tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66385641443427092482024-03-12T22:50:10.612-04:00Marcy and ScottWe have been married since November, 2003. We live in Loganville, GA. We have two adorable cats who rule our house. Scott is a Network Administrator and Marcy is an Accountant. We strive daily to live a life that is pleasing to our Lord and to grow closer to Him! Please feel free to leave us comments and let us know what you think about our blog and our posts!Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551491977212640241noreply@blogger.comBlogger267125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-20945329471285443742013-08-05T11:38:00.000-04:002013-08-05T11:38:25.325-04:00Our Journey to Ruth - Part IWow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything on here! We have had a lot going on, however. <br />
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Scott and I welcomed Ruth Abigail Bowden into this world on June 25. This is something that we have prayed for and tried for for 5 years. We made the decision early on in our journey through trying to conceive that we would share our problems with very few people. In some ways, we were protecting ourselves and in some ways we were protecting others from the pain of it. It was one wild and sometimes terrifying ride for sure. Just because we have one baby does not mean that this journey is over. We never know what will happen when we try for our next. But, for now we will praise God and be thankful for this little life that He has put us in charge of raising. I'd like to take the time here to share our journey from the beginning. This promises to be a long post, and probably difficult for me to write. I have actually been thinking about what to write since we found out we were expecting and had a draft out here for about 4 months.<br />
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God has been working in our hearts for a long time when it comes to children. When Scott and I got married, we both agreed that we wanted two children, no more no less. We didn't really think of children as a joy and a blessing, but just something you did as a married couple. We knew that some people enjoyed their children and some people did not, but most people around us complained about their kids, sent them off to daycare as much as possible, and talked about how coming back to work on Monday was a nice break from the kids. At church, all the kids were sent to the nursery or to children's church. Then, God worked in our lives by breaking our hearts, really. We left our church, along with quite a few other members due to some disagreements on Biblical truths. We visited other churches and had meetings with the other former church members who had left our church and soon we realized we needed to plant our own church. It was a very tough road but we all did what we could and God blessed us. Our new church was family integrated. I didn't realize at first that this was by design. I thought it was because we didn't have the space to send all the kids off to the nursery. Families in our church started growing and multiplying. We enjoyed being around their children. We began to see the blessing and joy that God intended for children to be. We both agreed that when we were ready to begin growing our family, we would see how many children God wanted us to have. <br />
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In December of 2007, Scott and I decided to begin trying to have children. Every month we felt excitement and then disappointment that nothing would happen. Then, I started researching fertility and trying to understand how things worked better. After much testing, research, and praying about God's will in all of this, we saw 2 different reproductive endocrinologists (RE), had several IUIs, one round of IVF, all interspersed with seeing a nutritionist/naturopath and 2 acupuncturists, losing 30 lbs, and trying a gluten free/dairy free diet for 1.5 years. We found out that I have an auto immune issue called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which means that my body's immune system is attacking my thyroid. Thankfully, we caught it before it could cause me to be hypothyroid. We learned that being on a gluten free/dairy free diet does not help this for me. In 2011, we went on a cruise in the summer and when we got back, we realized that I was pregnant, but miscarrying. Then, in 2012, our RE suggested immune testing (which is something I had asked him about more than a year previously and he said there wasn't enough proof that looking at that helped anything). He suggested we have a phone consultation with an RE in Chicago that specializes in immunology. She looked at our records and suggested a few more tests and came back saying that I have an auto immune issue called Natural Killer Cells. The type I have can be treated before, during, and after an IVF cycle with an IV treatment called intralipids. This is much cheaper than the alternative, IVIG. We got these results in September, I believe. <br />
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On Oct 3, 2012, I was working from home and I used a break to call my RE and schedule an appointment to have our initial consult to begin our second round of IVF. The consult was scheduled for the following Tuesday (this was a Wednesday). When I got off the phone, I knew that they were going to ask me the first day of my last menstrual cycle. I knew it was the Wed. before Labor Day, or was it the Wed after? I texted Scott to verify. I counted days. I counted two...three times. Hmmm...this didn't make any sense. It had been 36 days. I may not have been ovulating for the past 5 years, but I had never had a cycle longer than 33 days or shorter than 28 days, ever; even the month I was actually pregnant. My heart did some weird things. My stomach flipped over. I remained calm. I did not mention this to anyone, even Scott. The very last thing I wanted to do was suffer another miscarriage. But, I'd hate to be pregnant and NOT know it and NOT do everything in my power to keep the baby alive. The next morning I did the thing I dreaded most - I took a home pregnancy test. It was one of the ones you buy that was pretty expensive. It was positive. I checked the expiration date. Yep, it was still good. I went into the bedroom and rifled around in a drawer for one of the freebies that always came with my cheapo ovulation test strips (I always laughed about getting these - like I'd need them! Ha!). It was positive. I stood there in my bathroom holding my little cup of pee wondering what I should do next. So, I woke Scott up. He was annoyed "WHAT?!" I must say that earlier that week I had woken him up to tell him that there was water leaking into our closet (we never did find that leak, come to think of it) and it was not unusual for me to wake him up to come kill a bug for me. I laughed inwardly without breaking a smile outwardly. I asked him to come look at something for me. (He sighed loudly, more inward laughing). I picked up both tests and showed him and explained why I'd taken them. We both stood in the bathroom staring at them then at each other. We knew that either way, this would change us forever - whether we were about to have another miscarriage or have a baby. We agreed to call the RE. I called and left a message with his nurse on the way to work. She called me as soon as he got in and told me to get there that day, that morning. Scott and I both went, smiling, but nervous. I think we both had a kind of glassy-eyed shocked expression. We talked about normal stuff in the waiting area. We sat down in the RE's office and stared at him. We hung on every breath he took before he started talking. "Congratulations!" What? How could he say that yet? They didn't have any blood work or anything yet. He ordered blood work, and he started writing prescriptions. Scott had his iPad and was typing notes furiously. I sat there and stared, my mouth hanging open. He wrote me prescriptions for steroids, antibiotics, progesterone, baby aspirin, and the IV infusion of intralipids. Depending on the bloodwork (which he ordered for Scott and me both), I might have to do the intralipids once or once every two weeks. Thankfully, the blood work came back showing that I only had to do it once. What the intralipids does is coat all the cells in my body to look the same so that my body did not try to attack and kill the "foreign" matter that was our baby. We were optimistic and skeptical all at the same time. <br />
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Based on the bloodwork levels for HCG (the pregnancy hormone), my nurse estimated that my due date could not be calculated by counting the days since my last menstrual cycle. She suspected I had ovulated late. There was no doubt. Based on the fact that Scott had a stomach virus that month and I was working tons of long days for budget, I would have guessed no less than one week late. If we had gone based on counting days, our due date would have been June 8. Based on our ultrasound findings (early ultrasounds are very accurate for dating babies), our due date was June 15! As is turns out, we found out about our pregnancy early because I ovulated late! I think I was maybe 4 weeks when we found out...which is in reality 2 weeks after the conception date. What a miracle! <br />
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God orchestrated our pregnancy in a way that only He could take credit. Scott and I always knew that if we got pregnant, no matter how we got pregnant, it would be His doing. However, this way, no one could argue that. Our daughter's entire story is a testimony to God's plan.<br />
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Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-75281190093902386952012-07-06T21:55:00.001-04:002012-07-06T21:55:33.285-04:00The Pot Tower<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture taken this week.</td></tr>
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We found this idea on Pinterest. I loved it. Sadly, I did not take pictures while we were doing it because we were kind of in a hurry once we got home with all the stuff. I'd gone to the <a href="http://www.growersoutlet.com/" target="_blank">Growers' Outlet</a> up the street and just randomly bought two each of several plants I liked plus a huge tray of Marigolds for the pots in the back to keep bugs away. I had tons of Marigolds leftover. I was telling Scott about how I really needed some taller plant stands, etc...but that I'd settle for making the pot tower. His interest was peaked. We measured, planned, went to the store, and made some purchases.<br />
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We wanted a 6' piece of rebar, but could only find 10'. Then, we decided if we had to buy a 10' piece, we'd just use 6.5'. A guy at The Home Depot cut it down to 6.5' with a hack saw. Based on our measurements, the height of a pot ended up being about the diameter of the pot when we tilted it the way we thought they should be tilted. But, we ended up needing another pot, so apparently our calculations were off a bit. We hammered the rebar 18" into the ground, leaving 5' sticking out. I would suggest doing no less than 18", you could even cut your rebar down to 7' and hammer 2' for more sturdiness. Our neighbor came out when they saw our flurry of activity and helped. Then, made suggestions. When we realized we needed another pot, he suggested that we add in a colored pot. Wow the colored pot cost about three times the clay pot of the same size. But, I love it. If we decided to add another colored pot next year, I will invest in spray paint and just spray paint a pot we already have. We ended up using some pots I already had and buying the rest. We used 2-10" (one flower pot and one azalea pot), 2-8", 2-6" and then the blue pot which I would guess is about 8". <br />
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Once we'd hammered the rebar into the ground, we put one 8" pot upside down over the rebar (just slide the rebar through the drainage hole). I took a plastic grocery bag and put it down in each pot to line it then pushed a hole through the bag just over the drainage hole. I leave the handles sticking out and everything until I am done planting, then I trim them. This is important when you have a hot dry summer with clay pots because they release so much moisture through their pores. Then, we put the first 10" (right side up) over the rebar and held it in place slanted until we put the next 10" pot over it and once we got them slanted going in opposite directions of each other, they stayed. Then, we added the regular 8" pot, the blue pot, and the 2-6"s. The end product is probably 5-6" taller than me (I'm 5'1.5"), because we made sure that our top pot was on the rebar, but the rebar was not sticking out of it. For the rebar and the pots (including the cost of the two we already had), we paid approximately $50.<br />
