A Little News...

My sister and I have finally started our joint Bog!  It's a little rough, so bare with us.  When I get back from my mini vacation next week we'll add some more touches to it.  It will be all about our sewing adventures.  Hopefully you'll come follow along with us over at The Clumsy Spider!  And of course you can still keep reading here at Wishful Thinking and at my sister's blog, Tina's Place.

Stay tuned!

Feeling Pretty Terrible.

Have you ever uttered the words, "If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know."  And then wished you hadn't?

A family acquaintance passed away last night and his wife called me today to see if I could give her a hand getting her house ready for all the family and friends that were going to be stopping by to pay their respects...and I had to say no.  I said NO!  What's wrong with me!?  It's not like I didn't want to, I really just can't.  She said she understood and I believe her, but I still feel like total crap.

So I immediately next day delivered the BIGGEST sympathy plant 1800flowers.com had to offer.  

Now I'm going to go bathe the guilt off of my body.  :o\

It's All Positive Today!

 

Why not?!  It's just my favorite time of year and I can't help but to be in a good mood!  I've been pretty proud of myself for getting a lot accomplished in the last week.  I've been really trying to stay motivated around the house.  I've kept up with the dishes and kept the piles of junk to a minimum!  Woohoo!  I love when things aren't cluttered.

Tina and I went shopping on Saturday and picked up some Halloween decorations from the dollar store...they had some great finds!  Then headed over to Walmart and we found some fabric on clearance...as low as $1.00/yard!  We plan on having a sewing day to make pillow cases for charity.  We'll drop them off at the local quilt shop to be delivered to hospitals and shelters.  I think we'll post more about that later :o)

Speaking of quilts, I got my first quilt top done!  I won't put any pictures up until after it's all finished, but I'm ready for my next one!  I think this will really become a love of mine.

And finally we celebrated my brother's birthday yesterday!  I made him his favorite cake (German Chocolate-box mix with Coconut Pecan frosting from scratch) and even attempted to write on it with the left over homemade chocolate frosting I made last week.  I'm not as talented as my sister in the cake decorating department, but it tasted good!

I was playing around with Photoshop, so excuse all the different styles, lol....

*Notice the candles...that's how we roll.  lol

David waiting patiently to blow out the candles too!

"It's my turn!!"

Finally!

And here we are!  And yes, that's my LITTLE brother!

Have a great week girls :o)

Bring it ON, Monday!

I've been completely MIA, but I have been reading all of your lovely posts :o)

Things have been a little crazy in the last week especially.  Most of which I won't comment on, but it's just been a little "blah" around here.  One thing I will talk about to get the word out is...PLEASE go to the DR. when you have a stomach ache!  This is nothing to mess around with.  My father-in-law went into the hospital on Friday with pains in his stomach that he had been suffering with for MONTHS.  Yeah, way to go, dad.  He kept telling everyone that it was a strained muscle.  

The diagnosis is Diverticulitis.  It's gross, but I included the link if you feel so inclined to read more about it.  Because he went for so long an abscess was created that eventually burst, creating a giant hole in his intestines.  (Hope you girls aren't eating breakfast).  SO, for the last month or so, guess what's been filling up in his abdomen?  This lead to 2 drainage tubes and today we find out what can be done to repair the hole.  If the infection of the tissue (in the intestines) is cleared up enough they can just sew it all back together.  If not, he might end up with a temporary Colostomy bag.  Gross, but true.  So go to the doctor!!

I'm determined to make this a good week tho.  Because on a Positive Note:

I have been working on some projects for ME.  They aren't prefect, but they are mine and I will still be proud of the finished project.  Here is the quilt that I started.  It's getting there, but I think I can get it done soon.

AND Thank you to Krystal of Krystal's Kitsch!  I just won a really great Nature Valley prize pack to start off my week!  PLEASE check out her blog, she's got lots to say about her fun weekends, wedding plans, back to school and of course, awesome things to give-a-way!! 

I'm kickin' ass and taking names this week!!

