A Beautiful (Creative) Mind

My boyfriend, Brooks So, my boyfriend calls and says " Baby, ya gotta stop working so hard... kick off those working shoes, and let me massage your feet. I'll be over soon, and I'm fixing you dinner when I'm done"... Is that my boyfriend? you ask... Ummmm, yes. Well, no, not technically, but in my mind he is! (Sadly, in reality, no boyfriend.) I don't go for smokers, but this time I'll make an exception. Gotta run... need to get to the studio. Lots of work to do. Besides, I think Thor is waiting for me. I'm getting realllly aggravated with blogger. Every time I post, the pics and paragraphs go wherever they want to. Anyone else having trouble? P.S. Still working on those projects from the weekend.

Our Baby

It occurred to me this evening that I haven't talked about our baby in a very long time. This is Leia. She has been with us since the age of one. She is now four. She is the most sweet, loving, cuddly and smart puppy baby ever! It's kind of hard to see in the picture above, but she is cradling her baby in her paws. It's icky and needs a bath, but that little rabbit is her absolutely favorite toy! Leia was crate trained when we became her owners, so her crate is where she feels most safe when we have to leave the house. She is so smart! She knows that when Lumpkin grabs her coat and school bags in the morning, that it's time for her to go to her bed and she trots off to it! She knows a ton of commands, or shall we say suggestions? lol... She has selective hearing... kind of like some men I know. ;)

She's our baby, and we love her!

I'm In Love or Meet Bowflex Treadclimber

Oh Treadclimber, how I heart thee... I yearn for thee madly, my large butt needs you badly, but alas, my wallet is bare. A single Mom's paycheck is spent on things such as food, rent, utilities, car payment, clothing (such as a prom dress for my beautiful daughter), driver's ed... ya know?.... How does a deserving woman acquire such a treasure? These are the questions I ponder... I guess I will need to figure out how to go with less sleep and get that etsy shop open.

Nutella Party!

Recently I was given an opportunity to receive some gifts (Nutella sample packets, breakfast tips cards and travel mugs) from Nutella and held a party to share some of the treats with other Mommies. This event was possible through Nutella and Mom Select's Mommy Parties. Getting together with friends is so much simpler and less expensive when nearly everything you need is supplied!

I had never tried Nutella before, even though I had heard of it. Oh my goodness! If you've never tried it, you're in for a treat! It is my new favorite!! I've seen several recipes that sound very yummy, but my theory is, who needs something to put it on when you have a spoon and a glass of milk to drink? lol... seriously though, one of the blogs I read used it on crepes and it looked soooo good!

Nutella is a tasty hazelnut spread with ingredients like skim milk and cocoa. It is used widely on toast and other breakfast breads. It just didn't appeal to me that way, so I looked up a ton of recipes that used Nutella. You can't go wrong with it... so many possibilities!

Mmmmmm....

Nutella has a great website with a ton of info about their product.

Visit Nutella here: NUTELLA

Find Coupons Here: Nutella Coupon

Right now you can enter to win a free case of Nutella!! Oh, how lucky you'd be!!!

Disclaimer: I received these products at no cost to host a Mommy Partyand share them with my guests. All opinions in this post are my own and I was not compensated in any way to leave positive feedback.

The Pioneer Woman Rocks!

I don't enter a lot of blog contests, but this one from Christine at Great Oak Circle was too good to pass up! She recently attended a book signing for The Pioneer Woman's new book Black Heels to Tractor Wheels and brought back an extra signed copy for one lucky winner ( ME! ) . It arrived with this sweet little ribbon tied to it, so cute!
She loves me, she reallly loves me... Here they are at the signing... Another big Thank You to Christine! I can't wait to start reading it! Don't forget to stop by her blog Great Oak Circle and say Hi! Be sure to tell her I sent you! I'm off to check my weekend projects... they've been drying, waiting for more embellishment! I'll be posting on them later... maybe tomorrow or Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Who Am I? Some Days I'm Not Sure.

Here are this week's questions!

1. Have you ever had a professional massage before?
No, but I would love one.

2. When drinking bottled water do you have a preference on which brand you drink?
Yes... Dasani

3. What is your favorite kind of soup?
Tortilla Soup from Max and Erma's

4. Do you have a preference on which Kleenex brand you use?5. What is your favorite breakfast food?
Not really. Kleenex or Puffs usually. So long as it doesn't scratch my nose.

Unplanned Break

It doesn't really look like the illustration... (not even close. it's much smaller) and I didn't break or injure it, but I've been dealing with ankle pain and swelling off and on for well over one year. It has been really aching the last few days and it was swollen enough to bother me at work today. I had my shoe off and one of the nurse practitioners asked me if I'd injured it after she saw the swelling. After a little discussion, she decided a brief course of steroids was in order. I'm to start them in the morning, so tonight I am reclining with my foot up and it has changed the plans I had in mind.


