You've been gone too long....and all that jazz!

I should issue some nonsense about never staying away this long again and updating more regularly and other lies, but I won't.  I will say that the past few months have been filled with some of the happiest moments of my life.

I was able to go home for almost a week and a half and witness the birth of my nephew Jacob.  I was able to visit my wonderful family and friends.  I have also been working 34 or so hours a week and spending as much time as possible with my husband before he leaves for another year in Korea in September.

On to fluffy things.  Today I got an oil warmer for the very first time...not a wax melter, or a candle.  An oil warmer!  It's like the newest most awesome thing ever!  In less than ten minutes my entire house smells like delicious and yummyness.  I got three oils from the body shop to go with my warmer and my favorite scent is Exotic...it smells like kool-aid and happiness.

I will try to update with some regularity from now on but seriously when you get 2 inches of snow on may 22nd....and have still been living with weather more suited to winter, you really don't feel like doing too much of anything.

Sayings my Step Dad always says...

As I've said before I was born and raised in Durham, NC  my parents divorced when I was three and My Mom remarried My step-Dad by the time I was 6.  I had every other weekend at my Dad's house, and I love him dearly.  He did what he felt was best leaving me to live with my mom during the school week so that I wasn't shuffled from one house to another during school.  However, this means that I am very close to my Step-Dad,  I even call him Dad but that is confusing to people and actually upsets my Dad.  I am such a lucky woman to have not one, but two loving and caring fathers.

My step-dad is a twin, and they are the youngest of 7.  His father left shortly after he was born and he was raised by a single mother, that being said they were very poor, although he swears up and down that he didn't realize they were poor until he was grown.  His mom instilled in him a work ethic and every one of his brothers and sisters is doing well and a hard worker.  His Mother died of cancer when he was 16 and his older sister took him in until he graduated.  My aunt and uncle are amazing people.  This back story is just so that you understand how well he has done for himself.

My step-dad owns a resteraunt.  He started as a busboy/dishwasher, then moved onto cook, then waiter, then host and eventually co-manager with his brother.  Now he owns it all by himself, there is no parent company, it isn't a franchise, it is a 24 hour diner.  That just wasn't enough for him though,  He went on to get his broker's liscense and started a Real estate agency with his sister, they began by renting an office in a building, they now own a house and have 3 other people working under them.  Then he went on to buy rental properties, first one house then another, he now co-owns 5 houses with a man from our church, and has another 3 that he has seperately.

He gets maybe 6 hours of sleep a night although usually he is lucky if he gets 5 and he still wakes up with the biggest smile and a loud booming voice.  You can almost feel his joy at just being alive and able to work another day.  When I was younger I couldn't understand how he could be so happy to go to work all day only to get up and do it all over again the next day.  Now I do.  He is so full of Christ's love that it just pours out of him.  He is so proud to be able to work and provide for his family that he can't help but smile.  He always used to say all of these silly things and now I'm going to share them.

I'm so tired and I'm so sore,
I'll never do it for a nickel no more,
15 cents is my new price,
Give me a quarter and I'll do it twice.

I'm the boss applesauce,
Understand rubber band?
Don't get wise bubble eyes
Do, I'll knock you down to peanut size

He woke us up every single morning with some song or other, 

Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory

Wakey wakey eggs and bakey

Or some other made up total nonsense...I miss being able to hug him everyday,  He is truly a man among men.  He believes that if you want emplys to respect you, you have to respect them.  He leaves work at work almost all of the time, and he still pinches my mom on the butt and kisses her like they just started dating.  He taught me how to treat people right.  He makes me smile.  I love him just like a father.

Aww wait. No way. She didn't just say what I think she did. Did she?

I'll admit it.  I am a total geek.  Completely and unrepentently nerdy.  I cannot help it.  My cat is named after a character on Battlestar Galactica... That's right go look that up real quick.  I'll wait.



