut cooled brownies. Invert, wrap tightly and freeze for up to one month.




PDF Downloadable and Printable

Gratitude Friday

I am thankful...
1. For a wonderful day with Michael
2. For a trip down memory lane going through old year books
3. For a great brownie recipe - they were perfect for what I wanted this week
4. For the library as always - I have a huge stack books next to the bed. I enjoy being able to read so many different types of books.
5. For having a stack of mail love ready to mail out. I love being able to give friends a little bit of cheer.

I recognize that I have much more to be thankful for in my life.

This and That Catch Up

So I haven't been blogging, emailing or just being online much because I think I am ready for spring. The winter seasonal thing has been getting to me. I don't like spring allergies but I am looking forward to sunshine. I need it. I can tell it is the lack of sunshine that is affecting me because just the few days we have had (in between the rain and snow) makes me feel better. I also have had a wicked migraine cycle that I am ready to go away anytime. I am on day 5 of it.

I started going through some boxes in my studio closet this past week. Photos, cards/letters from high school and I also dug out my high school year books. I have been reading all the messages people wrote me in them. They are umm well amusing. One friend from high school wrote in every card/letter "don't flirt with the boys so much" - truthfully I don't remember flirting that much. I remember being terribly shy and awkward but I am friends with her on facebook and she insists I was a flirt.

I found a photo of the prom I went to my junior year with a senior boy. And horribly I couldn't remember two of the people in the photo. I know if I post it to Facebook I will get an answer quickly on who the couple is and then I will go "oh yeah." I think the boy went to our church. But the forgetfulness I have is not just ending there because there are quite a few messages in my yearbook that are about parties or events that I feel I should remember but I don't and also there are cards/letters from people that I don't remember at all. But reading them it is obvious we were pretty close. I had quite a few letters from a girl I worked at Brooks Fashions with but I can't picture her at all. She sent them to me my freshman year in college.

Anyway overall going through all the photos, cards/letters and is very amusing. You know the big drama that is high school.


Okay I admit it - I have a guilty pleasure right now - Twilight. I know many can't understand the draw to it. I think my thing for vampires just makes me like it. I have watched it about a million times. Michael thinks he might have to do an intervention.


BettyCrocker.com is now starting a club called The Mixer. It is going to have webcast classes, tips and techniques and ask an expert. And best yet it is FREE! Friends always ask me how I learned to cook. Although my Mom is a GREAT cook and I know I got things from her but I also learned from my Betty Crocker cookbook. It was easy to understand, gave glossary of terms so I could understand things in the recipe I might not have before and just has classic recipes that are great to start with when learning to cook. So I am anxious to see what they will do with The Mixer.

I would love to replace all our water bottles with these or these because I know they are BPA free. I love the colors of the Klean Kanteen.


I have been obsessed with MarthaStewart.com lately. Crafts, recipes, organizational tips, cleaning tips and so on. Anyway one thing I found was link to a sister site: Whole Living and it has great recipes and tips too. But thought I would at least share this link to some tips to do one thing each day to make it Earth Day everyday and help save the planet.

Gratitude Friday

I am thankful...
1. that my cold finally went away
2. that I heard from a friend I was worried about
3. for Frank & JoAnne giving us their wok that. They didn't use it so asked if wanted it. I said: YES! And I have used it twice this week and plan to use it again tomorrow night.
4. for the wonderful gift that my friend Jessica gave me. It just made me smile and was so much fun! (pictures below)
5. for having several good movie nights with Michael this week
6. for getting my list together for spring cleaning - starting spring cleaning next week. Which probably isn't somethign to clook forward to but I am looking forward to cleaning the house out.

I recognize that I have much more to be thankful for in my life.

I got a present from a friend that was so much fun....it was a big ball of yarn that had a little tag on it that said: "unwind me...all the way" and then as I unrolled it little gifts appeared wrapped in it - buttons, beads, charms, stickers & other little emblishments. In the very center there was a teeny tiny handmade book.








The purple/blue one is mine that Jessica made! It was really the coolest gift. I want to do it for someone sometime.

**photos are Jessica's she said I could use them since I was just so excited to unroll it that I forgot to take pictures!

