nu du

oh, it's a happy day when the 70s hippie hair goes away!

it's kind of tricky to take good pics of your head. which is probably a good thing! ha.

anyway, it's a little less chicken-roosty than it was earlier in the day. i guess i would classify it as the "if keith urban were chubby and a girl" look.

that's good, right?

who needs veggies?

when you can have THESE.
yum :)

weather or not?

lately, i get very excited about the weather. i still do not watch the nightly news just to see it, as my parents do, but it is definitely moving up a notch in importance.

whatever can this MEAN?!

:)

signs

what a wonderful weekend! it was almost 70 degrees yesterday...this is south DAKOTA people, what is up with THAT?! anyway, great time for much-needed yardwork.

then, when i finally came back in the house, i got a nice surprise...


this is the 1-week old makeshift greenhouse. certainly not much to get excited about.


oh. and the chart. made by mr. chartmaker. who apparently has more faith than i, because i was pretty sure it was all for naught.


but whattyaknow! a certain brandywine tomato is going to give life a try!

what to do next?

hmmmm. not sure really....:) but of course i'll keep you posted.

i'll have the peace, with a side of self-control, please...

too bad i waited til this late in the day to read my "verse of the day..."
better late than never, though.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Galatians 5:22-23

hair looms

several friends (you know who you are) always tease me about being a "marketer's dream" because i ALWAYS fall for every crazy thing that comes along. you'd think that being in advertising and all, i would be jaded and filled with unbelief, but...no.

so this year, if it says "organic" or "heirloom" - i'm all over it. take the tomatoes. i want tomatoes like grandma used to have. no. i want tomatoes BETTER than grandma. in fact, i'd like to kick her butt, and then some :)

so of COURSE i got excited about heirloom tomato seeds. they come in all kinds of fun flavors, like "black krim" and "bloody butcher." i should note that i have never started tomatoes from seed, except for the volunteers that came up in the garden last year. so i have no idea what i am doing...but OH for the possibility. look out, grandma :)

breakfast of champions

perfect start to the day, big cuppa joe and a freshly opened box of girl scout cookies (lemon chalet cremes, if it matters to you).

thanks, miss c!

spiral dreams

it seems like EVERY single weekend, i come up with some crazy thought about how to redo my house. arrrrrrrrrgggh! the thing is, i just cannot help it. always want to make things BETTER.

so anyway, i do have a cute little attic space, that would be really fun to redo sometime, because it could turn my 2 bdr house into a 3 bdr house, and give me lots of fun space for a master bedroom (you guys have seen my tiny postage stamp bdr).

problem is, the staircase going up there is STEEP, i have actually fallen straight down them, and have scars to show for it. thusly, i never even go up there, except to vent the windows in the summer.

so i got to thinking about a spiral staircase again. i have thought of one before, but could never fix on a good spot to put one, that would not look silly. i hate when people tack on stuff in their houses for function, without regard for the space. my house DOES have alot of iron work on the outside, though, and of course curvy lines.

anyway, long story short, i think i am going to think about putting one in the kitchen! yes, it's a bit weird, but really, i have more non-functional space in there than anywhere else...oh ps. i cannot do this until i have my car paid off, probably a year from now. so in the not-too-far distance.

thoughts?

beige

don't you kind of hate that word? not like any of the alternatives are better. tan or TAUPE are not exactly lovely words, either.

yesterday, beige was the theme of the day, even though the sun was shining. actually, beige is a designer girl's friend (just ask Lou, although she calls it brown). we need all the neutrals we can get, to balance out all that crazy color we are using all the time.

however, beige in food just doesn't quite cut it. so when i was thinking of making a chicken alfredo pizza, i knew i might be in for trouble.


first there is the crust. which is not exactly colorful. but my foray into making wheat crusts was not good. i like this recipe, and it makes a very pale beige crust.


then, there is the sauteed chicken. i liked the caramel-like coating once i fried it in some garlic and olive oil. still. kinda beige.


finally, i got the bright idea that i should add some spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. oh, and a mixture of cheeses because mozzarella is just so ... beige. (notice my part of the pizza, vs. my guest who LIKES beige food). the pizza was actually quite delish despite the lack of color.


somehow, i was not surprised at my routine friday thrift stop, to find only beige things. i LOVE the tannish corn holders! not like the usual green/yellow ones you find! and a cute beige patterned clipboard!

i guess beige is not so bad. however, today i am jonesing for a little. more. color. happy weekend!

for karen: what NOT to do

per your hair question: i would NOT wait 6 months to get a haircut, thereby rendering yourself too embarassed to face Tammi your hairstylist, and therefore rendering yourself with 1970s rocker-style dan fogelhair far into the unforeseen future.