You see?  A total geek right?  I've never been ashamed of that fact, I read Fanfiction.  I tell totally corny jokes.  I laugh outloud at thoughts in my head.  It doesn't bother me, in fact I rarely even explain to people anymore, often times they don't get what's so funny.

I was raised in such a large and loving family that I'm socially akward.  It's okay.  I've accepted it.  I have on multiple occasions (okay like 100 times at least)  laughed so hard I cried with any given family member.  My younger brother J and I were once coming home from getting some icecream for the family and we got to laughing about selling Pots at the Stop sign and we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe...it seemed perfectly logical to roll down the windows...to get air?  That's right we are driving into the neighborhood with the windows down fanning air into our faces trying to breathe.  We are weird like that.

My Mom and I have both laughed so hard we have peed on ourself...Sorry Mom I'll tell my story if you don't mind me telling yours.

My parents run a firework tent each year, and one year we had one in a walmart parking lot, only it wasn't open 24 hours.  It closed at 12 and opened at 6 so if you had to pee during those hours...tough luck.  Well one night me, N and J were staying there with my Step Dad BU.  We really needed to go to the bathroom and had been waiting for at least 2 hours for the walmart to open and when it opened we headed to the store just the three of us kids.  We were at the very back of this huge parking lot, a war could have happened in this lot, it was huge.  We start walking and my sister N sees a cart tipped over on it''s side, so she walks over and tries to pick it back up to take down with us.  Tries being the operative word, she was in 6th grade and about the size of a toothpick.  So here she is struggling to pick this thing up and I start laughing, and soon I'm crying because I start peeing and can't stop...I peed so much I soaked my shorts, undies, and socks and shoes...gross.  I laughed the whole way into walmart where BU had given me some money to pick out a change of clothes.  The point is family will put up with weird crap.  My family will probably put up with about 10 times more weird crap then a normal family, and because of that I don't have a filter.

If I think something is stupid I usually say as much.  If I have an opinion I will share it without being asked.  It isn't that I mean to pry and be "rude" according to social norms.  It's just that I was raised by a big southern baptist family in the south...we overshare.  We say "bless her heart" and gossip to our hearts content.  I know this means that many people are "put off" by me at some point in knowing me.  I guess this is just to say that I have come to terms with me.  No matter how many times we move, how many friendships I gain and lose over time, my family will always accept me, because they know I do it because I care.  I am fiercely loyal and I would do anything to help a friend. 


I just need people to put up with my quirks, and know that if I say something that's over a comfort line, just tell me.  I will always apologize if you let me know it was too far, and I will try to better about keeping my opinion to myself next time.  Thanks for putting up with me guys.

More good recipes...please don't drool on your key board.

This is why I love fall

When the air starts to get cold and crisp, and the days get shorter I become a champion at making comfort food.  You know, the extra fattening, super delicious junk to add on extra puonds before it gets really cold.  Trust me when I say that a few extra pounds will make you warmer in the coming winter, and even if not.  This stuff is just too good to pass up.  We always called it People Puppy Chow, and made it with crispex, but chex calls it Muddie Buddies and it tastes the same.The recipe is as follows.

Ingredients:

5 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.


In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Put it into a gallon sized bag and store on counter.
(I do all of this in a pot over the stove top, stirring extra gently to not break the cereal.)

Apple Crunch Cobbler

Apple Crunch Cobbler

4 to 6 medium cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces


Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg

Preparation:

Mix apples, 1 cup of sugar and cinnamon; place in a greased 8-inch baking dish. Dot with the 1 tablespoon of butter.

Combine topping ingredients; stir until blended then pour (Spread as well as you can, it is really thick) over apples. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes.

Before Adding the topping

After it was done baking

My Mom's Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe makes two 9 inch deep dish pies.  If you do not need 2 pies cut this recipe in half.

