Obtained

It seems I'm a 'material girl' as of late. I want this. I got that. But I've had some of these ideas simmering for a while. This picture of Christ. I spotted it this last summer when we first got back. It was huge (too huge for me) and very expensive. Even to order just the print cost an arm & a leg. I hit the tightwad's jackpot in finding the first framed smaller version AND getting the employee to give me an extra 25% off. Just because I asked nicely. ;)

Here is it's "place" on the wall.

And here is the rest of the wall that needs other "things".

YouTube Tuesday: Remember When . .

So, YouTube Tuesday and my birthday coincide today. Whoop-de-doo. Another year older. I like Alan Jackson's song, "Remember When"; there's a line in there that goes, "Remember when thirty seemed so old, Now lookin' back it's just a steppin' stone," Never were there truer words spoken.



When the big 3-0 happened, a friend of mine said, "Turning 30 just gives you more street cred. Welcome to the Dark Side!" Though I am just barely dipping my toe in the waters of 30-something, I love being "in my 30s". Turning 30 was a big panic attack for me. Not the same as 20. For some reason, at that age, you're more excited to be in your "20s". I let 30 loom at me and kick my trash. 30 stomped all over me and left me huddled in a small ball, humming nonsense to myself. Here's what I told 30.



So bring it on! I'm ready! Hit me with your best shot! (no, I'm not putting up a pat benetar vid)


**that last vid is from 'dr. horrible's sing-along blog'. super duper show. go --> here <-- to start it. it's three acts.

A shoveled driveway

Accomplished

And this is from Tuesday. It has since snowed another 4 inches. Lovely. I forgot how much of a workout it is to shovel snow. I don't think I've done this since I was 15 or 16. A show of noticeable progress. It's something to do outside; where I prefer to be. It's easy during any other season; mow the law, weed, plant something. But this is about all there is to do for a grown-up during the winter. Though there is a great sledding hill on the other side of town . . . hmmm.

What $13 gets you . . . .

This is what $13 at Deseret Industries get you. A whole lotta good!

Deseret Industries, or D.I. in local speak, is a tight-wad's dreamland. It's kind of like a Goodwill store. They are nonprofit and accept donations. When I was too lazy to organize a yard sale, this is where I took 6 van loads of "stuff", i.e. out-grown clothes, toys, and assorted junk. Junk to me, but treasure to someone else. You know the saying . . . I have fond memories of D.I., we bought our first couch there for $35. I got a pair of jeans there for $3 that lasted me 3 years.

I went to D.I. with a purpose; to find frames. I have a wall that is nothing but frames. My dream is to have a nice, unique collection of just frames. Actually, it's singular right now: frame. I saw this online at Ikea about a year ago.

I had such visions and daydreams about this frame. Such beauty and splendor would have a place of honor and nothing, n-o-t-h-i-n-g will be in it. This piece of art is the centerpiece. My wonderful sister-in-law, Chelsey, snagged it for my birthday last year. It was too cumbersome to ship and so it waited in her guest bedroom until we arrived in Virginia to collect it. And it was the sixth passenger in my van, carefully tucked out of the way of flailing feet. 'The Frame' was one of the first things hung up on the wall.



You know how frustrating it is when you have a vision, and you know what you need, but you can't find it? That's my problem right now. So, I dove into the Frame & Picture section at D.I and resurfaced with this assortment. Some may stay in their natural beauty, others will be altered. And one or two may not even make the cut. But at $2 a piece, I can afford to be choosy! I got some spray paint and, if one is painted, it will be in burgundy, black or creme. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Tomorrow is Saturday, after all. Time for the Weekend Warriors to rise! After we sleep in . . .

YouTube Tuesday: Jedi Gym

This is one vid I can truly claim as an original find. Not one that was emailed. Not in the top ten of what viewers are watching. All by my little self. It once was lost . . . and I found it.





*Ok, a little bit of geek pride here. See the size of that video above? It wasn't always that tiny. Some videos on YouTube have a ridiculously wide, narrow size that covers up part of my sidebar when I post a video. I changed that. *woot*

Thoughts . . .

I just can't

think a thing
on my own.
Has to be
words that come
to my head
not a thought
otherwise.
People say
practice, too,
makes it flow
easier.

- me

If you can't tell, I've been a bit uninspired as of late. No picture taking or writing is happening. Just feeling the winter blahs, I guess. We went to visit my sister in Montana this last weekend. Baby Taylor is getting cuter by the day!

