all I want

I have fallen in love with the Crockpot Lady and am so impressed with her. She makes something in her crockpot everyday...from soups to roasts to desserts to jam. Impressive. I like to cook, so I thought I would look around for some other food blogs. I thought I might be able to glean some new recipes without having to get a cookbook or another magazine subscription. I use Food Network and a couple other recipe search engines if I am looking for something specific, but I like to read blogs and Steph does a great job writing about her crockpot meals. She even gives a Verdict at the end and tells you whether her kids ate it, or if it needed more salt and such.

Here is the problem. I have spent about an hour looking at various sites, and I only found two to bookmark. The rest are all so COMMERCIALized and have adds everywhere. Now, I don't mind if you have an add or two, but a blog should look like a blog...not a website. Not with seven adds before you even see the post title. Not with an add above your header. And you should definetly post the recipe you are talking about...not just tease the poor readers with pictures and then leave them to figure it out.

So, if you read any good food blogs that I might enjoy, please comment and leave me the link. There were two that I found that I liked and I added one to my link list. Closet Cooking is a really good blog with a guy from Canada cookin' his heart out. He tries some thing that I might not be interested in, but the recipes are there, the blog is simple, and the recipes are catagorized on the sidebar so I can explore. Check him out along with the Crockpotting Steph. They are both in my link list.

And, if you have a good recipe to share, use the email link and send it to me.

told you so...

Several of you asked for a pic of the island in the kitchen and here they are. I love cooking on it now and last night I was so happy to being facing my husband in the den instead of having my back to him while I was chopping my veggies. So much easier and it adds so much to the space.


Here is my husband with our dog Phoebe. It says in my "roots" section that I could knit a sweater with the dog hair we collect, and I wasn't telling no lie. See exhibit A.
Phoebe is a Husky-Lab mix and she sheds. Sheds buckets, er, blankets. This time of year her winter coat is coming off and you can grab handfuls of it when you pet her. Charlie decided to brush and vacuum her and I grabbed the camera.
She was actually being a really patient girl while Charlie brushed her. The downy stuff was justing floating off her and she looked so cute...surrounded by a cloud.
This is the pile that we had when he stopped. It is about 3 feet wide and 2 feet across and a couple inches deep in the middle. So soft.

Well, now that you have seen a good thing, and a scary thing...how many of ya want to come over and play?

I promise, we vacuumed after this.

a little late night therapy

Do you ever wonder where this need to be liked comes from? I mean, who was it that taught us that we need to look to other people for our affirmation? Did someone program this in us when we were children? I know my mom didn't sit me down and say "you'll only know if you're really worth something if you have 20 friends and a husband by the time you're 30." She didn't, and I bet your mom didn't tell you that either.

Our parents encouraged us, loved us, taught us, and shooed us from the nest. Mine taught me to grow up and leave home and have my own life. They knew that's how it's supposed to be. That children should be independent, self-sufficient, and capable of contributing to the world. My mom and dad gave me all the tools I need to be an adult, to manage my life and change a tire. I am prepared.

So why is it that my self worth is wrapped up in what my boss thinks, what the teacher down the hall thinks, if I'm skinny, if I'm the craftiest, the prettiest, the smartest, the girl with the best blog and millions of comments? Why do I seek the approval of all these people? Who do I need to answer to?

Only one man.

And that isn't my husband. It's Jesus.

My savior who sees the real girl inside who hurts. The one who knows me better than anyone else and loves me for being that person. A friend who never turns His back and is there in the trouble. In the midst.

His is the only approval I need to seek. How freeing is that? I mean, don't you see how liberating that is? To not have to stress about those people in your life that really don't matter? Listen, I'm not telling you to be rude or unkind. I'm telling you that God isn't counting how many friends I have, or looking at the score from my SATs. He isn't checking to see how you liked my island that I worked on, or disappointed that I only got 9 comments so far (threw that in for a little humor!). He knows that I was faithful, frugal, careful and using my talents when I worked on that project. He knows that I am polite, friendly, eager, talented and honest. He also knows that I am gossipy, nosey, prideful and infertile, and hey, we're working on those things. Together.

