Craft Shows, Anniversaries, & Garage Doors

Hey everyone!

I know, it's been a little longer than I had expected in regards to updating!

So, let's see what has happened...

The week before the first craft show here in Craig, I was still waiting for my stuff to get back from the frame shop. The owner had ordered the sleeves, but of course, Sandy hit the East coast, and guess where she ordered them from? Yep...Jersey. She was in the middle of moving, and had not hooked up cable or Internet since it had hit, so she didn't realize the mess that was going on out there. She called them, wondering where her order was, and they explained that they were underwater, working on generators, and would send it out as soon as possible.
They sent it, but forgot to send it out with a three day rush. Needless to say, I was sweating a little bit, feeling as though it was coming pretty close. The day before the show, I was able to pick up my things. This included the framed pieces for the restaurant as well. After leaving her store, I headed to the mall to ask the owners of the little furniture store if I could piggyback on their Internet connection. They were fine with it, gave me the code, and off I went.
I left the mall, grabbing a cookie dough flavored coffee, and went straight to the restaurant to deliver the pictures.
When I arrived, the owner was not in, but I talked to the manager, who ended up calling and waking up the owner. I felt a little bad, but at the same time, no one was told, so that's not really on me. The owner remembered me and had me leave the pictures there for her to look at and hang. When I brought in the five pictures, there were two men inside eating their late lunch. They thought that I was bringing in a pizza. When they looked at the pictures, asking me if I had taken them (This would not be the last time that I would hear this question over the weekend), and were amazed by what they were seeing. One of them asked me if I was selling them, and when I said that I was trying to, they asked me how much for one of them. I had not sat down to look at the cost to get them printed, matted and framed, so I shot out the number 80. I gave him the last business card that I had on me, and explained that if he wanted to go to the site, that he would be able to buy the print for a lot cheaper. I left and headed home, realizing that I needed to spend a lot of time signing my prints for the show. It took me over two hours to do, but I got it done. Signed, labeled and priced. I was as ready as I was going to be.

The set up for the show was at 7am. I asked Mike for his help, in bringing things in, and helping me find power, and the like. We got there, and started to set things up. I was able to grab an outlet, which made me happy, and then I headed home, as the show wouldn't start until noon.
When the time finally came, I headed in much earlier, just to get things up onto the tables, and set up the Internet connection. Once that was in place, I kept tweaking things on my booth. I have since learned that I need to make some signs that state what else I can do, besides prints. I am hoping that the next couple shows will be better in sales.
I can't complain though, as the weather wasn't bad, and that meant that people wanted to either go out of town, or stay at home. On the first day, it was so slow for everyone. People were complaining that they didn't make what they had the years before. I was happy that I was able to sell one print! A lady came up to me, and wanted to buy the 8x12 print of my eagle. I pulled out my little Square credit card reader, and charged her the $65, but with tax, that made it closer to $70.
The next day was a little busier, but it was still really slow. I wasn't surprised by the speed of things, but then again, I was in a wing, and the wings I have learned, are probably the worst places you can be. The next show, I will be in the center of the mall, where all of the foot traffic will be. I'm going to look forward to that one, as I'll most likely have a better turn out.
Right after the second show here in Craig, I will have a one day show in Hayden. I've still got some work to do, but I think that things are going well. Lots of my cards went out, and I was asked a lot of questions in regards to portrait sittings. I also got to meet the "portrait" photographer in town, who tries to say that he is French, but he's not. From everyone that I have talked to, no one likes his work, or him. I told Mike that I couldn't help but feel as though he was just a creepy guy, who tried to talk to me seven times, but when he talks to you, it's more of a rambling that he does with himself, and you are forced to listen. There was nothing that I could add to the conversation. But I am not threatened by him, and I wonder if he is of me. Guess we shall see.

Mike told me that his boss, Kyle and his wife went to the restaurant and saw the pictures on the walls. I haven't been in since dropping them off, so I'm glad that they did hang them up. I've had a few people tell me that they will most likely be getting on my site, and ordering a few things. That brings a smile to my face, as most people have said that they liked my work, and that they'd order things, but never do, causing me to question my ability to take good photos. I know that I do good work, but I'm a little insecure, and I'm only human. I'm learning to fix that about myself, and soon enough, things will be picking up! This I am sure!

