I am LOST.

Anyone else as excited for LOST to start next week as I am? It is going to be so Bittersweet knowing that each episode is just one episode closer to the series finale. What will I do then?

I read that This is how the ending of LOST was going to happen: Dramatically and Ambiguously. Don't you think? There are still so many questions left unanswered. Is there enough time to answer them all? All I know is that J.J. Abrams better be plotting the next great show. I hearted Felicity with my life, and then LOST. (I never got into Alias). Wouldn't it be funny if LOST ended with The Island being inside of Megan's Mystery Box? If you know what reference means you are my new BFF! I think I am going to write J.J. and ask him to make an alternative ending.

So next Tuesday I will be bouncing off the walls, losing my mind, going bananas over the best show on TV!

I hope you will be joining me!!!

Winter Blahs

The winter is getting to me.
Lack of Sunshine
Lack of Warmth
Lack of Color...

Here are some of the things I am going to look forward to this summer...

1. Walking on sunshine, 2. My Temporary Peace, 3. The Famous Red Border at Hidcote in the Cotswolds, 4. The view from up here is just dandy, 5. Lazy days of summer, 6. Joy of Dive, Dive of Joy

A Book and A Giveaway

As I said I would be doing in my 7 Resolutions, I am reading a book a week. This past week I read the book Precious, based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. I'm sure most of you have heard about the movie based on the novel. The book club that I belong to is reading this book and now that I read it, I am going to give it away.

The book was very eye opening, raw. You really don't want to believe that children have to live like this, that this is reality for many children\teens. Incest, rape, abuse, lack of education, lack of everything! I know this stuff happens, but you don't want to believe it. I work at a Middle School, and I look around and wonder what happens to some of these kids when they go home. My heart breaks. It's not an easy read by any means, but it will make you think and feel.

If you would like this book just leave me a comment.

I'll post a winner on Feb. 1.

A Football Prayer

Dear football gods,
Please let us win! Please let us go to the Super Bowl! I can't handle a repeat of January 17, 1999. Thank you that Gary Anderson won't be kicking, (no, i'm still not over it). Thank you that we have a great team. Sorry I doubted the whole Favre thing. I'm on the bandwagon. Oh Please Oh Please Oh Please let us WIN!!!

GO VIKINGS!!!!

Amazing Women!

I spend a lot of time on my blog talking about ME! Yep, lil' ol' egocentric moi! So today I am going to do a shout out to some very special ladies... I hope you stop by their blogs and say hi!

The first one is an amazing lady name Susan. I heard about her and her story through my friend Beth. Sue is Beth's cousin, has gone through some difficult times with cancer. She recently had surgery... and it wasn't an easy one. She had to have cancer removed from her sinus cavity in her face. Please stop by and say hello to her here! She could use some "company" and happy wishes\prayers during her recovery! :)

The second lady is my blogging pal Michelle. I "met" her through Tuesday's with Dorie. Last year she sent me an AWESOME Christmas care package! Recently, she was deployed to Iraq to serve our country... only to find out... she was pregnant! Now she is back home, still serving in active military duty and living far away from her hubby who is serving in Iraq. Wow! She is amazing! Visit her here.

And of course I can't forgot about my most favorite blogger, Stephanie Nielson. She just went through more skin graft surgeries for her burns. I talk about her lots, but if you've never visited her blog you can check out Nie Nie here.

Spread some love around!

(comments have been turned off... now go do some visiting! ;)

Try Try Again...

I woke up this morning and decided to be in a good mood. The other day at work someone said I was always so nice and chipper. I don't feel that way. Today I made the choice to be happy. It's been a good day. It's amazing what happens when you give yourself a little attitude adjustment.

I have been doing fairly good on my 7 new years resolutions. I've been baking, writing real letters, reading, and crafting. But not as good as I hoped, so I'm going to try try again.

I keep hearing the line, "If at first you don't succeed, Try, try again."

But for the life of me I can't remember where that is from? A movie? A cartoon? Can somebody help me?

The next thing I am going to try try again at is, Running. I used to run, I didn't love it, but I considered myself a runner. I ran races and a marathon. I stopped after the marathon. So I have set a goal to run a 5k by June. I am going to pick a race, enter it, train for it and run it sometime this spring! I will keep you posted on my daily progress. The last race I ran was 8 years ago! So there ya go... Try Try Again.

Okay, If you were wondering, cause I know you were, if i ate at a buffet in Vegas, this should hopefully answer your question:

I don't mess around when it comes to Buffets!

