The dogs had a blast
Kids had a blast
Parents had a blast

Florida was cold

Ill elaborate later.

I cant repeat how much i love socks.
A friend to Knit with made these lovely darlins and my feet are calling to them, though i do wish they were more colorful.

Woah is me who can only knit rectangles..

We decided that since we had lost everything, we would take our time and really look for a new fridge. We found out that Lowes was having a great deal on refrigerators.
We purchased a 26CuFt Samsung French door. Its black. Its huge.

I love it.
Pure and simple. I love having all that space. I never realized how much I HATED our side by side. This thing tells you the temperature of both the freezer and the fridge, uses LED’s and makes pleasent beeping noises when you push buttons.

Nathan says no more appliances for a while. I hope he is right. At this point we have replaced everything in the house except our stove and the water heater. It would be nice to have to replace anything huge for a while.

Nathan and I have joined the 21st Century in the gaming world, and finally purchased two new gaming consols.
For our anniversary, we bought a Nintendo Wii. What an AWESOME toy! That little white box brought so much fun into this house. We bought Boomblox and Punchout for it. We have boxed with each other, we have broken down walls, and ALL of it NOT sitting down like a zombie not blinking, and even sweating a bit after some fast paced boxing.
Nathans parents came over the weekend after we bought it and they even played with us as well! I havent heard his parents giggle like that, i dont think EVER! It made me smile alot and whip out the camera.

The next, was bought for Nathans birthday. I bought Nathan an xbox 360 for his birthday. He hasn’t had a new console system in a long time. He has been playing his PS2 for soo long on Gran Turismo (his favorite racing game), that even to me, the graphics seem dated. I also bought him Forza 3 for it. If you havent seen the graphics for this game, you are missing out. They are BEAUTIFUL. Our poor rear projection TV does it no justice.

This week we celebrated Nathans birthday with some awesome sushi.

We also celebrated it with our refrigerator dying on us as well, and to top it all off, we lost all the grocery in there as well. So we are shopping for a new one. I am excited.

Today is our fifth anniversary.
We met at the end of an aisle with all of our family and friends.
I love you Nathan!

I hope to back to bloggin again soon, we have been crazy busy these last two months.. and things are finally starting to settle down again for the winter.

Look foward to new website designs, more cooking and maybe even some knitting!

By Bankspix.com

As some of you know, i run a few small websites for friends and family as well as this one.

Lark Song Knits is one of my best friends websites, who is trying to get her name known thru out the crafty world so she can get a publisher to pick up her designs for a book.

As with is popular with blogs, she is doing a giveaway today, her first one that will last one week for entries. All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog.

I would appreciate any help you can offer me by passing along her blog to your blog reading friends and family or that crafty person you know or love, and feel free to enter the contest as well, if you are interested.

www.larksongknits.com

While buying the ingredients for making homemade salsa is no where near as economical as purchasing the salsa, we wanted to see what we could make. I located a recipe that vaguely sparked my interest, and printed it up for us to try.

We made some modifications to it and proceeded to tackle this exciting tastiness that we enjoy so much.

* 4 whole Jalapeño, Quartered
* 4 cloves Garlic, Peeled
* 1/4 whole Onion, Peeled And Quartered
* 1 whole Green Pepper
* 1 bunch(es) Cilantro
* 1 can Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Large Can (undrained)
* 1 can Tomato Paste, Small
* 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
* 1/2 tablespoon Salt
* 1 teaspoon Pepper

Combine green pepper, onion, garlic, jalapeño, and cilantro in your food processor.

Click for Detail

Add the rest of the ingredients. Continue to pulse until tomatoes are pureed.
We did pulses in 2 second bursts, because we like it a bit chunkier.

I had just gotten home from a Central Ohio Subarus meet and was posting on our car forum when I heard explosions. Those were the tires exploding on a car that had been set on fire on our block.

That’s scary stuff, because an arsonist just hit the other side of Hillard Rome Road a few weeks ago.

We spoke to the officer on scene and he said it wasn’t probably the same guy because that guy was only on foot and this was too far way. I dunno, but it definitely worries me. I hope they catch this guy.

We walked over and talked to the parents of the owner in the morning. They said that the police found some kind of paraffin wax behind the front seat and a gasoline soaked rag. The rear window was broken out to place the them in the car. The car was a Dodge Magnum.