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We filled each pot half full of dirt. Then, I hemmed and hawed and placed all the plants in different gatherings until I had decided what to do, then of course as I filled the pots, I changed my mind a couple of times or things just didn't fit the way I thought they would. I think that's how I ended up with the two Million Belles on the same side and the two Sweet Potato vines on the same side. After I put the plants in the way I liked them, I filled them the rest of the way with dirt, pressed it all down, and Scott followed after me with a box knife and cut the bag handles off and tucked them in the dirt. I probably used a little less than half of a big bag of potting soil that I had already purchased for my pots out back. I think it was 2 cubic feet and cost about $6. <br />
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The interesting part is watering them the first time when all the dirt is loose in a tilted pot. Watering is...fun. You have to just put a little water in each pot. If you put too much, it will run off and cause erosion onto the next pot's plant. I find that I enjoy our pot tower so much that I am more likely to remember to water it and to take the time to dead head all the flowers. The recent heat spell that came through has claimed one of the Marigolds, but thankfully it was in the back of that pot and since it was in there with a Million Belles, I am hoping no one can tell from the street. Lots of neighbors have stopped by to ask how we did it. It definitely adds height to our garden. <br />
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In case you are wondering, I used two white Gerbera Daisies, two purple Angelonia, one Sweet Potato vine that I had two little vines in it split into two pots, two yellow Million Belles, two pink Geraniums, two Blue Daze, and at least one Marigold in each pot except the top one, which was too small. Because I got the plants super cheap at the Growers' Outlet, I think I spent about $25 in total on the plants.<br />
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I really enjoyed this project. I still enjoy taking care of our pot tower.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture taken on the day we built the pot tower, April 14.</td></tr>
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I hope I've helped if you weren't sure about how to go about this. If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll answer it the best I can. When I first saw this on Pinterest, the link I had only had a picture, but I have since seen others posting tutorials.Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-20895599352554555252012-06-14T21:24:00.000-04:002012-06-14T21:29:37.947-04:00Luggage Tag TutorialHi Y'all!<br />
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It has been so long since I have posted anything that blogger has updated! Wow! The purpose of this post is for me to share the way I made a luggage tag. I read through and attempted three different versions I found on Pinterest. I kind of used a snippet from each of theirs to make mine like I wanted. These are the ones I tried. <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/sewing/Other/Free-luggage-tag-pattern-and-tutorial/11467;jsessionid=09E7B76189DC339953CBEAC503BCF5E9.marley">This one</a> was just too "curvy" for my sewing abilities, but I liked the button hole to keep it closed. Because I purchased the super-firm double sided fusible interfacing called for in the previous tutorial, my tag was just too thick to do <a href="http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/11/13/fabric-luggage-tag-for-business-card/">this one</a>. But, I liked the fact that the handle was made from the same fabric instead of ribbon. Finally, <a href="http://projectnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/07/luggage-taglets.html">this one</a> was really the simplest, but when I made it then shook the tag upside down, the address label fell out. So, here is my way. I am still not crazy with the idea of snipping out the fabric from the window without hemming it, but I just don't think I can think of a better way. Any suggestions for doing this better are welcome.<br />
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Materials:<br />
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Vinyl - (1) 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece (keep the paper)<br />
Top fabric - (1) 3 1/2" x 5" and (1) 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece<br />
Bottom fabric - (1) 3 1/2" x 5" and (1) 2" x 12" piece<br />
Fusible interfacing - single sided fusible is fine for this project - (2) 3" x 4 1/2" pieces<br />
Coordinating thread<br />
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Supplies:<br />
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Scissors and/or rotary cutter and mat<br />
Iron<br />
Sewing machine - you'll need to be able to do a button hole and a zig-zag stitch<br />
Parchment paper <br />
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I went to a quilting store to find the vinyl. It came in a roll, like this:<br />
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You can use whichever stiffness of fusible interfacing you want, it depends on how stiff you want your luggage tags. Mine was super stiff because I bought it for a different tag than the one I ended up making. I would suggest one a bit less stiff. It will make it easier to turn inside out. And, it will probably be less expensive than what I bought.<br />
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When I ironed the fabric and fusible interfacing together, I protected my ironing board and iron by folding it into a piece of parchment paper. One of the brands of interfacing I used suggested to do this, so I just kept doing it.<br />
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The very first thing you want to do is find some fun materials that you like.<br />
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Step 1: Cut out all of your materials. Don't forget to hold onto the paper from your vinyl!<br />
Step 2: Iron on the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of one piece of your bottom fabric and the 3 1/2" x 5" piece of your top fabric.<br />
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Step 3: Iron your 2" x 12" piece in half, lengthwise. Then, open it up and fold each end in to the center. Then, fold those in half. You will end up with a 1/2" x 12" piece. See pictures below. Sew down the length of this strip, kind of close to the edge, on each side of this folded fabric. This is the strap of your tag. Set this aside.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ironed flat </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ironed in half</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Open up and iron one side in to the crease<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron the other side in to the crease <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then iron the whole thing in half to be 1/2" wide</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is another strip that shows where to sew, sort of</td></tr>
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<br />Step 4: Make a button hole on the 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of your top fabric, about 1 1/2" from the edge of one end. The button hole should be a teeny bit wider than the strap, just enough to pullt he strap through. Now fold the end over and make a hem. You will want this piece to end up shorter than the actual tag or when you go to sew the end up, you'll have a hard time doing that. See the picture below the next step to see what I am talking about. I hope this makes sense.</div>
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Step 5: Now, center your vinyl on the right side of your fabric with the button hole. You'll want it to be close enough to the button hole that you can zig-zag stitch and be close but not touching. I kind of centered it across the width. You just need enough at the opposite end of the button hole end to sew the tag together. I don't know if I took a picture of this, but hopefully you'll see what I mean in the finished product. Go ahead and zig-zag stitch all the way around the edge of the vinyl. You will want to leave the paper on there or your presser foot will stick to the vinyl and it won't move. This will be very frustrating and you will want to jump up and down (not that I would ever do that). So, don't try it. Use the paper. Here is a picture of the button hole, hem, and vinyl sewn on. I am apparently not good at documenting.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-COt_Ezfh6SY/T9qL8XkG6yI/AAAAAAAABBs/HuXR8iFIrbE/s1600/P6010403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pca="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-COt_Ezfh6SY/T9qL8XkG6yI/AAAAAAAABBs/HuXR8iFIrbE/s320/P6010403.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Step 6: You can now pull the paper off. It should come off pretty easily because you have just perforated it with a zillion holes. I did a very "close" zig-zag on all but one, so I didn't need to try to pull the paper out of the stitching area on any of them except that one that had a less "close" stitch. It's a pain. And a mess.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1zBiMQ1UDao/T9qMK8b2ITI/AAAAAAAABB0/UuzNmac7hOI/s1600/P5270359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1zBiMQ1UDao/T9qMK8b2ITI/AAAAAAAABB0/UuzNmac7hOI/s320/P5270359.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Step 7: Now, very close to the stitch, cut your fabric out of the window, like in the picture. If this isn't clear, let me know. It might be kind of hard to tell, but you can kind of see it.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xkm-rbm3i50/T9qNC5Ow2hI/AAAAAAAABB8/bW2jTYzgEUs/s1600/P5310390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xkm-rbm3i50/T9qNC5Ow2hI/AAAAAAAABB8/bW2jTYzgEUs/s320/P5310390.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Step 8: Take your piece of top fabric with the interfacing attached and lay it interfacing side down on the table. Take the window piece and lay it face up on top of this. Make sure that your hemmed end will be shorter than the end of your tag. This is your chance to adjust the hem if it isn't. Lay the piece of bottom fabric with the interfacing attached and lay it interfacing side up. Now you have an inside out luggage tag sandwich. <br />
Step 9: Sew very closely around the edge of the interfacing on the fabric, on all three sides except the edge that has the button hole/hemmed edge. Leave that one open.<br />
Step 10: Turn the whole thing inside out (the window stays with the matching fabric).<br />
Step 11: Now, fold in the edges and sew all the way across the top. I had to give it two rows of stitching to make sure I got the hem because it was kind of small. Plus, I ironed the hem in before sewing to make it stay in place. <br />
Step 12: Fold the strap in half and line it up with the botton hole, between the window fabric and the upper fabric, but not so far down that you can see if through the window. You'll kind of have to fold down the window piece, and then sew the strap on there. I went backwards then forwards twice and made two rows of stitching to make it nice and sturdy. Pull your strap through the botton hole.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u0fr8TzDENY/T9qNj_L0m0I/AAAAAAAABCI/8zX0b1L0RVk/s1600/P5280378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u0fr8TzDENY/T9qNj_L0m0I/AAAAAAAABCI/8zX0b1L0RVk/s320/P5280378.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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You're all done! The tag will hold an address label the size of a business card.</div>
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Let me know if something doesn't make sense and I'll correct it. I know that sometimes something that makes sense in my head doesn't make sense to anyone else. :)<br />
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I could never have figured this out on my own, so I am super thankful for the three other tutorials that I went through to get to this one.<br />
