There is so much going on! I LOVE IT!

Good Morning Readers --

Okay to start off I am 5 days away from vacation! I can't wait for Christmas vacation! In my last post I stated that I had the Christmas spirit bug. Well I still do! It's amazing! I'm in such a good place, and I am praising God for it! He is so wonderful to us, sometimes we just need to step back and realize what he is doing in our lives.

Since Jesus is the reason for our wonderful lives, I have to start with my blessings!

1. I am blessed to have a wonderful home (which we purchased this summer)
2. I am blessed to have a career and to be able to earn money for my family.
3. I am blessed with an amazing husband, who always deals with the good, the bad, and the ugly!
4. I am blessed with an amazing family. 
5. I am blessed with the ability to see, hear, smell, and think for myself.
6. I am blessed to be able to cook!
7. I am blessed for my awesome friends (even if we don't see them often enough)
8. I am blessed with a STRONG faith!

I could keep going and going, but I won't! I know that God is the reason for all these blessings!

Over the weekend I took some time out for cooking therapy. (If you don't like to cook, I don't recommend it). Cooking therapy for me is time in my kitchen with an audiobook or music playing, and just cooking. It can be baking or preparing a meal. (This is not the same as cooking for a large group of people you are trying to impress) Maybe it is experimenting with some new recipes. This weekend I decided to make Christmas treats! I was so impressed that they all turned out so amazing. So with actual picture from my kitchen, I am sharing my treats with you today.

Peanut Butter Fudge Cups -- by Inspireddreamer.com

These were so good, with the nice fudgie centers. I will say that there is not a complete recipe here so you have to wing it a little bit. 

I filled my mini muffin container with little balls that didn't fill the hole, and then cooked them until they looked like they were browning (8-10 minutes -- keep an eye on them). Once I had them cooling I made the filling in a  pan on low. Poured into a ziploc bag and then cut the corner off. BE CAREFUL the filling can be hot!

Next was MONSTER COOKIES -- by Raininghotcoupons.com

Follow the directions exactly and they work awesome! Including the cooling time, and baking time. These are so perfect and delicious. I think this might be my new favorite cookie.

Let's move on past the cookies. 

Next we have Peanut Butter Fudge -- by communitytable.com

For some reason I had in my head that fudge was hard to make. This was so easy! I want to try it again with crunchy peanut butter to make there be a little more texture.

My final experiment or cooking project was Peppermint Bark -- by sallysbakingaddiction.com.

This was so good, but doesn't make very much. Mine made about a 9x9 pan! Which is enough to sample and enough to give some away! It probably works best to try to cut it or break it after it has had a chance to warm up just a little bit.

I hope you enjoy the tasty treats, and I would love to hear what you think of them when you try them.

Past Thanksgiving On to Christmas

Well we made it through Thanksgiving, and got to spend some great time with family. It was so nice to be able to see everyone, and get a little chatting taken care of. I always find family gatherings interesting.

Andy and I have been absolutely enjoying decorating our new home for Christmas. We decided that we would do a little bit here and a little bit there. We don't want to get sick of Christmas or loose our spirit before the holiday actually gets here. Since our house is bigger, we have decided to set up 3 trees. I love it! We have a themed "pretty tree" decorated in red and gold, and then we have our "memory tree" with all the personal ornaments from over the years. We have ornaments dating all the way back to 1982! Please don't do the math! :) Our final tree is not decorated yet, but will just have bulbs on it. It is only 4ft high and sits in our beautiful bay window. I can't wait until our house is all decorated. I have absolutely loved decorating our mantel and setting up the nativity scene.

I think the coolest part about Christmas this year is we will be hosting our very first FAMILY CHRISTMAS at our house! How exciting. Part of me hopes that it becomes a tradition to come to our house, but my tune may change when I am preparing the Christmas meal. It's a cool feeling to think that people are actually going to see our Christmas decorations! (This is normally rare, because we are always at other's homes)

I will leave you with my latest project of making Christmas cards. They are starting to take over my craft room. Now the question will be will anyone see the cards in their mailbox. I often make them and hardly ever remember to send them out.

Well that's all I have for now. Couple recipe recommendations to leave you with.

This first one was my dish for Thanksgiving, it was even requested that I bring it back for Christmas.
Cajun Corn Casserole - by Unexpected Elegance.com
 ( I leave the seeds of one of my jalapenos in, and I add an extra one.

Another recipe that I have a tried this past week was Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti from Plainchicken.com
(Next time I make this I will try to figure out a way to spice it up a little bit. It would make a nice meal for 4 people)

Give them a try you will love them!

Past the Busy for awhile!

Good afternoon readers!

