~Books~

Remember my post-Christmas book purchases? Well, I just got them on Saturday! I haven't had a lot of time to look through them, but the apron book is a very fun book, from the pages I have looked through! I know there were several of my readers who wanted a review of that book; watch for it in the next few days!

~Free Money~

Last night as I was putting something away, I found an envelope with forty-one dollars in it! I know that I was the one to put it there, but I cannot remember why I set it aside, or when. But it was pretty cool to find it last night!








Image source: http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/shirt/

~Cookie Recipes~

These recipes are from Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook, copyright 1997.

Brown Sugar Shortbread Puffs

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350º F. In large bowl, combine brown sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg yolk; blend well. Add flour; stir until mixture forms a smooth dough. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350º F. for 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown and set.

These were melt-in-your-mouth delicious!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons poppy seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cherry preserves*

Heat oven to 300º F. In large bowl, combine powdered sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; blend well. Add flour, poppy seed and salt; mix well. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. With thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make imprint in center of each cookie. Fill each with about 1/2 teaspoon preserves. Bake at 300º F. for 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

*Any fruit preserves can be substituted for the cherry preserves.

These are delicious and quite simple to make, but "fancy" looking!

~Cookies~

Both my recipes turned out great!
Brown Sugar Shortbread Puffs on the left, Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks on the right.

~Cleaning House~

I've been doing a bit of "dusting" and arranging on my blog. Those of you that subscribe to my blog through a feed reader have noticed old posts showing up as new ones. Sorry for that! I've added some links to my sidebar, and rearranged the sidebar as well. I was so happy to figure out how to make the text on the "About Me" paragraph justified. I do not understand a lot about html, just enough to get me into trouble! LOL

And then, I'm cleaning my house. We're having company tomorrow evening. I've got everything but the kitchen all spic-n-span.

My menu for tomorrow night is:
green chicken enchiladas
Spanish rice
corn
chips & salsa
cookies for dessert

Tonight I'm going to bake some cookies and cook the chicken for the enchiladas. I better get back to my work!

Have a wonderful day!

Image source: http://www.berenstainbears.com/

~Weather~

In looking back over my blog archives, I realize I talk about the weather a lot. The weather interests me, so much so that I listen to the news each morning mainly to hear the weather.

I'm no weather expert by any means. I just want to know what's happening in my little corner of the world!

I suppose another reason that the weather is so interesting to me is that it is always changing. I grew up in California, and in summer the weather was hot. No rain, no changes in the weather, except perhaps it gets hotter the next day! And summer was definitely the longest season. When we moved here, we were told that if we didn't like the weather, to just wait 5 minutes, and it would probably change. Sometimes it seems like that is the case!

And then other times (like the last few weeks!) the weather pattern holds. I'm glad that the weather has finally changed! Now the temperatures are more tolerable. The snow is all melting away. But we're not to worry, we'll probably get quite a few more snow showers before this winter is over; and probably after the official first day of spring. *Smiles*

Do you like the weather where you live? I really like the distinct seasons here! I will not lie and say I like the cold weather though!

~Misc.~

Not the most original title for a blog post, I realize, but I'm not feeling too creative right now! *Smiles*

~~~

I've really been enjoying 3191, a photo blog. The photographers are friends separated by 3,191 miles. They take pictures each morning and post them. I look forward to new pictures each weekday.

~~~

Apparently I'm not the only one feeling warm with the 30-something heat wave we had today. I observed several people outside without their coats. Temperature is relative.

~~~

I got a Pillsbury cookie cookbook out of the library this Saturday. One of my 101 Things is to try 10 new cookie recipes. This cookbook is chock full of recipes, including full page pictures. I like to see a picture of the recipe I'm trying, don't you? I bought ingredients for two of the recipes, and I'll post pictures if they turn out well. *Grin* My last cookie-baking endeavor was a dismal failure. I baked a whole batch of cookies called "Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies", and every single one of my cookies should have been named "Hard and Crispy, Break-Your-Teeth Oatmeal Raisin Cookies". Have I mentioned that baking is not my favorite pastime?

~~~

I'm working on my 3-month bed-making challenge. First of all, it hasn't been too challenging. After I realized it took all of two minutes to make my bed, I've been flipping the covers up and sticking the pillows on every morning. I don't know why I ever got out of the habit of making my bed! In about 4 weeks, I've missed only one day (yesterday! and no, I'm not starting over!).

~~~

Oh, I named my Scotties:



But they actually aren't mine anymore! I sent them to my two youngest sisters for Valentines! *I'm so sneaky! LOL*

~~~

Have a blessed day!