After the house warming party, my best friend, Ana had gotten engaged! It was so stinking cute how it all played out. Her, now fiance, made this website and had her answer questions over a course of three days. On day one, by the end of the questions, she was treated to a long massage! After the end of day two, she was taken dress shopping and by the end of day three, she was engaged! It was certainly unique and clever and I must say that I was super ecstatic for her! I can't wait to see the wedding planning and the wedding! Her ring is gorgeous too! Yay!

Mike and I had our three year anniversary coming up, and I had no idea what to do for him this year. I suddenly became creative! I know, I know, you're thinking...When are you not creative? Anyways, during the first day of the craft show, given how slow it was, I started working on one project for him. We were given a blank journal for Christmas years ago, and it was still left unused. I grabbed it and started to write things about him that I loved in the blank pages. When things got busier at the show, or when I knew that Mike was off of work, I put it away to focus on those around me. After the show, I was at home, writing as much and as quickly as I could, to try and finish the project in time. The other project that I was trying to figure out how to make, was a framed picture that I will post the picture here in a moment.
The book was tough too, as I was feeling as though I was running out of things to say, as I was trying not to repeat myself. Then I had an idea. I started to look up famous love letters, including the one that our vows were from, as well as excerpts from books and movies about love, that I agreed with, loved and felt embodied our relationship. I finished the book, cover to cover, within two days...two and a half if you count the craft show day.
Mike loved the book! He is still reading it, little by little, every day. I'm glad that he loved it, as I was a little concerned that it might be a little lame. He disagreed with me!

The picture was a little challenging. The idea was to take words that were significant to you and your significant other, whether it was your vows, first song, whatever. I chose our song, and copied the words several times into word until it filled the page. After that was done, I searched in the computer program Paint to find a tree picture that I could use as the base image to crop the words into...couldn't do it. My second thought was, 'Hey, just draw a tree on some paper, and cut it out'. Yeah, I've since learned that I cannot draw to save my life...
I had one other option, before using my pathetic looking tree, and that was to ask Ana for help. Ana's creative and is a graphic design artist, so I asked her for help. Sure enough, she could do it, and I was one step closer in finishing the project for our anniversary!

Now, each day, Mike would come home from work, and ask me what I've done all day. Not in the bad way like, "What have you been doing all day?! There is a speck of dust! Wasting your days away!" Not like that, but more in the casual, "How was your day", type of way. Everyday that I was working on the projects, all I would say was "Working on projects". He would ask, of course, what those projects were, but I wouldn't tell him.
On Saturday, once I had most of everything, since I still needed to buy a frame for the picture, I asked him if he wanted to have lunch together. I also figured that since I had talked about coming down to the Springs for a day or two that I would need to get my oil changed, and Mike had been telling me to do it for a while now, so since I was out and about, I decided to do that too.
Now during our lunch in the hospital cafeteria, I looked out the window door and saw this little cat walk up to the door, sit down and stare inside. I asked Mike if I should let him in, as I'm sure that the hospital would like to have a resident cat. It would help patients heal faster, right?! Mike had told me no...lame.

"I know you're in there!" - Cat

We had lunch, then I was calling places in town to see who could work on Mazdas. I found one, and they had no waiting. So I headed over, and they began to service my vehicle. I was in and out in fifteen minutes! Record for me! After that was finished, I headed to Walmart.

Walmart was a cluster of "fun". People were scrambling to grab the items that they needed for Thanksgiving and whatnot. It was loud, people were being stupid, and I was about ready to walk out, without our much needed groceries and the frame that was most important.
I braved it out though, as I got everything I needed. I also picked up some beads and cords to make some necklaces. I had not made anything with beads in a long time, so I was surprised at my sudden desire to do so. I picked up three different beads and cords. I made them within a couple minutes a piece. I even wore one on our anniversary!

I wore this one on our anniversary. It's a heart...in case it's a bad picture.

This has two dragonflies on it, and is pink.

It's blue, and I'm not sure if it is water grass, or peacock feathers...

 

 

When I got home from Walmart, I had no will to finish the picture. I was mentally and physically drained from the store, so I decided that I would finish it up on Sunday, while Mike was watching football, or something. It didn't take me very long to finish. I had to use my sewing kit to stitch in the threads of the 'rope' and attach the hearts to it, but other than that, it was pretty much a done deal. I spent five minutes finishing it up, and enjoyed the rest of the relaxing day with Mike, as he watched football. Yay...Go Quizz! Go Tebow! Go Succop! Those would be the names that I cheer on, as I watch with Mike. He laughs at me, and then the game changes to teams that I don't care about.