Food food food

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to take some pictures before we devoured this masterpiece. This gem of a recipe was found on a wonderful foodie blog called, "Judy in Her Natural Habitat". It doesn't have a fancy name, but it's not needed. Crab, Spinach & Artichoke Macaroni & Cheese. The name melts in your mouth just as much as the dish.


Judy got this recipe from a restaurant and tweaked it even more from their version. (adding spinach & artichoke hearts) And, ironically, I think my overseas friends will have an easier time finding all the proper ingredients than I did. Gruyere, fresh goat's cheese, white cheddar, etc. This was really so so easy & fast. And, since I have picky eaters, I just made extra elbow macaroni & made regular mac & cheese for the kids.

I don't measure! I'm sorry! I just add till things look even and taste right. That's probably why I'm a horrible baker. My alterations to the recipe are as follows: I used all white cheddar instead of part white cheddar part gruyere. Amounts? I used way more than just a half cup of cheese. I like cheesy! I used all cream cheese; lack of fresh goats cheese. And when combining macaroni & the sauce, add more heavy cream. And instead of Italian parsley and granulated garlic, I used garlic salt. And I decided to forgo the garnish. Let's face it, I just wanted that goodness in my belly!! Go to Judy's site for step by step pictures & instruction! She'll hold your hand the whole way! Cheers!

Crab, Spinach & Artichoke Mac & Cheese
Judy In Her Natural Habitat: The Kitchen

Adapted from Salty's Mac & Cheese
Serves about 8

Ingredients
12 ounces elbow macaroni
1/4 cup white cheddar, shredded
1/4 cup gruyère cheese, shredded
3/4 pound Dungeness crab meat

10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, drained really well

14 oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Cream base
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chèvre cheese - Cypress Grove Fromage Blanc only
(if you can’t find this cheese – double the cream cheese)
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
pinch white pepper

Breadcrumb topper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped

Garnish
3 ounces arugula
1tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to broil

Prepare pasta: In large soup pot cook pasta according to package directions. Drain in colander and set aside.

Prepare Cream Base: In medium sauce pan over medium heat add heavy cream and heat. Add chèvre cheese and cream cheese and mix thoroughly. Fold in spinach and artichoke. Set aside.

Prepare Breadcrumb topper: Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Set aside.

Prepare garnish: In small bowl toss arugula with lemon juice, olive oil and salt.

Return drained pasta to large soup pot. Add cream base and heat over medium heat until hot. Add white cheddar and gruyère cheese. Fold in crab. Pour mixture into shallow casserole dish. Sprinkle breadcrumb topper over pasta. Place in oven and broil until golden brown. Remove from oven. Top with arugula and serve immediately.

Cousin Time

Grant and his cousin Paul

When my sister-in-law Becca & her kids came over to the 'Burg this last weekend, we had a blast! We took them to R-Jump at the Rex. I mean, where else would we take them? The Rex rocks! The rear annex of the building has been turned into a bouncy paradise. Bouncy castle, bouncy slide, bouncy obstacle course, well, you get the picture. It's also cheap and you can bounce for an unlimited amount of time. In reality, the kids can handle about an hour, maybe an hour and a half if they're super hyped. All in all, a fun time.

The best action shot of Paul I could get

A peeking Jacqui

The finesse of Mairyn

p.s.
eliza was there, I just didn't get a chance to catch her in action. she is just on the border of being too old for this.

YouTube Tuesday:

I have a love/hate relationship with the T.V. show, Scrubs. Love it because it makes me flat out laugh. Laugh so hard I have tears. But it is also a bit, um, make-me-blush dirty. After a few of those kinds of episodes, I marked 'Scrubs' off my weekly viewing list and made due with excerpts on YouTube. It's also easier to not watch because it's not shown on regular T.V. overseas. I'm back on the U.S. side of the pond, but I don't have any network channels. And I don't miss it.

So, the round-about way I found today's gems was through an article on Slate. It covered the phenomena of how a T.V. show gets away with including a musical number in a show that doesn't normally sing. One of my favorite things about Scrubs is how they have the occasional daydream or imaginary alternate scenario and more often than not, they break out in song. Ah, so please enjoy these rib-busting videos. Also, two of these clips were from a "Musical" themed episode.





And yes, this last one fulfills the fact that I am really a juvenile 12 year boy trapped in a 30 year old woman's body. But when life gets you down, sometimes you just need some pure and unadulterated hilarity. Enjoy. *disclaimer* if you do not find poo hilarious, skip this next vid. Thank you.

Broken Promises

I know, I know. I promised to blog more. I even gave you hope by outlining future topics. See, that's usually the best way to set a goal. Tell someone else about it. Then it usually gets accomplished. Usually. But I'm not sending out any false hope today. It's just that nothing interesting has happened this last week.