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I made four of these for my sister for her birthday. She seemed pleased with them. Scott was like, well, are you going to make some for us? Yes, before our cruise in November, I will do that.Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-73944348277344765532011-05-30T16:55:00.016-04:002011-06-03T22:56:16.325-04:00Vacation<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8EdRuF__yo/TemdmWkj0aI/AAAAAAAAA_s/MYjYNbFtr6A/s1600/P5200006.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614191692713546146" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8EdRuF__yo/TemdmWkj0aI/AAAAAAAAA_s/MYjYNbFtr6A/s400/P5200006.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>I know, it's been a long time. There's been lots of stuff going on, but I have been prioritizing and other stuff has bene taking priority over blogging. But, we just took a long, amazing vacation. I felt that it deserved a blog post. I have already posted pictures on Facebook, so <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2146358337574.2133587.1204740953&l=e02492e0b6">I will share those pictures here </a>so that I don't have to re-upload them. That would take forever! Just a warning, this is a really long post!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tymIqHsQykA/TeQJF-DfaHI/AAAAAAAAA-g/fTk9oasHxUE/s1600/IMGP2408.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612621033772116082" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tymIqHsQykA/TeQJF-DfaHI/AAAAAAAAA-g/fTk9oasHxUE/s320/IMGP2408.JPG" /></a>We left our house on Thursday, May 12 after work. We drove down to Tifton to eat, stopping at an Olive Garden on the way down. We drove the rest of the way to Tampa on Friday, checked in at our hotel, then headed over to Busch Gardens. School hadn't let out yet, so there were not many people there. We rode every ride we wanted to ride that day, but didn't really spend that much time looking at the animals and all that. Friday night after we got back from the park, we went over to the mall close to the port in Tampa and had dinner at <a href="http://www.maggianos.com/en/Pages/Menu.aspx">Maggiano's </a>and watched <a href="http://thor.marvel.com/">Thor</a>. We really enjoyed both. I thought Thor would be more exciting, but it was still good. I am glad that now I know the story. We went back to Busch Gardens on Saturday and spent more time looking at the animals. The first thing we did was ride the train around the park so that we could see all the animals that are out in the open area. We rode a couple rides, at lunch, then went to the <a href="http://buschgardens.com/Bgt/Explore/Shows.aspx?id=2046">Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy</a>, which was kind of like a miniature Cirque de Soliel (we think). We stopped to watch a short Christian concert and then it rained pretty hard. We ducked into one of the shops and tried to wait it out, but it just kept sprinkling. So, we bought a couple of ponchos and headed over to the animal area you can walk through. There we saw giraffes, gorillas, a small aquarium area (small compared to the GA aquarium), meerkats, and lions. I love giraffes! They were a lot of fun to watch. The little meerkats were also so cute! We had seen that they were having a <a href="http://www.michaelwsmith.com/">Michael W. Smith </a>concert that evening, so we headed over there. The openers were the the <a href="http://www.sidewalkprophets.com/bio">Sidewalk Prophets</a>. We really enjoyed it. We would definitely pay to see Michael W. Smith. We ate dinner on the way to get in one more ride before the park closed. We purchased the <a href="http://buschgardens.com/Bgt/Explore/Restaurants.aspx">all day dining deal </a>that Busch Gardens offers and it was well worth it because we were able to get bottled waters and snacks all day when we wanted it. Here is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2146301936164.2133579.1204740953&l=be97b84c13">our album of pictures </a>from Busch Gardens.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zNWqpIOqdJo/TemO5K_mHpI/AAAAAAAAA-s/q6lErpkj8Xs/s1600/IMGP2521.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614175523348815506" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zNWqpIOqdJo/TemO5K_mHpI/AAAAAAAAA-s/q6lErpkj8Xs/s320/IMGP2521.JPG" /></a>On Sunday morning, we got up and took our time packing and eating breakfast, then headed over to he Port in Tampa. We went through the embarkation process to get our Sail and Sign cards (the ship ID) and got on the <a href="http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/ships/carnival_legend/default.aspx?shipCode=LE">Carnival Legend</a>. The first thing we did was find the buffet since our room wasn't ready yet. The food was pretty good. We chose the chinese buffet line. It was hard to find a table, so I sat at the first empty table we found while Scott got his food and then got mine while he ate. That was really the only way to do it since we were still lugging around our carry on luggage. By the time we were done with lunch, we were able to go to our room and put down our stuff. We then headed out to the pool to wait for the muster drill and the sail-away. We paid for a room with just a window, but we got upgraded for free to an obstructed balcony, probably because our ship wasn't full and my sister booked our cruise through her company and they book tons of cruises throug Carnival. The only other big things we did that night was go to dinner and the Welcome Aboard show. The show was so late that we checked out the Sing-along in the piano bar with a guy named Mr. H. That was a lot of fun. We met a couple at dinner who would supposedly be sharing our table for the week, Jocilyn and Dustin. The picture is of us sitting at the pool before the muster drill.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IwrCzWIv8GU/TemPhIXTQ1I/AAAAAAAAA-0/ayCEZnUalv0/s1600/IMGP2543.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614176209837704018" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IwrCzWIv8GU/TemPhIXTQ1I/AAAAAAAAA-0/ayCEZnUalv0/s320/IMGP2543.JPG" /></a>Monday was a "Fun Day at Sea" meaning we were cruising all day. We went to a couple of seminars about what do do in the ports when you weren't on an excursion, mainly about shopping. Please remind me to never waste my time at one of those again. They hand you all the information you need on the way off the ship and none of the "great deals" they talk about are really all that great from what I can tell. We also laid out in the sun, ate lunch, and went to our first "formal" night. Our new "friends" Jocilyn and Dustin had been drinking all day and were kind of funny, but Jocilyn said some things that I think embarrassed her. Also, Dustin hadn't realized that they prefer for you not to wear shorts and flip flops to the dining room. So, probably for those reasons, we never saw them again. That night there was a show called "Hot Jazz" that was pretty good.<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DyA0PKrRhkA/TemTCsT91kI/AAAAAAAAA-8/GECDn4JmlVY/s1600/Dolphinaris%2B1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614180084957959746" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DyA0PKrRhkA/TemTCsT91kI/AAAAAAAAA-8/GECDn4JmlVY/s320/Dolphinaris%2B1.jpg" /></a>Tuesday was our first day in a port of call, Cozumel. We had planned a dolphin swim and ride at the <a href="http://www.dolphinaris.com/locations/cozumel.aspx">Dolphinaris</a>. We really had a lot of fun. We got to pet the dolphins, "dance" with the dolphins, kiss the dolphins, hug the dolphins, and do a belly ride with the dolphin. Our dolpins names were Bina and Marcy (yep, that's right). The lunch was included in our package. It was pretty good, but when we saw how much it was, we decided that if it hadn't been included, we'd have gone somewhere else. After that, we just walked up and down the main shopping area and looked in the shops. We were getting up early the next morning, so we just headed to bed early and watched tv.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-slmvDOJDfsM/TemU6TmyGpI/AAAAAAAAA_E/SJFZbpL5TEU/s1600/IMGP2637-cropped.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614182139910298258" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-slmvDOJDfsM/TemU6TmyGpI/AAAAAAAAA_E/SJFZbpL5TEU/s320/IMGP2637-cropped.jpg" /></a>Wednesday was our day in Belize and our longest excursion. We went through a private company as opposed to going through Carnival. There were only six of us on our tour, Scott and me and a family of 3 and their son's friend. We did cave tubing and zip lining. The cave tubing was just okay. It was just like tubing in GA down the Chattahoochee, except you are going through a cave in the dark. We did see bat holes in the roof of the cave and some real live bats! Eek! The<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2146358337574.2133587.1204740953#!/video/?id=1204740953"> zip lining </a>was tons of fun! We did 7 zip lines. We got some good videos of each of us zip lining. I really enjoyed being able to look down and see all the trees below us. Scott enjoyed it too and he's afraid of heights. It's a very controlled environment when you're zip lining. </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e9I0-Vh5AP8/TemVza9UDGI/AAAAAAAAA_M/cadOLLv_uEk/s1600/IMGP2663.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614183121136389218" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e9I0-Vh5AP8/TemVza9UDGI/AAAAAAAAA_M/cadOLLv_uEk/s320/IMGP2663.JPG" /></a>Thursday was our day in Mohagany Bay, Isla Roatan which is in Honduras. We spent the morning on the beach. We purchased a package that included a ride on the "magical flying beach chair" which was a chair lift kind of like at ski resorts, two chairs and a "clam shell" cover, and two floats. The beach was crowded, but it was beautiful and they had an area roped off so that people could swim and not have to worry about floating too far out. Some people were renting snorkeling stuff and jumping off a dock that was a little to the left of where we were. I heard some people saying they saw all kinds of cool stuff. While we were at the beach, our waterproof digital camera stopped working. We had a regular digital camera on the ship, but the next day was our snorkeling trip, so we really wanted to digital camera. So, we decided to be cheap and go back to the ship for lunch, put away our beach things, then go back out to shop for a camera. No luck. We ran into a couple we'd met the next day while we were doing the slide later on and they have a waterproof camera and said they loved their's and had seen the exact same camera but a new model in the photo area on the ship. So, we bought one that night. That was our second "Cruise Elegant" night and there was a New Orleans-type show, so they had beads on everyone's plate when we got to the dining room. That night, it was really windy in the area the ship was sailing through, and we were going really fast. So, the ship was really rocking. There was a big show that night, the best one of the whole cruise, call The Big Easy. We couldn't believe the dancers and singers were still able to go on with the show. The cruise director had told them they shouldn't do it, but they really wanted to. The cruise director, Wee Jimmy, who was Scottish, said that after dinner he saw all the sober people walking around all unstable-looking and people were walking out of the bar in a straight line. It really was hard to walk!<br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Hv6bx4iZF0/TemXWCrXn4I/AAAAAAAAA_U/8dmH-BE3dKQ/s1600/P5200026.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614184815425724290" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Hv6bx4iZF0/TemXWCrXn4I/AAAAAAAAA_U/8dmH-BE3dKQ/s320/P5200026.JPG" /></a>Friday we were in Grand Cayman. It is so nice there! The water is beautiful and clear, the streets are fairly nice and clean. We shopped around, at lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and then went on a snorkeling tour. We visited a coral reef and a ship wreck. It was my first time snorkeling. Scott had been a couple of times before. There weren't tons of fish and there were really only abour 3-4 different kinds of fish down there. The ship wreck was cool. The ship was the Cali and it had a cool history about how it had had several owners, but the last owner had retro-fitted it with 2 big diesel engines. One night he was trying to make it back to the port to beat a storm and he fired up both engines at full throttle. The boat couldn't take the force of the engines, so it started to literally fall apart at the seams. He made it to the pier in Grand Cayman and a welder was trying to fix everything, but finally told him it was a lost job. Since he didn't want to be embarrassed by sinking his ship at the dock, he drove it further into the ocean and left it there. The boat was full of rice, so when the rice got wet, it expanded and literally sank the ship and busted the seams! It's the only time in history our tour guide knew of a boat being sank by rice. The British, who own Grand Cayman, thought the Cali was an eye sore, so they decided to blow it up right where it was. They brought 10 cases of dynamite with them. They really only needed 2.5, but they didn't want to take it all back with them. So, they hooked it all up and let 'er rip! The explosion was so huge, it busted all the windows out of the shops that are close to the dock in that area! This had happened years ago and the ship was all in pieces at the bottom of the ocean and there was lots of algae growing on it. That night, we saw a hilarious juggler, <a href="http://www.danatison.com/">Dana Tison</a>. </div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--0bURaUW8bg/TemXl32EVyI/AAAAAAAAA_c/Rga2qekOUCM/s1600/P5210118.