 

Here's the picture!

 

 

The morning of our anniversary, Mike and I exchanged gifts. He loved the book, as I mentioned and loved the picture. We're still trying to figure out where to hang it, but I think it turned out really well! I also thanked Ana, several times, telling her that I owed her coffee or lunch or something. If it wasn't for her help, my tree would look twisted and gnarled like something from a haunted forest. Not something that says 'Love'...unless you're twisted and gnarled I suppose....well, I know people like that, so I suppose it could have worked out well...and there's a tangent...sorry!

Mike had given me the complete series of Boy Meets World, as I have been wanting to get it for a while. We watched two episodes last night, and he thought it was cute. I have a feeling it's one of those shows that he will sit through to appease me, but he's going to suffer through it all...Ah, that's love...

 

We stuck around the house for the morning and afternoon, as we tried to play a video game together, but because it's one that we have played several times, I got bored, and Mike was falling asleep. So, Mike got up and took a nap, and I got on the computer to start working on my stories online. After about 30-50 minutes, Mike got up, and we talked about getting ready to head to Steamboat.

When we got to Steamboat, we headed to the movie theater and got tickets to watch Skyfall. The last movie that we had seen together in the theater was Star Trek...in 2009. I had seen a few movies with the girls in the dollar theater. The theater was pretty quaint, and there was a woman holding 9 seats for her family...they hadn't even showed yet. We sat down in a couple seats and when the family showed, they used my chair as a handrail, and then one of the kids smacked me upside the head accidentally as they took probably half of the movie to settle down. Aside from that, we enjoyed ourselves.

Skyfall was a good movie. I haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet, so I can't say for certain if it's the best Bond movie that I have seen, but it was good. I think it could have done with a little more editing, as Mike agreed, but it was still good.

After the movie, we headed to one of the more upscale Japanese restaurants, and I had some sushi, while Mike had some Thai. We ordered a bottle of plum wine, which was really good! Once dinner was over, we headed back to Craig, stopping at the store for some champagne and whatever else we were low on, then to the grocery store for some orange juice, dessert for Thanksgiving our anniversary. When we got home, Mike made some Mimosas, as I was thinking it sounded good at the sushi place, and we had some dessert, finishing up a great day.

 

Yesterday, I got up and started to clean the house, started laundry, and saw that Mike had texted me to tell me that we were going to have someone come by after lunch to work on the garage door, the one that I use that has no motor. I have to manually open the door and lock it. The past few times that I have opened it, it has gotten jammed due to the lock not opening all the way, and getting stuck in the track. It's quite frustrating...So, Mike called a company that was highly recommended by his boss, and they called on our anniversary talking about doing it then, but Mike said no. So, they came yesterday. I finished the house, just in time, to be able to have lunch and wait for them to show up.

As I waited for them to arrive, I started to work on the yard outside. As I mentioned before, when we moved in, the previous owners allowed these weeds to grow into bushes. These weeds look like mini sunflowers. As pretty as they may seem, they attract so many bees and wasps! They also start to build nests into the house's siding...they mentioned when we did the walk through that all we had to do was spray killer on them, then knock them down. My first thought was, "Or you could get rid of all these freaking weeds, and the problem will go away", but whatever. So, now that it's snowed a couple of times, and it's Autumn, they are dead, and have no bees threatening to sting you each time you approach them. So as I waited, I started to pull them out of the ground. From the beginning of the drive way, all the way down to the house, up the side of the house. Once they were all pulled, I started to bag them up.



As I was doing this, the garage door guy had come and started working on the door. Three hours and seven bags later, we were both done. Yay! Clean yard and a working door! Mike had stopped by the store on his way home, and when he got home, he didn't notice the yard. I had to point it out to him. However, in his defense, he was thinking of the garage door, and not looking at his surroundings.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and we've scaled back on how much food to prepare. It's going to be the first Thanksgiving in the new house, and I'm hoping things go well. We shall see.

So, I'm thinking that about sums it all up. Not much else is going on. I'm hoping to be able to head down to the Springs in a week or so, but I'll have to see for certain.

Until next time!

