Day 5 - Journal

Day 5: Your Favorite Quote

Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Enough said!

A Dreamy Sandwich!

Have you seen?

                                                     

My husband (Dave) and I love this show. 

He even dreams about some of the food we see on it. 

His latest dream caused him to want to recreate. We didn't quite do as good as this:

The Vortex Bar and Grill 

DOUBLE BYPASS BURGER

Twice as big as the Coronary Bypass! Topped with two fried eggs, six slices of American cheese, and eight slices of bacon, all served between the two grilled cheese sandwiches that we use in place of the regular hamburger buns. 14.95

 

How dreamy does that look...

 I love grilled cheese and you can't go wrong with a bacon cheeseburger...

Would you like to create your own like we did?

Step 1: Get your bread and cheese ready to grill

Step 2: While grilling your hamburger (we used our George Forman because it was too hot outside!), grill your grilled cheese (so everything is timed to be done at the same time!)

Bacon and fried eggs too if you have them - we decided to start with basics! 

My husband likes his grilled cheese darker...I'd suggest a light brown finish!

Step 3: Put it all together! 

One grilled cheese down

One cheese burger on that 

(Bacon and eggs-optional)

One more grilled cheese to finish it off!

Step 4: EAT! MMMMMMMM soooo good! 

Now, sadly, I'd prefer even more cheese, but this was great! 

Man vs. Food provides us with great places to dream of going... or to actually go! 

He was to Columbus, Ohio last year and went to a few great places!

We've only been to one, and it was great. Maybe we'll get to the other soon! 

Here is Adam looking great in a OSU uniform getting tackled by Brutus! 

Tell me any great things you've seen/eaten from Man vs. Food! 

Day 4 - Journal

Day 4: Your Favorite Book

Some serious contemplation has gone into this, because books are so broad!

There are novels, craft books, childrens books, etc.

I feel like I could write a blog post for days and days just giving you great books of different types.. so I'll show them all to you here, then decide which is my favorite by the end! Hahaha!

And the winner is:

Now let me be clear here, I'm just saying the book is amazing. If you have only seen the movie, you don't even know half of her story, and it just doesn't begin to compare! From a "social worker" stand point this girls life and what she's went though is amazing! Pick it up if you are a reader!

My Button!

I have made a button... aren't many of you to use it, 

but it's here for when I get horribly popular! 

Let me know what you think!  

I'll put the html link for it once I can "create" it! 

Day 3: Journal - Early bc of posting error..err!

Day 3: Your Favorite Television Program

I'll give you a couple hints:

1. It has an awesome indie chick who I want to steal every pair of glasses she owns!

2. It has one of the hottest men in television on it!

Any guesses?

If you guessed Criminal Minds, you are right!

I don't love the show for the blood and guts (that always make it interesting),

but for all of the mind stuff, and the cast is awesome!

For a switch in pase and a runner up I'd go with 

If you haven't seen it, check it out!!

What's your favorite TV show??

Day 2: Journal

Day 2: Your Favorite Movie

Hands down, I'm a RENT girl! I love the musical...

I have this poster at home, I "took" from the theatre when they posted it all over with the big news!

I know that is not a movie, but then, they made it into one!! YAY!


I have this and have watched it and "made" others (my husband) 
watch it with me several times! 

Then I love this poster with all of their personalities shining through! 

I have one similar to this from the original Broadway musical! 

Okay, how rude have I been... 

yesterday I forgot to ask you to share your favorite song with me... 

so now today I will ask you for both! 

Share with me your favorite song and movie! :-) 

It's fun to learn more about others! 

mmmmmmmmMegeve Cake!

When I was searching for a beautiful but unique wedding cake, I came accros this magnificant cake (I believe on Martha's site). I wanted to know how it was created (because we dabbled with the idea of making the cake for our wedding) so I searched through the comments to see if anyone had made it... and I was lucky enough to find a lady who had made it and had a recipe for it. It looks delicious, but wow, really hard after reading the recipe. It is a cake I'd love to try one day... just not for a stress-free wedding!

Here is the email from the lady who sent it to me and the recipe, let me know if you try it out or have had a similar cake before! (Delicious??)