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614185087395714850" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--0bURaUW8bg/TemXl32EVyI/AAAAAAAAA_c/Rga2qekOUCM/s320/P5210118.JPG" /></a>Saturday was another "Fun Day at Sea" and we got up bright and early so that we could get a good seat by the pool. We laid out by the pool, reading and napping and talking. There was an ice sculpting demonstration that afternoon. We of course spent a good bit of time on the slide. We played putt-putt on top of the ship in winds so hard, we had to lean into it to keep from being blown over. That was interesting. We worked on packing before dinner and managed to get most of it done before we went to eat. We just finished packing that night and went to bed since we knew we'd have to get up early if we wanted to get breakfast on the ship.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZgmnp4FQj0/TemYHKpsW9I/AAAAAAAAA_k/eGCTEw1gIXY/s1600/IMG_20110522_184123.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614185659379768274" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZgmnp4FQj0/TemYHKpsW9I/AAAAAAAAA_k/eGCTEw1gIXY/s320/IMG_20110522_184123.jpg" /></a>Sunday was "debarkation" and it really went very smoothly. We drove about half way home and stopped in Moultrie, GA where we had dinner with our friends John and Ashleigh, watched the new <a href="http://disney.go.com/pirates/">Pirates of the Caribbean </a>movie, and stayed the night. We drove the rest of the way home on Monday and managed to get almost all of our laundry caught up! It was definitely a good idea to take Monday off!</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>I think we are both in post-vacation let-down. I, surprisingly, didn't feel a real sense of dread about going back to work. So, I thought that was good. I feel revived. I thought our vacation had a good mix of fun and activity and laying around and being lazy.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-50729828622681393432011-01-03T15:20:00.002-05:002011-01-03T16:02:05.109-05:00MoviesScott and I love to watch movies. There was a bit of a dry spell where there either weren't any that we wanted to see, or we were too busy while the ones we wanted to see were in the theater. So, until <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1</em> came out in November, I think the last movie we'd been to see was <em>Eclipse</em>. However, we saw HP7 twice (once on the regular screen then once in IMAX with some friends). Then, we've been to see <em>Tangled</em> and the new Narnia movie in the past couple of weeks.<br /><br />We really like <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part1</em>. Obviously, with a book that long, they had to condense a lot of scenes, but I still felt like they stayed pretty true to the book on this one. In previous movies, mainly in the <em>Goblet of Fire</em>, they strayed so far from the book that I felt they actually changed the character of the characters, if you know what I mean. They ended Part 1 in a place that ensures that Part 2 will be nothing but non-stop action and have us on the edge of our seats the whole time! I am really excited to see that one but at the same time I'll be sad for the series to be over.<br /><br /><br /><br /><em>Tangled</em> was a really cute movie. I really want to get ahold of the Little Golden Book version of <em>Rapunzel</em> because I want to see if the story was anything like the real <em>Rapunzel</em>. I can't remember anything about it, except the hair and the tower. Of course everything ended with a "happy ever after."<br /><br />The newest Narnia movie, <em>The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,</em> was very entertaining as well. I have never read any of the books, so I can't compare them. I will probably read them one day, but I might wait until the movies are all out so I won't watch the movies comparing them to the books.<br /><br />I am an AMC Moviewatcher member, so the last time we went, we got a free ticket that we have to use before the end of January. So, we'll be going to see something else very soon.<br /><br />We've also been renting movies from Netflix. We watched a movie that Emma Watson, from Harry Potter, did a few years ago on instant watch. It was called <em>Ballet Shoes</em>. Yeah, not that great of a movie. It was kind of pointless, but I didn't think the acting was bad. We borrowed the <em>Alice in Wonderland</em> with Johnny Depp from my dad and I actually really enjoyed it. I thought it would just be ridiculous, so I wasn't expecting much, so I guess that's why I liked it. I had heard several people say they weren't impressed. Before we watched that version, we watched another real-people version of <em>Alice in Wonderland</em> and the animated Disney version. We watched <em>The Kingdom</em> last night and that was a very action-packed movie. The main character was Jamie Foxx. I don't think I had watched him in anything since the TV show <em>In Living Color</em> so I was surprised that he was so good at playing a serious character! The show was based on terrorism in Saudi Arabia. A military compound is attacked and the FBI comes in to help them figure out what happened and who is to blame. Oh man, this movie was so stressful. Next on our queue is <em>The Life and Faith of C.S. Lewis. </em>We did an instant watch of a documentary called <em>America's Godly Builders: Wallbuilders</em>. It talked about how America's founding fathers intended for Christianity to be a part of the American life. I must admit that I made the mistake of laying down during this one b/c I couldn't get comfortable and fell asleep a couple of times. But, I got the gist. Scott really liked it and we'll probably watch more stuff like that on instant watch. We also watched <em>Sweet Home Alabama</em> because Scott had never seen it and I wanted to see it again. We both agree that that one should go on our wishlist because it's a keeper. Since we really don't want to spend all our time at home watching movies, we have the cheapest version of Netflix - we get two rentals per month, one at a time, and 2 hours of instant watch per month. Sometimes, we end up keeping a movie for over a month because we aren't able to watch it, so we don't need to spend more. <br /><br />Well, I hope you are tempted to watch some of these movies that we've seen lately if you haven't already. Hopefully I'll download some holiday gathering pictures and do a post on that soon.<br /><br />Take care!Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-54390903354437016152010-12-24T13:42:00.003-05:002010-12-24T13:54:31.930-05:00Caught in the ActThe other day I got video of some of the cats' funnier quirky habits. So cute.<br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxR8HHA_qJFCNO-MqK-P0o9EwW4B2O6IVhWSpEQsyGtEGxIEA1Y5N_60-61q6iIjD6haW3H8X458htFxQYq4g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Mathilda has started dunking her head under the stream of water before drinking it (usually for much longer than I captured here). Sampson always "hints" that he wants to be brushed. They keep us laughing!Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-10070505090994783562010-12-22T12:48:00.006-05:002010-12-22T13:03:29.007-05:00Random Thoughts From MarcyI know it has been forever since I've posted. So, I really don't know what to say, so I thought I would just do a bulleted list:<br /><br />-It is cold in GA. It actually wasn't unbearable this morning, but it is supposed to be about 30 degrees F on Christmas day. That's cold. <br /><br />-I need a new pair of gloves. The ones I have I got at Eddie Bauer either the year Scott and I started dating or the year before that. They have strings hanging off and all the anti-slip stuff is breaking off and getting everywhere. But, there are no holes and they still keep my hands all toasty. I think I'll be going back to Eddie Bauer to replace them. Gloves are not something I can just put on my wishlist. I have to try them on. I have small hands.<br /><br />-I work in a place where vacation time is use-it-or-lose-it. I haven't used very much because I've been so busy. So, I took last Friday off and I will be taking off every day for the rest of the year beginning tomorrow.<br /><br />-Tomorrow is cleaning day.<br /><br />-Our cats are still the best ever. Mathilda has removed a few random ornaments from the tree, but there has been very little damage. Sampson and Maxwell are as sweet as ever. All three compete for our attention.<br /><br />-We have lots of Christmas and New Years activities coming up in the next week and a half. It's good to be busy and to have lots of friends and family to spend time with.<br /><br />I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-77078985600196659972010-11-25T10:08:00.001-05:002010-11-25T10:08:59.476-05:00This Is What I Am Thankful For<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O3o3DiMVdOI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O3o3DiMVdOI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-4353714484277866052010-11-07T16:16:00.002-05:002010-11-07T16:37:19.443-05:00ChiliLast night we had our annual bonfire at Charles' and Maggie's house. It was a lot of fun, even though it was really really cold. But, there was a fire, so I huddled close to it. Maggie and Charles were recently part of a different small group, so we had new people at our bonfire and that was a lot of fun too! I made the chili and got lots of compliments on it. This was surprising since I'd never made it this way before, but I made it this way to try to make it so that more people would like it. I have, in the past, always made my chili with only like 1-2 pounds of meat in a huge pot of chili with beans (always pinto) and lots of tomatoes. And it generally isn't very spicy because of my acid reflux and the fact that when I used to put in a can of Rotel, Scott mentioned it was too spicy. But, he seems to have taken on a higher threshold for spiciness in the years since we were first married, so I took a chance and he seemed pleased. I wanted to publish my "recipe" since I still had the cans I used yesterday sitting on the counter since I'd rinsed them and let them dry for recycling.<br /><br />I made two big crock pots full - the "regular" round size (I think it's 4 quarts) and the big oval one (I think that one is 6 quarts). I tried to put about the same proportion of everything in each pot, so here is two big pots' worth of ingredients:<br /><br />-3 boxes of the 2 Alarm Chili Kit mixes (do not add the masa flour and the red pepper until later)<br />-4 lbs ground chuck, browned and drained (we drained it into a collander sitting in a bowl and then pressed it with a paper towel)<br />-2 lbs reduced fat breakfast sausage, browned and drained<br />-3 cans tomato sauce <br />-3 cans plain diced tomatoes<br />-1 can diced tomatoes w/ green peppers & onions<br />-2 cans rotel (one was the regular Rotel brand, one was the fire-roasted Kroger version)<br />-2 small cans tomato paste<br />-2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes w/ garlic<br />-1 can fire-roasted tomatoes<br /><br />Scott browned and drained the meat for me. I split it between the crock pots. I added one mix to each crock pot excluding the masa flour and the red pepper. I then added all the tomato products above. I put the lid on an let it cook on high for 30 minutes, as directed on the box. I went back and tasted and thought it could use some more heat, so I split 1 of the envelopes of red pepper between the 2 pots and to thicken it, I mixed one envelope of the masa flour with 1/4 c warm water in each pot (2 total). I let them cook for maybe 15 more minutes on high then turned them down to low while we went out to lunch, so maybe an hour and a half-ish. When we got home, the house smelled like chili, but when I stirred it up and tasted, it didn't really taste like chili. It tasted like meat and tomatoes. Sad. So, I split my last chili kit between the two pots, excluding the masa flour and the red pepper. I thought they were thick enough and I knew from experience that chili gets hotter with time, so I didn't want to overdo the spice. They probably cooked on low for another hour to an hour and a half before we packed them up to take to Charles' and Maggie's house. Of course, they didn't have to cook for that long and would have cooked faster on the stove. However, if you make chili "quickly" and you intend to have leftovers for the next few days or to freeze, keep in mind that the reheated version will always be spicier.