Recipe: Broccoli-Quinoa Casserole

My picture does not do this meal justice! I'll admit this now!
This meal was simply to make, and tasted amazing! I think that I will play around with it next time, by adding some more spices to it, as well as perhaps some tuna?

The best thing is this: It can be a great side dish, or a main course. It can be made gluten free, or filled with as much gluten as you want, and it will still be healthy!

Ingredients:

10oz can cream of broccoli (or any cream of soup)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/4 cup shredded cheese (whatever flavor, I used a colby mix)
1/2 teaspoon splenda (I didn't use any sugar)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I didn't use this either)
Dash of nutmeg
2 cups cooked broccoli
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

To cook quinoa:
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cup water

Rinse quinoa until water runs clear.
In small saucepan, combine the quinoa, water and dash of salt. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover.
Cook for 18-20 minutes or until fluffy. Fluff with fork.

Preheat oven to 350* and coat a shallow 8x8 casserole dish with vegetable cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine soup, mayonnaise, milk, cheese, splenda, pepper and nutmeg until well mixed. Stir in quinoa and broccoli.
Spoon mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle Parmesan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly on edges and golden.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Jalapeno Popper Chicken

I don't know why I didn't think of this before! I saw this recipe online, and thought, oh, well, it could be good, or it could be okay...I loved it! I foresee making this again very soon!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup panko crumbs
2 teaspoons canola oil
1.5-2 teaspoons taco seasoning
1 egg
2 oz cream cheese (I used 4oz and it was still really tasty!)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used more, simply because I used more cream cheese)
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and ribs removed (I used all of it, to give it an extra kick)
2-4 chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 375*. Spray a baking dish with cooking oil.
In a small skillet over medium heat, combine panko with the canola oil. Cook, stirring often, until the panko is crispy and golden brown. Place in a small bowl, add taco seasoning and stir to combine.
In another shallow bowl, lightly beat an egg.
In another small bowl, combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese and jalapenos.
Cut a small pocket into the side of each chicken breast until it is butterflied. (I just had flat chicken breasts, so I didn't do this part.)
Divide cream cheese mixture among the chicken breasts.
Dip each chicken piece into the egg, followed by the panko mix, to coat the chicken completely. Place the chicken on the prepared dish and cook 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Note*: Because I didn't butterfly my chicken breasts, I dipped one side into the egg then coated it with the panko mix. I laid them flat in my dish, filled it with the cream cheese mixture, then rolled them up, leaving the seam side down.

To make your own taco seasoning, instead of buying it, use the following spices:
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/8 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!

Recipe: Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

When I saw this recipe online, I knew that it was worth trying. It was simple and easy, not to mention, I already had the ingredients. The only thing that I needed to get, was a bundt pan because apparently, I never used one.

Between Mike and me, we ended up eating over half of it the afternoon that I made this. Mike finished it off the next morning. Needless to say, it's extremely good! You've been warned!


Ingredients:

2 small tubes canned buttermilk biscuits
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup pancake syrup
1/3 cup light brown sugar (I sort of guesstamated this)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I added to taste)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional) {I didn't use this}
1/4 cup chopped almonds (optional) {I didn't use this}

Spray a bundt pan with non stick spray.
Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts(if using).
Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan, followed by half of the brown sugar mixture on top of that.
Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges to form a ring.
Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixes.
Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes, or until they are cooked through.
Cool 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter.

Enjoy!

Snow, Parties, Shopping, Kamikaze Deer and Crock Pots on Fire

Hello everyone!

It's been a long while since I've updated...and for good reason too!

So, let me see where to start....

A week before the house warming party, I had people RSVPing, and I was already feeling the pressure, as I needed to get the house in order, figure out what to make and start making it, on top of making sure that I took care of the everyday things too.

One of the things that I wanted to make sure that we had in time for the house warming party, was a few things to help make the home, ours. For example, we have so many lids to our pots and pans, that it's a pain how we've got it set up currently, so I ordered a lid rack, a 5 tiered pan holder, and a decorative hanging wine rack that I wanted to use in the guest bathroom for towels. I also ordered a couple of cds too....seems like things would be fine right? Wrong.
Silly me, had gone onto my account online, deleted the old house address from my shipping address, but because I have the Amazon Prime account, I didn't realize and it didn't occur to me that I would have to go in and change my "1 Click Shipping Address". See where this is going?
So, here I am, thinking, "Yes! These things will arrive in plenty of time for us to get them in, and organized...." I get the email that things have shipped. I didn't think about it. Suddenly, I get an email stating that another item is being shipped to this address....Guess which address? Yep...the old one. Crapola! I frantically got online with UPS to talk to them about changing the shipping address, but they told me to contact the sellers and that the sellers could do it. Each one of them, told me that they couldn't do it, or it would cost me an additional $X. They said that if things are returned to them, they would refund me and I could order it again. This is after I had emailed each seller personally, explaining the error...Thanks Amazon!