The whole front of their house is melted, as well as the American flag set out for their son who is in the Air Force over seas. He had just bought the car.

*VIDEO* Arsonist Car Fire *CLICK*

I made some yummy- tastic muffins tonight. Like the best muffins i thin i have ever made. These blow my blueberry muffins out of the water, hands down.

I have adapted them from Crepes of Wrath’s recipie.

While making these i thought it would be spectacular to add in some blueberries to make these extra kicky.
Again, awesome.

Prep:
Mash your banana and set aside (this will help it soften up, if its not a over ripe banana)
cut up a bunch of strawberries (enough for 1.5 cups. they dont have to be small either, just chunked)

2 1/4 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, diced (I used frozen)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray and/or use muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. After mixing, gently fold in the strawberries, making sure to coat them with flour – this helps prevent the berries from sinking while baking (if you are using frozen strawberries, make sure that you’ve thoroughly drained them/gotten rid of as much juice as you can).
3. In another large bowl, combine the brown sugar, eggs, butter, bananas, and vanilla until mixed thoroughly. Slowly combine the wet mixture into the dry mixture, stir until just combined – do not over mix the batter or you will have tough muffins.
4. Fill the muffin tray with the batter, place in the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I have been growing my own little garden. I have never had a green thumb, nor do i think these will live. Darnit though, im trying.

Now, the reason i bring up gritty gritty dirt is because we had a rally cross today. The track was dry, and and windy. The dirt was EVERY WHERE! All of the guys were using their shirts as dusk masks while workin the course. Nathan who wore mostly white, was just a filthy mess.

I managed to avoid most of teh dirt by hiding out in the SCCA truck, Moby, and helping out with timing and scoring. The interior of the RS is covered from dust from the track. It was just a terrible mess. Im glad im not the one who will be cleaning out that car.

We went to the Biltmore Estates in North Carolina. I had never been and Nathan went as a kid.

It was kind of a spur of the moment trip, and both of us were actually sick while we were there. But we had a fun. We had a nice hotel about 10 mins away with an awesome jacuzzi in the bedroom for us to relax and watch tv in after a long day of walking.

The Tulips were in full bloom while we were there, and i took a million pictures. I was saddened to learn that i couldnt take any interior pictures of the house.

North Carolina

Its a beautiful day outside.
Its 70 degrees..

My dogs are happy, the cats are happy.

I fell asleep outback with a book. I love days like this.

I’d like to introduce you to my eldest child, Mazey.

Mazey has a hard life. Its just awful. Can you SEE the pain in these eyes?

Thats because today was the worst day ever…. since the last time.

Today was bath day. The horror of it all. The water.. the soap.. OH NO!!

About two weeks ago, one of my Managers, whom i get along with pretty well, devised a plan for He and I to go see Bernedette Peters in Pittsburg.

This seed like an awesome idea, and so we planned the trip. We bought some nosebleed tickets, and i called my good friend Danielle to see if she would like to join us.

We met up with my friends Joe and Sara for dinner at Bar Louies and Station Square, and then walked over to Heinz Hall for the show.

It was fantastic. She sang a few songs from Into the Woods (one of my absolute favorite musicals that she was in). She also sang “Fever!”. It was truely captivating.

Afterwards, Todd, Danielle, and I waited at the Actors exit, to meet her. There was about 20 of us standing out there. We waited fora bout 20 mins, when we started to get word she was on her way out.  We all started getting a little giddy.

Not only did i get ot meet her, i got to hug her, get an autograph, and take my picture taken with her.

SHE’s SO TINY!!!!!!

On March 17. I turned thirty. Yes, the big 3- 0. And it was probably the best birthday I have ever had. I didn’t think much could top turning 21 but it did. I have basically had an entire week of festivities.

On Monday night, Nathan asked me where I wanted to go to dinner for my birthday. I picked out a restaurant, and then he said, well I was kind of thinking about going to Las Margaritas. My mind was immediately changed. Mexican? Best Margaritas ever? I was immediately sold on the idea, so much that I can’t even tell you what I initially asked for. I also decided it would be a nice little birthday gift to me AND Nathan for me to have a cute little outfit for dinner.