<br /><br />Sorry that was so long. But, chili is a food of love. It takes a while. I rarely ever make it the same way twice because I can rarely remember. If I was making this for just Scott and me, I would put in beans. I have also made chili with ground turkey breast and it is just as good. I would have used turkey sausage if I could find anything but those breakfast links, which are a pain to break up and they are more expensive. Happy cooking!Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-38681949347924565152010-10-16T21:22:00.003-04:002010-10-16T21:48:09.664-04:00A Belated Post About Our VacationBack at the end of July, Scott and I went on vacation in Destin for a long weekend. We really enjoyed it when we went down there for my sister's wedding, so we thought we'd go there again. The water and beach were so beautiful. Well, with all the oil issues and the storms, it wasn't as beautiful as it had been. There was no oil around, but everything just seemed stirred up. I have made a slide show of the few pictures that we took. It was really windy and hot. That's the one thing I don't like about the beach - that you get all hot and sweaty. Ick! But, I read <em>Sense and Sensibility</em> while we were there and we sat on the beach the whole time, with one short trip to the outlet mall. We had one nice meal out at a place called The Back Porch, which was right on the beach. It was an open restaurant and it was really windy that day. We made good use of the salt and pepper shaker and all the condiment bottles to hold down our napkins and such. The other nights we cooked dinner in. We ate lunch in every day too. We spent as much on our one meal out as we did on our food the entire rest of the trip! I think that <a href="http://thinkeditup.blogspot.com/">Carrie</a>, <a href="http://proverbs2six.blogspot.com/">Bethany</a>, and <a href="http://stringerhousehold.blogspot.com/">Shana</a> will appreciate this! I took pictures of the place we stayed so we'd remember. It was called Capri by the Gulf by <a href="http://www.harmonybeachvacations.com/">Harmony Beach Vacations</a>. It was pretty nice. It also was the best price around! I didn't bother labeling my pictures because I felt they were pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><p style="visibility:visible;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widget-f8.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" height="320" width="426" style="width:426px;height:320px"><param name="movie" value="http://widget-f8.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="scale" value="noscale" /><param name="salign" value="l" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <param name="flashvars" value="cy=ms&il=1&channel=216172782134768376&site=widget-f8.slide.com"/></object><p style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&at=un&id=216172782134768376&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/p1/216172782134768376/ms_t016_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&at=un&id=216172782134768376&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/p2/216172782134768376/ms_t016_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&at=un&id=216172782134768376&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-f8.slide.com/p4/216172782134768376/ms_t016_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></p></p>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-48611053419164889502010-10-05T12:25:00.004-04:002010-10-05T21:56:13.059-04:00Maxwell Can Tell Time<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TKvWbNUHx2I/AAAAAAAAA-A/Z2seAbpHNuI/s1600/DSC03108.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524745130818914146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 268px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TKvWbNUHx2I/AAAAAAAAA-A/Z2seAbpHNuI/s400/DSC03108.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Or may we should call this post "Maxwell Gets Revenge!"<br /><br />So, last night we had to give all the cats their flea/heart worm medicine. All this requires is squirting a little tube of liquid on the back of their neck. Doesn't sound hard does it? HA! You've never met Maxwell. We always try to start with him. Well, he always seems to know when it's coming. We even tried to mellow them out with catnip. And, we forgot to close the door to the guest bedroom. Under the bed he goes. So, we closed him in and did Sampson and Mathilda. Then, we opened the door and he ran under the bed again when he saw Scott.<br /><br />You will be shocked at what I did next, it's so mean!<br /><br />I went into the kitchen and started putting ice in a glass and saying "Maxwell, Ice!" All three cats came running. Maxwell tried to resist and couldn't. I threw them a few pieces of ice, Scott shut the door, and then together we wrestled him to the ground and gave him his medicine. We all managed to escape injury, narrowly.<br /><br />When we were ready for bed, I did a cat check and couldn't find Maxwell. So, I called and called and he didn't show. I figured he'd hidden under the bed in the guest room again. I closed the door and went to bed.<br /><br />I thought wrong.<br /><br />At 4:56 (4 minutes until my alarm goes off), I hear Maxwell in the bathroom in our room doing his loud "I want water; I'm so thirsty I think I might die," meow. It's truly pitiful. I just said "Shhh!" and tried to go back to sleep. (I know you are surprised, but that does shut them up, even through the door, they know the water bottle will follow shortly.) Then the alarm went off and I had to shoo him out of our room.<br /><br />Oh yes, he holds a grudge!Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-14007655228262217042010-09-08T19:22:00.004-04:002010-09-09T21:29:27.911-04:00Cats and Not Much ElseSo, while we have been keeping busy, I really don't feel like I have a lot to say lately. But, I did want to give an update. I can't believe we are already seeing signs of Fall! The Lantana that I talked about in the last post is absolutely out of control. Unfortunately, I haven't downloaded those pictures yet, so they'll have to wait. Just imagine that you cannot see even a peek of the HVAC unit.<br /><br />We got a photography class for our digital SLR for half off through half-off depot. We went this past Saturday. I learned a few things and I hope to build on them. I took some pictures of the cats when we got home. I am not sure if they are any better than ones I have taken in the past, but I did take them without the flash...so I felt pretty good about that.<br /><br />Mathilda is now 10 pounds! She doesn't really look much bigger, but she is more round. She's pretty sturdy looking, that's for sure. She guards the food bowls. We went out and purchased a second automatic feeder so that she could eat out of one and the boys could eat out of the other. She sits there and watches them eat or lays down right next to them and nudges them. Sometimes we hear hisses or growls and we figure she got too close and is being put in her place. It's about time is all I can say about that. But, there you go. There's not that much else going on I guess.<br /><br />I have begun making Christmas cards again. It's going faster this year, I think.<br /><div><div><div><div><br /><div></div><div>Here are some pictures I took this past Saturday:</div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">How much is that kitty in the window?</span><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TIl25mjz9GI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/Vm-d7PKtSSg/s1600/DSC03087.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515069950667256930" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TIl25mjz9GI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/Vm-d7PKtSSg/s320/DSC03087.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TIl25DiZ2UI/AAAAAAAAA9I/7LWCYL-RaHc/s1600/DSC03103.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515069941266110786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TIl25DiZ2UI/AAAAAAAAA9I/7LWCYL-RaHc/s320/DSC03103.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImBm4tXxUI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/XqgGr2pKgKY/s1600/DSC03052.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515081723749582146" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImBm4tXxUI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/XqgGr2pKgKY/s320/DSC03052.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImBnf2wqNI/AAAAAAAAA9g/vkmM6pWdsPU/s1600/DSC03061.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515081734257944786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImBnf2wqNI/AAAAAAAAA9g/vkmM6pWdsPU/s320/DSC03061.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Grrr...I am SO fierce!</span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImGVyr9jUI/AAAAAAAAA9o/z8PbeY6hZUA/s1600/IMGP2059.JPG"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515086927633419586" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImGVyr9jUI/AAAAAAAAA9o/z8PbeY6hZUA/s320/IMGP2059.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImGWPqr-4I/AAAAAAAAA9w/G9ERl1m3lWU/s1600/DSC03148.JPG"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515086935412702082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TImGWPqr-4I/AAAAAAAAA9w/G9ERl1m3lWU/s320/DSC03148.JPG" border="0" /></span></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>I </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br /><br />I don't know if I have said this before, but Maxwell and Sampson are very long, have long tails, and are also tall. They have long legs. It's not as obvious on Sampson because he is so fluffy and fat, but Maxwell is sleek, so when he walks, it makes me think of a Great Dane. Yep, feline version of Scooby Doo. Well, Mathilda is compact. Her legs are super short, even by normal cat standards, I think. So, I say that while Maxwell is the Great Dane of cats, Mathilda is the weiner dog of cats. Heehee. But, she makes up for it with her feather duster of a tail. It's not as long as the boys' but its much furrier and poofy!</div></div></div></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-24165294401160958692010-06-27T21:25:00.004-04:002010-06-27T21:58:41.435-04:00Project: Lantana Replacement<div><div><div>So, I told you in the last post that we did some replacing of some dead stuff. For the last 3-4 years, we have had lantana around our AC unit and around the mailbox. Well, it was so cold last winter that is all died. So, I went by a local nursery on Friday and got some more lantana for around the AC unit and two black-eyed susans and two purple verbena for around the mailbox. We had to pull up the roots from the dead lantana before we could plant the new stuff. It was like fighting a battle. The roots were long and deep in some places and long and far out in others. Here are some pictures to illustrate:</div><div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9c3jGfiI/AAAAAAAAA8w/mRcGucGfrjY/s1600/IMGP1789.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487633343363579426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9c3jGfiI/AAAAAAAAA8w/mRcGucGfrjY/s320/IMGP1789.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is one of the ones from around the AC unit.<br /></div><div></div><div><br /> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br /><br /> </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9cbUssDI/AAAAAAAAA8o/ITnXpTb0mLY/s1600/IMGP1786.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487633335786975282" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9cbUssDI/AAAAAAAAA8o/ITnXpTb0mLY/s320/IMGP1786.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>Two of the ones around the mailbox were like this - they had grown way out into the yard. Scott pulled this one out a little more then it broke off.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9d3vfEtI/AAAAAAAAA9A/pzZuAmXHlnc/s1600/IMGP1795.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487633360595391186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9d3vfEtI/AAAAAAAAA9A/pzZuAmXHlnc/s320/IMGP1795.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>Here is the final product around the AC unit.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9dRTPEwI/AAAAAAAAA84/3wBuHwyzzbA/s1600/IMGP1792.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487633350276354818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf9dRTPEwI/AAAAAAAAA84/3wBuHwyzzbA/s320/IMGP1792.