**everything except the tree**

i finally finished decorating the house for xmas. except the tree. i am leaving for california at noon today and i don't trust that it will get watered while i am away so we are waiting until i get back. here's what i have so far.













i got the trees and the frames from Pottery Barn 5 years ago and i guard them with my life. i have a large 3-wick round white candle that goes with the set as well. these are in the same room as the tree.




















these pillar candles are part of the set and are on the dining room table that is attached to the living room where the tree will be. the lights on the tree really pick up the crystals on these and make them really pretty.













same room

these next pictures are all from my family room























































this one is my favorite decoration of all this year. it just makes me happy. the colors and the whimsy...plus, i made it. little 'ole me. had a vision and there it is.






















i am off to finish packing (i know, last minute). i am so excited to spend a week with Captain Cripple!! (please don't send hate mail or shoot daggers from your eyes. she named herself that after an incident in the airport. we still laugh about it. matter of fact she made a layout of it and i had it hanging in the shop. i think i was Deputy Dumb-Down or something. we have a twisted sense of humor when we are together.)

















and these two....i am going to miss like crazy!

**absolutely**

Main Entry: bless·ed
Pronunciation: \'ble-sed\
Function: adjective
1 a: held in reverence b: honored in worship
2: of or enjoying happiness ; specifically : enjoying the bliss of heaven —used as a title for a beatified person
3: bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune
4—used as an intensive
— bless·ed·ly adverb
— bless·ed·ness noun

....to have 2 amazing best friends. my best friend who lives in california, Danea (i keep trying to get her to move here) and my best friend who lives right here with me, Anne. it's a great feeling to know i have such great hands to hold.


















peace.

**happy thanksgiving**

this year i am so very, very thankful for my kids, my family, my health, and my friends.

have a wonderful day!

peace.

**one reason why**

this website is on "my favorites" list

dog needs a good home

she totally cracks me up.


peace.

**becky, dear**

it's on!!

peace.

**ahem, becky**

all MAN baby!!

'nuf said.

peace

**yes, he can still hear**

well thank goodness that's over! cj has been waiting to go to the devil wears prada concert. his friend austin, austin's mom susan, cj, and me went to portland yesterday for the concert.

we had dinner at the cheescake factory. what a cool place. we all brought home a piece of cheescake (i brought a piece home for bailey, too). susan and i then took the boys to the roseland theater downtown and dropped them off for this:



i don't know how cj listens to this. he loves it and had a great time. even austin, who listens to rap, had fun. austin just went as a buddy with cj. what a guy!

cj and his dad are headed to seattle on december first for the metallica concert. they are going up via train and spending the night. they are going to have a great time. 2 concerts in 2 months...he is in heaven.

bailey, becky, and kelsie just went to a concert as well. it wasn't nearly as scary. =)


well, i am off to california to see my best friend, danea on december 3rd. her lovely husband cashed in their frequent flyer miles and got a ticket for me. i am sure i will have a few meals to cook, some dishes to do, and i know danea wants me to help her clean her scraproom (again!!). it's so worth it to get to spend time with them. i bet they will want a batch of these as well:

Ingredients

18 1/2 ounces yellow cake mix
3 1/2 ounces instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zest of
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. (The batter will be thick). Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. (I found a small cookie scoop the perfect thing for making them a uniform size).
3. Bake for 12 minutes. (I baked 4 dozen at one time, so it took a little longer--be sure to reverse places in oven for even baking if you cook this many. Also, they come out of the tin better if you cook a little past the golden brown stage so the cake is more firm). Turn out onto a tea towel.
4. Make the glaze while the cakes are baking. Sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.
5. With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips.
6. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

well, that's all i have for now.

peace.

**sweetnees and sleepyheads**

look what i found! i absolutely love this kitchen!!

sweetness


why is it so hard to wake my son up in the morning? i stand at the foot of his bed and talk nicely..."cj, it's time to get up", "cj, you need to get in the shower" , "cj, you are going to be late". if i start to get pissy or get a "tone" to my voice he wigs and we start off the day in such a pleasant manner. i swear it takes me about 15 minutes to finally get that kid in the shower.

i use to wake bailey up as well but she was easy to get up. open the door, turn on the light, "bailey, it's time to get up", and that was it. i then got her an alarm clock because sometimes mom (that's me...bad mom) might over sleep a little (no, not mom) and then she would be late.

but cj? nope. i have to throw the dogs on him to irritate him, turn his light on, flick his toes, and push on the bed with my knees to move the mattress around to bug him. drives me nuts. if he would just get up when i go in there i could let him sleep for an additional 15 minutes.

here's to hoping it will be better next year when he drives and doesn't have to worry about missing the bus.....

**welcome**

Welcome to our Country, Mr. President.

**my wish**

“This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.”

peace.