I made this cake for a lady at my mother's assisted living. There were four at the table...Three had seconds and there was very little left over. So...if you want this for a wedding cake beware...You have a lot of mixing ahead. This is very time consuming, so plan ahead. I usually make mine the day before, but, in your case, two or three days prior to the wedding would work out fine. Just remember to keep refrigerated. Remove the cake about a half an hour before serving. Make the slices small...It IS a very rich cake.

Heidi, stuck in Tennessee

MEGEVE CAKE:

3- 8" meringues* (*see directions below)
2/3 c. Heavy Cream
7 sq. semi-sweet chocolate
3 1/2 sq. unsweetened chocolate
4 T. butter
4 egg whites
1 c. sugar
-In a double boiler over simmering hot water, melt the two chocolates and the cream.
-While the chocolate is melting, beat egg whites until double, then gradually add the sugar and keep beating on high until stiff peaks form.
-When chocolate has melted, add the butter and stir to combine. Remove from hot water.
-Fill the bottom of a double boiler with ice water and place the top , with the chocolate, on it.
-Beat with electric hand mixer until the chocolate starts to loose it's gloss and has almost doubled. (You will see the chocolate turn a lighter color. Take it off the ice water...You do not want it to get too cold.)
-Fold the chocolate into the whipped egg whites/sugar until completely combined.
-Place one meringue circle on a serving platter (I use a little of the chocolate mixture on the bottom of the circle to "glue" it to the platter) and spread 1 1/2 c. of the chocolate over it. Top with the next meringue and spread with 1 c. chocolate. Top with the last meringue and frost top and sides.
-Refrigerate.
-If you want, melt up 6 sq. semi-sweet chocolate and spread out on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator just to harden slightly. With a spatula, push the chocolate into curls and decorate the cake with them.
-To serve, remove from the refrigerator a little time before serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar and slice with a serrated knife.


-BEWARE....THIS IS VERY RICH!!!


* Meringue circles:
3 egg whites, beaten until doubled
1 c. sugar, added gradually
-Keep beating until stiff peaks form.

-On a large cookie sheet (or two smaller ones, dust with flour and draw three 8 " circles (use a cake pan for your pattern). Divide the meringue in thirds and fill in the circles. Bake at 300* for thirty minutes or until they start to get golden.

Enjoy!

Day 1: Journal

Day 1: Your Favorite Song

Wow, I'm finding it hard to just pick one... but I would have to say, my longest loved song would have to be:

Stay by Lisa Loeb

You would think that the story of the song plays close to heart, but nope... truely I have just loved the song, loved her, loved to sing along, etc. for as long as the song has been out.

I did the first "plastic" glasses in my high school, got made fun of, but didn't care, cause I looked like Lisa! She may not be as "popular" as she was in the past, but I still love her sound!

Now, of course, there are songs more "current" or relevant that I love, but this one continues to hit the spot and make me belt it out everytime it's on the radio or my i-pod!

30 Day Blog Journal

Okay, how fun is this! A 30 day blog journal!!!

1. It gives me something daily to talk about, so I can get this blog a rolling.

2. It looks super fun, and hopefully you care to read these silly things.

3. If I can fit a craft in there somewhere I will look like I'm doing great on getting things posted!

This is the deal, there are 30 "prompts" to write about, one each day.

Day 1 - your favorite song

Day 2 - your favorite movie

Day 3 - your favorite television program

Day 4 - your favorite book

Day 5 - your favorite quote

Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things

Day 7 - a photo that makes you happy

Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad

Day 9 - a photo you took

Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you

Day 11 - a photo of you recently

Day 12 - something you are OCD about

Day 13 - a fictional book

Day 14 - a non-fictional book

Day 15 - your dream house

Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)

Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)

Day 18 - my wedding/future wedding/past wedding

Day 19 - a talent of yours

Day 20 - a hobby of yours

Day 21 - a recipe

Day 22 - a website

Day 23 - a youtube video

Day 24 - where I live

Day 25 - your day, in great detail

Day 26 - your week, in great detail

Day 27 - my worst habit

Day 28 - whats in my handbag/purse

Day 29 - hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days

Day 30 - a dream for the future

I found this great idea on the following blogs:

My Cousin at Domestic Princess

Full House!!