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>Here is the final product around the mailbox. I hope they'll really grow this year and also come back next year.</div></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-10755392373124652342010-06-27T16:39:00.018-04:002010-06-27T22:26:22.503-04:00Catch-up Time<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfCZ_w5RNI/AAAAAAAAA7A/gYHq4pLW3Uc/s1600/Scott+%26+Marcy+%40+CCMA+Picnic+6-13-10.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487568422843270354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfCZ_w5RNI/AAAAAAAAA7A/gYHq4pLW3Uc/s400/Scott+%26+Marcy+%40+CCMA+Picnic+6-13-10.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>We have been so busy this summer so far! Scott and I have been more focused on spending time together, reading either our Bibles or other books, working in the yard, and exercising in all this beautifully HOT weather we've been having. I find it funny that we have received two comments on how we haven't posted in so long on the very day I was already planning to do a post.<br /></div><br /><div>I have listened to or read all the <a href="http://kathyreichs.com/category/books-by-kathy-reichs/">Kathy Reichs books</a> and I am still reading <u>Wuthering Heights</u> and the biography by Julie Andrews called <u>Home</u>. I have been working on that Julie Andrews book for over a year. I have it at work and I read it here and there but it is interesting to read about her. Scott and I did a Sunday morning Bible study (which is something new since we moved into our new building) in the John Piper book <u>Don't Waste Your Life</u> which was really good. I think that we both plan to sit down and re-read the book that goes along with it so that the chapters aren't split up like for the Bible study pretty soon. We are reading and RC Sproul book called <u>Knowing Scripture</u> in our small group that meets every other Wednesday. We are learning a lot of stuff out of that like hermeneutics and the difference between exegesis and eisegesis (which, as many of you will know, is HUGE). It is just a good book that works to try to explain how to read the Bible without missing the important parts but also without misinterpreting the original meaning. Our small group leader Zach says that reading classic literature will make you a better reader overall (which of course will make you a better reader of the Bible), so Scott ordered a bunch of classics and is working through them. He has read <u>The Legend of Sleepy Hollow</u>, <u>Rip Van Winkle</u>, and <u>Treasure Island</u>. If I can ever finish <u>Wuthering Heights</u>, I am going to move on to the collection of Jane Austen books that my sister gave me for my birthday last year after I read a book I borrowed from my friend Lauren called <u>Feminine Appeal</u>. We also worked through a couple's Bible study-type book called <u>After You Say I Do</u>. We weren't really great about doing it so it took us forever and we took a huge break in the middle while we did <u>Don't Waste Your Life</u>. It was a pretty good book and while I thought some of the questions were repetitive, sometimes that's what you need. Someone told me (I won't name the person, but you know who you are) that kissing is repetitive, but no one complains about that (that isn't an exact quote because I have an awful memory, but kissing was the example used). The point is that you can never hear or read some things too many times, the Bible being one of them. </div><div><br /></div><div>We are currently in a Sunday morning class led by Bob, one of the elders of our church and someone that we consider a good friend as well. (We love his whole family.) We have books of the Bible that we are supposed to read each week then we go over them on Sunday. We are reading a lot of the books that a lot of people have never read like Nahum, Philemon, Haggai, and Habukkuk. </div><div></div><br /><div>Oh, and I have been listening to all the <u>Twilight</u> books on MP3 in my car lately, preparing for <u>Eclipse</u> to come out in the theaters. Scott and I are going to see it at the midnight showing! I can't wait to see what they did with the movie. I got that novella that Stephenie Meyer wrote called <u>The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner</u> and it was really good, of course. Stephenie Meyer is a very good fictional writer. She does a great job of describing things in enough detail to give you a really good mental picture and she incorporates some good humor as well. I haven't read <u>The Host</u>, but maybe I will one day.<br /></div><div>We are trying to get out and do exercise 2-3 days a week. On days when Scott cuts the grass, I'll either go to the park by myself to walk or stay in and do Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Boxing (or sometimes both). But, usually, we'll go to the park together and we either walk together or Scott will play disc golf and I'll walk with my MP3 player. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have been doing a LOT of work in our yard (and the inside of our house is suffering because of it). We had to have a french drain put in because our builder apparently value-engineered proper drainage from our yard when they had everything smoothed out to build the house. Well, they put sand down for the grass to grow back in and we have had tons of weeds coming up with it. We've pulled so many weeds and Scott keeps calling the people who spray our yard to come back out because we're tired of pulling weeds. We have pruned our big oak tree by the street. We ordered a compost bin so that we can save money in the future on buying good dirt. We plan to put in some raised gardens in the backyard this fall and we'll need lots of compost. I moved a bunch of stuff around in our front gardens that weren't looking quite how I had planned. We removed all the pine straw from our front gardens and the little one out back and replaced it with shredded pine mulch. Of course while we had all the pine straw up, I weeded and put out a ton of Preen under and on top of the mulch. I decided to do just a few container gardens this year because last year was a bit out of control. Wow, when I list out all we've done it doesn't sound like much, but believe me, it is a lot. Especially when it's 80 degrees by 9 am!</div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfvwdkRjuI/AAAAAAAAA8I/pvJq8Sn9_Vk/s1600/IMGP1767.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487618286823771874" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfvwdkRjuI/AAAAAAAAA8I/pvJq8Sn9_Vk/s200/IMGP1767.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Here is a picture from May 25. The daffodil greenery was still sticking up in some places and the purple cone flowers were starting to get taller than the daylilies.<br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfvw7BPQLI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/hTbXJZao4D0/s1600/DSC02605.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487618294729883826" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfvw7BPQLI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/hTbXJZao4D0/s200/DSC02605.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>I got some geraniums from the Growers' Outlet and planted them in some little mounds I made. But, I was afraid to move those coneflowers. They were not looking great where they were. So, I dug them up...</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfvxDuIIjI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/kLnyrcaU5Ug/s1600/DSC02632.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487618297065644594" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfvxDuIIjI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/kLnyrcaU5Ug/s200/DSC02632.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>And I put the two tallest ones between the daylilies and planted three black-eyed susans in the front. I put the two shorter ones on the other side of the front garden where I had dug up a big patch of monkey grass.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf0sQe-noI/AAAAAAAAA8g/SjHEAbMCxbo/s1600/IMGP1793.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487623712150560386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCf0sQe-noI/AAAAAAAAA8g/SjHEAbMCxbo/s200/IMGP1793.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div>This is what it looked like yesterday. The gladiolus are a bit crazy. bit I am happier now that I moved everything around. Can you see the difference after we put out the new mulch?</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br />Yesterday, we actually got up super early to do some yard work to replace some stuff that didn't come back. I'll have to do a separate post with pictures for that one because it's a story in and of itself. </div><div></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfG47cA75I/AAAAAAAAA7g/u8Hd0XM3N8I/s1600/IMGP1633.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487573352304406418" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfG47cA75I/AAAAAAAAA7g/u8Hd0XM3N8I/s200/IMGP1633.JPG" border="0" /></a>We also had a yard sale! We sat out in our driveway all day and had tons of stuff. Lots of people came by. We made almost $100, which I hear is good for a yard sale. But, it was a lot of work for $100, really. We ended up filling up the entire bed and back seat of my truck with stuff to take to Goodwill. And, I got a really red sunburn for my efforts.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfEjaG0lsI/AAAAAAAAA7I/I6va6dk8Fug/s1600/IMGP1635.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487570783556638402" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfEjaG0lsI/AAAAAAAAA7I/I6va6dk8Fug/s320/IMGP1635.JPG" border="0" /></a> Here's all the stuff we took to Goodwill!</div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div>After we left Goodwill, we gathered up our earnings and went over the Petsmart and got the cats a cat condo. It was a long-awaited purchase and I am so glad we got it. I always wanted one for the boys and when Mathilda came along, it kind of became a necessity because she is a climber. Seriously.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfMN_IIj_I/AAAAAAAAA74/SeoyyCJVZeE/s1600/IMGP1646.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487579211630153714" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfMN_IIj_I/AAAAAAAAA74/SeoyyCJVZeE/s400/IMGP1646.JPG" border="0" /></a>Here are all three cats checking out the cat condo on the day we brought it home.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfn5MTb_hI/AAAAAAAAA8A/Lm8ovv-Gd8w/s1600/IMGP1708.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487609640715550226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfn5MTb_hI/AAAAAAAAA8A/Lm8ovv-Gd8w/s200/IMGP1708.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br />Couldn't resist this adorable picture of Mathilda!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div>I cut all my hair off and donated it to the <a href="http://www.pantene.com/en-us/beautiful-lengths-cause/default.aspx">Pantene Beautiful Lengths </a>program. My hair is now...short. Really short. And apparently the talk of my office. It's been about a month now and there are still people just noticing it (people I rarely see, that happens when there are 400 people in your building). Also, people are still talking about it. Someone will say, oh I like your hair so-and-so told me you got it cut. I was surprised at the strong reaction to my change, but it's flattering, so I won't complain. This is kind of funny - the other day I was walking out with a guy I barely know (I don't even know what he does) and he was asking my why I cut my hair and he said it was a huge change - he informed me that my current style was sassy whereas the old one was kind of girl next door. I think that his observation was spot-on but it was hilarious to me that it came from a guy. Anywho. <a href="http://stringerhousehold.blogspot.com/2010/02/phrases.html">(That's just for you, Josh - because I think of this post every time I say it).</a></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfGUcZ21HI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/ZjNMINF06go/s1600/IMGP1602.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487572725498565746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfGUcZ21HI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/ZjNMINF06go/s200/IMGP1602.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfGT-2QlnI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/hGAEueODMUM/s1600/IMGP1601.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487572717564630642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfGT-2QlnI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/hGAEueODMUM/s200/IMGP1601.