We will miss you, Jess!

A very dear friend of our passed away last week, and we attended his wake and funeral services this past weekend.  Jess (the lovely man on the right of this photo) was SUCH a sweet and funloving man.  We met Jess and Donna (as well as our good friends Pete and Anne also shown in this photo) MANY years ago when we were part of a group that formed at a new area casino, Harveys. We all be came fast friends and our friendships from the initial meeting have lasted nearly 20 years. Jess and Sterling were especially close, as they loved to talk about Jess' two tours in the Marines in the 1950's, and Sterling's tour in the Army in Vietnam in the 1960's.  At the wake, Donna was presented with an American flag and the local VFW was represented and played taps, which brought tears to everyone's eyes.  After the funeral, we gathered at the local VFW and shared tears and smiles and stories of our dear friend, who LOVED to tell jokes and make us all smile.  Jess will be missed, but we were so lucky to have known him and blessed to have him in our lives.

BLOG AWARD

I received the stylish blogger award from Kacee @ http://youhadmeatscrap.blogspot.com/.  Thank you so much Kacee!  I've had this blog less than a year and already I've had the pleasure of meeting so many lovely ladies who are as passionate about papercrafting as I am.  My husband would argue that where I use the word "passionate" he would use the word "obsessive/compulsive", but pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

When you receive this award you are suppose to:

#1 - thank and link back to the person who awarded it to you (which I've done in the first paragraph) 

#2 - share 8 things about yourself (see below)

#3 - pay it forward to bloggers that you have recently discovered

             Janine at:  http://2bkrafty.blogspot.com/2011/02/little-more-sharing.html

             Laura at: http://akissonthechic.typepad.com/laura_mccollough_scrapboo/

             Alaine at:  http://alainereading.blogspot.com/2011/02/scrapbook-camp.html

#4 - contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

8 things about me...

#1. My first car was a blue Ford Pinto - you know the model that they recalled due to a possible exploding gas tank.

 

#2. The two biggest blessings in my life are my kids, Laura and Mark.

#3. After kissing several frogs and marrying and divorcing one toad, I finally found my prince charming!

 #4.  The SWEETEST little guy to ever enter my life (my grandson, Jonas) 

#5.  I've had so many wonderful dogs and cats come and go in my lifetime, but our current three cats , Boink, Bailey and Fluff provide Sterling and I with daily doses of laughter with their antics.

#6.  Sterling and I love to travel, and we've been to Oregon (fell IN LOVE with this state), Idaho (briefly on our way to Portland and a stop in Boise for a wedding years ago), Utah (where Sterling was born and raised and where his side of the family still reside), California (been to Disneyland several times and San Deigo is so very lovely), South Dakota (have you ever been to Wall Drug?), Wyoming (on our way to and from Salt Lake City, Colorado (where my son and daughter-in-law now reside and where my daughter and son-in-law were married - Estes Park), Arizona (where lived for several years when the kids were young and where I met Sterling), Texas (all my ex's live here - okay so I only have one ex but I had that song running through my brain), Oklahoma (lived in Tulsa once), Kansas (Auntie 'Em), Missouri (we've made the 3 hour drive to and from just for lunch on occasion), Iowa (they have the BEST seafood restaurant for not having ANY oceans nearby), Minnesota (it's all about the MALL), Florida (where we go for cruises), New York and the Hamptons (thanks to my fabulous cousin, Jeff) and several cruises to the Caribbean and Mexico.  I would dearly love to visit Vermont in the fall and try a fresh Maine lobster (or 2 or 3) someday!

#7.  I can type 125+ words per minute (and learned on a manual typewriter).

#8.  I am a hopeless romantic at heart. (And I even named my daughter after seeing this movie ... although she will be the FIRST to tell you that I spelled it wrong - I blame it on physical and mental exhaustion after giving birth to her - NATURAL childbirth).

There you have just a FEW weird facts about moi ... bet you are REALLY confused now. (grin)

Lolcats - if you need an excuse to laugh out loud !!

This pic just had me smiling out loud for some reason ... and I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with my family members.  LOL   This website is one of my DAILY go to pages as their photos ALWAYS lift my spirits!

Go here to enjoy:    http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Son-in-Law!

Okay, so he may be my only son-in-law, but he's still one of my favorite people.  My daughter, Laura, brought him into our family and we've been blessed ever since.  Jeremy is the kind of person that would stop what he's doing to help out a complete stranger in need.  He is also so extremely patient and kind with every member of our sometimes, okay often times, dysfunctional family.  He is a hands on dad and such a great role model for Jonas, a loving husband to Laura, and in short just a pure pleasure to be around and spend time with.