So, long story short, I reordered everything, and triple checked my address,(Fixing the mess up from before), and I got most of the things, the important things, before the party. I have been refunded for everything that was sent back. At least the new owners of that house in the Springs were kind enough to return to sender and not keep the items for themselves. My bad!

One of the items, as I mentioned above, was a hanging wine rack. I loved this idea when I found it online, and begged Mike to let me get it....okay, so maybe beg is too strong of a word. I just asked him, and he said yes. *shrug*, So I like to make things a little more exciting....

It came in a big box, already assembled, and I stuck it on the wall, and placed the new towels, hand towels and washcloths that we bought to match the theme of the bathroom. Mike was concerned about hitting it, each time someone was to use the bathroom, but it seems to be working out just fine. Another thing that I loved for the guest bathroom, we had bought when we first moved into the house, when we bought the towels, shower curtain, and bath mat. It is a soap holder, that I personally think is freaking cute!

 The towel rack...nice, right?

How sticking cute is this soap holder?

 

 



The party went really well, aside from the fact that we were missing a few people who said they were coming, but overall, it was super fun! We busted out the Guitar Hero on the Wii, followed up with EveryBody Dance on the PS3, which was ended by Disc Golf and Bocce on the same system. During those games, one of my friends, Beth, was super entertaining to watch as she busted out lyrics that she didn't fully know, and was narrating her dances in the most hilarious ways! I ended up recording her antics on my phone, and played them back for people. I think that I have seen them each time I am having a bad day, and it turns it around so fast, it was as if I was never upset. I would upload them, but I have difficulties trying to mail videos from my phone...

 

The same week before the party, I woke up to a dull day outside. When I mean dull, I mean that it wasn't sunny...which usually means two things...rain or snow. Guess what...we had snow. It didn't stick around for long. It might have lasted for a couple days, but overall, it was gone just as quickly as it had started. By the time the party happened, there wasn't any traces of snow left. We even had a doe and her baby making their way around the house, in search of some grass still sticking up from the snow. Of course, each time that I send pictures of the deer to my mom, she tells me that they would come out when she's not here...Needless to say, none of the deer ventured close to the house when she was visiting. Maybe if she comes out for Thanksgiving, they will be more inclined to coming up to the house.

 

Good morning, sunshine...I mean, snowshine...?

Where's the green stuff? Where's my watermelon?!

 

 

The day after the house warming party, Mike and I took our parents, in two separate cars, to the Dinosaur National Park in Dinosaur, Colorado. We had brunch first, then we took off. It was a lot of fun to be able to talk to the folks, as we drove up. Mike joked that I was in the "fun" car, because we were having conversations whereas his car was pretty silent for most of the trip.

Once we arrived, we drove up to the visitor center first, then we headed up to the dig site. After spending some time there, we did the mile loop back down to the visitor center. Mike and I wanted to do the scenic drive around the other section of the park, but the timing was tough, as the sun was setting. We were able to get to one of the look outs before turning back.