So Tuesday I go to work, despite Nathan and Liz having given me crap for it all week. (“Who works on their birthday, seriously?” I counter-argued “What am I going to do, all day; watch TV and fold clothes all day? At least at work, I’m getting paid.” After work, it was off to the mall. The girls a Lane Bryant turned me in to their Barbie Doll, as I let them bring me clothes of every nature to find a fun outfit to wear for dinner, which also looked good with my new necklace from Paulette. After two hours, I knew that I had to pick something, and be home to meet Nathan.

I got home and picked out the hippie shirt and jeans of the two outfits I purchased, and the lovely glass flower around my neck, I set about makeup and hair, when Nathan arrived home. He told me we had reservations at seven. So I finished up, feeling sufficiently cute for our date this evening. I saw my camera lying on the couch, and grabbed it. Nathan looked at me puzzled and I told him, I wanted a nice picture of us, that maybe we could get the waiter to take one. He shrugged and we headed out the door.

As we pulled into the parking lot, the sun was in our eyes and Nathan missed the entrance to the restaurant. We were pulling farther back into the shopping center away from it. I kept thinking, “Geeze it’s my birthday, cant we park close by for a change??” We made our way back to the restaurant parking lot and parked. As we walked in I started thinking about what margarita I would order first, as Nathan steered met our table.

As we rounded the corner, I started to see our friends and family sitting at a large table, and they all turned and smiled and said “Surprise!” My Dad and Sister and Mom Randolph and Josh were there, Nick, Julie, Nate, Bethel and their little girl Keri. I was tickled pink he brought everyone together for me! What a great guy he is. I walked over to hug Mom Randolph, when someone jumped up from next to her, and said “SURPRISE!!!”

It was Liz. My best friend. Who lives in NYC.

At first I thought “Hey! Liz is here too.”

We hugged hard.

Then it dawned on me. “LIZ IS HERE!! NOT IN NYC!!”

Then I started crying. I miss her horribly.

After I was done blubbering Liz pointed at the cake (which I had noticed the odd cake, but not really acknowledged it yet) and said do you recognize this cake? I kind of pondered at her, and said no. She whipped out her Iphone and pulled up the picture of the cake.

Let me preface this by saying that Liz and I both play “World of Warcraft”, and its where she and I spend the most time together since she lives far away now.

It was the “Lovely Cake” that is sold in game for your “party” to eat.

A few weeks ago, I had particularly bad “no baby” week. She tried cheering me up by bringing over the “lovely cake” to me and being silly with me in the game. It helped and by the end of that night, I was feeling better.

And ways, back to REALITY.

Liz made a replica of that cake. The one that made me feel better. Because that’s what friends do. They make you feel good.

Renee Needham Photography

As the night rolled on, A few more friends showed up, a few called to say happy birthday. I even got a fantastic phone call from Elena, my niece with an awesome rendition sung to me of Happy Birthday.

Nathan was worn out by the end of the night. He had been planning for a long time for this night, with help from Liz and my Dad. Having everyone together just made it one of the best nights of my life.

The thing is, my birthday didn’t end there; it’s played out the rest of this week.

The next day, I headed to Dayton to spend some really needed time with Liz and Mom R. Liz had planned a girl’s night with my friends Debbie and Jenny. I decided the night wouldn’t be complete without Josh so I asked him to join us as well, turning the evening into a fun night out. We went to Bar Louie’s for drinks and dinner.

I haven’t seen Debbie in almost 10 years. We found each other on MySpace about 2 years ago, and found out just how much we still have in common. It was great seeing her, rehashing stories, and giggling into the wee hours of the night.

Happy St Patricks Day!!!

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours!

So i was in a cookie baking mood after reading A Friend to Knit withs Orange cookie recipe.   It sounded so tasty to me.  So i made them.

Orange Blossom Cookies

• 2/3 cup unsalted butter ::
• 3/4 cup sugar ::
• 1 egg ::
• 1/2 cup orange juice ::
• 2 cups flour ::
• 1/4 tsp baking soda ::
• 1/2 tsp salt ::
• 1 TBLS orange zest
• *VARIATION * 1 TBSP finely chopped dried cranberries

Cream together butter and sugar, add egg and then orange juice.Mix dry ingredients, add to wet.

Frosting

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 TBLS orange zest
• 1 TBLS orange juice

Drop by teaspoon.  Bake on parchment paper. Bake @ 400˚ for 8-10 minutes.