I cannot even begin to explain to you how proud I am of myself! Saturday night my husband was invited to his friends house for a friendly night of poker with the "guys." Well, he knew that I had wanted to play poker, with whoever, for a while now. He mentioned it to his friend and his reply was, "Sure, I'll take her money!" So, although it was to be a guys event, they were all very open to a girl coming along, that they could beat.... or so they thought! I don't play hardly at all (like twice now in the past at least year!), but if I haven't mentioned it already,

I'm a games girl!

Board games, card games, mind games :-p, you name it, I'll play it! I couldn't wait to get in there with the guys and see how I would do!

I am proud to report out of two games (1st-11 people/2nd-10 people) I finished 4th both times around!! Mind you, the pay out was to the top 3... so I was a little bummed... but the best part of the night was when I knocked the guy out of the game, that specifically said I could come so he could take my money! YAY! Take that dumb boys who think girls can't hold their own! Oh, and my husband won the first game, so we at least got our money back! Double YAY!

Let me know if you want to play... I'm in!

I knew I'd be TOO busy...

I just knew it... with work, recent surgery, school, family, holiday's, etc. I'd be too busy to give this as much attention as I really want! Ugh! Okay, well how about sharing some great ideas from others with you... I surely am not the only "handmader" out there!

Let's see what others have going on! 

~*~*~

Oh, this is just great for summer!

I may have to make one to shoot at the kids in my neighborhood! :-p

Marshmallow Shooters!

From another Calli (just spelled different) at Make it Do!

She shared this tutorial at Skip to my lou, so go check it out and let me know how it goes!

265 Days and counting!

It has been almost a year! 

On October 16th, 2009, my amazing husband and I 

"tied the knot"

"got hitched"

"signed the license"

etc. etc. etc.

It's gone by almost as fast as waiting for the day to happen! 

I am very proud to say, the majority of my wedding was handmade! 

I'd love to show you some of the things I put together to get the look I was going for!

We'll start off with the bridesmaids accessories! 

This is the hair clip flower, that matches their sashes as well as the boys ties and hankies!

This is the necklace and ear rings I created to match everything else!

Here is the whole look together, on my cousin Christy. 

She even still wears the flower!

I also cannot forget about all the hard work my mom put in helping make my image real! 

How cute are these wraps that I just had to have for all my girls! Each one is unique, but all coordinate with the colors!! I'm actually jealous, cause I didn't get one! :-p 

Then as you can see below, my mom worked extra hard to recreate sashes 

(the ones that came with the dresses, weren't quiet the right color!), 

and completely make new suit ties, while I made the handkerchief tops. 

Then the few things we counted on mass production for 

where the girls shoes (Target) and rings (Avon).

 

I will share more handmade wedding in the near future! 
Hope you enjoyed what I've shared so far!! :-) 

My surprise weekend!

I am one lucky girl! 

This weekend (Independence Day -aka- 4th of July) I got a great surprise! 

My husband contacted my best friend, Christina, who lives in Tennessee, and asked if she would like to join us for the holiday weekend. At first it just wasn't going to work out (I'm not suppose to know that), then she was able to make it happen... and I was truly surprised! 

I got home from work Thursday night, sat in my car finishing up my conversation with my mom, as she was starting to talk very slowly, like she didn't want to get off the phone. I insisted I needed to let her go, because I have class (online) as soon as I get home every Thursday. Well, I finally was able to hang up the phone (she knew about the surprise, and wanted to hear my reaction!) and unlock the door. 

Right there, on the chair inside the door sat my best bud from 7 hours away!!! 

I exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" 

I'm really good at exclamations that make people feel good! (haha)

Here we (Me, Christina, Stevie, my sister Maribeth, her best friend Emily and my husband taking the photo) are having a super great time at Red, White and Boom in Columbus, Ohio! 

We brought a few games along, a nice big quilt, some snacks and my great puppy, Stevie, for a fun beautiful evening waiting on fireworks! :-p 

Then the next day we hit Jeffersonville Prime outlets for some great cheap shopping!

I found a great shirt at the Old Navy Outlet that, although it doesn't exactly say my name, is totally me!

Then we went to my husbands families home town to see some more fireworks, and to see my adorable nephew watch the fire works.

They were fun, but "Noisy!" Says both Jack and Stevie!

(Jack and his mommy, Anna)

I really hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday weekend! This week is going to be a little rough for me, but hopefully I'll get another post or two in, while "recovering." 

Happy late Holiday! :-D