The Coffee Post

In honor of my fab new coffee pot:

 Which I purchased from Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday (thank you wedding guests!)  Here's the link to BB&B

My old pot was from Walmart and was a Black & Decker and cost around $20-only lasted us a year!  So this time around, since we had some gift cards, we wanted to get something a little more expensive to see if cost related to quality.  I know I've only used it once, but it brewed so fast!  Faster than any coffee pot I've ever owned!  A+ for that alone.  I'm curious to see how the self clean feature works...a little lights comes on when it needs to be cleaned.  I don't really think it should be called "self clean" just because you still have to pout the water/vinegar solution in yourself and flick the switch to ON.  Anyway, I'm being nit-picky. 

My second part of my coffee post is my FAVORITE brand of coffee...ever.  I don't know if it's much of a secret, but here ya go:

www.berresbrothers.com

And I'm proud to say that I was a fan BEFORE their Food Network appearance.  I found some of their single pot flavors in a little gift shop while in Michigan visiting family.  WOW!  Talk about the best flavored coffee I've ever had!  I tend to buy the single pot servings a lot because Matt isn't in to flavors.  If I do buy a 1 pound bag it's usually their Highlander Grogg which is their top seller.  And I buy the whole bean and grind it as I need it.  Some of my other favorites are French Caramel Cream, Southern Pecan Cream, and Streusel Cake.  I'm having a hard time deciding on what my next 1 pound bag will be..it's between Windmill Cookie or Blueberry Muffin...I can't choose!!!  I really think the prices are pretty reasonable too...try them you will not be disappointed!  

Some other tidbits...I prefer Dunkin Donuts to StarSchmucks, I order a Medium French Vanilla Light and Sweet, in the Summer I will get a Medium Blueberry Iced Coffee, when I am at home I use Splenda and Sugar free French Vanilla creamer (D&D is a treat, so I go full out with the sugar), and my favorite dessert is Tiramisu which is kind of funny because mushy foods make me gag...except for this!

Tell me your Coffee Favorites!!!!

The Baby Talk

*Disclaimer:  This post is not meant to offend anyone or their beliefs or opinions.  Just giving you my point of view on a sensitive subject...here's the short of the long:

Most of our family knows by now that my husband and I have chosen NOT to have children.  GASP!  That's right.  In most people's minds, couples get married and then have kids.  But in our case, we have both always known that this is not the direction we wanted to go.

Matt and I had the "baby talk" early on in our relationship.  And we found that neither of us had a deep longing to be a parent.  I don't think I have an ounce of motherly instinct in my body.  I have felt this way since I was a preteen.  My sister and I played with dolls and we pretended to be moms, but once I understood what was REALLY involved, I said, "No, thank you."  People would tell me that I was "young" and I would change my mind, but I never did.

I don't think choosing to be childless is a selfish decision, I just think it's the right decision for Matt and I.  The beauty of life, ups and downs, twists and turns, is that it's full of choices.  And this just happened to be an easy one for us.

Recipe of the Week!

Join in the fun and link up over at Thirty Something?

I was going to post my disaster recipe last week, but I never got around to it.  Sorry!  So here it is for this week:

Roasted Potato Salad

5 lb bag of red potatoes, cubed into pieces that are roughly the same size, I also leave skins on, but it's up to you

5 strips of bacon, cooked until crispy, then crumbled

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped into what ever size you like

1-2 stalks of celery diced

1 cup mayo

1-2 tablespoons mustard, I've used spicy brown and Dijon and they are both excellent, I like mustard, so I add the 2 tablespoons

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

2 teaspoons white sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven @ 450, spray cookie sheet with PAM, spread potatoes evenly on pan (you might need 2 pans), spray tops of taters with PAM and sprinkle with salt and pepper

Bake for about 30 minutes or until they are as brown as you like them, turning occasionally.

Mix together mayo, mustard, vinegar, and sugar until sugar is dissolved.

When potatoes are done, let them come to room temp before you add to the dressing. 

Toss in bacon, celery and eggs.  Make sure everything is coated, then I sprinkle the top with a bit of Paprika for some color.  Chill until serving time!

This is my new favorite potato salad recipe, the roasted flavor of the potato is awesome!  It's really forgiving and can be tweaked to the way you like it.  I would add chopped onion too, but Hubby doesn't like raw onion flavors in anything, so I skip it. 

Happy Eating!!!