**len and susan suck**

i am sorry len, but you need to get with the times. try to accept something new. this was amazing!



could susan be anymore akward??



and again, len ruins the day. i thought cody did a great job!



i can't believe i watch this show. when it first came out i cracking up. i thought it was so stupid and that it wouldn't last. look at me now, posting youTube videos venting about len! LOL


oh, and dear sweet anne i went and searched out a few more songs from Missy Higgins since i liked the one you posted. i really like this one.



i get my hair cut on wednesday. i think i am going to tweak it a little around the face. one of these days i will get it right. staci is probably sick of me. i love getting my hair done. it always feels so good.

here are a few more of my favorite pics of my "kids". i love them all

(especially mine).

my girls

cj and his best buddy austin

cj and his other best buddy andy

ok crafters, i am going to take the bull by the horns and try to get this craft day scheduled. if we can do a weekday how about FRIDAY, NOV. 14th?? if not how about SATURDAY, NOV. 15th?? same deal the following week FRIDAY, NOV. 21st or SATURDAY, NOV. 22nd. thanksgiving isn't until the 27th so we are o.k. there.


peace.

**flu blogging**

i got a flu shot. i now have the body aches and a slight fever. yay me. so, i have been doing some mindless blog-hopping. i found a few things i thought i would share.

this one goes out to kambria. when i laid eyes on it i was reminded of the picture of the room you posted a couple days ago. they don't necessarily go together in the same home (they would for me) but i love it. it doesn't quite have enough space for me but a kitchen that had that feel would rock.

i found this lovely kitchen on a blog i came across called Door Sixteen. i think i will bookmark this one and keep checking back to see how i like it.

and for my lovely, sweet anne...a chandelier

and a beautiful blue owl
blue owl

coming from a family of farmers i find these beautiful as well as a sweet memory from my childhood.




peace.

**didn't get it all done**

Happy Belated Halloween!

peace.

**sometimes it's too surreal**

i'm now the mom of a son with a permit who is relentless about taking him driving.
i'm now the mom who is having to order the cap, gown, and graduation announcments.
i'm now the mom who regulary talks to her daughter about college.
i'm now the mom relinquishing more & more control of my kids' lives to them.
i'm the mom who loves her kids more than ever.


last saturday the kids and i went to a friends' halloween party. anne came over and did my hair and make-up. she took some pictures for us before we left. she tried to get me to make some 'in character' faces for the camera but i think i just look like a dork.

i like the picture she took of me and my girl.


i thought the girls' costumes were great. now, i will admit that i didn't know who becky was supposed to be. she was 'miss scarlet in the library with a candlestick' from the game Clue. it's obvious that i have never played that game.


a picture of me and my sweet friend anne.



bailey and her friends are headed to a corn maze in salem and cj is going to the west game so guess who gets to play with the lil' trick-or-treaters?? me!! yay!



peace.

**in this home**

saw this on a blog that i go to often.

in this home...
we do second chances.
we disagree.
we do mistakes.
we do "i'm sorry's".
we do loud...really well.
we do hugs.
we do family.
we do
LOVE.

she used it on a large 18x24 canvas and is hanging it in her living room. i think it is gorgeous and am going to try using it on a scrapbook page. it works well for the kids and i.

















lindsayteague

**love, love, love....**

having teenagers and not having this!!

MADNESS

i was starting to feel anxious and stressed just reading this. i am so glad i am past this stage. granted, i never went through this kind of torture but i had my own personal "moments". kids are hard no matter what.

i ran across this layout this morning while i was blog-hopping and it toally made me want to scrap. anyone interested in having a day crop at my house? i can kick the kids out and i practically have a store in my scraproom so you can get inspired here. for those of you who don't scrap you could maybe make xmas cards??


















anyone up for it?? we should get going on it before the holiday crunch. hey kambria, you could make tags for gifts since you do cool things like that. brat.

peace.

**i love you kam**

GO BULLDOGS!!!


peace.

**welcome, Sawyer**

my friend sara and her husband brad were blessed with a beautiful baby boy yesterday. you can check out pics and a youTube of him at her blog. she is listed in my blog list to the right as Miss M!
















congrats!!

peace.

**(per Kam) i die**

Fudge Puddles a.k.a "Puddles of Yum"













For the "crust" of the cookie:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla:













Next, in a seperate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix. to the creamy mixture:













Chill in the fridge for at least one hour (or if you're impatient like me, in the freezer for about 15 minutes).













Remove from fridge and form into 1" balls. I use a small melon baller scoop to make mine a uniform size. Grease a mini-muffin pan and add 1 ball to each muffin cup:













Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and make an indentation in the center of each ball:













Filling:
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips (if you don't like butterscotch, just use milk chocolate chips)
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla
chopped nuts or sprinkles(optional)

In a microwave safe bowl or saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the nuts/sprinkles. Microwave for 1 minutes. Stir well.













If there are still unmelted chips, continue to melt in microwave for 15 second increments until all smooth:













Immediately start filling the cookie cups with the filling. It will start to harden just a bit as you do it, so make sure to give it a good stir once in awhile. Sprinkle with the nuts or just leave plain. Let set for an hour or so.














peace.