~Mid-west Warm-up~

You know it's been really, really cold when you are finally glad that the high for the day is supposed to be in the 30's! I'm so glad it's warming up a bit! We've had our share of snow and ice and cold!

Oh yes, I realize we're in the midst of global warming. Why, the severely cold weather proves it! ;-)

~Pampered Chef Party~

Tonight I had my very first Pampered Chef party! It was a lot of fun! We had the most delicious chicken orange salad I've ever had, and trifle for dessert! Yummy!

I was a little nervous, thinking no one would show up, but I had five guests. And you know what? It was perfect for our house. Of course, more guests could have been accommodated. =)

I'm not trying to make sales off my blog readers or anything *grin* but if you'd like to place an online order through my show, please send me an e-mail and I can send you the link you'll need. This month's sale is one piece of stoneware for 20% off. I think that's a pretty good sale! The two shows that I've gone to have just had small gifts on orders over a certain dollar amount.

This was definitely something outside my comfort zone. I would not make a good sales person. I had a hard time going up to people and inviting them to my party. Why? Because I was asking them to come to my house and buy something. But Pampered Chef makes great kitchen tools, and the parties are always fun.

Oh, and I learned something new tonight. If you're going to cook garlic after mincing it, let it sit for 15 minutes so that the something or others have a chance to act. If you don't let it sit for the 15 minutes, the taste is there, but the nutritional value is not. Interesting. Sorry, I don't have the technical terms for it all. LOL

And: I have another thing to cross off my 101 List! =)

~Ipsy Wipsy Spider~

…came crawling across my desk…

Oh me, oh my! A spider fan I am not! I usually attribute my arachnophobia to the poisonous spider bite I got as a young adult. Yes, I do realize that most spiders are not out to eat me, but still...one just never knows, now do they?! ;-)

Teeny little spiders I can easily deal with. Big, hairy spiders are NOT to be dealt with at all. Hopefully, I can avoid even seeing such spiders!

Well, the other day I came back to my desk (at work), and set some papers down…and saw a huge, hairy spider crossing my desk. I did what comes naturally; I screamed. Like, really loud. Oops. Everyone, of course, had to come see what caused such an outburst!

Have I mentioned how great my husband is? He is my knight in shining armor, especially when armed with a Kleenex, ready and willing to kill all the ugly spiders I come across! And I do believe I’ve mentioned we work at the same office? He squished the spider for me.

Ok, everyone…one, two, three… “awwwwww”. =)

~Happy Valentines Day!~

Since Valentines falls on a Wednesday this year, Kevin took me out for dinner last night. We had a very nice dinner together and then we came home and watched The Shop Around the Corner.

And then we went out (yes, "out" as in "outside"...brrrrrr), and found a pond that has frozen over. And we walked out to the middle! It is something we've wanted to do since moving to Michigan, but last year we didn't get a prolonged deep freeze like we've gotten this year. So now we can say...we've walked on water! LOL

Image courtesy of Knitting Iris.

~Winter Doldrums~

Ahhhh, I finally realized that I have a case of the winter doldrums. Me, oh my, I haven't been motivated to do anything lately. Ok, well, besides crafting. But that doesn't get the housework done. In fact, it just creates more housework. LOL

Anyone else wanting some sun and warm weather???

~Scotty X 2~

My newest crafting venture:


Softies!


Pattern here.

These little doggies need some names. Any suggestions?

~Valentine's Table Runner~

I've been in a sewing/crafting mood lately, and last Thursday night found me cutting and sewing. I made this runner using scrap fabric I already had, and two heart-shaped doilies that I bought years ago.



For each end, I used scraps with pink and red in them. It's very Valentiney!

~Winter Weather~

We sure have had our share of snow and cold weather lately! The snow is just beautiful—while you’re inside, that is! Last Saturday, approximately 1/3 of the state even got blizzard status! This was the first official blizzard we’ve experienced since moving here from California. What a lot of snow! The temps are just downright miserable though! We’ve had bitterly cold “arctic air”. I sure will be glad when this cold snap is gone! After this 30° will feel like summertime!

