FINALLY

We have SNOW!!!! Grant and I love snow! I also love the fact that I have a random day off from work.

Here are some pics of our morning.

Card Swap

I'm participating in a Valentine's day card swap, so I had to start thinking of card layouts. After many failed designs, I chose this as my final swap idea. Cute and simple.

Cards, Cards, Cards

I had so much fun at the Stampin Up soiree. We made some cute cards and I got some good ideas for Valentine's day cards. And let me just say-- those women are SERIOUS stampers. They all screamed (literally screamed) when a decorative paper sampler was passed around (little strips of paper people). There were a few times when I had to hold in a laugh (Krystal knows what I am talking about)! Serious stampers equals cute cards though.

Here are a few of the cards we made.

Cards and Cold weather

I'm going to a SU make and take soiree tomorrow. I'm super excited! For those that have no idea what I'm talking about- it's all about stamping and homemade cards/scrapbooking. A place to make cards, get ideas, and become a demonstrator if you so desire. Hopefully, I'll come away with some cute ideas and, at the very least, enjoy a catered lunch from Sweet Tomatoes. I'm going with some friends, so that always makes it more fun. Hopefully, I'll have some cute stuff to post soon. I'm also participating in a Valentine's Day card swap soon, so I need to get myself in gear and start thinking about those. Ahh, so much to do, so little time.

Hope you are surviving the cold that has blanketed most of the U.S. Well, except my friends in Hawaii who are probably enjoying a nice balmy 75 degree day. Just a little jealous.

Hope you have a nice day off on Monday. You can think of me, because I do not have the day off. Again, just a little jealous.

Cool blog

I was directed to a very cool blog the other day. It is exactly the kind of stuff I love to read about-- frugal living, natural foods, green living and Christianity. I have found it to be very helpful and I wanted to post it here so you could visit it should you ever have the desire to make your own sauerkraut, create your own shampoo or just read up on the benefits and uses of kefir!!! Oh, don't be shy, you know you want to!!

www.passionatehomemaking.com

They're getting too big

My sweet "babies" are turning 6 today! I still remember the day they were born (and I mean the moment they took their first breath, people). And now they're little people. I mean they talk, sing, make jokes, pretend, fight, laugh- they do it all. It's insane how fast they grow up!

Here they were a mere hour or two after their birth with their grandpa.

And here they are being cute little people.

Happy birthday you guys. Don't grow up too fast on me.

Disclaimer: They are not my real babies, but I'll always think of them like that because I'm an aunt and I can do those things.

Resolutions . . . No thanks. Goals . . . sure.

I have never been one for resolutions. Ever. Can't thing of a single resolution I have ever made. And I don't know why I don't make 'em-- there are always ways to make my lifestyle better/healthier/happier, etc. And, I am actually good about finishing what I start, but for some reason I just don't make them.

However, my GOALS for this year (because, didn't you know, a goal is so not like a resolution?!) are as follows:

*Figure out a budget and stick to it (Grant's and my goal). We are not really budget people. We hardly spend extraneous money, and we generally know where our money is going, but we've never sat down and actually, gasp, budgeted.

*Live off of one salary and put the rest in savings. Lofty goal-- we might as well get used to it though. And if we can make it through these economic times, than we have a shot at this.

*Take baby steps in obtaining and eating the most natural foods as possible. I could go on and on about this. Part of our budgeting will be figuring out what natural foods I can splurge on. Oh, didn't you know- I'm in love with pasture fed, hormone free chickens and the precious eggs they produce. Don't roll your eyes . . . I can see you.

*Help my cats lose weight. Oh, my sweet little Sadie is a rather plump cat. She spends every waking moment consumed with the thought of her tasty little morsels of food. I'm serious people. It's bad and her cries are enough to drive me batty. I've already cut back on their food intake and it has helped some. I saw a biggest loser like competition for animals and thought about entering her, but then quickly thought that she might never recover from having to be weighed in front of her feline peers. She's sensitive like that.

*Improve my herb and vegetable garden. I'm itching to get it started again. Can't wait for March to roll around. I adore having basil, rosemary and tomatoes at my fingertips. Grant and I also want to landscape our backyard a bit. It's not feeling the love right now. Of course, that might change when I'm by myself on a Saturday and it's 100 degrees outside. Then I might throw this goal out the window.

*Try to live as plastic free as possible. I'm trying to build my stash of glass food containers this year and slowly get rid of all my plastic tupperware. Just something I want to do.

*Be able to do a sidesplit. Yep, my lifelong goal has been to do a sidesplit. Will this be the year?

So those are some of my more loftier goals.

What are some of your goals this year?

Homemade Artisan Bread

I got the best bread baking book for Christmas. My dad, while in the bookstore, happened to run into a baker who recommended this book. After having made some of the recipes, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who wants to bake their own bread. Who knew that steaming the bread while in the oven was the secret?

Here is my bread rising . . . (sounds like a movie title)

Here is the final product-- yummmmm.

This was so delicious and so easy to make. Kind've even resembles the book cover?!

2008

I'll be honest-- I'm glad to say goodbye to 2008. This year was another nondescript year for me. Nothing especially exciting happened and, thankfully, nothing bad happened either. It was a year filled with the same routines and the same scenery. I know that for my sanity's sake, I need a year filled with different routines and perhaps, different scenery.

Most of you know what my hopes are for this year. I get scared talking about it too much, because I feel that I may jinx the whole thing. But I'm praying hard for a different kind of year this year. One filled with the extraordinary, one that will turn my world upside down (for the better), one that will show me God's amazing love and grace, one that will teach, one that will humble, one that will challenge, and one that will simply be different.

My sincere hope is that God will bless you with the type of year that you crave.

Happy New Year

We hope that 2009 will be a great year for you.