I had hoped to post some pictures. I fear that little fingers have fiddled with my camera settings and the pictures taken this last week are sadly inconsistent. (boring camera specs.: size, exposure, etc.) I'm in the process of figuring that out. Along with a little 3 year old that is coming down with a bad cough and runny nose, I'll probably end up blogging more this week than I did last week? Why? Um, I think I'm an 'avoider'. If there is something unpleasant to do, I'll be here in my office; avoiding it. So that's me, I'll be 'fiddling around' with my camera and probably sitting right here holding a miserable three year old. Here is one picture that turned out. The cupcakes I made for Eliza's birthday. She wanted chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting. Oh, and decorated like flowers, please. Ok, I'll try my best!

Advertisement Blogging

Yes, this is solely for the opportunity to win a giveaway.
An awesome giveaway from c jane's guide to provo.
An annual pass to Thanksgiving Point in UT.
I have enough kids that it one visit costs almost as much as this $175 pass.
That's what we did when we were in Maryland for 7 weeks this summer.
We bought a year pass to the National Aquarium in Baltimore and
it was paid for in one and a half visits.
Since we moved to Idaho, I've driven to UT 4 times.
(it is only 3 hours and 45 minutes to Ikea)
So, for the sole purpose of one more entry, I am blogging about it.
Thank you.

Just my opinion . .

On body scanners:

I thought I'd better post something about this subject before it leaves the realm of 'current hot topic'. Or maybe it already has. I haven't seen any grainy, black & white pictures of the pudgy naked man on Drudge lately, so I could have missed the boat. I am also not the best informed person. I try to keep current on my news & such, cramming it in between other important activities such as laundry and corralling children. But here is my opinion on what I know.

When people immediately went on the defensive about these 'body scanners', I was a bit confused. I travel a lot. A. Lot. Believe me, once the 'limited liquid' ban was instituted, it definitely put a cramp in my style. Juice boxes were a staple in my kid's carry-on. It's a lot easier than dealing with that flimsy plastic cup. The stewardesses seem to have a particular fondness for filling the apple juice up to the brim for my 3 year old and then asking if he wants ice. Duh! I have adapted and either bring empty sippy cups or just ask them to leave the can. And don't get me started on how many times they've said 'no'. Seriously? It'll make it a lot easier on all of us if she'd just let me mete the two cans of juice out to my 4 kids.

But I digress, the subject is the body scanner. I really don't see the big deal. To me, these look easier. If it means I don't have to take off my shoes, coat and those of my 4 children (10 shoes, 5 jackets, 4 assorted security loveys and toys) I say bring it on! You wanna look at all my unflattering folds and crevices, go right ahead. If it means less hassle for me, I'll volunteer to go first! I know, I know, people are worried that the pictures would 'leak out'. Whatever. And maybe I'm too lassiez faire about it to be concerned. Yes, I would mind if my naked body with the blurred out face was posted as Google's new logo. But if it gets me through security faster, I will unabashedly surf on Google turned Booble.

You say the shoes, etc. do have to be removed? I have an argument for that, too. The way I see the magic of these machines is that it eliminates physical contact between those TSA people and me. Do you know how much it freaks a kid out to have their mommy patted down by a huge security Frau? The last time it happened, we were in Frankfurt. They let me keep my sandals on (Tevas to be exact) and so we unloaded everything else and walked through the metal detector. I was willing to take them off, but they just waved away my offerings. I set it off and immediately they pounced on me; "Vat is in your pockets? You have to take off everything metal!" I'm not a jewelery person and my watch was already in the 'Verboten' tray. They had me take off the shoes I had volunteered to remove just 15 seconds earlier, put them through the conveyor belt and stand spread eagled, facing away from my children. I was traveling alone with them and all they wanted to do was cling to my leg. The questions from them started spilling out, along with the tears, "Why is that lady touching you, Mommy? Can I have my frog blanket back?" We all escaped, obviously, but not without my children being a little more wary of any security screening we go through. So in my opinion, if these body scanners eliminate hassle and bodily contact, I say go for it.

YouTube Tuesday: On Wednesday

Hey, it's my favorite post of the week! I wasn't going to infringe on Eliza's special day by making two posts. So YouTube Tuesday got bumped to Wednesday! Ah, so many to choose from, yet I'm not sure about it "spanning an audience"; who thinks it's funny or not. I usually pick my videos because they are funny. Occasionally it's because they are touching, inspiring, or awesome (which usually involves comedy) but flat out funny, quite often enough, wins.

