I see I left off around April 5th and I realize why I stopped blogging around then..things got so busy! Vern had his shoulder surgery April 8th and so far has recovered very quickly! I could re-tell the horror stories of his post-op misery but I will spare you the gory details..... Vern spent 7 weeks at home during the also chaotic remodel going on upstairs. He cooked,cleaned and made us tons of delicious food on his new smoker,we were spoiled! That brings me back to..THE REMODEL. Well....it's almost done! Let's just skip those gory details too,I just never want to go through that again. We got through it. Nuff said. BUT NOW it looks gorgeous and we are excited for Del to have such a nice addition! The house is looking better and better all the time :)
  Vern and I on the other hand, have been busy working in the yard! We have a garden,new flower beds full of sunflowers,a squash patch,new 5'X3' flower boxes and an antique wash bin we found at a garage sale. The yard is looking very cute,I just wish summer would hurry up and get here!

Blogging Round 2

I'm back. After a few busy insane months away...I'm back to blogging :) The credit all goes to my friend Melody! I love her blog so much it inspires me to attempt this one more time...so we'll see how it goes. haha My goodness I have so much to tell you all and tons of pictures to share! Just not tonight....but soon :)

Easter

You want to know my secret for delicious Deviled Eggs?




Do you promise not to tell?



Promise?


You have to dye the eggs first!With good ol' food coloring....in a plastic Dixie cup!

Then you can peel them and make your favorite eggy side dish!
I refuse to grow up :)

Even making Easter brownies got a little messy!

I Want To Be Six Again

To Whom it May Concern:

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult, in order to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old. The tax base is lower. I want to be six again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think it's the best place in the world to eat.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make waves with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat them.

I want to play kickball during recess and stay up on Christmas Eve waiting to hear Santa and Rudolph on the roof.

I long for the days when life was simple. When all you knew were your colors, the addition tables and simple nursery rhymes, but it didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.

I want to go to school and have snack time, recess, gym and field trips.

I want to be happy, because I don't know what should make me upset.

I want to think the world is fair and everyone in it is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible.

Sometime, while I was maturing, I learned too much. I learned of nuclear weapons, prejudice, starving and abused kids, lies, unhappy marriages, illness, pain and mortality.

I want to be six again.

I want to think that everyone, including myself, will live forever, because I don't know the concept of death.

I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want television to be something I watch for fun, not something used for escape from the things I should be doing.

I want to live knowing the little things that I find exciting will always make me as happy as when I first learned them.

I want to be six again.

I remember not seeing the world as a whole, but rather being aware of only the things that directly concerned me.

I want to be naive enough to think that if I'm happy, so is everyone else.

I want to walk down the beach and think only of the sand beneath my feet and the possibility of finding that blue piece of sea glass I'm looking for.

I want to spend my afternoons climbing trees and riding my bike, letting the grownups worry about time, the dentist and how to find the money to fix the old car.

I want to wonder what I'll do when I grow up and what I'll be, who I'll be and not worry about what I'll do if this doesn't work out.

I want that time back.

I want to use it now as an escape, so that when my computer crashes, or I have a mountain of paperwork, or two depressed friends, or a fight with my spouse, or bittersweet memories of times gone by, or second thoughts about so many things, I can travel back and build a snowman, without thinking about anything except whether the snow sticks together and what I can possibly use for the snowman's mouth.

I want to be six again . Author Unknown

Chit Chat?

Easter is coming! Do you know what that means?!?! Vern and I's 2 year anniversary!Here we are at Cape Flattery,WA approximately 2 years ago

I'm still typing away, preparing recipes for the cookbook.
Work is good,I am so grateful to have so many loyal clients keeping me busy!

I think that the most important thing a woman can have - next to talent, of course - is her hairdresser.-Joan Crawford 

My new favorite products this week are a few things I picked up at work. Pure Results Sugar Scrub by Regis (sold only at HairMasters and other Regis owned salons) and the Cashmere body wash and lotion set. If you use the scrub on your whole body and then Cashmere body scrub after,you feel soft like a new born baby and yet you also smell feminine and sexy ;)
We canceled our gym membership. Ever since we decided to cancel I've lost almost 10 pounds. Ironic. Whatever.
Planning a trip home to Idaho soon. I haven't been home since last summer! I'm homesick!
Vern's surgery is next week.I am praying that he will have a successful surgery and a painless recovery. Poor guy :( It's going to be hard to see someone I love so much in pain! (While telling a friend I was going to keep him doped up for the first few days,she laughed and compared me to Cathy Bates in that movie Misery!LOL!)

Random Little Things

Preserving Spills & Thumbprints

 I am working on a family cookbook. It's a effort to preserve the precious recipes that are disappearing as fast as the generations of my family.I will be using old family photos and a few photos of my own for the book. I have been and will be taking photos and making a few recipes in the process just for fun! Tonight I made my Mom's recipe for chicken casserole and it was delish!

You can tell a lot about a woman by her recipes. My Mom's recipes all seem to be easy,quick,inexpensive and enough food to feed a small army. She raised 4 kids and ran a business with my Dad yet she still found time to feed us a yummy meal each night. Amazing! I have no kids and work 32 hours a week and can't manage to cook more that 2-3 times a week!

As I sit here at my computer copying the recipes I get a sentimental twinge..I love these recipes just the way they are..the newspaper clippings and food spotted recipe cards written in the handwriting of generations of women before me.

Then my eyes turn to the version I have just created....

My heart sinks. What have I done? But wait...I'm trying to make these last another few generations..isn't that good? Perhaps I need to scan some the recipes just as they are and add them to the book that way?Oh yes...brilliant... that makes me feel better! :) Off to keep at it..my goal is to have this book written,designed and printed by Mother's Day 2011..and that's pushing it!