Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! I cannot believe that this year is over! It has gone by far too fast! I just can't believe that we are entering the year 2011. It doesn't seem like it's been over a decade that we all waited for the ball to drop to see if Y2K was real. It doesn't seem like I've been out of highschool for 10 years (in May). It seems crazy that I'm old enough to be talking about my life in terms of decades. As you can see, I may be having a hard time dealing with the new year. It'll be my 28th and I'm afraid I'm having some difficulty taking that in. It's not aging that bugs me, I could care less about getting older. I just kinda feel like I've almost missed out on the last 10 or so years. I suppose one could call that living your 20's. We all lose some time in our 20's. ;) But it's more than that. I just don't know where the past has gone! Time seems to be moving incredibly fast and I worry that I may be missing things. Wow this post has gone to the doom and gloom! Back to the happy! Tonight, we celebrated Josh's 9th birthday! He won't be 9 until next week, but since we won't see him, we decided to celebrate tonight! This week, Josh got to pick out dinner and a cake for his birthday celebration. He picked frozen pizza and an icecream oreo cake! Lol, this kid is easy! He also picked some appetizers (mini cheeseburgers, pigs in a blanket, and cheese sticks) for dinner/midnight snacking. We got him a bottle of sparkling grape juice to toast in the new year!

We rang in the new year by watching the ball drop online and I got my new years kiss from my hubby! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!! Let's hope that 2011 is an awesome year for all!

2010: A Year in Review

JanuaryFebruary
March
April
May

June

July

August

September
October
November
December

Post Christmas Blues

Well, I have the post Christmas blues. I mean, even the weather has the blues! Cloudy, rainy, foggy. Yep, even mother nature has the post Christmas blues. I think that means it's time for me to get another project! I have my new sewing machine, so I think that will help! First up are curtains for the kitchen! I already have the fabric, I just need to figure out how to sew! I found out that I have two floating holiday's to use at work! Woot! I will have to figure out when to take my days off. Probably sometime in March or April since we will be busy at work for the next few months. I'm just looking forward to 2 days off! Anywho, sorry for the short post, but I've gotta run! Busy busy busy!

The Last Christmas of 2010

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas weekend! Sunday we had Christmas with Jon's Dad, Michelle, Grandma and Grandpa Osterman. Kate, David, and Zach were there too. We had dinner and opened presents at Jon's Grandma's house. Afterwards, Jon, Josh and I came home and Josh opened the presents that Santa brought for Josh!

He asked for DragonBalls from DragonBallZ and he got them!

Last night, we had our last Christmas of the year. Jon's mom, Phil, David, Kate, and Zach all came over to give Josh Christmas presents. Jon's Mom brought some awesome chicken enchiladas and tacos, which I was so very gratfeul for b/c I ended up having to work late.

David and Kate were trying to hide one of Josh's presents behind them
He found it! It was one of his favorite presents, an AT-AT! He has been playing with it ever since he opened it. So has Jon ;)

And yes, that AT-AT does stand 2 1/2 feet tall! It is huge! So that was the last couple of days. Jon is off for the rest of the week, so he and Josh are gonna father/son time it up while I'm at work. I'm planning on trying a new recipe or two this week, so hopefully I'll have that to post! Oh, and by the by, my new favorite thing, Netflix, has all 3 seasons of Roswell! Oh yes, I have already started watching! Woot!

A Photo Fail Christmas

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Friday night (Christmas Eve) David, Kate, and Zach came over and had dinner and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Then at midnight, Jon and I opened our presents from each other! He got me some really cool stuff! I love that my husband knows me so well! Jon is the kind of guy that will never buy off a list! He goes off and buys stuff he thinks of. And I always like it! He's good man! Well later that night Santa came, so when we pick Josh up today, he has a pile of presents under the tree to open! We told him yesterday when we called to say Merry Christmas, so he's pretty excited! Speaking of yesterday, we got up and went over to Jon's mom's house to have Christmas morning. Along with a lot of other nice things, they got me a sewing machine! I am so excited! I asked for a sewing machine, but I didn't think that I would get it! I am super excited to start sewing! Oh and if you're wondering why I have no pictures to accompany this post...It's b/c I am a huge goober and forgot my camera yesterday! Friday night, I may have been drinking and didn't think of taking pictures. Either way, I had a huge photo fail! But don't fret, b/c we have Christmas with Jon's Dad today and of course, Santa with Josh later. Plus Monday night we have a Christmas for Josh from Jon's mom. So there will be pictures eventually!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a safe and happy holiday!