I'm doing horrible at my goal of once a week! I'm lucky if I am able to write once a month! Lots of exciting things going on though.

I hosted craft weekend at my house with my sister and mom. What a fun time! We spent the weekend enjoying company, wine, and crafts. It just doesn't get much better than that.

At work I have made it past 2 Halloween Dance, and a Veteran's Day program. Normally I am moving right into preparing for the Riley Week Talent show -- however I have decided to give myself a rest and take time off from that. The next big event for me will be Riley Week and the Christmas Dance. It is nice to have a little extra time on my hands. I'm hoping to be able to manage some new recipes and some crafts. I have a few more projects up my sleeves.

I'm in the Christmas spirit this year! Not sure why, for those of you that know me... this is not normal! I already have one tree up (calm down it's not decorated)! And plans for two more. I absolutely love decorating my new house so I can't wait. I did promise the husband that I would wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas. LOL  (We have our first one this weekend.)

I haven't been cooking new things very often so here is a foodie thought for you: Try dry roasted peanuts and candy corn. I love this snack.  I got this idea from my mother-in-law and I love it! I served it to some friend of mine and there was nothing left by the end of the weekend. Try it and enjoy!

Touches The Heart

Good afternoon Readers!

Over the last nine weeks I have been whole heartedly trying to embrace my new teaching assignment. I teach College and Career style courses now. One is called Future Planning (Gr 8), Publications (Gr 7), and Life Skills (Gr 5 & 6). I have to admit I hate the  name of the courses but I love the content in the courses. I have really enjoyed researching and teaching new classes. I've also been teaching some math remediation in my 5th and 6th grade classes. However, I have convinced them that the whole reason that we work on Math is because you NEED to be good at Math to be successful in your careers. The kids don't feel like they are getting extra help, but they are improving.

This fact has been very rewarding to me, and it has eliminated the fight from them. These are kids who do not like to work on math, but the love working on the math activities. I have to say this is very rewarding and I enjoy it. 

The piece that gets me the most is that I have a number of students who really get into trouble in other classes because they are bored, or can just be challenging. I have absolutely fallen in love with my students. I get hugs form students that normally don't like anyone, and want to be in my room. My favorite phrase of the day is "I don't want to leave your class" or "I wish I could just stay with you all day long" or "Is it really time to go already!"

These phrases and these kids are the reason that I am constantly trying to be better and do better by them. It's nice to find something that keeps the fire alive!

It was a really nice time last weekend hanging out with my mom, my nieces, and a dear friend of mine Abby. We had a nice time taking the girls to the park and even had some fun playing ourselves. For those involved I have promised not to put the pictures on the internet. 

We spent the day shopping and hanging out it was so nice. Needless to say it was a full house at my house. I love that we have the space now for everyone. This coming weekend we will be entertaining more friends! It's so much fun! Then we will be heading for the holidays.

You should try this TACO LASAGNA recipe! From The Girl Who Ate Everything blog. It is tasty. I do double the meat though!

Till we chat again!

Once a Week Is Proving to be Difficult

Hello Readers!

Ok so in my last blog 2 weeks ago I said I was going to write more often. Well we see how that is panning out. However, it has been crazy. Andy and I started a yard redo project months ago and it finally was all wrapped up the this past week. But before I get there here is a quick recap.

Two weeks ago was Bluffton Street Fair week! This is just a crazy week. Everyone gets excited about street fair and spends lots of money and time up town. Andy & I personally try to avoid it. However, this year was a little different. A friend of Andy's was in town so we went up there opening night to hang out with him. It was fun! Then on Thursday I marched in the parade (I really should say walked -- band geek days coming back) with school. It was actually a fun time.

That same weekend we went the 98.9 The Bear Birthday Bash, and got to see a few bands. It was fun because it was at Parkview Field and we have never been there before. Even though it wasn't music that I listen to that often it was still a fun experience.

We even ran into my cousin Jy.

The following day, I was able to spend some time with my two wild and crazy nieces. We took them to Washington Park to play. That is always fun, especially when Uncle Andy shows up with his RC car and scares the girls. Addi spend a decent amount hiding up on top of the slide.

The following weekend our yard was completed. This was a process of building us a new back stoop, and regrading our yard, and then reseeding the yard. I'm so glad it is finished, now if only the grass would grow. We haven't mowed the yard since early September. I'm ready to not have the worst yard in the neighborhood.

Last weekend I surprised Andy with Indianapolis Colts tickets so I took him to see the game. We also went to Monument circle and walked around. He actually convinced me to go all the way up to the tower. That was exciting. Then we took in the sights of the game! Which was a good game by the way.