Proof that you can bathe a cat

As many people know, we have to bathe our boy cat Caesar every once in awhile to keep his allergens in check. He gets bad allergy attacks where he constantly works on a single area until he reaches his skin ... think what hives are to a human and you get the equivalent for a cat -- except that his condition makes him even try to dig or claw at his skin. The result of his condition is pretty miserable for the poor guy, but we have a medication that works for him and the bathing does help break the cycle a bit.

Darby and I have gotten the system down pretty good though:

1.) I cue Darby that the boy needs to bathe and I'll usually keep a close eye on him where I know where he's at.
2.) She'll clean out the bathroom sink and fill two large pitchers full of water and get towels -- a LOT of towels....
3.) She'll cue me and I'll scoop the boy up ... well ... he knows immediately what that means -- and he instantly becomes an unhappy camper.
4.) We start by putting him in the sink and dousing him with one of the pitchers of water to get his coat very soaked... yes - he complains during this time very LOUDLY I might add.
5.) Next comes the soap. We use a Neutrogena hypo-allergenic hand soap which works pretty well. We lather the affected spot as well as his remaining coat and give it a good once through.
6.) Next comes the rinse and by this time he is a VERY unhappy camper and wants OUT of the bathroom. We struggle and try to get all of the soap off of him.
7.) Finally after I'm done rinsing him -- I pick him up and bounce him up and down to get the bulk of the water off of him. Darby is preparing the towel for the wrap ....

and viola'!



Instant kitty burrito.

In all - I know we help him out - even if he really doubts that part of it. Ultimately though - as what happened today a few hours later - he comes for loves and I think deep down he understands. He's very unhappy about it - but he gets it.

Gratitude Friday

I am thankful...
1. for the beautiful weather this week
2. for spring coming!
3. for jelly beans
4. for lists
5. for a wonderful day with my love

I recognize that I have much more to be thankful for in my life.

Insomnia....Surfing Etsy

I am having some insomnia and my insomnia brings me to Etsy.com to surf - which is probably a dangerous place to surf in the first place. Lately my obsession has been pottery on Etsy. Tonight I stumbled on to the perfect little gift - ESPECIALLY for those that need....SPOONS. (my 100 things about me - spoons)

The spoons are made by Scrumdidlyump.

Aren't they just the coolest?

Just a few of the others I surfed tonight...
Magpie Pottery - really love those plates. The style of collage on them seems very me.







Tina Rice - I love this necklace - really all of her necklaces but I am not sure I could wear it because of my skin allergies. But they are so fun that I keep coming back to them.






Cyrus Potter - I love the colors of most of his pottery. They just are colors that appeal to me. The lines and colors of the vases are my favorite though.

Blog Hopping

Newspaper Bunting @ Maya Made - a great way to repurpose newspaper - fun and easy!

Daffodil Napkin Rings @ Good Housekeeping Crafts - fun, easy and cheery for Spring and Easter!

Make Coasters from Paper Napkins and Tiles @ Curbly - I thought of my Mom with this one only because she likes pretty decorative paper napkins. And it is something I am sure I got from her too because my friends could testify that most packages they get from me has paper napkins in it.

And then one non-craft - more decorating that I just think is cute...

Bundt Pans on the Wall @ 2Modern - I have seen pans like that at thrift store. Even make them bright and new again by using magic erasers on them and maybe doing a coat of paint on them since they are just being decoration

Making Bulk Breakfast Burritos

I came across a link to an article about making "cheap" bulk breakfast burritos for quick morning breakfast. But their cheap, although might be cheap by some standards, weren't by mine. The burritos on that site came to .72 cents a piece. I made 20 burritos that ended up being .37 cents a piece. So Friday after dinner I realized I had all the ingredients and why not make some up.