The drive back, however, turned out to be much more exciting than the drive up. I was the lead car, and it's open country, so there are a lot of wildlife, and not many lights to brighten up the roads. As we were heading down the road, a deer ran out in front of my car. Now, at the time, I didn't think that time slowed down, but after talking about the event, everyone had told me that the deer didn't just "walk out" in front of my car, but was sprinting across the street. Everyone told me that I handled the situation very well, as I didn't panic, and I reacted quickly. I had slammed on my brakes, aiming for the hindquarters of the deer (because if you do, more than likely, the deer will have moved out of the way). I missed hitting the deer by inches. I started to drive much more cautiously, and was gripping the steering wheel so hard, that I had lost blood flow in one of my arms. I kept asking my parents if they were okay. We even joked about it, until we reached town. When we got to the restaurant that we were going to have dinner at, I realized that I was shaking pretty violently. Turns out that I was in shock over the whole ordeal...go figure, right? I ended up having a big drink, and then I couldn't stomach the food, as my nerves were still unsettled. I even broke down a few times in the restaurant over it. My mom had comforted me, telling me that everyone was fine, including Bambi, and that I handled things well. I understood all of that, but I was in shock. I also couldn't help but think of all of things that could have gone wrong. I was thankful that I was wearing my glasses, as I think that I wouldn't have been able to see the deer, had I not been wearing them. I also was very grateful that I was the lead car, as I'm not confident that the second car, which was lower to the ground, would have been able to stop in time, and the deer would have caused some major damage, not only to the car, but to Mike and his parents. I know that you're not supposed to think or dwell on the things that could have been, but I kept thinking those things.

My mom had offered to drive me home, and after thinking about it, I agreed to it. I gave her my keys, and we headed out. I told her which lane to get into, and I didn't think to tell her that the street that she was going to turn onto was a one way street. So, I tell her that after she turns, she will want the right lane. My mom takes a wide right. Of course, as she is making the turn, I inform her that there was a cop at that red light when she turned...then I look up to see that she's driving in the shoulder/parking lane of the street. I tell her that and she corrects her position on the road. Guess what? The cop put his lights on, and pulled her over. She explains the situation to the cop, who was really nice, and was laughing at her. He took my registration and her ID to his car to run it. My first question to my mom was," You didn't do this just to make me forget about the deer incident, did you?" She laughed and told me that was exactly her plan. She was afraid that she would get a ticket, but since her record is clean, and my record is clean, we would be fine. She did get a written warning, however, and I did offer to keep the evidence, but it was a good laugh to have regardless.

To make the night even better, when I opened the garage door, (the one that you have to open manually) for my mom to park, the door jams. All my mom can see of me, as I am frustratingly pounding my foot on the ground, and she thinks I'm dancing. Um...no...not dancing. Mike fixed the door with the help of my step dad, and once everyone was gone, Mike hugs me, and I break down...for two hours.

I realize that it's a silly thing to get so worked up over, but again, I was thinking about things that could have been...not the things that had happened.

 

The next day, my parents headed home, and we took Mike's parents to Steamboat Springs. We had lunch and started to do some shopping. We walked into a jewelry store, and I found a ring to fit my index and middle finger that I loved. It was made of silver, which I'm allergic to, but rings are usually pretty safe, so I asked Mike if we could buy it. He said yes, and on my finger it went.

Elephants marching, for "Michelephant".

 

Mike joked about how "Michelephant" got her elephant ring. Har har...For those of you who don't know me well, I like elephants. I had once looked into going and volunteering at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Obviously, I didn't go, and that's okay.

We went into several others stores, and when we started to pass by a candy store, I stopped as something caught my eye. Holy cow, I thought, there is Hobbes! Hobbes is the tiger companion of Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbes. We walked into the store, and I picked him up, along with a stuffed googley eyed monster that talks for Willow, and some Sixlets, as Mike has never had any before, and I've talked about them to him on numerous occasions. When he finally ate some, his comment was," Now I can die, fulfilled..." Um, okay? Whatever floats your boat. =) I had originally thought of my brother when I picked up Hobbes, but I became so attached to him, that I decided to keep him. He's pretty soft and cuddly too. He is currently sitting on the night stand next to the bed. Tigers frighten away monsters, right?

Hobbes.

 

 

After we finished our shopping, we headed to a location in Steamboat Springs, where a waterfall was. It was a short hike, 1/4 mile, and we got there to see it. I'm curious to see what it will look like when it isn't winter. I grabbed some good pictures of it, however, I haven't gotten around to downloading them to work on. Be patient, I've been busy!

 

The next day, everyone had gone home, and things were back to normal, for the most part. I spent some time cleaning, and coming up with shopping lists for food, as we only had party food leftover. There's only so much dip and sweets that you can have before you need normal food!

 

As I have mentioned before, I had printed several pictures out, and took them to the local frame shop. I'm still waiting on them to finish up my stuff. The hiccup is due to the fact that they ordered the bags to place my matted prints in, from New Jersey...and they're under water. Perfect! So, they called me today, and told me that they should have them tomorrow. I'm starting to sweat a little, as I need these things before 7am on Friday! I think we'll be okay, but it's going to be tight!