Today we get an 'awesome' vid. Stop-motion movies amazing & intrigue me. The attention to detail and patience involved astound me. The most I ever delved into the stop-motion world was when I was 11. My dad had a video camera; you know, the suitcase-sized kind that perched on your shoulder and was too unwieldy for anyone under the age of 16. We were living in Alaska and it was Christmas break. Dad pulled out the video camera and instructed us on the finer art of "movie magic". We, the three sisters, posed facing one direction, right arms extended and resting on the other sister's shoulder. Then he said to sing, "Go north, to Alaska." The lyrics to the little ditty we sang were nonsense to us, but now, as an adult with more pop culture savvy in my brain, make a little more sense. He would stop recording, we then all turned in the other direction and repeated the act once again. On the third time, the lyrics changed to, "Go north, the rush is on!" And there it was; the Holloway girl's 'movie magic'. We had a great time re-watching our 'magic. This video by PES is much more professional, but just as mesmerizing.

A Milestone

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
~Mark Twain

This has dual meaning for me today. My oldest daughter, Eliza, is turning 10 years old. I definitely do not feel like I should have a child eclipsing a complete decade on this earth. I remember when I turned ten. I mean, I remember a lot of things. A. Lot. Just ask my family, I have the mind of an elephant (and the body to match! ha)

When I was her age, turning 10 meant reaching a rite of passage for all military brats. Ten years old meant that to gain access anywhere on base, you had to have an I.D. card. How proud I was to have my little own mugshot to flash when we went grocery shopping at the commissary. Or if I spent my hard earned pennies at the BX; though sometimes you had to show it just to get in. Eliza won't be getting a military I.D. sadly enough, but she has had many things I didn't. She had her first passport at the ripe old age of 5. And that's late for my kids, the other three had one before their third birthday!

My Eliza. Do you know how we picked her name? Well, Spencer and I couldn't agree on anything. It was either an old girlfriend or bad association. There was a boy's name we agreed on, but the ultrasound showed a little female in there and we were stuck. Out of the blue one day, Spencer mentioned the name 'Eliza' and I actually started thinking about it. 'Eliza'. I started rolling the name around in my head; calling that name out to the neighborhood, asking her if she wants more peanut butter and jelly. Hmmmm. One evening, we were both watching Little House on the Prairie and this certain episode was about Almonzo's sister, Eliza. We kept hearing it over and over and realized that we loved the sound of it! True, that Eliza was a spinster, but I think our sweetie can overcome that small obstacle.

Also, there was the Battle for a Middle Name. My argument was that since I have one, so will my daughters. Spencer didn't want her to have one because his sister's don't have one and it makes getting getting married less complicated. Just three names. Yes, it's true it may have been easier, but I loved having a middle name. It's your special name that not everyone knows! The kind of thing girls share at sleep overs. And whether they like their middle moniker or not, it's something I found special and wanted my girls to have as well. A friend of ours suggested the tradition of giving the oldest daughter the mother's middle name. Fortunately, my middle name is perfect; for me as well as her. Claire. Our Eliza Claire.

2009 in Review

What better way to ring in the New Year than to give a nod to the past? I really became more active on my blog about Sept. '08. So 2009 has really been a full year. Here we go:

January:
January brought Grant's first injury of the year and a milestone 100th post.

February:
This month brought a family Valentine vacation to Alamein, me going red and a bathtub in the stairwell.

March:
March was filled with cramming in "one last visit" to various sights before our April departure. Saqqara, pyramid horse rides, felucca rides on the Nile, and a famous "Mairyn-ism". You'll have to go back over March, I had some good posts that month. I think I was 'avoidance blogging'; blogging instead of packing. I'm also trying to keep the highlight links to two a month.

April:
The month we left Cairo was a tumultuous one. What am I saying? This year has been tumultuous. Memories of Egypt, travel, a haircut and luxuries.


May:
A month of R&R, visiting places and family. Oh, and the girls got their ears pierced!

June:
A cross country road trip, another injury for Grant and lots of aquarium trips.

July:
Saying goodbye to Spence, A great 4th of July, a flat tire, and hair cutting.

August:
Moving into our house, finishing a basement, unpacking and starting school.

September:
State Fair Fun, more basement construction, A Rexburg "sandstorm", and living in the country.

October:
Welcoming Spencer (if only for two weeks) and lots of family time.

November:
NaBloPoMo. A blog post a day. For a month. 'Nuff said. Also a trip to my kid's great-grandparents for Thanksgiving.

December:
Finally, at year's end. We have a new destination , dirty little secrets and a very merry Christmas.

Phew, now I just need to take a nap. Enjoy, all!