$2.00 - 20 tortillas - I get tortillas from Sam's Club in a 36 pack (2 packs of 18)
$1.20 - 10 eggs (was going to use a dozen but only had 10 left in that carton)
$1.66 - 2 cups cheese - That is approximate that was in the bag. But I didn't use it all but just using the price for the bag. The cheese is again a Sam's Club purchase where I divide up a 5 lb package into smaller packages and freeze
$1.16 pinto beans - 2 cans - these were what I had on hand but of course doing dried beans in the crockpot would be easy and also much cheaper
.78 Rotel- 1 can - Sam's Club 8 cans in a pack
.62 green chilies - 1 can - these aren't in the package because I just needed a spoonful the other day for something so these weren't a full can but I would normally use a full can

Total = $7.42

So 20 burritos would be .37 cents a piece.


I cracked all the eggs into a bowl and mixed well. I then added the can of Rotel and green chilies. I poured into a pan coated with cooking spray. And cooked over medium heat.


Just before the eggs were fully cooked, I added the beans.



Place a good sized spoonful of egg mixture on a tortilla and top with some cheese.



Fold over the sides of the burrito so that they mostly cover the egg mixture


Fold over one end. And the roll up the rest of the way.


Fold complete after rolling it up the rest of the way.


On a tray to flash freeze* before putting into ziplocks.

To Microwave: I took straight from the freezer and microwaved for 1 minute. I am sure it will vary from microwave to microwave so that might be up to 2 minutes. In the other link it suggested defrosting in the microwave and then cooking. But the ones I made tasted good without defrosting and just microwaving for 1 minute on a plate.

Of course like stated at the link at the beginning there are many variations you could do to these. Add more veggies, different beans such as black beans or add some meat such as ground turkey or pork sausage.

* To Flash Freeze
Place food on a jelly roll pan in a single layer. Freeze until solid sometimes up to 8 hours. Just don't forget about it or it can cause freezer burn. After frozen, place in a zip-lock style bag and remember to remove all air. Label the bag usually with contents, directions and date depending on what it is that I am freezing. And then freeze bag for easy serving.

Weekend Update

Yesterday was really good.

It started off with me dying my hair but it didn't turn out. I used manic panic before - no bleaching of my hair and it came out just how I wanted it too. Anyway think blogger/twitter profile or I have one here too. So that is what I wanted to do with the purple well I should have went with this other brand the girl at Sally's told me about (can't remember the name at the moment but if I saw the box I would know it.) Or with manic panic again but I didn't and it was like I put purple water on my hair instead of dye. I mean it felt and looked like hair dye. It was REALLY bright purple but when it came time to wash it out - it didn't even look like I dyed my hair. It is like it didn't soak in. So next time I am going to use another brand a friend recommended and I am sure it will work out.

The good part of the day now...We decided to take the afternoon off and go for a drive. We went over the Colorado National Monument. We stopped for pictures along the way and just had a nice afternoon. And I can tell I was climbing on rocks as my knee hurts last night. But I know it was good for it. It was just a beautiful day out. Very spring like even up on the monument. It was a little chillier but still okay with short sleeves.

After we got home, I ended up being busy in the kitchen cooking. I made croutons, browned some ground turkey with taco seasoning and froze to take out for a quick fix meal and then I made breakfast burritos. I took pictures throughout the process and will upload them and the recipe soon.

I was so exhausted by the nights end that I just read for a little bit before bed. I am on the last Sookie Stackhouse book.

Today I woke up coughing. I have been a week behind Michael in his cold and it looks like what he had last weekend I now showing some symptoms. I slept so much. And I still feel worn out.

Friday Gratitude

1. For a beautiful day.
2. For being able to get out and take a drive on this beautiful day. We drove over the Colorado National Monument.
3. For getting my hair cut short - 8 inches off. And for being able to donate the hair to Locks of Love.
4. For time tonight to make up some bulk breakfast burritos.
5. For the library - I am on my last Sookie Stackhouse book. I am so thankful I can just order books online and pick them up.

Picture of my shorter hair...

Wedding Congratulations...

Wishing my oldest friend Kerrie congratulations on her wedding...and I hope you and Jennifer have a beautiful wedding day and an even more beautiful life together! Sending you love!

Friday Gratitude with Pictures of Keystone

I am thankful...
1. for the beautiful condo we had at Keystone
2. for the beautiful state we live in - Colorado just takes my breath away almost daily
3. for being home where Michael can rest as his cold ended up getting worse while we were out of town
4. for New Earth giving me lots of food for thought
5. we were able to see Michael's parents while in Keystone. And for the gifts they gave us - wok, olive oils and chocolate - Thank you!