**and just a pinch of chaos**

life is really good, with just a pinch of chaos thrown in for good measure. keeps me on my toes i guess. that's a good thing, right? with all that is going on in my life right now i have had to take a big girl pill and start doing everything on my own. seems strange but good at the same time. how odd.

cj got his permit to drive yesterday. gasp!! the thought of him driving scares me more than bailey but teaching him is way easier. i had to turn over the teaching to roberto for bailey because i just couldn't handle it. cj is a different story. at least he doesn't have to learn on the big ford expedition that i had.

i learned that you can't just 'remove' a person from a loan. the loan needs to be paid off or one person needs to refinance it. well, we happened to be upside down in the expedition due to the SUV market/value taking a nose dive because of the gas prices. so, the only way i could have a car in my own name was to trade the expedition in on a new car that had enough dealer discounts to hide the amount of the 'upside-down-ness' so the bank would still approve a loan for the car. so, i now have a rockin' new car for the exact same price per month as the last one. i do owe for more years but, um, i will always have a car payment because, well, that's how i roll. so, here is my car:













cj is thrilled to be able to drive it and personally i am more at ease having to teach him on this rather than the other.

so, while i am still working out the way i like to style it and it is definitely a work-in-progress between me and my hairdresser i did say i would post a picture of my short haircut. here it is:

















i had danea fix the picture up a little bit because i currently don't have my photoshop program loaded on my computer. she teased me and said "As for your picture, I did my best. So you weren't skilled enough to just place your finger on the shutter button AND look forward? LOL" ha ha very funny. brat.

with all of the changes in my life right now i have put my last course of school off until the first of the year. i have GOT to get my scraproom/office cleaned up and organized before then. i have decided to purge my cardstock. i have waaaaaayyyy too much (i know, big frickin' shocker there) and i tend to only use a few basic colors anyway. once i do that i won't need the paper tower that i have and i think i might have enough room there to put a small work table. i do mean small but it could work. we'll see.

i took some really cool pictures of bailey and her 2 best friends. the 3 of them are always together. it's so cool. apparently you can purchase a spot in the back of the yearbook to add a picture or a message or something. the girls want to add a picture of the 3 of them so they had me take some 'fun' pictures of them. now mind you, i am NO, and i mean NO, seriously, NO angela or danea but i took the girls over to my mom's and we took pictures in her yard. we got some really cute ones out of about 50 or so shots. i don't know which one they picked but i really liked these two and asked danea if she would work her magic and spruce them up for me. she's the best.





























becky is the blonde and kelsie is the brunette. they are the sweetest girls. bailey is very lucky to have such awesome friends. and i am lucky, too, that my daughter is blessed with great friends. i couldn't have asked for better ones.

i have been invited to a halloween costume party next weekend. i am going to go. i am going to dress up. way out of my element. i wasn't able to find the costume that i had in my head and since i don't sew i had to pick a different one. so, i am going with this:

















i didn't go with the wig so i am going to have to figure out what to do with my hair and i am sure i have a pair of appropriate black shoes. i did buy the ripped up tights because they are just too cool. putting on that much black eye make-up will be a challenge. anne, are you up for a challenge??

i think i will leave you with a couple funnies.














peace.

**fun stuff that i love**

these rock! i see a lot of companies have them now but the ones from Pier One are the best. this scent, Amber, is one of my favorites. my front bathroom is decorated in taupe and burnt orange so it matches so well.














one of the sales ladies at Bath & Body Works told me that these, which i have quite a few of, are being replaced....


















....by these. i purchased one starter set to test them and they rock! i think they are better than the other ones. they had the starter sets and the refill sets on sale a few weeks ago so i got a few more in the yummy fall scents and now my house smells awesome. i don't like to burn candles so these are just perfect.

















peace.

**the cab ride**

one of my favorite sites is DOOCE and i read it every day. today she linked to a sweet story that really got to me. i wanted to share it so here it is.

The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget
by Kent Nerburn

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. One time I arrived in the middle of the night for a pick up at a building that was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute," answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

"It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."

"Oh, you're such a good boy," she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice."

I looked in the rear view mirror. Her eyes were glistening.

"I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other passengers."

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware—beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.


peace.

**well crap**

i've been tagged. thanks Anne. way to make me update my blog.

...and off we go...

1. i count the towels as i put them in the washer. usually 7 or 8.
2. it drives my nuts if my car isn't parked perfectly straight in the driveway.
3. messes/disorganization in my house drives me crazy but my computer area/scraproom is a nightmare and it doesn't really bug me.
4. i love math. i did really well at it in high school and took calculus for the term that i was at OSU.
5. i don't consider a movie worth seeing if i have or will have missed the trailers. those are the best part.
6. i tend to get caught in ruts. for example right now i am addicted to crime shows such as Criminal Minds, Bones, The Closer, and Without a Trace. thank goodness for TIVO.
7. i am deathly afraid of bats. (there is a long story behind it) now that i think of it i had bat issues when i was a kid at my grandma's house so maybe i have always had this fear. hmmm...

...now i have to tick off 7 other bloggers (sorry guys)...
Danea
Sara
Kati
Kambria

i'm lame. that's all i have that are close enough for me to do this tagging stuff to. i might offend everyone else.

peace.