New Puppy Photos

New pictures from Denise! The 13 puppies have gotten so big! Makes me wish I had one...

The DL on Thanksgiving Dinner...

My husband began working 2nd shift on 11/20 and will probably continue until the end of the year. It is a bummer, but we are thankful he has a job. I was not very good at doing things ahead of time to help with the work load on Thanksgiving morning, so I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

We have 2 kitties, so I did not want to set the table the night before, because I know they would be all over the china. It really took a long time to set the table. I looked at the potatoes that I had peeled, and it didn't look like enough, so AC headed to the store for potatoes. I was peeling the extra potatoes and freaking out since it was 11 am and AC was vacuuming. My family showed up at noon and AC was still vacuuming and had to shower. After everyone arrived I put out cheese and crackers, with was enough to tide everyone over. We were supposed to eat at 1:00, so I was checking the temp of the turkey and it hit 170 degrees, so I took it out to rest. After resting, my Dad was going to carve it. When he started to carve it, it was not done! Back in the oven. The potatoes didn't boil as fast as I would have liked, but we ate at 2:00.

When AC and I sat down to eat we were not even hungry, but definitely exhausted! We were getting up to get items to people and be sure everyone had everything they needed. After a while I looked over to the kitchen and wanted to run! All the dishes I own were dirty and what a mess to clean up! I am very lucky because I have a mother-in-law that is extremely helpful. She washed everything, my step-mother, Denise dried and I put them away.

Then it was time for dessert. I grabbed the paper plates and we had pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and ice cream. I only had 12 people and it was crazy, I can't even imagine 25 people! Actually I can, 25 people sitting around perfectly set tables at a restaurant! We enjoyed playing the Wii and 5 Crowns (a card game). I took the next day and rested! No Black Friday Shopping for me! I forgot to mention that we had enough food left over to feed a small army! I didn't even need to peel extra potatoes.

The horrible thing that happened was that I didn't take one single photo! I probably shouldn't even call myself a scrapbooker anymore:(

Hope your Thanksgiving was great!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Time

I looked in the basement last night and the Christmas Tree we have is 7.5 feet tall. I remember wanting the 9' tree, but settling with the 7.5! What was I thinking??

I forgot to mention that AC is working afternoons for the next 2-3 weeks. Just thankful he has a job.

I decided to brine the turkey, so last night I was getting the Williams Sonoma Brining mix ready. This morning I got the turkey out of the refrigerator and had to get it ready for the brining mix. I finally got the legs out of the metal piece and then found the neck. It grosses me out to see what so looks like a dead turkey. That probably doesn't make sense. Let me try to explain, I like to eat chicken, but usually in strip form. I eat pork chops and ham, but never have I seen the whole pig on the table. I did not see the bag that was supposed to be in the turkey. I decided that then seemed like a good time to read the directions. It says the bag is in the neck area, along with a helpful hint about getting the legs out from the metal piece! Finally, I get a knife and cut into the other end of the turkey. Found it! Now it is in a giant brining bag in the refrigerator. Hopefully it will be worth it. Can't wait to see how it all goes tomorrow!

Oh Christmas Tree

2Peas Challenge for today is:
With the hoildays around the corner. When does your family put up your tree and other decorations? Is there a tradition?

Well, I really don't have a tradition for putting up the Christmas tree or decorations. Last year we were packing to move, so we didn't put anything out. This year we will have to start a tradition. It will be the first Christmas in our house, so it is exciting. We have been talking about our Christmas tree and we don't think it will fit in our house. It is a big tree, like 6.5 feet tall and really wide. My plan is to look for a slim line tree or two. I have lots of ornaments and would like to have them on different trees. I have places for smaller trees, just not one huge tree. I have never put lights outside, so I am looking forward to it this year. I will probably start getting the decorations out soon. I want to buy outside lights and get them all set before it snows. We are planning to have company over on Christmas Eve. I am not going to worry about that until this week is over. My problem with the holiday decor is that I get excited and put it out too early and then get sick of looking at it.

I remember one year when I was probably 9 or 10 and I took the tree down on Christmas day in the evening. My parents are divorced and after my mom dropped me off at home, I didn't have anything else to do. My dad was working at the time. Good Times.

Biggest Step

The 2Peas challenge for today is~
What is the biggest step you have taken this year?

I would have to say having Thanksgiving dinner for 12 at our house this year! I am excited, but nervous since I have never cooked a turkey or much else for that matter! We registered for china when we got married, so I got it all out and washed in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner, but to be honest the closer Thanksgiving comes, the better paper plates look. Since it is the first Thanksgiving dinner we are hosting, I will use the china. I bought a table cloth, place mats, napkins, and napkin rings in order to have a good looking table. The table cloth and napkins need to be pressed, so I thought I would do the napkins and let the dry cleaner do the table cloth. The dry cleaner wanted $18 to only press the darn thing! I could not believe it! I will be pressing it myself sometime in the next 3 days.