~Your Questions Answered~

Yeah! Someone asked questions!!! *Smiles*

Julieann asked,

You had mentioned to me about living in California--can you post a little bit about it. Have you ever been to my town in San Clemente. What made you leave?

When I was nine years old, my parents moved us to California. We lived in the Central Valley, which is where a lot of the happy California Cows live too. ;-) Only, I don't know how happy they are...dairy farms are quite stinky affairs, if you ask me! LOL

When I got married, I moved up to the Bay Area, which is where my husband was already living. We lived there for three years, then moved further north.

We moved to Michigan when my husband took a position as youth pastor at a small country church. We are not in full-time ministry now, but we are active in our church.

I do not believe I've been in San Clemente. I just looked it up on Mapquest, and it's further south from our normal travels while we were living in California.

Also, I also noticed that both of our husbands name is Kevin (lol) How did you meet him?

I have a whole post on that, complete with pictures, here.

And last, but not least--when did you learn to knit? Did you teach yourself or did you have some one help you?

When I was a teenager, an older lady in my church took an interest in me, and had me come over to her house. She taught me how to knit, but not really how to follow a pattern.

I didn't do anything with knitting for quite a few years, since I couldn't follow a pattern. Crochet was my main crafting passion during that time. Then someone gave me some yarn, and I made a scarf out of it. It was just knit back and forth in garter stitch. It turned out so wide and long, that I never really wear it! LOL

Kevin got some money as a Christmas gift, and wanted me to make him a scarf. I wanted something nicer than just garter stitch, so I went to the library and checked out a children's knitting book. From that book, I learned how to follow a pattern. Three years later, Kevin got his scarf. LOL It wasn't exactly my fastest project ever! But now that I have gotten into knitting, I have sped up. Also, knitting is the "in" thing these days, so it is easier to find books and patterns at the library.

Thanks for asking questions, Julieann! If anyone else has questions, go ahead and ask! =)

~Hello, Blogland!~

No one asked me any questions. =( I guess you know all the answers? Hehehe

Our church had a missions conference, and while it was wonderful to be under the extra preaching, and to hear from missionaries and see what they have been doing in their field, it left me with very little time in the evenings.

One thought for tonight...
We had a president from a Bible society come and give a presentation. He didn't give a challenge, but my heart was challenged nonetheless! I do not remember the statistics, but there are many people over the world wide who do not have even a verse written in their language. There are others who have just portions of the Bible. What challenged me? The number of Bibles *I* have. I need to be: more grateful for the Word of God, and I need to read more. Oh, to think of all the people across the world who have never read and cannot read God's Word only because they do not have it translated into their language!

~Busy as a Bee~

I've been as busy as the proverbial bee. I'll probably update my blog sometime later this week.

Thank you for those who have given me hints and suggestions on how to add categories to my current template. I would just hate to lose my template! I'll be working on adding my categories later this month!

Also, I know that I have let questions go unanswered. *Blush* I'm so sorry about that. If you have a question that I haven't answered, or for that matter, have a question you'd like to ask, please do so in the comments of this post. I'll answer them all in one post. Of course, please keep the questions family friendly! =)

Have a blessed day!

~Pushed and shoved~

...kicking and screaming...

I was forced to switch over to the new Blogger...and I think I just might like it.

One question...how do I get the labels to show on my sidebar? Can anyone help me with that? Thanks in advance!

~Happy February!~

The month of February has been ushered in with a bang! We're having the biggest snowstorm of the season today! The lovely snow has been coming down all morning! I say "lovely" in two tones--seriously, because I love being inside and watching the snow come down, and sarcastically, because I really don't like cold weather and the accompanying snow! So it's a toss up! At least I wore my boots today!

Now that February is here, I won't mind the stores having all the red and pink heart merchandise out. At the beginning of January, I overheard this conversation between mother and small daughter:
"Look at all the Valentine stuff, Mommy."
"Mmmhmmm."
"Is Valentines almost here?"

I've even spotted Easter stuff. C'mon, do they really think people are going to buy it at the beginning of the year? Oh dear, I better buy this Easter towel...they might run out of them before Easter! LOL

We're being merchandised to death. Perhaps the store's marketing manager figures if you have something in front of people long enough, that they'll buy it whether they want it or not. I guess you could call it a pet peeve of mine. =) It just annoys me when the main aisles of stores are flooded with holiday items for a holiday that is months away...and most of the items are cheap junk.

Ok, done now! ;-)

Have a great day, and a marvelous February!