Some pictures of our condo in Keystone. We stayed at the River Run Condos.

One view from the deck of our condo


Another view from the deck of our condo - a night view of ski slope


Bedroom


View from kitchen and near door looking into living room


Fireplace in living room

Leaving Soon....for Keystone...

We are leaving this morning for Keystone. Keystone is a beautiful mountain ski restort. We have work there so will be there until Friday. We both are getting over colds so although we are looking forward to getting away (even work-related) - I know it will probably set us back in our colds as we be so busy.

When we get back, I have several projects to work on. But hopefully I will get back into blogging more consistantly.

New Earth Quotes

Reading New Earth so saving a few quotes....

"You do not become good by trying to be good but by finding the goodness that is already within you."

"To recognize one's own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence."

"...realize that how 'spiritual' you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness."

"I didn't realize yet that thinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence"

Gratitude Friday

I have been busy working and also sick so not posting much. But hope to get back into it.

I am thankful...
1. That although I have a cold - it seemed to break my migraine cycle.
2. For the coupons for free sandwiches - free is good. We had them for dinner.
3. For getting to know a new friend this week.
4. For an old friend contacting me via Facebook.
5. For a piece of cardboard inspiring me - going to make them into postcards and send out some mail love.

Blog Hopping

These are all things I found via blog hopping...but aren't blogs...

Acts of Kindness

Paper Source Accordian Book with pockets

And Colorscope via Papersource to see what colors reveail about you.

Being sick is no fun!

It's been a tough couple of weeks for us.

We've been trading colds back and forth -- which only makes the recuperation time go on for days on end. I seem to be the lucky one and have gotten over it first, so now the task is to try and get Darby over it once and for all.

Work has been doing okay lately. We hit a pretty big lull starting at the tail end of the year and it's starting to improve, but we could really use some consistency. With the economy the way it is -- I know we're extremely lucky to have what we do and we keep running on the positive approach that things will be okay. We're going to get some good business the next couple of weeks and then hopefully a couple of big projects that will come to fruition.

Caesar's allergies have come back a little bit -- thankfully I think we caught it in time, but we'll have to keep an eye on it. So he's back on his meds and taking them like a trooper -- (well sorta...) :) Chessie is doing just fine and she's been spending her mornings and afternoons in the window catching our beautiful spring weather. And it has been really spring like around here lately -- temperatures hitting the 60's .... and we're still in February..... (Gotta love that Colorado weather...)

Nothing else on the plate for now. Just thought I'd catch up the blog a bit.

Clara on YouTube

These videos are just so great for many reasons but Clara is the main reason I enjoy them. I enjoy her stories as well as the cooking she does.

Don't Divorce....

A friend had this video on her blog. She just got married this summer in California to her partner so might be one of the couples forced to get a divorce. It is upsetting. So this video is made in support of the Courage Campaign to fight it.



"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies for my Valentine

January issue of Food & Wine had many wonderful milk chocolate recipes. One was milk chocolate cookies sandwiching malt buttercream. It had a malt power in the filling and Michael doesn't like malt so I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I knew I wanted to do heart shaped sandwich cookies as I really haven't ever made sandwich cookies before. So I asked a good friend for a recommendation and she suggested coffee butter cream. The recipe in Food & Wine didn't have the chocolate drizzle on them but I thought they needed a little something more. So added dark chocolate drizzle. Kathie suggested them dipped in white chocolate - I just didn't have any white chocolate so did the dark chocolate drizzle.

This cookie dough was really awful to work with but they taste really good. The recipe doesn't have eggs in it so it just didn't bind together well. It was very crumbly and didn't roll out well. But I eventually got through it. I wouldn't make these again unless Michael requested them or it was a very special occasion. These are just not cookies to whip up to have cookies. They are work. But they were perfect for Michael as a Valentine Day gift. He loves them. Oh and these aren't cookies to make for a crowd. I got 21 cookies out of them (each sandwich cookie of course using 2 cookies.)