I have a small paper project in pinks planned, but after taking some anti-inflammatory medication and relaxing, I'm too tired to proceed with the crafting tonight.


I'm really excited. I've recently one two giveaways on other blogs (will post details when I receive them). One is a box of baking and craft supplies and the other is a signed copy of the new Pioneer Woman book! Woohoo!!!





Happy Monday friends! Thanks for all the comments on my posts. I love reading them!

A Bonfire Makes Everything Better!

Yesterday afternoon, Hasseman picked up downed branches from the yard and cut up the larger pieces. When he announced he'd be starting a fire, I said "you should wait until dark!" I do so love a bonfire... many fond memories from high school and fall parties. I was so excited, I took a picture with my phone (thus the poor quality - it fails to capture the magic). Lumpkin was spending the weekend with her Dad and I wanted to share the festivities. I liked it so much, I want to share it with you. We pulled out a couple of lawn chairs and shared a drink. It was a perfect evening.



P.S. Not our house in the background!

Easy Quiche

So technically, it's not a real quiche, but let's not split hairs. This is good stuff!!! My daughter loves it, my roommate loves it, and I'm a hero when I make it!



I got the recipe from allrecipes in 2005. I thought I'd lost it forever, but found it when we moved in with Hasseman (that's hat man in German - story for another day), our roommate, and was excited to make it for him. I usually make it with ham. That's how Lumpkin and I prefer it, but he mentioned he'd like to try it with sausage, and since Lumpkin is at her Dad's this weekend, we had it with sausage.


Yummy!!!!

Here's the recipe: Easy Quiche

2 cups milk

3/4 cup biscuit baking mix

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 (10 ounce) package chopped frozen broccoli, thawed and drained

1 cup cubed cooked ham (or cooked sausage)

8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 10 inch quiche dish.

In a large bowl, beat together milk, eggs, baking mix, butter and parmesan cheese. Batter will be lumpy. Stir ion broccoli, ham and cheddar cheese. Pour into prepared quiche dish.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, until eggs are set and top is golden brown.

Now, I may have mentioned before, that I rarely follow a recipe exactly... even when I use one. I do not use a quiche dish for this because I add extra ingredients to the above and sometimes throw in some that aren't on the list. Since Lumpkin wasn't here, I added onions this time.

You should also season to taste. I use salt and pepper, a dash of seasoned salt, and garlic. You can use whatever you like! I also add more eggs... I used 4 or 5 for this one.

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A Pay It Forward Gift From Michelle

If you read my post a last week about Pay It Forward, you might remember that I learned about it from Michelle of Petite Michelle Louise



I have recieved my gifts from Michelle!!! The package is so sweetly wrapped in pattern paper, and the gifts are lovely! Thoughtfully handmade and perfect for me!






















I loved each little piece and couldn't wait to look inside the tempting package. There were also some little bird shapes cut from book print, but I forgot to take a picture. Very sweet!!!
Thank you Michelle!!!!

I have not made my Pay It Forward gifts yet. I hope to get a start this weekend. You may ask yourself what I'm doing inside on such a beautiful day... I am listing items that Lumpkin no longer treasures on ebay (and it takes forever!), but I do have Bob Seger playing on the stereo as I work in the sunroom with the sliding glass door open allowing the outside to come in. (The roommate's cats are loving me for it!) Hopefully, I will be able to fit a little creating in while the light is still so fabulous. Gotta run now. I have a quiche baking in the oven. Happy Weekend, my bloggie friends!!!!!

And We Interrupt This Woman's Crafting ...

I've been missing my Daddy. I couldn't visit him last week with pink eye. Not only because of how contagious it is, but mainly because of all of the immune system meds he has to take for his transplanted kidney. Long story, may share it sometime. It's kind of sad. Anyway, I get this picture text from my sister this morning...



What in the world??? When I called her, she said he'd been bitten by a spider... ewwwwww!!!
She took him to an immediate care and he was given antibiotics and instructed to go home, keep his arm elevated and put warm compresses on it. It looks much better tonight. I stopped in to see him and spend some time with The Best Dad EVER!

To know him is to love him! When the doctor asked him what he had planned to do, he said "I'm going to run my dozer." (he has a small paving business) Here's where you picture the doctor giving him the raised eyebrow and saying "Ummmm... NO you're NOT." I love it. He's always been very much the HE-man, but he generally bows to what his doctor tells him and even most of the time to the wishes of his three girls. I think he loves the attention, even when he acts like he doesn't.

A pic of us from a few years ago:

Obsessed With Headbands

I'm not sure why, but I love them! I think they're beautiful. I'd been wanting to try some different types of embellishments on them. I love fabric flowers too. It's another obsession.

Not really Lumpkin's thing, even though they look fabulous on her, so I'll be putting them in my etsy shop!

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