I pray that I can live my life confident in who I am, and just let the rest slide away. Who am I to needlessly burden myself with things I can't change anyway? I want to be the kind of person who let's His love shine through my actions. I shouldn't be any less, and I can certainly be more.

Who do you want to be?

one huge and pretty project

Remember this? I showed you my kitchen several months ago. We had remodeled and worked so hard on it and it looked fabulous...except for the furniture piece in the middle. I told you that we planned to refinish it, well, this week we did it.


Here it is in it's original state. It was brown stained and had a wine rack. The side with my blender had a shelf, but we took it out to fit stuff in. We never figured out what to do with the wine rack, cause we don't drink, so that was wasted space.





The top was also too low for me to really do any work on. I rarely used it, except to serve stuff. But we found this old butcher block piece at a builder's discard place and I snapped it up. Now, this thing weighs almost 150lbs, and takes two men to move it. It has been sitting in my laundry room for almost a year, until we found something to put it on. But we found the little island in December. Not a good month for refinishing things outside, so we waited until now. Trip #1 to Home Depot for the paint (and we locked ourselves out of the house).



We were going to sand it down, but in the end it need to be stripped. Trip #2 to Home Depot for stripper. The hubby bought some nasty smelling stuff and sprayed it on. The little white patch at the top is our test spot to see if it was taking the poly off. Yes!





We sanded the base a little so that it would be able to take paint. We could have stripped this too, but that would have taken FOREVER, so we just sanded the top layer of stain down. We also removed the wine rack, and I found the shelf that we originally took out.


Here is the man with his power sander. He was really excited to finally be able to use his power tools that I got him for Christmas. Stupid thing doesn't come with sand paper, though. Trip #3 to Home Depot for sand paper.

So we moved it back inside to paint. I used two coats of primer and just sat and listened to music while I painted. Like my fancy dropcloth? An old sheet with flowers. Oh, I painted one coat, and then hubby painted the second coat. He noticed that while we were pounding out the wine rack, we loosened the side panel. Trip #4 to Home Depot for the right tool to put it back together.

Two coats of WildHoney Paint from Behr. Looking good, right? Then I mixed some of the leftover Chocolate Sprinkle paint I had leftover from my door project with some water and did a faux finish. I painted it on with a brush and wiped it off with a paper towel. Easy peasy. The hard part was lifting the block on top of the base. My FIL and hubby huffed and puffed and got it on there. They even got out the tape measure and made sure it was centered.

Trip #5 to the hardware store was actually to Lowes to get a pretty applique for the front. I found a really cool one for $6 and painted it up like the base and hot glued it on. Makes it look all French country and fancy, right? We put the shelf back in and I put my big appliances in it.

I can't tell you how excited I am about how it turned out. I made brownies on it this morning and it was so nice not to be facing the wall to prep cook. I hate looking at my cabinets while I chop things.

So, this is pretty much what I spent last week doing. I am so proud that it turned out the way I imagined it. Not just ok, or average, but exactly the look I was going for when I dreamed all this up. And- if I can do it, you can do it.

Indy Spoilers....and my new love for Iron Man

If you are thinking about going to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull-DON'T. It was horrible. SO horrible. All I have to say is one word: ALIENS.

Yup, you got that right. Aliens. Aliens in the Amazon with Indiana Jones...who most people in the movie call Henry. I couldn't even believe it when they pulled out the skull and it was shaped like what you would imagine any alien skull would be shaped like. I kept saying to myself "please no aliens, please no aliens" but there it was: Aliens. And their spaceship.

Oh, and there's more. Indy survived a nuclear bomb in the first 10 minutes. Seriously. He was accidentally in a test site, hid in a refrigerator and survived. The rest of the town was obliterated into dust, but the refrigerator was thrown sky high and bounced around some and then Indy walked away fine.

But, there was a highlight to my day. We had a double feature, and saw Iron Man next. Now, that was the movie of the spring. It should make tons of money and should spawn many sequels. It is well-written, well-acted, and so cool. The toys and technology and humor in the movie are so sleek and fun. Robert Downey Jr. is excellent in this movie. He and Gwyneth Paltrow are so fun together and he has two robot friends that are amusing.

