Happy News

Since I am about to go to the American Legion and put my deposit on the place, I can announce that I am getting married this year!!!! Yep. We changed our date again I know, but both R and I decided that why wait? So we are getting married the Saturday after Thanksgiving. =) My sister in law said she was surprised I didn't seem really excited about planning this wedding and the fact that it was less than a year away. But I am. I really am. I am wiggling in excitement. But most of the time my excitement is kept inside. Except for right now!!!! =)

Success!

Well, it's done. My blanket is finished. I gave it to my sister for the new baby for Christmas. She (my sister) loved it.
So after giving away this blanket I think I went through withdraw. I sat for a day with nothing for my hands to do. So when I went to work the next day, I brought more yarn and started another project. This time it's a big blanket for me and Russell. =) Its a Granny Ripple pattern and looks pretty cool. I'll have to post a few pictures later.


PS: G found out yesterday she is having another boy!!!!!

VTech Visit

Mom and I went to VTech over the weekend to see Kit's Christmas concert. We got an added bonus of seeing him test for his gold belt in Tae Kwon Do the next day. Here is a video.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know its a little early, but this Thanksgiving is going to involve a LOT of driving and little time at home for blogging.

This year I am thankful for:

• Getting sick before the holiday so I don't miss it. (Strange, I know but I am feeling so much better today than I have been for the last week. I know I will be in top shape for the holiday.)
• A new(ish) car that can handle the drive up and back to NJ and PA in the span of three days.
• A fiance who is willing to give up his Thanksgiving with his family to come spend it with me and my family.
• A sister who is ok with me taking my nephew for a night just so he can see the changes to his grammy's house and get to spend some time with the family.
• A job. In this ecomony and high unempolyment rates, I am so thankful that my job is deemed essential and they haven't moved to downsizing my department to save some money.
• Great friends who got together yesterday to celebrate a Thanksgiving dinner. With everyone pitching in and bringing a dish we had more than enough food and it was delicious.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving! Stay safe on the roads if you are driving. Remember everyone in front of you, causing traffic is trying to get to see their family too. =)

Happy Halloween

So today I am braving the unknown and roasting a chicken. For all the cooking that I have done, this is NOT something I have done before, even assisting my mom. To start, I did some research. I found the right recipe. I then read more. And totally confused myself. Some recipes said to put the bird breast side done, others said to put butter under the skin. But they all started the oven at the same temp: 425. I went to the store, picked up a 6.5 lb oven roaster. Came home, read the packaging. And was even more confused!!! The package said to roast at 350. For 2.5 hours! So I called my mom. She said to pre-heat the oven to 425. Put the chicken in and turn the oven down to 350 and roast. Since the chicken I got has a pop up thermometer, she said to roast for the short amount of time, then check the pop up to ses how much more time I should leave it in. So that is the plan.


On a side note, yesterday I discovered the joy that is the produce and fresh foods section at Whole Foods in Annapolis. I've been there before, to the old location, and wasn't really impressed. There were strange brands and different kinds of foods that I really wasn't interested in trying or needed. But yesterday was a different experience. They had some great looking apples and other produce. I went with my friend and we got stuff for dinner last night. We got some really good sweet chipotle balck bean dip. To die for!!!! They even had organic heavy cream in the cool bottles. I got one because on top of cooking chicken, I'm making butter again! Yum.

Well I hope everyone enjoys their end of October today. The weather is great outside!!!!

Theifing.

A few weeks ago R and I stole my nephew for a few hours while G was working. We took him to a pumpkin patch and the beach. We enjoyed some pizza and playing in the sand. This Sunday we are stealing him again for a family brunch. He is really excited! Me too! Can't wait to see this smiling face! Saying Cheese!

Picking out a pumpkin... "this one is heavy"

"I found it"

Climbing around in Baabee's car.

Making sure the "punkin" rides in style and safety

Cutting his pizza with a knife and fork. So sophisticated.

Never mind, hands work best!

Getting a chance to run around the boardwalk. Peaking in the sign Now it's beach time, complete with flying sand.

"Look I found some driftwood"

Napping with the "punkin" on the way home. Shaking up some bottles.He loved being hung upside down by Uncle Ruf Ruf

Look who found some monies! Oh this could be trouble!

The gingerbread cake Extravaganza

Here it is folks; my gingerbread cake making adventure. The results smelled and tasted fantastic! The whole point behind this baking was to use up the ginger, clove, and nutmeg spices I had in my pantry. Well when I decided to make cup cakes instead of a whole cake I discovered that I did not have any cup cake pans. Oops. So I went out to the store and bought two. And decided to buy all-spice. Which is was the recipe called for to begin with. So now I still have ginger, clove, and nutmeg. And on top of that I have to figure out how to use up the all-spice. Oh well. I'm sure it will be a great adventure. Any recipe ideas floating around out there would not be turned away.

*Sorry about the lack of pictures, but the blogger thing wasn't uploading pictures.*

Freshly bakes cup cakes.

The end product. They tasted as good as they smelled!