Ice, It's not so Nice.

Pretty, right?  The way it encases my front porch light...

And glistens so beautifully in the day light.

The way it puddles up in my living room ceiling, and drips down the walls...

(The stain has gotten larger since this picture was taken.)

And last, but certainly not least, has turned the spare room into something completely uninhabitable.

(Hard to see, but that's the pink insulation...soaking wet)

This is what we have been dealing with for the last week.  We just discovered the spare room mess on Sunday.  We packed everything up and are storing everything at Matt's parents house.  The insurance company has been wonderful.  So great to deal with, but unfortunately, nothing can be done until we are thawed out...in how many months?  So we have no idea what the total damage will be.

Had I known that water was going to destroy parts of our house, I would not have taken those first 2 pictures, I would have gotten a hammer and destroyed them.  Honestly, it wouldn't have mattered because there was still ice caked to the whole front of the condo anyway, but it might have made me feel better.

And by the way, we are getting another winter storm today and tomorrow.  Spring...just 47ish days away.  Is that all?  :o\

Rough Weekend

I am so glad this weekend is over.  Matt went away on an ice fishing trip with the guys (my father, brother and a friend all drove out together and met up with my uncle and his buddies in Northern Michigan).  My mom stayed with me, which was great because she hardly comes over.  We just hung around, met up with my sister on Friday night for a Walmart run and made yummy food to snack on.  But sleeping was just not happening. 

Not only was it hard to not have Matt next to me, but on top of that I had to deal with my mom's noisy sleeping habits.  I never knew my mother was such a loud snorer!!  The first 2 nights I ended up on the couch.  The Breathe Right strip worked for a few hours, but for some reason completely stopped working after that.  For the next 2 nights she slept on the couch, but I just couldn't get a good night's rest.

On Saturday I woke up with a migraine.  I started my routine, popped an Imitrex, and made a cup of coffee.  I felt the medicine working so I decided to go back to my bed and thought I'd get back up and restart the day, fresh as a daisy.  Wrong.  This thing did not want to let up.  I took another Imitrex and laid down again...an hour later, still no change.  I stayed in my bed until about 3 and then came down to the couch for a change of scenery. 

Unfortunately this made me feel even more nauseous so as i was running to the bathroom to get sick, I spooked my cats and they took my feet right out from under me and I face-planted just outside the bathroom door.  There I lay crying, in pain and wondering what my neighbors thought was going on in my house.  Thankfully the impact didn't make me lose my cookies right were I had landed. 

I finally choked down a 3rd Imitrex and it eventually took effect.  I have NEVER had to take 3.  This is just getting ridiculous.  I have been working with my doctor who has me trying some medications, but so far not much is working.  I made another appointment for this Friday to see if we can change things up.  I am determined to find something to fix this.

Anyways, I can't wait for Matt to be home in a few hours...I need a hug!

And so this post isn't picture-less...here is one of my favorites from last weekend of when we went to check on the boys' other ice fishing adventure.  I used my brother's sunglasses to get a neat mirrored shot :o)

Shutter Love Tuesdays - Tints

This is my first time participating!  I think I'm supposed to tell you to vote for my picture, but I'm still not quite sure how that works, lol!

This is my In-Law's dog, Kramer.  He's a Portuguese Water Dog and LOVES to be outside.  We took him to the frozen lake so he could run around for a while.   I cropped him a bit and used Coffee Shop's Splendor B&W action and adjusted to my liking.  This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

Head over to  Trendy Treehouse to participate!

You Call THIS a "Snow Day?!"

I am so over our local Weather People.  I woke up expecting to see at least a foot of beautiful white snow blanketing the mountain.  But instead I woke up to a few inches of something that is far from spectacular.  LAME!  Hey NBC, pay me to tell people the weather, at least I will be nicely compensated for creating LIES.  LOL

So here I am, home.  Bored.  I should have been working, but we called and canceled our customer yesterday because we were expecting to see blizzard-like conditions.  I should be cleaning or working out or doing anything besides sitting on the couch watching my "stories."  But the lack of weather is making me feel very blah.

I did manage to work on a pillow project.  I've been seeing some other bloggers revamp their pillows, and I've been wanting to give it a try.  It was so easy!  I didn't even use a pattern, just made things up as I went along.  You can find the full tutorial over at The Clumsy Spider.  Feel free to follow it, or to make up your own way of throwing one of these covers together.  :o)

OK, I'm off to go enjoy the comfort of my couch a little longer.  Maybe I'll get around to doing the dishes after I finish watching my 1:00 soap.  Maybe.

2010: Review & The Year Ahead!

Where did this WHOLE YEAR go?!!  I can't even lie, no other year compares to this one.  I absolutely felt like I was where I was supposed to be in my life and what an awesome feeling!!!

