Brett Favre...

Brett and I have a love/hate relationship. He's the QB on two of my fantasy football teams this week. Plus he's cute, a criteria for being on my fantasy football team. And right now, he's on the sideline getting his arm massaged because it was hurt a few plays ago. So not only are the Packers losing to the Cowgirls, I mean Cowboys, but Brett is hurt. This doesn't bode well for the Packers or my two fantasy teams. Especially the one that has Donald Driver on it, also a Packer and he has no points tonight.

Workin' for the Weekend...

I'm ready for the relaxing weekend! We only have one really laid back activity planned! I'm lovin' the idea of sleeping in on Saturday. I'll have to go grocery shopping, but I'm going to take my sale ads to Wal-Mart and get a price match so I don't have to go to several stores. Next week's menu is shaping up to be pretty tasty!

Fisher's Secret...

So you found out I have a sister, did you know Fisher has a twin?

Lit Up...

I wasn't going to do it, but I broke down! I couldn't bear to be the only house on the street without any lights! Now we'll be the house that people drive by and think, "Why did they waste their time?" LOL

The swag (over the entry) and wreath (to the left) were in the front yard when we moved in (I think the renters just tossed them out there while moving). I think the people that Fisher bought the house from must have owned them. Especially since there were hooks in the entryway and an anchor (I just added a screw) in the middle of the house where the wreath is! Almost like they'd been hung there before! What a God thing!

I didn't do all of the bushes because there are a ton of them, and we don't have enough lights! Sorry the pic with the wreath is blurry! The little light on the right side is our Christmas tree in the formal living room! I'll post pics of the tree later!

Early Christmas...

Me and my parents...


The boy, my parents and the wheelbarrow o' gifts!

We celebrated Christmas early with my parents on Saturday! We were going to have Chicken Lasagna, but my dad wanted pizza buffet to save us another day in the kitchen! So we went to Cici's! Then we came back, put up the tree and opened presents!

Fisher's presents arrived in a wheelbarrow! We got some really cool stuff and fun things for the house, including solar powered yard lights! Neat! We also got a triple sorter for dirty clothes (very organized), a pool thermometer, an oven thermometer and some fun kitchen and decorating stuff!

boy post for Thanksgiving

Hi, it's the boy. It is time for me to post again. I have to tell all of you about an amazing experience I had over the Thanksgiving break. Specifically, I got to meet Adawndria's sister. I never even knew she had a sister! Hopefully Adawndria has a picture of her sister, because I don't. But you all need to ask Adawndria about her little sister. It was so cool to get to meet her! Well, I hope all of you had a happy Thanksgiving!

THE BOY!!

Edited by Adawndria to add the picture Fisher requested.

Electrical Improvements...

A post-Thanksgiving "thankful for" statement! I'm thankful my dad is an electrician! He did so much to help us at the house while he was here! He fixed the ballast on the flourescent light in the garage, he was able to figure out why the dryer wasn't running hot and now it gets really hot, he installed our digital thermostat, he figured out the switches/outlets in the backyard and now the pool light comes on, he fixed the socket in the extra bathroom so the lightbulb works now (turned out it was just a bulb that was poorly threaded...that was an easy one! I felt kinda dumb on that one!) and he checked to make sure the wires we thought controlled the fan in the master did control the fan and then he installed the switch to make it work! A lot of the issues stemmed from switches being tripped in the breaker, and just not knowing that they were tripped! I love it! Things are so much better know that we have a little more knowledge on the house! And, we found out the house is wired with copper, which is great! Thanks Dad!

Update on Prayer Request...

I started feeling better around Wednesday! Thank the good Lord! I'm on antibiotics for several more days, but they seem to be working!

Thanksgiving Meal...

My plate with a sampling of everything! I was so full!


Me and Tom Turkey!


Tom Turkey!



The desserts: cherry pie, pumpkin pie and pecan pie (made by my dad) with the cinnamon coffee cake and "Sticks and Stones" which are pretzels and peanuts covered with melted chocolate and butterscotch chips.

I made my first turkey! It was pretty good! My mom and I made stuffing, cream cheese corn, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole; and my aunt brought macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and rolls (which we burned!). I made a baked onion dip appetizer that we could snack on. Everybody loved it! Everything was really tasty and we were all stuffed! There were 10 of us total, but there was a ton of food leftover! We'll be eating turkey for days! And my aunt even took food home with them and there's still plenty. I'm so thankful for God and my family!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake...