....I will NOT be eating like this during my training.***

***(I will TRY to not eat like that during my training)

TWD ~ Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

Despite the fact that I had a crazy weekend and turned another year older, I knew I had to make these bars! They just sounded too yummy to pass up! I followed the recipe, except that i didn't add the raisins. I also used buttered toffee peanuts instead of salted peanuts. This was done in a three layer process. Bottom layer was cookie\oatmeal\peanut base. Followed by a chocolate\sweetened condensed milk (i used non fat!)\peanut layer. The last layer was the oatmeal dough sprinkled over the bars. Super easy, very quick. Dorie recommends you serve these bad boys cold, but I just couldn't wait! I'm so glad I didn't! They were super duper delicious!

My Fabulous Weekend!

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!

Including:

Bumpits

Fake Tattoos & Fake Eyelashes

Seriously, it was a fabulous trip! Lots of fun & lots of laughs! I was happy to win $90 on a slot machine, with a $10 lucky bill I found on the ground! Every night was a new adventure, including the Saturday that turned into Sunday that turned into my Birthday! 33 big ones! I spent part of my birthday singing, dancing, playing slots, on an airplane, sleeping, going out for Pad Thai and seeing Romeo + Juliet at the Guthrie. It was a great day! I'm happy.

a smorgasbord post

I have lots to say, but little time to say it.Tonight I will be leaving for Vegas! whoo whee! First I have to get through this work day. Then I can get my Oompa Loompa Mystic Spray Tan and a new pair of False Eyelashes. I want to look as unlike myself as possible.

But first things first, there are a few things I wanted to share before I leave.

I made Healthy Hot and Crunchy Chicken Cones with Mango - Jalapeno Slaw for dinner the other night. You can find the recipe here. (On that cool girl Teanna's blog) It was one of the best meals I've made in awhile! Extra spicy too!

I made Asian Style Beef Short Ribs in the Crock Pot last night. (recipe found here)They were good, but I don't like how fatty short ribs are. Like my thighs. Which by the way I heard cause people to live longer. I'm going to live forever then!!!!

I also made some cupcakes!



I'm in LOVE with photos that have these cute little heart lights all over. How do they do this? You can find the tutorial here! I might even try my hand at this in Vegas!

(photos courtesy of make do and mend)

Speaking of hearts... My heart and prayers go out to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Such tragedy in an already burdened country.

And one last thing... I blogged over on If Life is a Highway. It's not light and chipper like this blog. It's just me being real. ugh. So don't say I didn't warn you.


Have a great weekend... I know I will.

TWD - Mrs. Vogel’s Scherben

I had great intentions of making this one, but I haven't been home since last Thursday night. This week is a little hectic, being that I leave for LAS VEGAS on Thursday! I'm so excited.

But I did want to make sure that you all check out one my favorite cooking blogs...

Teanna of Spork or Foon? picked today's recipe and she awesome! I've been following her blog for awhile now, and not only is she a great baker, she is very smart and funny too! Go check her out here!

If you are wondering what Scherben is, it's basically thin strips of fried dough! mmmmm! And then you sprinkle yummy things like powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar on them. Eventually I will make this recipe... and probably eat every last one!

Viva Las Vegas if you don't hear from me...

more random fashion thoughts...

Today I am wearing the dress over jeans look. I know it never reached complete popularity. I know that maybe only weird people do it, I know that some people think it's awful... but I had two dilemmas today:


1. No clean tights
2. A dress i wanted to wear but can't wear it like i used to. (as in I used to wear it when i was a lot littler and a runner)

So to solve that I am wearing jeans under my dress. Is this acceptable? Does it matter?
I am also wearing a long cardigan over the whole thing to tone it down. I am however, wearing purple shoes with a bow on front of them. I will not tone those down. I like bows.
I'm not usually clothes obsessed, because honestly I can only afford target\old navy\tj maxx, but I do want to look cute. The fun thing is, at this point in my life I am dressing to make myself happy. Lets face it some girls dress for boys, some (most) girls dress for other girls. I used to do both. Until I realized that boys never notice what you are wearing, or they do and don't tell you. And girls notice (everything), but I don't like the competition.
I am leaving for Vegas on Thursday night. And I want to look cute and funky and Za Za Zing! But I'm not there to impress anyone, I'm just there to have an incredibly fun weekend! I come back to my birthday (33!) gasp gasp gasp! Sounds older than I like, but I still feel and look 23! HUZZAH!

(images courtesy of Style Speaker)

Happy Clothes

In Minnesota, in the winter time, and especially in January, things start looking a little stark, gray and bleak. We bundle up in big coats, hats, mittens and scarves. And then we live in jeans and sweaters and sweatshirts. But I am trying to break the depressing doldrums and bring some cheeriness to my wardrobe. These are a few of my favorite things I'm rocking lately.

