Thanksgiving 2010

Well, here I sit on Sunday night as the Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close.  I always dread Sunday nights, but a Sunday night after a long holiday weekend is especially dreadful!

We had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend.  We spent the weekend with Brandon's family and enjoyed several rounds of dominoes, a lot of food, Black Friday shopping and just time spent together.

Brandon's sister's husband had to work on Thursday, so we had our Thanksgiving meal on Friday.  But, on Thursday, we spent the day cooking, playing games and planning our Black Friday shopping trip.  Pam and Ashley had a few things they wanted to buy but I was just going along for the ride.  We had lasagna for dinner that night and some really yummy brownies for dessert.  We also played a few rounds of dominoes and the boys smoked us girls.  At least Ashley won one round :)

Pam and Ashley got up REALLY early on Friday to start shopping.  They were up and out of the house by 2 a.m. to hit the early-bird sales.  I was in such a deep sleep I didn't even hear them leave, but I did meet up with them around 5 a.m.  We had a great time shopping, got some great deals (that must be kept a secret), we each got a new purse and we just enjoyed our time together.  I had planned to take pictures of our adventures, but we got so busy shopping I completely forgot!  Brandon and his dad met us a little later in the day, but they didn't hang with us for too long.

After we got done shopping, we came home and pulled together our Thanksgiving meal.

{The three cooks!}

We put a turkey breast in the crockpot and that was a life saver!  The oven was freed up for other dishes and the turkey was so tender and juicy.  We had so much food we could have fed twice the amount of people, but it all made for great leftovers (at least on Friday...none of us wanted to touch the leftovers the rest of the weekend!)

I guess you could say the meal could be summed up below:

After we finished cleaning up the kitchen, we headed to the park to take a family picture.  Ashley has been wanting to take pictures in our favorite team shirts, so this weekend seemed like the perfect time.

Clearly, the dogs were not very interested in the picture taking.  I think they were actually thoroughly embarrassed that they were wearing shirts in public.

After the picture taking, we came back home and pretty much vegged out the rest of the day.  After all, a few of us had been awake for quite some time!

Saturday morning, we slept in and then Pam and I went to a wreath making class at a local garden store and the boys headed up to Brandon's job site for a while.  Pam and I had a blast making fresh wreaths (again, I meant to take pictures but got so focused on the wreath making that I forgot to snap a pic) and they actually turned out pretty good!  We met the guys back at the house before heading out to do a bit more shopping.  Later that night, Craig's sister and her husband stopped by to visit and then it was time for everyone to leave.  Pam and Craig headed back to Newton and we headed to bed :)

Today, we went to church and came home to put up Christmas decorations!  I got the Christmas tree assembled and decorated while Brandon put the lights on the house.  We still have a few more items to do, but we got a good start.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the time with family and friends!  Only a few weeks until Christmas!

Here Come the Holidays

With Thanksgiving weekend closing in, it is time to usher in Christmas!  We plan to put up our decorations tomorrow, but in the mean time, I found this little questionnaire that I thought I would share!

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
My holiday wish for my family is that we all create lasting memories and treasure our time together.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
Growing up, our Christmas morning tradition involved getting up early to open our see what Santa left us in our stockings and then we would proceed downstairs to read the Christmas story from the Bible and open the rest of our gifts.  After we opened gifts, we would usually eat breakfast together and then get cleaned up and drive to Wichita to spend the rest of Christmas Day with my mom's family.  Now, our Christmas morning traditions are different each year because we rotate holidays with each of our families.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
The ability to travel wherever I want to and whenever I want to.

 4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
I love to cook and entertain and love to go the extra mile to make guests feel comfortable and loved.  I also just like to get together with friends and family to spend time together and enjoy the spirit of the season.


5. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
Since we don't have a family yet, I haven't really been able to carry over too many traditions, but one tradition I still enjoy (and we still do with my family) is to read the Christmas story on Christmas morning.  It helps us focus on the real meaning of the holiday and not just the gifts.   My mom once tried to start a new tradition of making egg rolls on Christmas Eve but after one year of making them we quickly stopped because it was a very time consuming process.  