I made this for Thanksgiving breakfast. My mom and Fisher really liked it! Those dark spots are the cinnamon and brown sugar mix peaking through! It was tasty!

It Snowed in Dallas Today...

So random! We were looking outside around 3:30 after Thanksgiving lunch, and we thought flowers were blowing off a tree somewhere. Turned out it was snow! Big flakes, but not enough to really do anything. It was still really cool and very unexpected! I don't think you can see the flakes in the picture, but they were there!

Almost Turkey Time...

My parents are arriving late tomorrow night, so it's time to double check that everything is ready! We'll have to vacuum and do a little dusting! I should also probably catch up on laundry! Hopefully, I'll get off work early tomorrow!

Prayer Request...

I'd like to ask everyone to pray for my infection, my doctor changed my antibiotic today to something I take four times a day for 10 days. Apparently, my culture came back positive with an infection that needs stronger medicine. Hopefully, this will go away soon!

Short Weekend...

This weekend just seemed to fly by. I feel like I got a lot done, but a lot of relaxing too. I'm excited about my parents coming. Fisher has been hanging out with friends from out of town this weeknd so we've had some pretty late nights. Tomorrow will probably be another. I'd rather be where he is than home alone. I'm ready for the long weekend for Thanksgiving.

I think...

I took a shower with my sunglasses on. I came home from work today and cleaned the bottom oven and trash can. In the process, I scratched the guest bath tub. Ugh. So after all that cleaning, I took a shower. As I was getting ready, I decided to put on a headband since my hair was a little wonky. I had to swap my sunglasses for a headband! I know I didn't take the sunglasses off when I got home because I wouldn't have put them back on inside. Nevermind that they had water droplets on them! LOL

Speaking of Potlucks...

I have to say that they are one of my favorite things! I love food, obviously, and I like to try little tasty bites of a lot of dishes!

Gobble Gobble...

For Fisher's potluck at work, I baked cupcakes that look like turkeys (not made from turkey)! LOL They are tasty! I baked 24, kept four and he took 20 to work. There were only two left over! Yahoo!

Tiny Car...

I saw a car last night that is smaller than mine! The car in front of it is a Lincoln Navigator for scale. The Lincoln Navigator was also the source of one of the ultimate traffic injustices. A truck let it over at a green light and it sat there until it turned yellow then sped off. Leaving the nice, courteous car to sit through the light again!

Pictures from Our Birthday Party...

I got some more of the pics from the co-birthday party...food!

New Hall Decoration...

This is the new arrangement for the table in our guest/office hall area. I think I'm finally pleased with it...the only thing that still bothers me is the yellow tablecloth, but that's okay for now.

Co-worker's Cake...

This is the cake I made for my coworker. It was my first attempt using the bundt pan, and it's awesome! The decorations are supposed to look like hydrangeas (used white and light purple icing)! Maybe I shouldn't have done the bottom? I'm not sure that the cake actually looks that good! Hopefully it will taste really yummy!

Thanksgiving Update...

I went shopping for Thanksgiving dinner the other day, and I have never bought so many canned goods for one meal in my life until now. My mom must think we're having an army over because we're doubling or tripling most recipes! Well, it was my suggestion to triple the green bean casserole! LOL Our family has a pretty big appetite so I'm sure there won't be many leftovers! I bought the turkey also...it's huge. Twenty plus pounds. I hope I remember to borrow my aunt's roaster!

I've also decided to only make the brown sugar and pecan crusted sweet potatoes. They just sounded so good, plus you make them from the can. A definite plus on a busy cooking day!

Random Day...

After work today I went to Sam's and Sack n Save to pick up a few things. Sack n Save is one of the grocery stores near us, but I have to say that I really don't care for any of them. I prefer the stores in our old area.

Fisher warmed up the leftover meatballs from yesterday, and I made a quick corn salad.

Fisher cleaned up the pool and got the touch up paint ready for me. First I caulked the tub in the guest bathroom, and then I spent 45 minutes touch up painting. I realized after I cleaned up the brush, that I forgot to paint in the water closet (toilet room) of the master. Oh well! We're the only ones who see that! That's two big things that have been nagging on me that are complete!