I went to a 12 hour crop on Saturday. I was still kind of burnt out from the week, but I went at 9 am and left at 8 pm, so I made it for 11 hours. On Friday after work I did the Thanksgiving grocery shopping that could be done early. Just did laundry and homework the rest of the weekend. I have a group project that I need to finish for school and my statistics class tonight. Thanks for reading:)

Busy Week

On Friday we celebrated Diwali at our house. Here is a photo.



On Saturday I woke up with a sore throat and still have it today. This week is going to be busy. Tonight I have class, Tuesday is sketch club, Saturday is a 12 hour crop that I need to prepare for. No time to be sick. I think I will go get most of the groceries for Thanksgiving on Wednesday evening, of this week. I want to be prepared and not shopping at the last minute. We basically took it easy this weekend. AC did work all day on Saturday, so I should say I basically took it easy this weekend:)

Happy Diwali

"India is the land of festivals but Diwali is one of the few grandest indian festival celebrated all over India with equal enthusiasm and zeal. Diwali Festival is the abbreviation of the Sanskrit word 'Deepavali', which means 'rows of lights'. One of the major Hindu festivals, it is celebrated to commemorate the returning of Rama and Sita to their kingdom Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. Though, Diwali is mainly a five- day festival but we can see people preparing Diwali weeks ahead by cleaning and decorating their households. The main festival day falls on the no-moon day of the dark half of Kartik, according to the Hindu lunar calendar."

"Celebrated with vigour and gaiety by people of every religion Deepavali, its magical and radiant touch creates an atmosphere of joy and festivity. Innumerable lamps are lit on the roofs and windowsills of the houses, thus, giving an ethereal and almost divine look to the whole scenario. It is said that Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth roams the earth on this day and enters the house that is pure, clean and brightly illuminated. Young and old, men and women, all dress up in new clothes and buy new utensils on this day. They worship the deities, Lakshmi and Ganesha, and share sweets and gifts with their relatives and friends. It is also the beginning of the new financial year for the business community. However, it is the crackers and the fireworks that attract the kids the most and form the highlight of the festival."

We will be lighting our candles tonight and having dinner with my in-laws. I like the part about dressing up in new clothes!

1,000 Views

Wow! My little blog has been viewed over 1,000 times!! How cool! Not much happening this week. I took my leather cost to the tailor yesterday to get taken in. I waved yesterday and my wedding ring flew off. Luckily I found it. I also took it in to have made smaller. All the china is cleaned for Thanksgiving. Of course, there were stickers on the bottom of each piece! Tomorrow is an Indian holiday, I'll post more about that tomorrow. We will be having dinner with my in-laws. I have lots of homework to do this week. I am going to a crop on the 17th, so I need to start getting that stuff together. Have a great Thursday.

Spa Party

Arbonne, anyone heard of it? I went to a "Spa Party" on Friday and it was for Arbonne products. Arbonne is an all natural, vegan, organic line of beauty products. They use a water base in all products and say that most products use an oil base. It is a bit pricey, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Has anyone out there tried this? I signed up to host a "Spa Night" at my house, but I am waiting for my product before I schedule it. I want to be sure I love it before I tell my friends.

Saturday we watched the Michigan vs Michigan State game. Pretty exciting. Michigan won, we are really happy about this! I didn't feel well on Sunday or today. I went to work and came home at noon. I am getting ready to go to school now. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Practice Turkey?

The 2Peas Challenge for today is~ Let's talk classes at LSS
What is a class you would love to attend/see at your LSS?
I would like to take a sewing class. Not sewing on clothing, but sewing on my scrapbook pages. I haven't done it yet, because I am confident that I will ruin it!

November 2nd already! Thanksgiving will be here in no time. We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year. Since being in our house, we now have the room to have family over. My Dad, Denise and their kids along with my Grandma and my in-laws will all be coming over for dinner. There will be 12 of us! Since this will be the first time I have ever cooked a large meal for others (that wasn't frozen prior to the meal), I am a little nervous. I have never cooked a turkey. My co-worker, Kathy, is a good cook and is going to help me plan the meal. My husband is a good cook, but not very good at getting everything finished at the same time. Maybe I should have a practice turkey before the real day? Since I wouldn't want to ruin Thanksgiving! We we got married we registered for China and I was thinking about getting that out to use on Thanksgiving. I would much rather use nice paper plates, but I am going to use the china, since that is why we got it. I better get the dishes out (since they are still in the boxes they came in)and washed soon. Maybe I will look for some Thanksgiving placemats also. I already have a white table cloth. So much to decide!

Happy Thursday

Got a few trick-or-treaters last night. Probably around 30. One little boy came up to the door with his brother and informed me that they were allergic to peanut butter. I asked if they could have Hershey bars and he said yes. Funny!

After candy time was over, our friend, Gregg came over and we went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. I haven't been there in a long time. Husband still on nights, hope schedule changes soon. I watched Private Practice last night and I am really liking that show. I can't wait for the next episode, which will be in 2 weeks:( I also really like Cane on Tuesday nights on CBS. I really like Jimmy Smits as Alex Vega. Grey's Anatomy tonight. I should also work on homework and cleaning the house.