4 Cups chopped cooked chicken (I boil Boneless skinless chicken breast)

1 Cup Chopped Onion

1 Cup Chopped Celery (I don't include celery, because I don't like it)

6 Tb. Butter

6 Tb. Flour

2 Tb. Parsley Flakes

3 ts. Instant Chicken Bouillon Granules

1 ts. Poultry Season

1/2 ts. Garlic Salt

1/2 ts. Pepper

1 ts. Salt

1 and 1/2 Cup Milk

1 Cup Swanson's Chicken Broth (more if needed)

1 Cup Thinly Sliced Carrot

2 Cups Diced Peeled Potato

1 Cup Frozen Peas

1 Cup Frozen Corn

2    9 Inch Deep Dish Pie Crusts

2    Pillsbury Topper Crusts

In pot on medium high saute onion and celery in butter until tender.  Stir in Flour (do not stop stirring while slowly adding flour, you are making a roue) Stir in Parsley, Chicken Granules, Poultry Season, Garlic Salt, Pepper and Salt.  Blend in milk and chicken broth Stirring constantly until thickened. Add chicken, carrot, potatoes, peas and corn.  Pour into pie shells. Place pie crust over top (roll it out a little) Seal edges (I use a fork) Cut slits into top.

You can throw one of these into the freezer if you want to, Just put it in before cooking.  Thaw before cooking

Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

This is your roue you want it to be thick before adding the vegtables

Just before I put the tops on

After it was half eaten, It is always eaten before I get a picture.

I love the fall!

No seriously, I love fall. I had mums at my wedding. Halloween and Thanksgiving are my two favorite holidays. I love the way the air smells crisp and clean (when we can't smell the dairy cows down the way) I love getting to trade tank tops and shorts, for jeans and sweaters. I love getting to wear my cowgirl boots, and fuzzy crocs.and making all my moms best recipes. This weekend I made my moms homemade vegtable soup and I ate it all before I even thought of taking a picture. Today I'm making homemade chicken pot pie, and I promise to post the recipe and pictures. But here are some pictures of Aaron and I at a corn maze, and some pumpkins we carved.

Us on a hay ride, it was below freezing and we didn't bring gloves...silly us.

The farmstead corn maze.  It was awesome

That is one big rocking chair, and that is kettle btw, delicious!

"Our" pumpkins, the mummy is one our friend Mike and Roxy did. The one on the right is mine.

Aaron's is a freehand Deathstar, which he didn't carve he shaved the skin off.

OMG What's the BFD?

Sorry about the title but it's been stuck in my head ever since the fateful Warehouse 13 episode.  I don't know if I've mentioned (about a million times) That I have 4 neices and nephews, with another 4 on the way.  In case you hadn't heard though I have 3 sisters and a sister in law that as expecting.  One is due at the end of January, one is due at the beginning of Feburary, one is due in March and I don't know when S is due because we just found out she is pregnant a few weeks ago.

The important thing here is that for everyone but N this is their second child or more.  That being the case I have decided that I am going to try to be there when my little sisters has her baby.  She found out today that she is having a boy! 

I know lots of women get overjoyed about girls, and I totally get it, they are cute and adorable and get to wear pink.  I am biased because I grew up with 5 sisters and two brothers and let me tell you this, boys might be more difficult in the toddler years however girls way out do them in the teenage years.

I am very happy for my sister, but...and it's a big but, I can't wait until Aaron and I are ready to have kids of our own.

To a good man.

My uncle passed away yesterday from a massive heart attack.  I won't sugercoat things, he was only 55 but overweight.  He had struggled with his weight for years, but he was my uncle and one of the best men I know.  He was an elder at my home church in North Carolina, and while Aaron was in Korea he was especially kind to me.  It is so hard to believe that when I go home in March that he won't be there.  This will be the first year he won't be at the family Christmas party to recite the "Night Before Christmas" from memory.  He was always ready with a hug and a bible verse when you were hurting, and he went out of his way to help family out in any way he could.  We may have a large family with our share of drama, but we are always there for each other no matter what.  Uncle Phil You will be missed by all of us.  You hold a place in my heart and I hope you are having a fantastic time in heaven praising God.