Off to knit and order some pictures online!

Taco Soup...

I made Taco Soup today. It mostly calls for canned veggies and beans. I got the recipe from a co-worker:

1 can corn
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 can hominy (I subbed a can of black beans)
1 can kidney beans
1 package dry Ranch dressing
1 package taco seasoning
1 pound ground beef

Prepare ground beef according to the directions on the taco seasoning package. Open and dump all cans (do not drain) into large pot, add cooked beef and heat until warmed though.

Chad's Going Away Bash Party...

Our friends Chad and Alison are moving to Maryland. So, last night they gave Chad a going away bash party. Some of you don't know the story of the bashing. When the guys all lived together at 2 Westglen, they had the idea one night, for whatever reason, to bash up this old couch they had that was going to be thrown out. That was the beginning of the tradition. So all special occasions and sometimes for any reason they have "bash parties." Fisher had a "Bash-elor" party instead of a Bachelor party before our wedding! Very fun! Last night was the first night this group of girls got to participate. I'm linking to Sned's pictures and videos. Fisher thinks the one of me with the bat is "cute," but I was trying to look vicious!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dsnedecor/ChadSBashingParty

Today...

Picture that fell and broke


New sconce


Old sconce

Decoration in guest room

What a day this has been:

-I woke up with symptoms of an infection, we'll have to see how that goes today. I went to Wal-Mart at 7:30AM to get some medicine.
-As we were leaving for church, I closed the door between the kitchen and the laundry room, and picture fell off the wall and shattered. I picked that up when we got back from church.

Fisher baked a pizza for lunch, which was really sweet.

But I took a nap, and the infection seems to be getting better so I'm going to go run some errands: Sam's, Sack and Save and Kroger. Gotta some of the deals they have for turkey day!

I also changed out the sconces on the ceiling fan in the guest room. We're washing all the sheets today, now that we've swapped out the leaky washing machine for the non-leaky one.

I'll post pics when Blogger will let me.

Garage Sale-ing...

I went garage sale-ing early, early this AM with Maile and Jala at 6:45. We had lots of fun! We spent the first 20 minutes looking for one garage sale and almost gave up just before we found it! It was totally a God thing because Maile found a gumball machine she had been searching for online! It was only $10! It's for her little brothers-in-law for Christmas!

Maile also bought several children's books for her classroom, a shelf for her backyard, box of apple cider, a Christmas tin and some really cute fall and Christmas decorations at Hobby Lobby.

Jala bought two African drums for her nephews and a Christmas snowman decoration.

I got a lamp ($4), sconces for a fan's light kit to replace one set of my ugly ones ($4.36) and one box of apple cider ($1) from a guy who wholesales all sorts of things.

We went to Jason's Deli for lunch. My allowance really took a hit today!

Maile and I also went to Hobby Lobby and I got a photo album (40% off) for our Hawaii pictures and a Christmas gift for my mom.

It was a very productive day, but also tiring. I'm still up because I'm home alone and it's hard for me to sleep when Fisher isn't home.

Things I'm Going to Try...

Inspired by Jen!

1. Putting Hershey's syrup in pre-made chocolate milk (got this idea at her apartment)
2. Painting/decorating a picture frame mat

Angella moved into her new apartment tonight which is in the same complex as Jen! Angella's apartment is awesome! Way better than the apartments we lived in at the Champions! Angella got a great new brown/blue comforter for her b-day from Michael! It looks really good! The pillows really stand up nicely. Gotta love that! This new apartment is going to look fabulous! We also visited Jen's apartment for the first time! It's super cute and I love how it's decorated! It's very "Jen" and has tons of pictures, which is right up my alley!

Catch Up...

This has been a really long week. I feel like I have 700 things to do before my parents arrive for Thanksgiving. Most things involve getting the house ready.

Menu:
Turkey
Mom's Stuffing
Cream Cheese Corn
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potatoes (Catalina and Pecan Crusted)
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce (Yum!)
Pumpkin Pie
Cherry Pie
Pecan Pie

The Boy vs the Cube....

The boy lost this matchup, but not by much. He had every piece in the right place but two. This is the first post by the boy, about the boy. Hopefully there will be more.

THE BOY

PB&J Sandwich...