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>The picture at the top of the post is of me with my short hair (obvi) taken a couple of weeks ago at our church picnic by my friend Amy (thanks Amy!!). The ones above are from the day I had it done. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yesterday we went to my dad's house and celebrated my sister, Wendy's, birthday and Father's Day. He has a pool and it has been so hot that the pool felt like lukewarm bath water. Crazy. It was fun to hang out at the pool all day and spend time with my family. There are so many good pictures from yesterday that I think I'll just make a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072431&id=1204740953&l=9df6f5ad05">Facebook album and link it here </a>later. So, if you read this post and there's no FB album, check back later.</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfH9HP81uI/AAAAAAAAA7w/51iOExJVwIk/s1600/IMGP1824.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487574523706136290" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfH9HP81uI/AAAAAAAAA7w/51iOExJVwIk/s200/IMGP1824.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfH8ioiXtI/AAAAAAAAA7o/RnQXukaHQgE/s1600/IMGP1798.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487574513877147346" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/TCfH8ioiXtI/AAAAAAAAA7o/RnQXukaHQgE/s200/IMGP1798.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Mathilda is huge. She is between 7-8 pounds. I weighed her one day a couple of weeks ago and by my calculations she was 8.6 lbs. Then, later that same week I took her to the vet to have her eye looked at and they said she weighed 7.12 lbs. I'd get up and go weigh her now, but I hate getting on the scales these days. I've gained about 4 lbs since I stopped doing weight watchers and I have to go back on the wagon, um, after July 4. She is really a beautiful cat. And mischievous. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have some pictures loaded on Facebook, I think <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067436&id=1204740953&l=fcc9a0f14a">I'll just put a link to that album </a>here so that you can see all the mischief she gets into and I don't have to upload the pictures twice. There are some other repeats from this post in there, but for the most part, they are of our kitties.</div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-86712749616948879832010-05-12T21:24:00.002-04:002010-05-12T22:47:42.400-04:00Cat VideoThis video is hilarious. We took several videos of our cats that night. I had taken a previous video where Maxwell was sniffing the camera and I thought that was the cutest. Maxwell is always so serious, so when he does something funny, I love it. Scott was playing with Mathilda and wanted me to see what was going on. I got kind of close with the camera and Mathilda decided it was a toy, too! I thought it was funny and I hope you do too.<br /><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxmd2Jy9BCpudsc3lmUJsHuigYOJ0ThMGRazNdD7ZDNJC3FZlWDJHKyPhKsGNvBMZCDka_Fa2UzEkBQrY_ZGg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p> </p><p>Here is the video where Maxwell was sniffing the camera. I love his little expressions (or rather refusal to look interested). He is all cat for sure. Sampson is in here too. We had the windows open that night and he was more interested in looking outside than in playing or talking to us.</p><p> </p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzLzidCY60gzgMaOY2DpCRiqoSO54lmz0RdL7_WopEwRAoVKQ4yLKjDqA4ouiUIQjBOKLVkWT-MA781_6AaFg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-6408267668306457192010-05-12T21:18:00.003-04:002010-05-12T21:22:31.138-04:00Marcy's BirthdaySince the last time I posted, I have had a birthday. Scott was so sweet to me the whole weekend around my birthday. He gave me a gift each day of the weekend starting on Friday, cooked me breakfast on Saturday morning, and even took me back on Sunday to exchange one of my gifts. What a sweet husband I have. He put so much time and effort to make my Birthday Weekend special, I really appreciated it. I just had to brag on him a little. :)Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-70469229146587951262010-03-26T21:32:00.008-04:002010-03-26T21:55:24.979-04:00Grilled Vegetable Salad<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S61jV1jL1nI/AAAAAAAAA6o/aHVpjOZDd94/s1600/IMGP1393.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453123950618596978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S61jV1jL1nI/AAAAAAAAA6o/aHVpjOZDd94/s400/IMGP1393.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><div>A few weeks ago, Scott and I went to Longhorn after church. We do not usually splurge like that, but we wanted steak and left glad that we'd gone. So, it was worth the trip. I got this salad as my side salad (for a little extra); it came off of the "for a limited time only" menu. It was so good that I figured out how to make it at home.</div><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">Grilled Vegetable Salad</span></div><br /><div></div><div>Salad:</div><div><br />Romaine lettuce-chopped</div><div>Feta cheese - crumbled (optional)</div><div>Tomato - diced</div><div>Red onion - diced very small </div><div><br /></div><div>Vegetables:</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S61kNwE6M-I/AAAAAAAAA6w/cYb4JGtXHsc/s1600/IMGP1384.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453124911222109154" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S61kNwE6M-I/AAAAAAAAA6w/cYb4JGtXHsc/s200/IMGP1384.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S61kOAlPE1I/AAAAAAAAA64/ZaBWytZ7FhM/s1600/IMGP1389.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453124915652662098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S61kOAlPE1I/AAAAAAAAA64/ZaBWytZ7FhM/s200/IMGP1389.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>1 squash</div><div>1 zucchini</div><div>1 bunch asparagus</div><div>1/2 bell pepper (red or green)</div><div>1 c corn (I used frozen)</div><div>1 small white onion (optional)</div><div>Olive oil (maybe 1 Tbsp)</div><div>Salt</div><div>Pepper</div><div></div><br /><div>Cut all vegetables into 1-inch pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on grill pan (flat side). </div><div><br /></div><div>Dressing:</div><div></div><div>1/2 c olive oil</div><div>1/4 c organic canola oil</div><div>1/4 c balsamic vinegar</div><div>1 clove minced garlic (just use the stuff you buy in the jar)</div><div>1 Tbsp lemon juice</div><div>Salt</div><div>Pepper </div><div><br /></div><div>Whisk together all ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. I invested in one of those dressing shakers you buy to go along with the italian dressing packets. Worth it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Prepare salad. Top with grilled vegetables. Drizzle with dressing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Make it a meal by adding grilled chicken (pictured). </div><div><br /></div><div>If you leave off the feta, this is a gluten and dairy free meal.</div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-50179417118996480212010-03-21T15:49:00.008-04:002010-03-21T22:03:17.789-04:00A Little Mathilda To Brighten Your Day<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z7V14esFI/AAAAAAAAA6g/CWpkrqyS_J8/s1600-h/IMGP0937.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451180014150004818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z7V14esFI/AAAAAAAAA6g/CWpkrqyS_J8/s200/IMGP0937.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>This is a picture we took of Mathilda the day we brought her home, January 6, 2010. She weighed 1 lb 3 oz.<br /><br /><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z7VeCPB3I/AAAAAAAAA6Y/0wqHoOsC-8M/s1600-h/IMGP1401.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451180007748470642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z7VeCPB3I/AAAAAAAAA6Y/0wqHoOsC-8M/s200/IMGP1401.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><br />This is a picture I just took of her today, March 21, 2010. As of last Saturday, she weighed exactly 4 lbs. She has quadrupled in size!</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z7UxPL2EI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/dz825VbePLs/s1600-h/IMGP1399.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451179995723192386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z7UxPL2EI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/dz825VbePLs/s200/IMGP1399.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />We are still trying to decide what color her eyes are. Maybe we should call them hazel. Our boys' eyes change between yellow and green. And sometimes hers look more yellow than anything, but usually they are this coppery/yellow/green color. I don't know how to describe it. They were grey when we got her.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6WaSqV0I/AAAAAAAAA5o/ITQ8ydGZxRI/s1600-h/IMGP1315.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451178924411868994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6WaSqV0I/AAAAAAAAA5o/ITQ8ydGZxRI/s200/IMGP1315.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div>She was sleeping all cuddled up with Sampson last Sunday night. Isn't that the cutest thing ever?</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6Wk9v9WI/AAAAAAAAA5w/XJO0b0OHV1k/s1600-h/IMGP1316.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451178927276946786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6Wk9v9WI/AAAAAAAAA5w/XJO0b0OHV1k/s200/IMGP1316.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div>Maxwell was chilling out on the back of the couch.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6XNTBb3I/AAAAAAAAA54/Z7g0XjCDmDc/s1600-h/IMGP1318.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451178938103590770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6XNTBb3I/AAAAAAAAA54/Z7g0XjCDmDc/s200/IMGP1318.JPG" border="0" /></a>Maxwell apparently got jealous and walked over and literally layed down on top of Sampson! I wasn't fast enough to get a picture before Sampson had had enough and bolted.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6XhNcqbI/AAAAAAAAA6A/iUlFTtikqt4/s1600-h/IMGP1321.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451178943448918450" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6XhNcqbI/AAAAAAAAA6A/iUlFTtikqt4/s200/IMGP1321.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Having gotten what he wanted, Maxwell settled in with Mathilda at his side. I think they are getting used to having her around.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6X8s9b6I/AAAAAAAAA6I/DnFiwbCWI6Q/s1600-h/IMGP1324.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451178950828847010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S6Z6X8s9b6I/AAAAAAAAA6I/DnFiwbCWI6Q/s200/IMGP1324.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Later in the evening, we were sitting around watching a movie and Mathilda snuggled up with me. Look how sweet this kitty is!<br /><br /><br /></div><div><div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />She is really learning so fast! She has learned that if she comes running when she hears the icemaker, she will get to play with ice. She understands the word "NO!" She knows that if she scratches her scratching post she will get a treat or two or three depending on how we feel if she finishes her treat and then scratches again! We are still working on teaching her not to scratch and bite when she's not getting her way! She really is an accelerated learner! She has made our lives a little bit more chaotic, but we all love her!<br /><div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-33533256078188824002010-03-07T17:03:00.008-05:002010-03-07T17:50:22.962-05:00Goings OnWell, it has been a few weeks since I have posted and a lot has been going on. First of all, our weather has been...bizarre! The last time I posted, we got several inches of snow on a Friday afternoon, which was all melted by the next evening. The very next weekend was our first warm weekend in a long time, where it got up to about 60 degrees. That weekend was the weekend of our nephew, Sam's, 4th birthday. His birthday was on the 19th, but we went to his party on that Saturday, the 20th. We had lunch at Scott's sister's house and didn't go to Sam's actual party at the indoor pool close to their house. The idea of swimming didn't really appeal to me when it was so cold outside, even though it was indoors. Sam was really excited about his birthday party, his birthday cake, and his gifts. He was all about showing us his dragon castle and his Thomas the Train cake. We got him clothes and a card that made a fire engine alarm sound. The card almost made up for the fact that we only got him clothes. ;)<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp1LDjIgI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/wnG6vglueLs/s1600-h/IMGP1270.