Rest In Peace

Erin Nicole Jeffers-Davidson

August 27, 1981- February 27, 2009

My sister Amber, Erin, and Me (1997)

On February 27 2009, my cousin Erin passed away. She was 27. She left behind her three little girls. Linden, a 4 year old whom will be raised by her Grandma, My Aunt Nancy, and the twins, Nevaeh, and Carly will be adopted to a family that has been helping Erin a lot towards the end. Erin died of a seizure. I do not have alot of information other than that.

I want to remember Erin for goofy giggle, and her big personality. I want to remember those camping trips, and wild stories she told. I want to remember her love for snow globes, and how much she hated that beautiful curly hair of hers. I will always remember ghost stories, and New Years eve with pots and pans. I will remember our tents we made in the living room, and the walks we took. I will remember the bike rides.  I want to remember her snort, (god that girl could snort when she laughed) and her silly big bootie walk. (She always had a big big bootie and like to shake it). I want to remember that infectious smile and bright blue eyes.

Erin, i know life wasnt always easy for you, I hope that where ever you are has brought you the peace you so desired in life but were never able to attain.

I love you.

I miss you.

I recently aquired a new app on my IPhone called Pandora Radio. I didnt know much about it when i downloaded it. It was free, and streaming radio… Or so i thought..

On the sidebar of our blog, I have a link to our radio stations.

Nathan and are able to create radio stations based on the mathematical algorithms of music that are similar to each other. It lets you give thumbs up and down to music and find music with similar algorithms for you to listen to. This may mean you are finding music you never new you would listen to, NOR even knew existed!  We have created quite a few radio stations, based on our moods, tastes and joint music enjoyment.

There is an occasional ad, but even that, is only 15 seconds, and i can handle that for free music.

The reason i bring this up is because you can listen to it at your computer, in fact i recommend  you go do it right now!

(This is an excerpt from the website)

The Music Genome Project®

On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.

(more…)

This week, i am in West Virginia visiting one of my best friends, Danielle. This week, Danielle married her “merf”, Jake.    Danielle and Jake have been together for four years, and are such a cute couple.  He is an awesome Chef.

Jake is an Enigma. (or so he says) I tried to interview Jake and he started naming off the things that surrounded him to describe who he was, like the bag of popcorn he was eating, the Coke he was sipping, and then he offered up ” I like Hulk Hogan!”   What he isnt mention is the fact that he loves their kitty “Über Flaum” and “Princess Buttercup” otherwise known as Butters. They follow him everywhere, and love to nuzzle him as much as he nuzzles back.

Jake and Danielle are a happy couple that fit togther like two peices of puzzle.  It made me happy to see her so happy.

I will be posting pics from their wedding in the next day or so.

The reason for the delay?

This little guy.

Meet Owen.

Our new little nephew.

Carrie and Ted (SiL/Bil), are returning from Russia with this bundle of joy.  He is their second child, and we are VERY excited to welcome him into his new surroundings.

Owen is (i believe) 19 months old,  from all the pics i have received of him, looks like quite a happy little boy, and eager to have a good time.

Elena is eager for her Mom to come home, but has been enjoying her time with her grandparents, and had a great time with Uncle Nathan at COSI on saturday.  We then came home and watched Finding Nemo,  and did a craft for Owens arrival.

(Pics to come, when i am home with all of them, later this week!)

Again this iPhone is cool!
I found an app that let’s me post from my phone. Thank you WP.

This weekend ELena, Doug, and,Paulette are coming up to go Cosi this weekend. I’m sure we will take lots of photos.
And because I can….

When Nathan and I met, we always had very traditional first dating, first married Vdays.  We would go out to a fancy resturant and have a lots of wine and he’d give me a lovely piece of jewelry and roses or orchids. After a few years of wooing, we both decided that it was too close to Christmas having ended to be spending tons of money on frivolous things like that and have opted to just getting each other something fun for each other and experiment on dinner together with something HE picks from the cookbooks.

So far this has worked out well.

This year, I technically got Nathan his welding class, and all his gear. (OK, so i purchased it, but he paid for it.. the woes of being a housewife). He in turn got me one of THE niftiest gadgets on the market today. One i have pined for since last summer when i was opened to the world of the awesomeness that is this gadget.

If the Garmin GPS was the single most important thing to keep Nathan and I from strangling each other on the highway, this will be the second part to that equation.

I give you

THE IPHONE.

Look I can go to the INTERNET while he’s driving!!

So when Dirty Helen tricks us, we can outsmart her and look up better directions.