Jen posted about a PB&J sandwich on her blog, which made me decide to have half of one for dessert! Good ole Peter Pan and strawberry jelly! I usually eat grape, but we have strawberry here because that's what Fisher eats for breakfast!

Whenever I had to do a "How-To" presentation in school, I always used "How To Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich." That was my first real Power Point!

Even More Goodness...

Because of great friends, I was able to make our bathroom look nice!

This is the completed tub minus candles on the candle holders...I may move the basket and swap the candle holders to the right side.


Cool wire wall art courtesy of Mike and Jen's housewarming gift.


Blue decorative towels courtesy of Davene's gift card gift for my birthday!


Euro pillow forms from Davene as a house warming gift! Woohoo! Now the bed is done! I also changed the positions of some of the pillows to be like a bed I saw in the store.

Two crosses thanks to Mike and Jen for my birthday!

Thanks to everyone for making our house our home and for making my birthday so special!

Love,

Adawndria

It's Shake n Bake...

and I helped! I made Shake and Bake chicken tonight, and I thought of this commercial. Which I do most of the times I use Shake n Bake. The funny thing is I emailed Jen about it, and she replied with the old tagline! Man, and they say advertising doesn't work!

Shared Birthday Party...

Last night Angella and I had our shared birthday party! It was really fun! We had snacks and cupcakes! The boys went outside and played with the blow up punching bags...the whole goal being to make them bust. It's the same concept as the couch bashing the guys like to do! Some people played Rummikub and Scattegories and video game. We have a pretty good collection of games, so there's always something to play! This was the first party we've had in the house, so it was nice to see that it can fit a good group of people comfortably!

I got a yummy smelling fig candle from the Sraders, a Target gift card from the Bannisters, an Ono pitcher and bundt pan from Angella and Michael and two great crosses from Jen and Mike! Everything is really great and I love it all! I named the pitcher Apollo Anton after the Olympic speed skater. LOL Mike and Jen also brought a buttercream scented candle as a joke because my fantasy football team is called Buttercream Dream! Jen and Mike also brought a Hobby Lobby gift card as a housewarming present! Woohoo shopping at Target and Hobby Lobby to come!!!

I'll post pictures later when I get them from Rick.

This Morning...

On the way to work, I noticed several police sitting at corners around my office. No one in the elevator knew what was going on. exactly, but that someone important was staying at the Ritz-Carlton. I noticed several ladies on my floor counting police cars out of the window. I counted 8. These ladies knew who this person was...Dick Cheney! LOL As I was leaving for lunch the road I was on got barricaded right in front of me! I had to re-route myself a couple times due to lane closures because of his speech.

Cleaning...

I don't consider myself a neat freak, but I do not like clutter or "messes." When we would come check on things at this house when it was the rental, I was always impressed with how neat and tidy it was, except for one room. Now that I live here, I've realized those supposedly neat rooms really aren't, and the person who lived in the "dirty" room actually left hers the cleanest!

My mom is a the cleanest person I know. Her house is completely spotless! She even washes walls! I told her that I didn't even think Martha Stewart did that, until I read that she does! After living here for three weeks and coming to close contact with some pretty scary walls, I now understand why my mom does it!

I've also rediscovered the greatness of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! I've used these quite a bit since I found them in college. Now they've made a reappearance and they are wonderfully helpful in my recent cleaning binge!

Favorite Cheap Pizza...

Our favorite cheap-o pizza, Totino's Party Pizzas, were recalled today because of potential E.coli poisoning in the pepperoni. :-( We just started eating them again about a month ago!

Poppy Seed Chicken...

Here's a great recipe that we had on Sunday night at the Costume Party:

6 Chicken breasts (I used tenders)

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

2 (10 1/2 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup water

1 cup sour cream

1 (8 oz.) package Monterrey Jack cheese, grated

1 1/2 sticks butter

3 tablespoons poppy seeds, divided in half

2 sleeves Ritz crackers, finely crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and bake 30 minutes. (I cut up the chicken and boiled it.) After cooking, pull chicken into strips and arrange in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Heat soup and water in a saucepan, removing lumps. Remove from heat and add sour cream, cheese, and 1 1/2 Tbl. sps. poppy seeds. Pour soup mixture over the chicken. Melt butter and mix with remaining poppy seeds and Ritz crackers. Sprinkle over soup mixture and chicken. Bake 30 minutes. Serves 8 to 10.