P.S.

Don't do this at home...

There is a slight chance I got hooked on my book last night. Finally sat down for more than five minutes to read and the next thing you know 130+ pages were gone and the sun was about to rise. Yikes! I can't wait to finish it and review...I already know people that need to read it as they'd LOVE the characters and relate well to them.

(ahem. meghan. you're one of them.)

Quick Cookies

I found this recipe on Dinner and Dessert and bookmarked it for a later date. Well, that date was last night at midnight. I was bored, not tired and wanted something to do - so I searched my bookmarked recipes and finally landed on this one. It's fairly simple but it did take quite awhile for them to cool compared to a fresh oven baked cookie so build in time for that!

No Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies
recipe from: Dinner and Dessert

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 to 3.5 cups oatmeal
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
Add the first four ingredients to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool completely until set.

*I used dark cocoa because I didn't have "regular" cocoa, hence the darker color of the cookie. I also used aluminum foil instead of wax paper because we didn't have it on hand...might be why mine took so long to cool. I only made a half batch of these because I knew two people did not need this much cookie in their presence. :) Especially with junky willpower like we do right now. I wouldn't make your cookies bigger than a tablespoonful because they are r.i.c.h. already at this size.

Mexican Chicken

I made this yummy dish last night. I found the recipe here from Kelly's Korner. It was so easy and made a large amount...mulitple meals in one dish is my idea of perfection! :) It was almost too spicy for me...Nate thinks it's just great - but he also puts hot sauce on his eggs so I'm not sure how much I'd trust his spice palate. :) I also made cornbread muffins to serve with it for some additional flavor.

What you'll need:
8-10 corn tortillas (I used 6 corn and 2 flour so the corn isn't as strong a flavor)
4 chicken breasts, boiled and cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can rotel tomatoes
2 cups cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Tear your tortillas into small pieces and place in the bottom of your pan (I used a large casserole for this...trust me, it makes a LOT!). Mix together the canned items and the chicken in a bowl. Once mixed, pour over the tortillas. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly!

Silence

We've got none lately. Thanks to the cicadas. Take a listen...

And we're back...thanks for your patience while we went private for a bit. No good news to report yet, but I feel the need for privacy has passed.

Sooo....welcome to all of our readers!!!!

Make this...NOW!

Tonight I tried out a new recipe. Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Oh. my. goodness.

It's quite easy, but time consuming (about 1 and 1/2 hours total) and worth every second!!!! The hubster kept saying "this is so freaking good" through the whole dinner. Anywho...this followed by one of Jenny's fan-freaking-tastic brownies makes today seem much better!

Find the Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe here at My Kitchen Cafe, that's where the picture is from too.

Jenny's brownies are the "best brownies" recipe from Hershey's using dark chocolate cocoa instead of regular cocoa. Sooo good...they're the reason I became friends with her, I needed that recipe! Ha!

Recent Reads

I love a good beach read. And I loooove the library system here. I am constantly jumping on the website to request new titles and normally the wait time isn't too terribly long unless I'm trying for a new release. So, in an effort to entertain you this afternoon here are the most recent titles I've read and my oober professional reviews of them.

(Public Service Announcement: these books are only meant to entertain and help you waste large amounts of time. You've been warned.)



sTori Telling

by Tori Spelling

I know what you're thinking, but honestly, she's a great writer! I found it very easy to read and before I knew it I was almost done. She has a very interesting story to tell and after reading it I have really come to like her more. Basically, this was comparable to reading a People magazine...but a long, picture filled and juicy one!



CandyLand

by Candy Spelling

I was trying to be "fair" by reading this. You know, the whole hear both sides of the story thing. I literally struggled to get halfway through and then just returned it instead. It. is. AWFUL. Honestly, I don't know who let this get published but they must have been cut a pretty check by Candy herself. Every chapter starts out with a point, loses complete focus and then ends with a bashing of Tori. I made it through 8 long and unorganized chapters and then couldn't bear it anymore. She's nutso...that's what I learned from this read.



Mommywood

by Tori Spelling

Another home run as far as I'm concerned. Cute stories of her children. Honest mistakes that she's made as a mother. And some great pictures to boot! I'm "Team Tori" all the way!



love the one you're with

by Emily Giffin

I love this author. I've read all of her books to date adn can't wait for the next release! There were moments where I wanted to slap the main character, but that made the story all the better. I may or may not have cried through the last few chapters of this one.



Certain Girls

by Jennifer Weiner

The sequel to Good in Bed. I consider Weiner to be one of my top five authors to read and this follow up to the AMAZING Good in Bed did NOT disappoint! I wish the ending had been a bit different, but it was great all the same. Now I'm hoping for a third book to be written about Cannie and her crazy ways!!!

Next on my list...



P.S. I'm a book cover junkie. That's how I pick most of my reads.

Happy Anniversary to...

my parents! 35 years ago today they said "I do"...



3 kids...



5 states...

(imagine pictures of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee and Indiana)

2 grandkids...



and 3 (children's) weddings later...



Here's to "getting away" with the next 35........................

Just Like Ray

Nate and I got a little craving tonight for chocolate malts. Two hours later we decided this "craving" was the real thing so off to the store we went. After pricing it out we figured we'd get 5-6 malts out of the ingredients which was just a bit more than $1 a malt. Totally worth it and NOT. frivalous. at. all. (At least that's what we told ourselves as we were checking out to relieve the "we don't need to be spending money on things like this" feeling that we both feel all too often these days!)

Well, let me tell you - Nate makes a mean chocolate malt! He learned from the guru of chocolate-malt making, his Grandpa Ray.

Don't you just love when you have a little nugget of malt to chew up in your glass?? Mmm...