 

Friday is the first day of the craft show. I'm hoping that things go well. Fingers crossed!

 

So, last Monday, Mike and I headed up to Steamboat, to have lunch at our normal place, and grab some buckets for my shows, as well as some receipt books. We also did our grocery shopping there at the new Natural Grocers. We were looking for lamb and fish there. Of course, finding those things is a challenge in itself. I had to dig for the meats, and I found some bison, which I picked up, and then I finally found the lamb. It took me forever to find, because they packaged them in rolled packaging, instead of normal ones. Now I know...

 

So, today, I got up, called the frame shop, and was told they would contact me later to let me know if they got the bags in or not, turns out they didn't. As I got off the phone with them, I tossed the ingredients for dinner tonight into our new crock pot and turned it on. I texted Mike, to see if he wanted to have lunch together today, and then I called my mom, to answer her text. I grabbed some water, and figured that since Mike wanted to do a later lunch, that I would grab a snack to hold me over. While I'm on the phone with my mom, I get up to grab that snack, and I sniff. Something's wrong. The air smells sulfur-ish. I look around, and my eyes land on the new crock pot...it's smoking, like it's on fire. Frick! I put the phone down, and I immediately turn it off, unplugged it, and pulled the crock out....My mom is on the phone, wondering what is going on. I'm just lucky that I was still at home when that happened. I told Mike the incident, and he could do nothing but laugh.

 

After lunch, I headed to Wal-Mart, and grabbed a few things that I needed for Friday and things that we just needed. One of those things was a clock. A clock, you ask? Well, when Mike and I are in the living room, there is no clock there to tell us what time it is, aside from the Playstation, which unless you stop playing whatever (game/movie) you can't see what time it is. So, I found a nice clock and placed it on one of the pre-existing nails.

 

 

The new clock!

 

Another thing that I picked up, was some pseudo flowers and grass for the nice vase that we have. I picked some nice things out, that I liked anyways, and of course, they had metal in the stems, so it took me some time to bend and manipulate them so that they would break down to the size that I needed/wanted.

 

I think they turned out well.

 

 

I also grabbed a bundt pan, as a recipe that I am going to try, requires it, and I don't have one! Well, I do now, and the other thing that I picked up was some pajama bottoms. I have some that are so old, that I've had since I was 14 or 15, and I've been wearing them. Mike would come up behind me, poke my behind, and say, "There's a hole there." Um...thanks...I think? At first, I thought he was being facetious, as my first train of thought is," Yeah, you're poking me in the butt, of course there's a hole there", but then I realized that he meant the tore hole kind...oops. Silly me. So, I found some nice fleece bottoms at Wal-Mart, and now I can toss out the "You've got a hole there" bottoms.

 

After leaving Wal-Mart, I went to get my flu shot, and the Pharmacist at Walgreens stuck me hard! I wasn't impressed with the technician, as the Pharmacist girl had to micromanage the tech, but everything was nice. I told the Pharmacist girl that I admired her ability to work in a retail pharmacy. I had to explain to her that I worked in a hospital pharmacy, and that I couldn't do Walgreens. She laughed and said that some days she wished that there were four of her, and that some days her patience runs thins, but I laughed and said that I knew that feeling too! I hoped that I made her day a little better, but who knows? Oh, and get your flu shots! It's going to be a particularly bad year for influenza!!

 

So now...I think I've caught you up. Thanksgiving is still up in the air, as far as what we are doing. I've sent the invite to family to come out here, but who knows what will happen. I've got several craft shows coming up, and we already know that we are going to Portland for Christmas.

 

Um...so yeah...

 

Until next time!











Recipe: Loaded Baked Potato Dip

For the house warming party, I wanted to make sure that we would have enough food to go around. I didn't realize that I would be making so much food, that Mike and I would have to eat most of it. When I found this recipe, I thought that I would like it...I loved it! My mom even liked it! This was a cinch to make, and everyone seemed to really like them. After looking at the ingredients, I was laughing, as I thought that I would have to add some potatoes into the dip...guess not.

Ingredients:

16 ounces sour cream
16 slices (12-ounce package) bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions or chives
 

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to allow flavors to meld together. Garnish with extra shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, and chopped chives. Serve with your favorite potato chips or pretzel crisps. Dip can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Enjoy!