Finally this past week was a normal week except that we went back down to Indy with Dad and Pam to celebrate my birthday that was back in August. We had a fun time with everyone! Actually it the time ended too quickly and I wish we could have spent more time together. Guess that just means we need to get together more often.

I did in the last bit of time manage to try a new recipe. Last week I made Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. It was so good. I am attaching the recipe below.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup - From Cooking Classy

This was excellent! Give it a try and tell me what you think. Enjoy and keep cooking and being fun! I hope to be able to write next week!

I'm Back

Wow, I was just looking at the stats of my blog and I have 1,403 page views.. yay! Okay now that we are past that I have to say that I am back. After being gone for so long I really have missed writing to you. It was always an enjoyment but when you get out of the habit it's hard to get back. Not to mention life gets CRAZY!

A little update on my family:

We moved this summer! We moved into a nice little neighborhood. Same town different place, better surrounds. Our house is amazing and I love it. We doubled our square footage and have spent all summer trying to adjust and get settled. But we have enjoyed it. Not to mention decorating for the seasons. I have always wanted to do that!

Henriette loves the new fall decorations.

My first attempt at decorating for fall with the exception of setting out a couple flowers!

We have welcomed a new edition to our home. Our newest member is an adorable black cat that I begged my husband to get! He is my buddy, and actually spends a lot of time sitting at my feet while I cook.

Our newest family member Snarf (who is so sweet)

School has started back up and I am teaching a completely different subject matter than I have for the last five years. So that keeps me extra busy. Lots of school work to bring home. We won't mention I doubled the class load to. One piece of school that is amazing is I am responsible for teaching some math remediation. It has proven to be one of the most fun times of my school day. I just hope that I am truly helping the kids!

Here are some goals for this year:

As you know I am always changing my blog around. But I am back to cooking! It is just too fun not to share. I am sewing now also (maybe I can get some pics up of some of my crafts). So my first goal is to blog more. I am hoping to be able to write to you at least once a week. So watch for me!

My second goal is to work out! I need to start getting more physical activity into my day. So I am going to start by going on at least a mile walk after I finish this blog.

My third goal is to cook more! (enough said)

I leave you with tonight's recipe! Found on Pinterest of course, that turned out amazing!

Buffalo Chicken Pasta (get full recipe and directions here thingsicantsay.com blog)

*see notes below
Ingredients:
1 pound penne pasta*
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t paprika
1 pound chicken, diced
1 T oil (i use EVOO)
2 T Frank's hot sauce*
1 c Mayo*
1/2 c Ranch
3/4 Cup Milk
1 c shredded mozzarella

If the ingredients and my picture below look good to you click on the link above to get the full recipe and directions. If you try it let me know what you think!

NOTES:
* I used macaroni shells and wheels. It is what I had on hand. You could use just about anything I think.
*I used wing sauce because it is what I had in the fridge. Couldn't tell the difference. (It was Franks) I also added an extra Tablespoon to the Ranch Mayo mixture to give it a  little extra kick.

How Does Your Facebook Treat You

In the world of social media, it seems like everything is about Facebook and twitter. I refuse to join twitter, but question it professionally every day. Should I join, how can I use this in my classroom?

That's beside the point. The last couple months have been a HUGE struggle for me. I have dealt with a number of issues. Most of which I have kept very private and will continue to keep private. But for this to make sense I should say that I abruptly lost my Grandfather, whom I adored. It lost the fight to pancreatic cancer, after just a few short weeks of knowing he was fighting it. He is in the place we all dream of going.

There have been numerous other health concerns with family members and friends, and we (friends and family) have just felt like we have been going through a storm. Emotions and feelings, and stress has been all over the place. I have been dealing with some serious depression (which I am okay to admit, because I have always dealt with it open and honestly.)

I am not one to ask for prayer requests for myself very often, and after wanting all my requests to go for my Grandfather, I just couldn't' ask for more. Don't get me wrong GOD and I have been talking A LOT lately! and he is AWESOME.

Which brings me to the title of today. How does your Facebook treat you? When you get on do you get brought down by everyone's drama? Do you feel caught up on the latest news? Do you get irritated by how wonderful everyone else is?

Have you thought about these questions? Lately, I have really been considering getting rid of Facebook, because everyone talks about the drama. But this is how Facebook treats me.

On a day I was feeling totally beat down a friend posts this:

When I'm feeling tired of all this snow, a friend posts something beautiful.

(Picture taken by Angela Taylor)



And when after feeling so down, I have a wonderful day, and all I want to do is praise GOD. A friend posts this video.

And that was all this week. So how is my Facebook treating me, just how I need to be treated. The LORD is using my friends to help me through, even though my friends don't know it. Thank you LORD, and thank you FRIENDS! I cherish each and everyone of you!