P.S. If you ever find yourself wandering around a grocery store in search of malted milk, just find the hot chocolate and it should be right next door. You're welcome. :)

November 20th

Should I see this or this? I just can't decide!!!

Are YOU Watching?

I'm looking forward to it...but I'm not sure about this whole "Lifetime" change. Anyone know the backstory on that??

Chick-a-fil

No, that's not a spelling error. That's what we call it. Anywhoo...

If you love Chick-fil-a as much as we do, then you'll appreciate this song too.

Power of Prayer

I've never done this before, but considering the place we're in right now and the resources we have left, I feel this might bring us the calm and relief that we've been searching for.

We are truly in need of your prayer...we are battling so many unanswered questions right now and each negative answer seems the greatest defeat. We try to stay strong and believe that it will get better soon, but it's days like these that that seems almost impossible...

We promise to let you know as soon as we see even the slightest ray of light leading to the end of this dark, seemingly unending tunnel.

Oh unemployment...you stink.

The Two David's

My Grandpa was an amazing photographer. He was able to really capture people. We have hundreds upon hundreds of photos that he took of us. They are priceless to me and I'm sure the rest of my family as no one was "safe" from his lense. I found these shots that he took of Dave and himself and thought they were quite perfect to post.

Mercy Hug

This is classic Dave Haskin. Someone hugs him and he ignores them. So they hug harder. And harder. Until he finally has to yell "Mercy!" Okay, that's exaggerated. But doesn't that sound like a perfect explanation?

Arlette

Isn't that a beautiful name? It was my Grandmothers name. As in my mom's mom.



And is it just me or did I see this ensemble at Anthropologie the other day? This photo is from my Aunt Mary and Uncle Rich's wedding circa 1976...or so...

Are they related?

You tell me.

This is a test...

Oh BFF...Are you keeping up your reading of my blog???

Megan now lives in Nebraska with her hot husband and perfect children, Luke and Claire. Luke likes to torment Megan with his wondrous terrible-two-magic. Hence why she probably doesn't have time to read this blog anymore.

Or does she...

New Addiction

While we were in Wisconsin staying with Nate's mom she introduced the following liquorice:



We ran to Target today to get my new prescription filled. Well, Bev had mentioned that they made other kinds of liquorice for the non-black liquorice lovers in the world (me!!!) so we thought we'd check it out. We came home with these guys...oh. my. goodness. I'm just praying for the willpower to make it 24 hours without eating them all! They are chewy, sweet and sooo delicious!



Here are some of the other flavors:
Ginger
Green Apple
Mango
Raspberry

So We Meet...

This is the first picture ever taken of Rebecca Shelton (now Haskin) by my parents. Andy brought her home to introduce her to all of us.

I still remember it.

So does Nate.

We're not pictured because we were both inside giggling over Andy's new "girrrrrlfriend"...while holding hands and shoving powdered donuts into each others faces. Something cool and hip like that.

Man we've been together a long time.

My apologies...

I should have warned you, but I had to make the blog private A.S.A.P. because when I googled myself (like a future employer might!!!!) it instantly brought me to the blog. Although I don't think there is anything horrible on here, I just wanted to protect myself from any possible conflicts.

What if a new employer doesn't drink and they see our pini-tini recipe?

What if they were bitten by a dog and the first thing they see on our blog is a 150lb mastiff?

Silly? Maybe.

But for the time being, we're going private.

Hope you'll come along too...

They're Engaged!

Loving this one. A. LOT. (It's my parents.)

Scanning Away...

There are few things these days that interest me on the computer. After spending my days (and more often than not, my nights too) searching for teaching jobs on the Internet, I rarely get online to browse anymore. I love to catch up on other blogs but outside of that, few things are entertaining when my laptop is involved.

Until now.

I found pictures. And I know how to scan. I'm excited to share what I found. REAL excited.

Especially for YOU, Amy...

Happy Birthday...

to YOU Grandma!



Thank you for loving me...even when I looked like this:



We are so lucky to have a Grandma that never minded holding us, whether we were happy or sad...





A Grandma that always takes the time to listen to our (not always that) interesting thoughts...





A Grandma who loves to take pictures with us...




A Grandma who didn't mind the we documented how quickly we were catching up to her...



A Grandma who loves to celebrate everything from graduations to anniversaries and now our weddings...







An extra special thanks for always loving us...

Love you lots...

The Celebration

About two weeks ago, our entire family traveled to Green Bay to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday. Almost everyone was there (we missed you Em and Jason...and especially YOU Miss Bea!!!). Here is a quick documentation of the sweet celebration...

We started out the celebration at Bay Beach, an amusement park in Green Bay that cost only a quarter per rides. The papparazzi were out in FULL force!





After the ride Collie teased that she was going to have an "Elizabeth-shaped bruise" on her side. I tell you what, The Scrambler + me = zero fun for my seatmate! Sorry, Col...I had a blast though!




Max and his Uncka Dave.




All the participating family members lined up together for a race. It was all fun and games - until somebody cheated at the starting line!







My family all together...it doesn't happen all that often so we took advantage of the moment and the beautiful lake backdrop!



We ventured back to Kate and Mike's for lunch and the celebration. Here's a shot of the dessert table...before they broke out the ice cream that is!!!



She wears them...she actually wears them!!!



One of the three tables of people celebrating Grandma's birthday.



Blowing out a few candles...


A champagne toast to a lovely Grandma!



One last shot before we hit the road back to Minnie.



We had a great (whirlwind) trip. It was so special to celebrate such an amazing birthday with so many of our family members.

Don't forget everybody...Fence in 2010!!!!