nope. would NOT suggest that :)

the b word

this week has been insane. by that, i mean my head is in over-drive. stuck on high gear, and roaring to get my attention.


i hate busy. i am not sure God ever meant for us to be doing so darn much. at the very least, He did mention that we need to have a sabbath day once a week. but i am finding that the pace of life makes me want a sabbath YEAR, or at least a month. it's funny how quickly i get overwhelmed. last night i woke up at 2am. pannicked when a client had a request for a new direction in his campaign. emailed a certain writer, who was ALSO awake and ended up writing a new campaign in the middle of the night!

is it just me, or is something wrong with this picture? i think i need to take out my notebook, make a list to keep me organized, and practice my "no" skills when necessary, without regard for the bad economy or if people will hate me or not.

i think i will start my anti-busy ban some time today, because i really really need a nap.

dan fan

so, tonite i am surfing around the internet with no particular goal in mind, and i run across the news that dan fogelberg died, actually in december of 2007.

i'm not sure HOW i missed that, but it makes me sad. he was one of my MAJOR crushes growing up, i am pretty sure i wore out my copy of "souvenirs" and can remember the nights laying in my room, just listening to his beautiful voice, as if they were not so long ago. i think i may have to download it from itunes, and pay my tribute to "the leader of the band."


oh ps. what led me to think of him was his song "part of the plan" - it reminds me of the Lord, and makes me pretty sure he was a Christian...okay, i guess i just hope he was :)

tweeeeeeeeet

okay, it is a little fun to see what famous people are on twitter.

i was pleased to find "I am diddy". here's a tweet from him that i think is kinda sweet:

May god bless your day!!! Imma lay down for a couple Leave me a positive message to wake up to. Love yall!!

deep fried diet

you all know i'm all for "home made" whenever one can. which should be all of the time, but some days, it's just hard to think ahead enough to cook ahead.

yesterday was such a day for me. luckily, i bought a package of bear creek tortilla soup mix at the grocery store last weekend. again, i don't advocate eating soup from a bag much, but hey, it's not exactly the mcdonalds drive thru, either.


i've made this before, and it's pretty good. to jazz it up, i sauteed a chicken breast (diced) with a bit of onion, green pepper and olive oil.

but the KILLER addition is the tortilla strips (directions on the back of the box). the only bad thing is that i ate so many i got a tummy ache! seriously!


all you do is cut up some corn tortillas into strips, then heat some canola oil up on the stove and "deep fry" them - they fry fast, in about 30 seconds. i was not thrilled to glug glug glug pour all that oil into a frying pan. but to be honest, only a few tablespoons were gone when it was all over. a light dusting of salt, and oh my.

natch, i was too excited to eat the soup, and forgot to take a pic. trust me, it looked good :)

tweets

so, for the most part, i have decided i hate twitter. but i do still keep an eye on things, should i decide to change my mind.

yesterday, i started following God and Martha Stewart. i'm not sure who that says more about, me or twitter itself :)

monday greys

thanks to all of your tips about making bread dough, i think i am going to be fine without my trusty bread machine. the dough hook on my kitchenaid works fine, without a ton of mess.

however, i wish somebody would tell me how to make a great, light loaf of whole wheat bread. this loaf LOOKED good, but was kind of heavy and grainy. and i also made whole wheat pizza dough this weekend, it was just kind of ... wrong.

i guess i am a white bread girl!


having a hard time getting motivated today.

3rd times a charm

i don't even really think a girl deserves to see their favorite band as many times as i've seen third day in a little over a year! but last night in spencer, ia, i had the BEST time yet! thanks in part to the guys themselves, but mostly to my lovely traveling companions - kristie lou (concert mate) and my beautiful long lost cousin emily. seriously. found out that we ARE related on the late night journey home last night. emily is going to marry brandon heath (we have all decided), so there is much planning to do.

i loved every second, and find myself thinking about next time. already.

reminder from God

i have been enjoying Carey's stories about how God is speaking to her in a rather regular, amazing pattern of late. i think in all of my life experiences, to know that God Himself TALKS to us is the most intriguing and awesome thing i've ever discovered.

He does, you know. quite regularly in fact.

yesterday, i had my own little God chat, one that i really needed. i was having a bit of a rough day, worry started and i didn't know exactly how to stop it. i have figured out the best thing to do in situations like this is just to ASK God to say something to you. to help. to come in.

so, i did that. i just prayed for a sec, and decided to open my bible for my daily reading, which i had not done yet. i read through the old Testament, which was an interesting bit about the tribes of Israel, but i did not see anything specifically for me. i jumped to the new Testament, and as i came to Mark 12:30, my heart kind of skipped. i started to underline the verse...