Grandma Amy

Today I missed my Grandma Amy. I was thinking about Christmas, which led me to remember the aqua cellophane wrapping paper she always used to wrap our Christmas presents in, therefore I started thinking about Grandma. Grandma Amy was a little spitfire of a woman! She always made me cheese sandwich's, took us swimming, drove too fast in her little car, and always wrapped our presents in the same aqua wrapping paper. But what I remember most about Grandma Amy, is the way she loved.

Brrrrr.......

Sorry for the recent *cough, constant, cough* lack of posting lately! This week I am going to blame the cold weather! Well, that, which makes me want to curl up under a blanket with my cat and my husband, and the upcoming holiday! Just trying to get everything ready for Christmas! And lets face it, there isn't much to report. Tonight, for instance we had dinner, did laundry, read a little....exciting stuff no?!?! Anywho, you see my dilemma. I'd love to blog, but my life is rather boring at the moment! I'm not complaining though! I am really loving my new job and of course, the best part, I am loving living with my husband! Oh I just remembered something to post! I tried freezing a couple leftover breakfast burritos I made for dinner last night and it worked! I had read about freezing homemade breakfast burritos individually so that you can grab one and micro it in the mornings so I thought I'd try it. I made burritos with potatoes, sausage, scrambled eggs, and country gravy. Then I wrapped them individually in foil, nice and tight, then put them in the freezer! Today, I microwaved one for lunch, and it was still good! Of course, that's only 12 hours in. :) We'll see how they are in a week! I'm really excited that I finally tried a freezer meal though! Now maybe I'll have the courage to make some more!

Christmas is Here!!!!!!!

I'm back! This weekend was a lot of fund and oh so busy! We hung out with David and Kate on Friday night and watched Planet of the Dinosaurs. apparently Jon and David watched it a lot as kids and they wanted to watch it again. Well it wasn't terrible, but I probably wouldn't ever pick it again. Saturday, we got up early and headed up to Lafayette to meet my family at Chuck E Cheese. My parents Christmas present to the grandkids was a trip to Chuck E Cheese and a pair of pajamas. So we hung out and had a lot of fun!





After that we went to Cold Stone Creamery and had ice cream. Jon, Josh and I stopped at a store called the Game Preserve and Jon bought a game called Zombies. It looks pretty cool. I can't wait to play it! After that, we all headed to Mom and Dad's and had dinner and opened presents. Those are my gorgeous grandparents!





After presents, we watched the slide dvd's I made for Dad. Everybody really liked them. I found a few that weren't facing the right way, and I found about 10 boxes of slides that Dad never sent me! I'm going to have to finish up those and fix a few of the glitches that are in the current movie, then I'm going to burn new movies to give the new movies. At least we got to watch the dvd's this weekend. Sunday, we got up early and went and got a tour of Grandma and Grandpa George's house, since Jon and Josh had never seen it. Then we headed back home. We were here for just long enough to shower, then we headed to the Eaglen family Christmas (Jon's mom's side). We only got to stay there for a bit b/c we had to take Josh back to his mom. We seemed to miss all the fun stuff (Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, Ornament Exchange, Dirty Santa Gift Exchange) but I'm super excited to experience it next year! When Jon and I got home last night, we were so bushed that we just conked out. Today it was back to work. This weekend is Christmas with Jon's families, so we'll be pretty busy. I think I'm going to try and catch up on my sleep this week.