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446023842875253250" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp1LDjIgI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/wnG6vglueLs/s200/IMGP1270.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's Sam opening his gifts.<br /><div><div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp1hrwlmI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/Iar0sjqKGuI/s1600-h/IMGP1261.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446023848949487202" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp1hrwlmI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/Iar0sjqKGuI/s200/IMGP1261.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div>Here's the paparazzi.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp0_P3UeI/AAAAAAAAA5I/1Aq9zrlUYps/s1600-h/IMGP1291.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446023839705682402" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp0_P3UeI/AAAAAAAAA5I/1Aq9zrlUYps/s200/IMGP1291.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div>Here's Sam smiling while we sing to him. It was so sweet!</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp1-8rUYI/AAAAAAAAA5g/5LlIWA0_lew/s1600-h/IMGP1276.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446023856805073282" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S5Qp1-8rUYI/AAAAAAAAA5g/5LlIWA0_lew/s200/IMGP1276.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Here's a picture I took of SaraBeth and I.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Back to the weather. This past Wednesday, it snowed (hard) from about 8 in the morning until about 3 in the afternoon and was pretty much all melted because it never quite got below freezing during the day. Now, this weekend, it's been high's in the 60s. I went outside today and pruned our bushes out front. Like I said, Bizarre! </div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Scott and I went last weekend to the North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville, GA and shopped all day. My main goal was to get a couple of pairs of jeans since I only own 3 pair that fit me and I wear jeans almost every day. I could not find one pair of jeans that I loved. Sad times. But, I got a long-sleeve blouse, two half-sleeve cotton tops, two short-sleeve tops, and two dresses. Scott got several shirts too. No jeans. I didn't even find any dressy slacks I liked. But, since I found two dresses at Ann Taylor Loft that would have cost me $69 and $79 at the regular store for about $70 for bother and I didn't own any dresses that fit me before that day, I still consider the trip a success. Yay us!</div></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-5056248762402860002010-02-12T22:04:00.007-05:002010-02-12T22:46:08.081-05:00Snow Day 2010<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3YegvoyjpI/AAAAAAAAA44/lbcbAyVTHKk/s1600-h/IMGP1215.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437567147988651666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3YegvoyjpI/AAAAAAAAA44/lbcbAyVTHKk/s400/IMGP1215.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>This my 250th post! To celebrate, we had snow today! We were expecting it based on the weather man, but I never really put much stock in that. At some point this afternoon, probably between 1 and 1:30, I went to look out the window (again) and my boss laughed and said, "It still isn't snowing, Marcy." I looked anyway, and it WAS snowing, very lightly (HA!). The next time I looked (from a distance) it was snowing much harder. We are still pretty busy, but apparently some other people aren't because tons of people were just standing or sitting with their heads poking out of their cubes watching it snow. I headed home around 3:30 because my boss didn't want us sitting in traffic and risk someone running to us because they were watching the snow. I came home and filled all our bird feeders and took pictures. Then, Scott got home and he and I made a snowman, following the lead of our neighbors, Nan and John. I loaded a bunch of pics to an album on Facebook. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056650&id=1204740953&l=bfbc9f8068">Here's the link to my album</a>. I also took some pictures on the way home, when I was stopped at lights and stuff like that. I will load some of those below. The kitties were watching it snow and watching the birds eat in the snow. They were all so cute! But, they always are. Scott stuck a ruler in the snow on top of our grill and it went in about 4 1/2 inches!<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3Yd7Gjlw8I/AAAAAAAAA4o/k2hnyDm2htg/s1600-h/IMGP1141.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437566501305828290" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3Yd7Gjlw8I/AAAAAAAAA4o/k2hnyDm2htg/s200/IMGP1141.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3Yd7f3scPI/AAAAAAAAA4w/oaE6pTlh5As/s1600-h/IMGP1143.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437566508101038322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3Yd7f3scPI/AAAAAAAAA4w/oaE6pTlh5As/s200/IMGP1143.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><div>Personally, I am ready for spring. I mean, I think that getting one day where we get enough snow to make a small snowman and then a couple of other really cold days is all you need so say we've had winter. We've had years like that before. More often than we've had years like this. It has rained a ton and that's the only time it warms up enough to not have freezing weather. We've had two ice/snow storms now. Hello! This is GEORGIA! I think we're going to move south if the winters keep up like this. Seriously. But, our friends at seminary in Dallas, TX have had a lot more snow than we have this winter, so you can't win no matter where you live I guess! The good thing is that all the little bugs that everyone says don't die in the south because it doesn't get cold enough should be dead by now. </div><div></div><div>So, I hope that everyone enjoys this snowy weather and stays safe! </div></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-70530719134415362622010-02-08T20:22:00.004-05:002010-02-08T20:35:57.995-05:00Officially Mathilda<div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3C6rOozSTI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/3u8qGrI0caQ/s1600-h/IMGP1099.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436050002062559538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3C6rOozSTI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/3u8qGrI0caQ/s400/IMGP1099.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>We have officially adopted Mathila! She got a clean bill of health and the boys seem to get along well with her. She is doing much better now that we have let her out of the bathroom. I think she is already bossing poor Sampson around. She is really a<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3C7uPG0nwI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/qE2dFbOV7vU/s1600-h/IMGP1118.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436051153239711490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3C7uPG0nwI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/qE2dFbOV7vU/s320/IMGP1118.JPG" border="0" /></a> sweet kitty. Yay for Mathilda!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3C7ulRChrI/AAAAAAAAA4g/qsPBUIYkBYI/s1600-h/IMGP1116.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436051159188145842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_87ic6xFSwts/S3C7ulRChrI/AAAAAAAAA4g/qsPBUIYkBYI/s320/IMGP1116.JPG" border="0" /></a></div></div>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-50708904547916672912010-01-27T08:26:00.001-05:002010-01-27T08:28:24.402-05:00Tupperware Party Online! Great Sale!Hello everyone,<br />Tupperware is having a 40% off sale on their modular mates (for pantry organization) and I am planning to buy some. So, I figured I might as well open an online party! You can shop at your convenience and help me get free products!<br /><br /><br />Be sure to click on this <a href="http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/!twx$eparty_ctl.p_guest_welcome?pv_eparty=3da5a031c982db26b3fa99489f9629e1&pn_guest=2694245" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">shopping link</a> to ensure that you're participating in my Tupperware Online Party. My Tupperware Online Party will last until Feb. 09, 2010 (EST). If you have any questions, please let me know. Or you may visit my Tupperware Consultant's Web site, <a href="http://my.tupperware.com/jenniferlynnjordan" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Jennifer Lynn Jordan</a>.Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-60021226547211287622010-01-21T20:31:00.003-05:002010-01-21T21:40:37.229-05:00Mathilda Live<p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxurLIZJ2kh1-abP8fbFZpy9LqezlgGYOM6WlgjFYgPbU2E2kdcBvWbLS12fvi6QV-KAfmNqcE6QIO6VuQ7jQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>The video above is one of Mathilda chasing the feather wand. It's one of the boys' old ones. It seems that all of our cats love anything with feathers. They also love bells. This one has both. </p><p> </p><p>The next video is one I took to show how excited she gets when you are just in there with her. We are still keeping her separated from the boys since she's not old enough to be tested yet, and so she doesn't get to sit in the living room with us when we are home. So, she's just so excited to see us. She sits there and looks at you and starts shaking. It's so cute. I think that you may get a few shots of my crazy after-work get up. Sorry. All my "normal" sweats are currently in the dirty clothes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dznDxodn_Xby3KTXJTzjYpzbkR-Fyos7LBT14FOpTUaHD2uB0dxoO9FeSjzUA6T0keQPDe_ngaL6E_xEqOgzQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-66573101022283530972010-01-20T21:26:00.004-05:002010-01-20T21:37:38.140-05:00Stuffed Green Bell PeppersI found this recipe in a book that a friend lent to me. I copied a bunch of the recipes I liked. I don't remember the name of the book. However, I have changed the recipe some because, well, it seems like I always change up the recipes. I just can't help myself. We have made this twice and I really like it. The instructions in the recipe actually call for microwaving everything, but that just seems...gross. So, I have re-written this to be cooked in the oven.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#006600;">Stuffed Green Bell Peppers</span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#006600;"></span><br /><span style="color:#33ff33;">3 large green bell peppers<br />1 lb ground chuck, browned and drained<br />2 c. cooked rice (I used white rice)<br />3/4 t ground thyme<br />1 clove minced garlic (I used the kind in the jar, it's easier)<br />1/8 t black pepper<br />1 t salt<br />1 egg<br />1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce, divided (I actually used two small cans - one plain, one flavored, like Italian or roasted garlic<br />1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes<br /><br />Preheat oven to 350 while you brown your meat and cook your rice. Clean the peppers and cut in half lengthwise. Place them open side up in a 9x13 casserole dish and cook the empty peppers for about 12-15 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine beef, rice, seasonings, egg, diced tomatoes, and the small can of plain tomato sauce (or half of the big can). Mix well and fill pepper halves with the beef mixture. Place in baking dish and spoon the flavored tomato sauce (or second half of big can) over the stuffed peppers. Cook for another 15 minutes or until the peppers are to your preferred doneness. Serves 6.<br /><br />This has a lot of vegetable already in it, as well as meat and a starch. But, I still think it is better it you have something with it like corn and a salad (yeah, I know that corn is a second starch, but it just GOES with this meal). I hope you enjoy! If you try this and you like it, let me know!</span>Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6638564144342709248.post-45264590147262623152010-01-16T13:39:00.003-05:002010-01-16T13:44:04.114-05:00Grandma-ismsScott's Grandma is so sweet and Scott is still so thrilled that she has come to live here in GA since while he was growing up, she lived in CA, which is where Scott's mom is from. Grandma sometimes says the funniest things. This morning, she called Scott wanting advice on purchasing a new computer. She opened the conversation by telling Scott that her computer is:<br /><br /><em>"Slower than molasses in the winter going up-hill backwards!"</em><br /><em></em><br />Wow. That is pretty slow!Marcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371466610431264666noreply@blogger.com3