Colorful Cardigans (one for each day of the week)

Brown and pink boots (macy's)

Chunky Tear Drop Ring (Charlotte Russe)

Textured Tights (Target)



Yellow Scarf (Old Navy)

Small things that help me feel cute and chipper throughout the day. (Please hurry Spring!)

eeek!

I swear I am not a hoarder... It's just that I have one room in my house that i throw anything and everything in to hide it away. Am I the only one who does this? But part of my N.Y. Resolution was to clean up my craft room and start crafting. When I show these pictures, please don't call that show that is on A & E. I swear it's just one room!

Hey! I see you shaking your head at me!

Tuesdays With Dorie - Tarte Tatin

I am really sad that i took such a long Tuesdays with Dorie hiatus. I used to be so good at baking every week. But one of my New Year's resolutions is to bake once a week, so this is me, starting back up again. This week's recipe is a Tarte Tatin. After reading the recipe i realized 1 very important thing, i do not have a cast iron skillet, or one that can safely go into the oven. And believe me, i unknowingly tried one of my regular pans. After throwing a few dirty pan in the oven to hide them during my new counter top & sink installation, i turned on the oven to pre-heat it and TOTALLY forgot about the dirty pans. eeeek!!! what is that burning smell!!! Thankfully i got them out right in time. I blame my mom for this one. She said, Oh i always throw my dirty pans in the oven to hide them. gross. lesson learned. Back to the Tarte Tatin, without a skillet i had to improvise. I also got apples, but then decided to use pears. So i made the caramelized sugar and the pears in a sauce pan and then transferred them to a spring form pan, and covered it with the puff pastry dough.

I loved the sound of the sugar bubbling in the oven, and what a lovely smell of pears and caramelized sugar and buttery pastry dough all melding together. mmmmm....

When i pulled the tarte out of the oven, i flipped it onto a big serving plate and it was messy and gooey. But once i had that all cleaned up, it really looked pretty nice. And then when i tried it, wow! it was sublime. So maybe it didn't look exactly like Dorie's (because let's face it, when does my stuff ever look like Dorie's?) but it tasted wonderful and I'm happy to be baking again.

seven

like i said before, i am so over resolutions. but there are a few things i want to accomplish on a weekly basis. i don't know about you, but there are many days, weeks, months, years! that go by and i feel so unproductive. i come home from work, plop down on the couch, turn on the tv and tune out. so i think there are a few simple things i want to do each week to feel more productive and resourceful with my time. i picked 7 things. why 7? i just like the number. i'm not going to beat myself up if i don't do all 7 of these things every week, but i do want to at least try.

1. bake. every tuesday i used to participate in "Tuesdays with Dorie". i'm going to start back up again. look for my baking posts on tuesdays!

2. cook. over the summer i read, Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child. i also watched the movie Julie and Julia recently. needless to say, i was inspired. i actually own the cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. so each week i will be cooking one thing out of that cookbook. i love french food, but the thought of making french food scares me. viola. here i go! next week i will be making Haricots Verts a la' Anglaise. or buttered green beans... everything sounds better in french!

3. craft. i have oodles and oodles of crafty projects up my sleeve i want to start creating. but first i need to put together my crafting\sewing\designing\knitting room. it's a nightmare. ugh.

4. volunteer. just to contribute to something other than myself. more giving and less getting.

5. write a letter. no, not an email. a real honest to goodness letter. the kind you put in an envelope and gasp! put in the mail. with a stamp and all sabrina? YES! if you would like a real life letter just let me know, i will write to you too.

6. write on the "other blog". my awesome friend heather (you know, of the EO) invited me once upon a time to write on her other blog (if life is a highway). i have only contributed a few times. i would like to contribute more. i once almost went to seminary. i had dreams of being a theologian. but the world doesn't need another theologian, the world just needs more love and hope.

7.read a book. and finish too please. i am a serial book starter, but not a finisher. i am reading about 12 books right now. ridiculous? totally. once i finish a book i will do a book review. and if i really love it, i will give it away. works for me. works for you.

(more than once a week i will also exercise. I'm a blob. i will brush my teeth at night and not just in the morning. i know gross, right? i get lazy at night. i will wash my face. i don't wash my face at night either. thank GOD for good genes. but GOD likes you to take care of those good genes too, and teeth.)

One other thing i'm going to do and so can you...

(photos are found on vi.sualize.us)

Get There.

happy new year. happy new decade.

this poster is a step by step how-to happiness guide for me. for you.

hap-py: characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment or joy.

as my co-worker friend Liz says: happiness is a choice.

she also says: get there.

"I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?" ~Ecclesiastes 3:22 NASB