Please excuse my dirty dusty, work radio, that i dock my Ipod in when, i am in the kitchen.

Ill start with the girly stuff and end with the boy-e stuff.

I decided that corn syrup sucks, unless its in my beloved Pepsi. I am trying to eliminate most of it from our diet. Nathan loves a good bowl of applesauce with lunch, and I am apt to buying Musslemans or motts lunch packs. Recently however i switched to just buying th bulk jar and filling up the re-usable throw away Tupperware from Glad.

This is saving us a little bit of money, (i haven’t figured it out, but a jar goes along way ). However, when I started looking at the ingredient list, i realized that they are all using corn syrup. I decided it was high time for me to make my own applesauce.

So i did.. and it was scrumptious

Smashing the apples.

Next we move over the boy stuff.

Nathan has always wanted to weld. He talks about and talks about it, but refused to either pick up a welder and teach himself or take  a class. Well after 4 years of me badgering him to take the class, I just signed him up and said, Ok, your signed up for welding class, you start in three weeks.

That silly grin hasn’t left his face since.  I would love to show you that grin, but he wont let me photograph it, or his first piece he welded.  I was proud of him though, he’s really liking the class. I havent seen him this excited in a very long time.

Super Bowl weekend was a great. My Dad came to stay the night and visit with Nathan and I on sunday and we cooked dinner, had some beers and watched a VERY entertaining football game, where our team, The Steelers, won!! Great game, we enjoyed it, unlike previous years which hvae been major snooze fests.

Lastly, its winter. Do you know how i know this?

Because Mazey rejoins my house on a daily basis covered in snow from doing this.

Getting a snow bath.

And Lola looks like this.

Eating Yummy Snow!!

IMHO
A child should never be without a pet, and im not talking about a gerbil, or a hamster.. im talking about a true cuddle/wrestle/pet/lick/feed/poop pet.

There are so many types of dogs out there, that there is one for EVERY kind of person out there. There will never be a moment in my life, i will not have a pet in my life.  In fact to this day, i have never in my life, (even as a baby) had a moment i was without a Dog.

The love they can give you, is so amazing.  Nathan will kill me for this story but it proves a valid point.

Recently we had a pretty good disagreement. I cant say fight because there were no words yelled, just a statement and some pretty hurt feelings, on both sides.  I went and curled up  in bed, and spent the entire day, crying and sleeping. Lola never left my side. She was balled up and against me, ears down, with random licks on my hand (this dog does NOT lick) and little head butts to try and make me feel better.  She would randomly though get up and go downstairs to check on Nathan and then decide i needed her more.  She did this till i got up, and went and made up with my hubby.

Now, let me point out, she is always at my side (under my desk, at my feet on the couch on her blanket, in the bathroom, whereever). The only time she is not, is when I am not at home. But when she curls up next to you when you are upset, sad or grieving, its differnt.  They can interepret so much of what you are feeling its amazing.

Mazey is a good dog, but she is not faithful like this. She never was. She loves me, and loves a good pat but she is quite content being by herself, but She is always where i am as well.

I dont think i could honestly survive some of the things i have been thru if I hadnt had a dog to hug as a kid or as an adult.

I have distinct memories of my beloved childhood Austrailian Shepard, Koko, sitting on the top of the hill with me in my dads backyard, with my head buried in her soft fur, crying, because my parents were fighting. My sister sitting on the other side of her doing the same thing.

I have tons of fun stories about my dogs, but honestly the fun part ultimately isnt why i have them, granted it is the BEST part, but the love they give me, no matter what is going on, how bad i have screwed up, or who has hurt me, or the greatest news in my life.

My Girls were sitting there when Nathan proposed, They showed Nathan a new world of love (lola is quite possibly his best friend in the whole world i think). They guard my house, they tease me, they pose for me (sorta), they entertain me..

Honestly i could go on forever.
Point is, there is nothign in the world like having a Pet as part of your family.

:wub:  :wub:  :wub:
if you can tell me how these faces dont make your heart melt, then your nuts..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luckyboudica/sets/72157606981834743/detail

Curious Bird has up for sale some of her hand drawn screen printed tees for kids. I for one am partial to the turtle.

Also, i was playing around with some actions i got form PW’s website and used a lovely picture of Firecracker from Larksongs blog. Firecracker is one of my favorite kids, as well as one of the cutest.

This is how this photo started.