Cookie Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (if you want - I didn't - I just sprayed baking sheets with cooking spray as I can't get away without it in the altitude)

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat until smooth. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat at low speed just until incorporated. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a scant 1/4-inch thickness and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

3. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out as many rounds as possible and transfer to the baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Gather the scraps and chill, with the cut-out rounds, for 10 minutes. Reroll the scraps and stamp out more rounds. (obviously I used several sizes of heart cookie cutters)

4. Bake the cookies in the lower and middle thirds of the oven for about 10 minutes, until dry and set; shift the pans halfway through baking. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let cool completely.

The buttercream filling - I just did a regular buttercream. I don't really use a recipe for it anymore. And then I just added some coffee.

Here is the original recipe on Food & Wine website.


Had an extra odd cookie and so just frosted it with the buttercream and drizzled it with the chocolate.

Gratitude Friday

I am thankful...
1. For Michael giving me PS I Love You for Valentine's! It is such a good movie! (which I am watching right now)
2. For Kathie giving me a perfect suggestion for the cookies I was making for Michael for Valentine's Day. (Also thank you for the Valentine's Card)
3. For the cookies turning out!
4. For just a fabulous week with my love
5. For a nice dinner on Thursday to celebrate our anniversary since I was sick that day.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Blog Hopping

Link for Valentine tablescapes - all sorts of them here. It isn't a blog. But pretty ideas.

Saving in Style - So cute as well as a good idea. I used to clip coupons but I haven't in a long time. What I don't like about coupons is they are for pre-packaged foods often.

I love using my crockpot. I do at least once a week. But I blog hopped on to this blog that did a YEAR of using the crockpot EVERY DAY for 2008 - A Year of Crockpotting

Growing up one of my Mom's quick meals was hot ham and cheese sandwiches. I actually crave them. And tried to make them not too long ago but they just didn't turn out like Mom's. Found this link for a recipe for them (now that blog is on my sidebar too because I found so many good recipes) and it made me want to try them again.

Homeless in America

So the other day Michael and I watched - well he watched and I listened - to President Obama's town hall meeting in Florida. During it a woman who sounded like she was on the verge of tears and talked of living in her car with her son. And asked if the stimulus package would help them. Later I found her son was laid off from a computer programing job so couldn't keep their house payments up. I was instantly in tears of course watching her... and feeling for her.

Here is a link to the Huffington Post with the clip of Henrietta Hughes asking President Obama her question.

When trying to find the link to that clip, I made a mistake by clicking on a conservative right blog. It went on and on how it was staged. I have read the news articles with photos of people standing in line for tickets. And doesn't seem it was staged. The next thing they complained about is how a homeless woman could have stockings on, a decent looking dress and nice hair but be living in a car. That they had never seen homeless people that didn't have matted hair, dirty clothes and stunk. I was appalled that people would talk about people less fortunate like that.

As someone who has worked in homeless shelters and known people who were homeless at one point or another in their life. I can say that if they got a ticket to see President Obama - they would have been in a bathroom at a public park getting ready if need be. And I am sure that is what Henrietta Hughes did and that is sad that someone has to do live like that.

I found another post on Huffington Post about helping people like Henrietta Hughes. And trying to find solutions.

I suggest taking a look at Change.org that is a social networking site to learn about causes, connect with people good people working for change and take action.

Elizabeth Gilbert on TED

Michael found this and passed it on to me. It is Elizabeth Gilbert the author of Eat Pray Love giving a talk about the creative process and what it does to us creative types. I really enjoyed it and felt myself nodding along on many things.

100 Things | No Coffee

17. I like most hot beverages except coffee.

Michael is a coffee drinker so he brews a pot every morning and it smells so good. It is a comforting smell - of home. I like coffee flavored things such as ice cream. I like sweets with coffee added to them. I have a couple recipes that add coffee to them and they have such a deep rich flavor. I have coffee scented candles that smell delicious. But I don't drink coffee. I just don't like the taste even with sugar and cream there is a bitter taste that I can't get past. I have even tried the General Foods International Coffees and I can't drink them either(though have used them in recipes before and they were good).