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

at the very moment i was underlining, the "ding" of my email sounded. blasted crappy email! it was from God TV, which always annoys me because their emails don't pop up on the TOP of the page, but buried somewhere in the middle. so, i found the email, clicked on it, and saw a post from mike bickel, a pastor at IHOP in kansas city that i like. something about a new conference coming up. curiosity got me, and i clicked further. there was a video, and as i clicked "play" mike was saying these words:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

ahhhh. a God moment. clearly, and obviously, and TRULY. He has a plan for me, and wants me to learn to walk the path He has chosen. It begins with Him, and loving Him first and best. that is ALL i need to know.

the rest of the day went well. nothing shatteringly good, but peaceful and fine. and last night, as i lay down in bed to read a christian "self help" book i have been digging into, the words OF COURSE that popped off the page i was at were:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

God, You are SO GOOD. i do love You.

guess what

IS a must-have, starting really soon?

okay then! i have no patience.

the ad for this says "roll your own." hmmmm. anyway, you see of course that this is a maple "pot maker." the idea is that it somehow rolls and tucks plain ole newspaper into really cute little peat pots! i did some google research, and apparently they are "all that." one thing that really bugs me is that i am trying to be resourceful by growing my own veggies, and then i spend a ton of $$ on the sexy stuff you need to grow them! i thought this was a good way to try to avoid buying containers for the seedlings. i also have saved a winter's worth of egg cartons, to get things going. then i would transfer to these, which can be planted directly in the soil.

gosh. i don't even know who i am anymore, but i kind of like me.

:)

11 hrs 14 min

baby blue mint condition smith-corona.

should i, should i, should i????!


update!!

look! it would be a "lifetime partner."

!

Finale decision: NOPE.
it went for nearly $100 when all was said and done. i will wait for the thrifty $10 find and concentrate on "needs" for awhile.

moose spotting

you know how every once in awhile you get those big silly emails that are just meaningless, and somebody has you on a list, and you wish they would just take you off, because WHY do they think you would care to spend your time on their cyber drivel?

well, this is one of those posts. this morning, my email almost wouldn't LOAD because of this. and here i am, passing it on to you, because these pics are just SO DARN COOL.

so nevermind. keep sending your chain emails. i have hope that they all will be as impressive as this one :)

"hey look guys! i'm in my camo outfit!"

sweet, huh? i love that there are TWO of them!! ah. i want to touch a moose on the nose. someday, maybe :)

sustenance

so, weekends are for cooking. at least, mine usually are. this weekend, i decided to break out the taco recipe, because i had a couple of #s of hamburger, looking at freezer burn if i didn't get them used.

unfortunately for me, i forgot to buy taco spices (i usually just buy those little packets, doesn't everybody)? but, after a quick look at the internet, i found a recipe....why did i not think to look for this before? taste was similar, so no need to buy those little packets again...

Taco Seasoning:

1 T. chili powder
2 t. onion powder
2 t. dried oregano flakes
1 t. each ground cumin, garlic powder, paprika, and sugar
1/2 t. salt

Mix together and add to 1-1.5 # browned hamburger, and 1/2 c. water. Simmer for a few minutes to mix flavors.


in other, sadder news, my trusty breadmaker took another careening trip off the kitchen counter on friday, shattering the lid, and making for an awful, rumbly sound because the pan no longer fits snugly into the base. it still works, thankfully, but the 40 minutes of noise that sends Siesta to the basement is not pleasant.

i went thrifting for one on saturday, to no avail. does anybody have a fave machine they use, should i have to go buy a new one? mine is a breadman plus, but if i get a new machine, i would probably prefer one that makes a horizontal loaf. i rarely bake my bread in the machine, usually remove it and put it in a pan so it looks like normal bread.

perhaps now would be a good time to explore a low-carb diet! ha.

bless you

gosh, i love this. i have watched it multiple times. why is it SSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOO cute?! seems fitting, since i am just coming off a cold...

well, he kind of looks like Jesus...

in my latest issue of relevant magazine, i see that seth rogen is set to play Jesus in a new film coming out...okay.

not so sure about that idea, but i do like rogen. remember that i actually really enjoyed 'knocked up'? unfortunately, most of his films are not exactly what i would call wholesome. but still, rogen is what i like to call truly funny. i liked him in '40-year-old virgin' too.

so, verrrrrrrrrry interesting. i wonder what kind of review i'll have to post on this one.