Winter of 2010:  Where else would we be, but on the lake!

Also had a fun weekend with the girls!

Spring 2010:  We spent a lot of time outdoors as usual...had a birthday (29..EEP!) and oh yeah, I was given a Bridal shower!

Summer 2010:  Best summer of my life so far!  Had an awesome wedding!!!  Oh, and all the fun things surrounding that too :o)

Fall 2010:  My favorite season.  Lots of outdoorsy things, Halloween and a trip to Cape Cod, MA!

 And Christmas 2010!!!  Such a fun time of year to just be together with friends and family.  It couldn't have been more wonderful!!

I am so looking forward to 2011!  While I have never made a resolution, and I don't plan on making one this year either, I do have some goals in mind.  I think this is the year we get to house hunt!  We want to save, save, save and get the condo spruced up in the spring.  Hopefully we can get this sucker on the market by the end of the summer.  I have high hopes that we will find a house fairly easily, I'm more concerned that we won't be able to sell our condo right away.  There are quite a few listed in our complex for WAY less than what we paid.  We know we are going to take a hit, but our fingers are crossed that we will at least break even.

I also plan on being a little more adventurous.  I've always felt a bit held back and I don't want to be afraid to try new things anymore.  With 30 sneaking up on me, now is the time to live a little!!  I don't want to be and regret not going to see the places I've always wanted to see.

And then there are the usual's:   get back into shape, keep house a little tidier, try not to buy things I don't need, cook actual meals for dinner-not just throw a frozen pizza in the oven...and continue to be a good spouse.  I am so in love with my husband, he is my whole heart and I love making him happy.  He makes me smile every day and I want to keep doing the same for him!

Bring it on 2011!!!

Happy Holidays!

It's been a while, but I just want to quickly share with you what I've been working on this Holiday season...

Did a bunch of sewing!  2 Christmas quilts for my mom and dish towels (from Walmart) embellished with some fun fabric:

And of course LOTS of cookie making!  I did myself a favor this year and made all of my dough ahead and froze it.  Now I can just bake as I need them.

*I really wish I had taken a better picture of these...this one doesn't do them justice.  I still have to make more, so maybe I'll update later :o)

Here is a quick recipe for Matt's grandmother's Candy Cane Cookies:

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c butter (room temp)

1 c sifted powdered sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter, use 1 tsp)

Topping:

About 6 candy canes, crushed...as fine as you can get-the chunks tend not to stick to cookie.

1/4 c granulated sugar

Mix first 6 ingredients until smooth.  Whisk flour and salt together and slowly add to wet mixture.  Remove 1/2 of the dough to separate container and color the other 1/2 with red food color.  Chill for just a little bit.

Preheat oven to 375 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil.  (This really just makes for easy clean up)

Roll about a teaspoon of each dough (Red & uncolored) into "noodles" and twist together.  Place on cookie sheets about an inch apart.  Bake for 9 minutes or until just set, not browned.

Mix crushed candy canes and sugar together and sprinkle over cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.

Yield: 4 dozen

I hope you try these!  They are a little time consuming to roll out, but they are my new favorite Christmas cookie and I think you'll love them!!!

If I don't post again before...Have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Beware: Holiday Price Gouging

I'm sure all of you ladies are savvy shoppers.  Especially when it comes to holiday shopping.  But I would just like to take a moment to remind you to shop around before you make purchases (any time of year, really).  

I was in the market for the Aquadoodle for my niece and nephew for Christmas.  The first place I always go to is Amazon.com.  I looked at a few different versions, I think they are up to a jumbo size by now...they ranged in price from $19.99-$40.00+.  But I noticed that even with the "deluxe" sets, it only came with one pen.  OK, fine, I'll need to buy an extra.  So I clicked around and found a set with a pen, brush and stencils for $12.99 (not including shipping and handling).  Seemed kind of high to me for some plastic accessories that don't even have ink in them!  Then I found a brush and pen set for $19.99!  Woah there partner.  

Off to Walmart I went (after a lovely dinner with my siblings and husband), only to purchase the Aquadoodle Classic Mat for $15.00 (Rollback price) and the accessory kit (with brush, pen, stencils and spill-proof cup) for...wait for it....$5.00!!  I probably should have known Walmart would have had it cheaper, but sheesh!

I'm not going to bad mouth Amazon.  I've gotten some great deals from them in the past, but just do your research, know what you're buying and make sure you shop around before you fully commit to a purchase.  This was just my small example of what goes on in the retail world.  It's just shocking that stores would try to take advantage of customers in the current state our economy is in.

P.S. Stay tuned for some Holiday projects and gift ideas Tina and I will be posting over at The Clumsy Spider in the coming weeks!  I'll also be posting some of my favorite holiday recipes right here!