Happy Thanksgiving!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies that I made to enjoy on Thanksgiving!

(Violet-November 2007)

May your stuffing be tasty.

May your turkey be plump, May your potatoes and gravy Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious And your pies take the prize, And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

TAG

Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about you.

3. Tag 7 random people at the end, and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Thanks Cara for tagging me! That's so funny that you wanted to be Crystal. My sister Jordan wanted to be called Tiffany,haha.

1 - I've suddenly become OCD about objects in my house. Since I do most of the cleaning. Matt will put things in the wrong spot. (there really is no wrong spot) Drives me crazy!

2 - My sense of touch is out of whack in relation to heat. My sister Jaley always jokes that I don't need to use oven mitts. It takes a few seconds for me to realize something is burning me! I have a grease burn on my arm right now as proof, ouch.

3 - I can't stand plain, white walls. Which is what our walls look like since were in an apartment.

4 - I've become SuzyHomemaker. I take care of my baby and her friend during the day. While they are napping I meal plan and prep for dinner.

5 - I have a bad habit of turning every light on in the house and forgetting about them.

6 - I sing a song to Violet that goes, "Violet is nice, Violet is sweet, Violet is Pretty, Violet is nice, Violet is sweet, Violet is pretty, Violet is nice, Violet is sweet, Violet is pretty, That's my Violet Girl." Great lyrics, huh? Now it's stuck in my head.

7 - I randomly spit my food out. Gross, I know. You'd think I would grow out of that. (Right, mom?) But sometimes it just taste WRONG. It's usually something with meat in it. If the texture is wrong, I start gagging. But I'm very discreet about it. I have to be careful around my dad. He always eats the leftovers off our plates. (were weird).

I tag...

Nicole
my mom-JULIE

Big Girl Bed

Baby Crib to Big Girl Bed
There's Violet sittin' in her big girl bed! My mom bought one of those cribs that turns into a toddler daybed then it turns into a full size bed. I thought Violet might start actually sleeping in it if she didn't feel trapped. She is still sleeping with us. Oh, well. The bed is pretty and looks really nice in her room!

MMM, LINDT CHOCOLATE

I just wrote a post describing this chocolate and it disappeared. But all you need to know is this stuff is too GOOD! I love it! I used to love the kind in the yellow bag which was white chocolate. But now they make white chocolate with flecks of cocoa with the same buttery cream filling. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

The 12-truffle bags were on sale at Walmart for 2.50 and I bought 4 bags! I told myself I would put some in gifts and stockings. Matt and I are on the second bag!

Houston Wedding

Congrats Kim and Kevin!

Married on 11.15.08

We traveled to Houston this past weekend to see my cousin Kim get married. The wedding took place in a small, catholic chapel. It was nice and cozy. I loved her dress and her flowers and her tiara! It was beautiful!

I got the honor of doing her makeup! I was so excited that she picked me. She had visited 2 counters for a run through and wasn't that impressed and then she thought of asking me. I was like "OF COURSE"! I love doing makeup. My sister Justine did her hair. Kim looked lovely.

We all had a fun time dressing up and dancing all night!

Old Houses...

Are so cool. They are so interesting to me. We drove to Houston this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. We (of course) had to stop many times with a toddler in tow. Next to one of the rest stops was this creepy, old house. Isn't it cool? You can tell it used to be really beautiful.

When I look at it I picture soldiers coming home to their family waiting on the front porch. Or I picture an old ghost lady staring at me in the upper left side open window! Scary! What do you picture?

Pizza Party

My friend Gloria and I threw a Pizza Party last weekend. That's us up there posing with a few of the pizzas. We actually made 5 pizzas and 2 brownie pizzas!

It was fun! We used her apartment to cook and prep and then hosted the party downstairs in my apartment. It worked out great. We had 15 guest.

We served a Margarita Pizza which seemed to be the favorite. Two meat topped pizzas and one all veggie. We also made a Greek Salad. YUM. The brownie pizzas were topped with crushed m & m's and marshmallows then drizzled with caramel sauce.

Our appetizers were cheese, prosciutto, crackers, marinated tomatoes, and bacon wrapped cream cheese peppers. I know the peppers didn't match our theme, oops! We washed it down with homemade Sangria!

I LOVE cooking! I'm so excited about trying new recipes for the holidays!

Fried Chicken

Panko Breaded Fried Chicken Tenders

I made these yummy things for dinner tonight. But that's not my picture! We ate all of them and the night ran away from me.

Matt flew back home today from a work trip and I wanted to make something homey and delicious for dinner. I made chicken tenders with Panko crust. That stuff is so good! You can use it on everything. Can't wait to try it with shrimp! I also made a salad and Paula Deen baked rice. Yes, a whole stick of butter went in the rice. But, Hey at least I used brown rice!

My parents were missin' Violet so I invited them to come eat. Then the other grandparents called during dinner and we invited them over too. It was a big, chicken feast. I love spur of the moment get togethers.

Recently I told my grandma that she owed me some fried chicken. Now I know why she doesn't make it often. It's hard work! I got so hot and tired while cooking over the stove!

After all that I went to workout with Gloria. It's nice having someone to join me at the gym. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!

Fall Festival

We took Violet to Fall Festival at the church on Halloween. It was fun for everyone. I wore a geisha outfit and Matt was a Kung Fu guy. Jordan looked hilarious in her cavewoman outfit carrying around a wooden club! Violet rode a hayride with the grandparents and enjoyed playing games. One of the games was a pool of water with ducks in it. Violet would pick out a duck, give it to me and then get another duck. When she was done they handed her some candy and she threw it all in the pool! Silly Baby!

Words of Wisdom

MOTIVATION is not something you find or lose, have or don't have. It is the product of how you see yourself in the world: active or passive, effective or ineffective, powerful or victimized, normal or pathological. If you want to be able to motivate yourself, you need to begin seeing yourself as ACTIVE, EFFECTIVE, POWERFUL, and NORMAL.

I love that saying. It's so true! Whenever I feel weak, I am weak. Makes sense.

Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation. (Psalm 91:14-16)

This is a great verse to read when your feeling sad or stressed. GOD is always there for me!

YOU MAKE YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITIES!!!!

Your destiny isn't a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice.
It's not something you wait for, but rather something you pursue.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities.
Seize common occasions and make them great.

Opportunities sometimes come disguised in the form of misfortune
or temporary defeat.

Start where you are.
You're at this moment standing right in the middle of opportunity.

Act on your dreams and you can have them.

- Max Steingart