Jeremy - have a fabulous birthday today and know that we love you!

Happy Birthday, Mom !!!

I love this pic of my mom when she was just a wee lass.  She turned 82 yesterday ... or at least we think she did.  When she was born she was very sick and they didn't think she was going to make it so they never issued her a birth certificate. To this day we really aren't sure what year she was born, but have made more of an educated guess and we always try to give her the benefit of the doubt (grin).  She was the text book mom of the 50's.  Back when t.v. dinners were introduced, and tupperware parties were all the rage, and moms wore high heels and dresses while cleaning house - well, at least mine did. Mom LOVED wearing heels, even though she was already 5'11" tall.  Mom also enjoyed housecleaning.  It was never surprising to come home from school and find that she had rearranged one of the rooms in the house or painted an entire room a different color.  She loves to paint and as recently as last fall repainted my 7 year old niece's bedroom a different color - I swear she has more energy than the Energizer Bunny!  I am hoping that I got some of those energy genes and will be as active and spry as she is in her golden years! 

So happy birthday, mom - I LOVE YOU!

Welcome Baby

Here's a second entry for the Denami card challenge - I actually found a Denami stamp in my stash to incorporate with some itty bitty baby buttons.

A Happy Hello

Denami is having a BUTTON card challenge.  Here's my entry.  If you want to see this challenge, go here:  http://denami.blogspot.com/

Sunday Sampler

The sun is shining and it's a few degrees OVER 50 - doesn't get much better than that.  I've been in my craft room enjoying the sunshine streaming through the double windows and trying out some new stamps I recently acquired.  Here's a sample of my morning creations.

 It's hard to see the "shine" on the butterfly wings from the photograph, but they really turned out beautiful.

I Never Met a Banana Bread I Didn't Like

Ree Drummond's Tasty Kitchen blog is one of my daily "go to" websites for new recipes to drool over.  Today's feature recipe really caught my eye as I adore banana bread and am always looking for a way to improve it.  Streusel topping - now why didn't I think of that??!! 

Go here for the recipe:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/

Let me know if you make it and what you think!

From ZERO to 40 in four days

While my car SEEMED to be as cold as this photo depicts this morning, there was no evidence of freezer burn on the dashboard.  It was -8 degrees on my way to work, and right now we are at the "high" for the day which is ZERO degrees.  But we should be able to break out the shorts and suntan lotion by the weekend, when the highs will be in the mid 40's.  Though as cold as it has been, it has still been a milder winter compared to last year when we had the same 3+ feet of snow on the ground from mid December until mid APRIL.  So I'll add an extra scarf and mittens and smile in the face of frigidity (is that even a word?). 

You've Got the Cutest Little Baby Face!

I just had to share this A-DOR-A-BLE pic of my grand niece, Avlyn.  Not sure why she's scrunching up her face - could be her reaction to her Grandma Gloria's cooking dinner (ROLF).  Just kidding, sis!  HA!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

I may not even know what teams are playing, but I do love the commercials and football grub that go along with Superbowl Sunday.  Over the years we've had MANY a party surrounding this event.  This year we're just having the kids over for some fabulous sliders (see recipe in previous post) and I found a recipe for empanadas that I'm also going to try out on our unsuspecting family. (grin) My grandson Jonas will be happy just to bury his head in a bag of cheese puffs - he LOVES those airy cheesy treats.  Of course, he prefers to 'dip' them in some ranch dressing - he is the prince of dipping sauces, which he proudly gets from me - just ask anyone in the family and they will tell you that I LOVE dipping sauces!  It took my grown kids YEARS to ween me away from putting tarter sauce on salmon - and when they aren't looking I still sometimes reach for the sauce - I blame my mother and all those years of fish sticks and tarter sauce when I was growing up.  But back to the game ... are any of you attending or hosting a superbowl event tonight? If you have any "go to" recipes for events like this, I would love to hear about them! 

John Deere Grandson!

Green Acres Theme Song

Green Acres is the place for me
Farm livin' is the life for me
Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside

New York is where I'd rather stay
I get allergic smelling hay
I just adore a penthouse view
Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue

...The chores
...The stores
...Fresh air
...Times Square

You are my wife
Good bye, city life
Green Acres we are there!!