I'm Sorry

I'm so sorry I've been absent! I don't even have a good reason! I've just been off living life! Actually I think that's a darn good reason! Lol. A quick update: Work is great! My husband is fantastic! I am loving my life!!!! I am really just so happy right now! This weekend, we are going to my family Christmas and one of Jon's family Christmas's, so I won't be around much. Sorry I've been lacking in the posts lately! I did post some new recipes! I promise I will be back to my normal self soon. I mean, I have to post about Christmas!

Crockpot Chicken Stroganauff

I have no idea where I got this recipe, but we tried it and it is pretty good. I would change a few things though (see notes)

4 chicken breasts

1/8 cup butter

1 package dry Italian dressing mix

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

3 tbsp chicken stock

biscuits

Put chick, stock, butter and dressing mix in crockpot and cook on low 6 hours. Add all other ingredients and cook another 45 minutes. Serve over biscuits.

Notes: I would use a homemade spice blend instead of the italian seasoning. It just didn't taste right. Also, I would serve this over egg noodles.

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars

1 stick melted butter

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 roll sugar cookie dough

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

21 oz can apple pie filling

caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs and press into an 8x8 inch baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.

While that is baking, mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Crumble 1/2 of the cookie dough onto cooked graham crust and pour cream cheese mix over this. Bake another 25 minutes.

Top this with the pie filling and the rest of the cookie dough. Bake for another 40 minutes. drizzle caramel over the top and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Mushroom Smothered Pork Chops

4 pork chops

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 onion, sliced

1 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup water

1 package fresh mushrooms

1 tbsp season salt

Sprinkle pork chops with season salt and brown in a little bit of olive oil. Once browned on each side, remove from pan. Add onions, mushrooms, and chicken stock. Cook until onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients, making sure chops are covered by them. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until chops are cooked through and mushrooms are tender.

I served these with mashed potatoes, b/c they make their own gravy. They were really good! Jon loved them too!

Back but Brief

I'm back! Sorry I've been away, but we have had a busy couple of days! Thursday night we had Josh's school Christmas program. It was so cute! No pic's, b/c I forgot my camera! Sonnie (mom-in-law) got some pictures so she is going to give us copies. Last night, we cashed it in early b/c Jon and I hadn't slept well the night before. Today, we headed up to Indy for my nephew's 3rd birthday party! Weren't their cakes awesome!

They are the cutest!


After their party, Jon and I ran to Target to get a couple things we need for upcoming Christmas parties, then we headed home. When we got home, we totally took a 2 hour nap. It was great. Then I made smothered pork chops (see recipe in next post) and we have been chilling out. I am almost done converting my Dad's slides. Whew! Then I am going to put them all on a cd with music. Man there is no way I should be tired seeing as I just took a 2 hour nap, but I am! I just haven't been sleeping all that well. I think we need a new box spring for our bed, and Jon agree's. Maybe then I'll get a good nights sleep! Anywho, sorry this is so short, but I honestly don't have much else to say right now! Toodles!

On Stepmotherhood

I am totally relating to this statement now that I am a stepmother.

"but i'm contemplating the definition of motherhood just might be doing seemingly superfluous things with patient hands and love in our eyes & hoping it will all create some sort of lasting impact & meaning in their world." - http://emilyframe.blogspot.com/

Extremely Simple Bruschetta

I have been craving bruschetta, but didn't want to make anything time intensive. I decided to make an extremely simple bruschetta to satisfy my craving. When I say simple, I mean simple!

8 Roma tomatoes, chopped in a food processor

1 onion, chopped in a food processor (Note, I would use a red onion for this b/c they are mild)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp basil

1 baguette

Chop onion and tomato. Add all spices and oil and mix well. Let sit in fridge for 30 minutes. While that is sitting, thinly slice a baguette (I used sourdough). Toast in your oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Flip and put a tiny bit of butter on top. Toast another 3 minutes. Serve veggies on top of bread!

Christmas Decor

As promised, here are our Christmas decorations. We got some more from Jon's grandma today, so they will be added, but this is what we have up now. Oh and we also have a tree up but I've already posted pictures of it!

In the kitchen.

In the living room.

In the bathroom.

And that's it right now!