I now have renewed my crush on Robert Downey Jr. I had one along time ago when he was on Ally McBeal and was so McDreamy. I think he might have been the original McDreamy, if it hadn't been for the drug problem. But now I am free to love him again because he is cleaned up and saving the world from terrorists. And all muscle-y and looking good in the red suit.

I guess the best part of the day was that my husband and I spent the whole day together. We started with some quiet time in the morning, went to a movie, shopped around a little, had lunch, and then went to another movie. We shopped, ate, laughed, and held hands. It was a really nice day. Have I mentioned that my husband is the sweetest man? He really is. He doesn't mind my boyfriend David Cook or my crush on Robert Downey Jr. He is secure in my love for him and our small family.

Saturday was the best day for me...maybe notsomuch for Indy.

i see dead people

I know that saying is a little old school, but today I discovered Ghost Whisperer. With nothing to do on a Friday night after I painted a faux glaze on the kitchen island, I turned on the TV. I looked around a little on the guide and saw Ghost Whisperer. I knew it had Jennifer Love Hewitt in it, and then I discovered a few other people are in it that I recognize. One lady from the Practice, Ayisha Tyler from Friends, and David Conrad (from a little known show called Relativity.) Now, I found Jennifer Love to be a little whiny on Party of Five, but I did really like that show. And she has really grown up into a great actress on TV.

Ok, it's time to share a little talent I have. I have a knack for remembering actors and actresses on TV. I can see a person on a show and connect the dots to where I have seen them before. Kinda like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Sometimes this talent drives my husband crazy, and sometimes he finds it useful. My friends all think I'm a little freaky, but it's a memory thing. I like to watch the openings and credits of shows, and it makes me crazy when the opening doesn't show the person's face with their name. How can I link them together if I don't see them together?

We used to play this little game with my old roommate, where we would name a celebrity and she would try to tell us what movie or tv show they were in. While I am great at this, Kristen is not. She would crack us up trying to remember where she had seen George Clooney and she thought Cameron Diaz was a baseball player. She would entertain us many nights with this game.

Anyway, I was happy to see all these actors that I once liked in other things doing so well in Ghost Whisperer. JLH has grown up and Ayisha Tyler is way less annoying when she isn't trying to steal Ross from Rachel. And David Conrad? Well, let's just say I'll add him to the list of David's that are my boyfriends.

two great announcements

Ok, so the first big thing to let you know is that I get to keep my job! Hallelujah and Amen! Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus. I won't be poor come summer. I know what I'll be doing come fall.

I walked in to the principal's office today to ask questions about the summer reading program and how it needed to be set up. I had told him before that I would set it up even if someone else took over. I said as much again today. Then he said "you'll be here." So casually. I gave him this blank look, like, "you're gonna need to repeat that." And he did. Amazing words. I think I jumped up and down a little. Yippee. I am thrilled beyond words!

Well, not completely beyond words. I still have enough to talk to you all. I'm just so excited. Now the hubby and I can get back to trying to make babies. Now that I know I'll have health insurance, I can procreate like a bunny.

The second big announcement is the winner of my book contest. Thanks to all who entered. My very impartial, cute husband, Fantasy Geek, drew the name for me. The winner is Lula, from Lulaville! She's been having technical difficulties lately, so hopefully this will cheer her up. Send me an address Lula and this book will be on it's way to wherever you are. Now, remember, all you losers, um, runners-up, by entering the drawing, Lula agreed to read the book and then give it away again. So you will have a second chance! Don't you feel better now? Wipe those tears, gals.

One last thing to mention. I came home today and my husband had moved the furniture all around. He put the couch from the front room in the back room, and vice versa. Did he take any before pics? No. He shall be shunned for a period of five....minutes. I still love the guy. Can't blame him for not thinking of it.

Ta ta, ya'll. Oh, and because I am in such a good mood, I'm posting one of the not-so-great pics for you to laugh at. Straddling the tree? What was I thinking?

And, David Cook is my new boyfriend. No matter what happens tonight.