I like various teas, chais, hot cider, mulled wine and hot cocoa just not coffee. I have had fru-fru coffees such as a white chocolate peppermint mocha from Starbucks. I can drink that but the sweetness and peppermint mask the coffee in enough that I can so not like I am really drinking coffee so I really don't count that.

Randomness

Just this week in random little tidbits...

* Made 2 loaves of french bread yesterday. I made meatballs earlier in the day so I just need to heat sauce and make pasta for dinner. Oh and throw the salad together too. So the house smelled really good yesterday.

*The other day I was making croutons and getting quite a mound of them so knew I wouldn't use all the bread I had in the freezer. Often when we have steak sandwiches or brats there is always one or 2 buns left so I put them in the freezer. Also when we eat french bread we often don't finish it before I feel it is getting a little to stale or hard so I stick in the freezer to use for croutons or bread crumbs well this time I pulled out several brat buns and several ends of french bread and decided to make french bread pizzas out of them for lunches. I cut them all in half and then put some tomato sauce on them with seasons. Sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese and topped them pizza toppings and then cheese. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in ziplocks into the freezer. We pulled a couple out for lunch on Thursday and I put them on a pizza pan straight from the freezer to the preheated oven and they tasted very good.

* I finally was able to get to some organizing the other day - that I had intended to do back in January but then I fell. It felt so good to get things organized. I even had some open spaces in the cupboards right now after reorganizing.

* I started reading the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. Many will recognize that name from HBO's True Blood. It is the books that True Blood is based on. I read book 1 last night - in one sitting. I put the order in for the library for the next 3. The first half of the book is all the episodes I had seen of True Blood. I just couldn't keep up with them because of my schedule at the time they were airing so I just ended up deleting them all. Of course now I am wishing I would have just kept them on the DVR indefinitely - at least until I could watch them as I really enjoyed book one. It is very different from Anita Blake series by Laurell Hamilton but I get the same amused entertained feelings after reading it. I just enjoyed it. It wasn't deep but I couldn't put it down as I just was thoroughly entertained.

* migraines this week - woohoo - NOT. But I feel like I accomplished quite a bit this week even though I had a string of migraines.

photos: Top one of the pizzas wrapped and ready to go into the freezer. Second one of baked French Bread Pizza

Gratitude Friday

I am thankful...
1. For the beautiful words Michael gave me for our anniversary - He wrote me here on blog and gave me a card that said the most beautiful things too.
2. For my knee finally feeling good enough to do more things around the house and get around easier.
3. For reorganized cupboards - I open them up and they make smile because they are so organized right now.
4. For all the good things I made this week. I felt like I was in this place where nothing was turning out. But I think I finally got my cooking muse back.
5. For Michael for being an amazing man and for the love that fills my heart for him.

Blog Hopping

Pattern for a little Owl Valentine from BHG

Little felt heart pins at the Purl Bee

And another one from Purl Bee - Sewn Paper Cards

Her Morning Elegance

This week has just went past fast and I really don't know where it went. I have gotten some housework done this week since I am moving around much better but I still know that hasn't taken up everyday. Because the week went past so fast and I can't remember it really...I don't have anything to say.

So just passing on this cool music video...

100 Things | Lip Balm

16. I have a thing for lip balm.

I am taking this almost directly from Kathie at Two Frog Home because I nodded in agreement with her number 15 of her 100 thing about her as I am the same way.

I have always had several tubes around for as long as I can remember. Several in my bag (don't carry a purse but occasionally a bag - might be another 100 thing post eventually), on my desk, on my night stand and on the kitchen counter or on a side table in the living room. I usually carry one along with me in the pocket of my robe, skirt, coat or whatnot too. I think my obsession with lip balm came from Bonne Bell's Dr. Pepper lip balm and other lip smacker flavors that I used probably in junior high and high school. Despite liking to have them every where, I misplace them. When I reach in my bag where I usually have several tubes, I can never find one. I practically have to empty the bag to find one. It isn't that my lips are dry often. It is when I don't have them around I tend to lick my lips even more - making them chapped.

* The photo is of the ones from my desk and bag.

Celebrating 6 Years...Together!