When Brandon was growing up his family always had German meatballs after midnight mass on Christmas Eve and they still get together, albeit earlier than midnight, to keep this tradition alive.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?
My parent's lake house.  It is so beautiful there and so peaceful and if it snows, it is exceptionally serene.

Thankful

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for:

Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins * a loving husband * good jobs (that we still have) * a loving family * cute nieces who make me laugh * a wonderful family-in-law * good friends who are so special to us * good health * our freedom and those who protect us in order to keep that freedom * a cozy home that keeps us warm * my puppy and his crazy antics * Twitter * space heaters  * Netflix * cookies * non-junk mail mail * a dishwasher * Starbucks * Crate and Barrel *.

Of course I had to throw in a few practical items to be thankful for, but seriously, this year I am so thankful for our health, our families and the promise of a future with Jesus.  We have seen time and time again that our life here on this earth is so short and that we take a lot of things for granted.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and cherishes the time with loved ones!!

Bringing NYC to ICT

It is a well-known fact that I LOVE NYC!  Hands down one my favorite vacation spots of all time.  I probably ask Brandon at least once a week if we can move to NYC for just one year.  I just want to live there for a short time so I can experience the real NYC life, appreciate it and then come back to good ol' Kansas where everything is normal,  but Brandon isn't exactly on board with that idea so I just get to live vicariously through friends or friends of friends who live in NYC and enjoy my visits.

But, when I heard that the Radio City Rockettes were coming to Wichita, I was so excited and made mention of it to Brandon.  Being the sweet husband that he is, he purchased the tickets without me knowing and planned an entire date night that was capped off with the show!

On Saturday night, he told me we had dinner reservations at Luciano's, my favorite Italian restaurant in the area (it is actually located in Mulvane) and very reminiscent of the cute little Italian restaurants in Little Italy.

{Photo courtesy of Luciano's}

We had an awesome dinner and practically had to roll ourselves out of the restaurant so we could make it to the show!!

We arrived at the Intrust Bank Arena in plenty of time to find our seats among the throngs of little girls in attendance.  The stage curtain was a small replica of the famous curtain at Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes, while a smaller group as well, were just as amazing as I remember them on the big stage!

{We weren't supposed to be taking pictures, but Brandon broke the rules for the sake of the blog!}

My favorite scenes were the tour of NYC (they literally had a double-decker NYC tour bus that moved around the stage with a "virtual" tour of the city on the screen behind them) and the final scene that showed the history of the Rockettes.  The dancers were in beautiful costumes that reminded me of the costumes they wore in the early years and the routine was a very traditional kick line. 

I literally smiled the whole night!!  Brandon did a great job of bringing NYC to ICT!
 

Counting My Blessings

I have a really fun Weekend Wrap-Up to post and I will get to that, but I have something on my heart that I need to share.

This has been a tough year for us and for many people we know.  We have lost dear loved ones, we have watched others battle disease, we have watched people experience both of these things at the same time, and we have watched people lose jobs.  Yet through all of this, we have been protected from most of these harsh realities.  But tonight, I was reminded again about how blessed we really are.  

There is a girl I know of from OBU (I didn't really hang out with her when I was there, but I know who she is) who has the most faithful spirit and total trust in God, yet has had to face a myriad of trials in the past couple of years.  She has had breast cancer.  TWICE.  She has had all of the surgeries that go along with breast cancer.  I believe she had a hysterectomy (yes, she's my age) and now lives with the reality that she will never be able to have children.   To go through all of this, all of the emotions that go along with these issues and to live to proclaim her faith in God is amazing to me.  I read her blog every once in a while and am always amazed at how much glory she gives God for all that he has done in her life.  She has remained so faithful and has complete trust in His plan for her life.

Today, I read on Facebook that she started seizing at some point during the day and that the doctors have found a brain tumor.  She is scheduled to have brain surgery on Wednesday.  I don't know any other details, but all I know is that she needs prayer.  Prayer for the doctors, prayer for her emotions, her physical strength (her body has obviously been through a lot in the past couple of years), prayer for her husband who appears to be an extremely patient and strong man, prayer for her family as they support her through this new trial and prayer that God's plan will be revealed. 

Friends, I can't even begin to imagine having to go through any of these trials, and then have to go through them one after another after another.  Please take a minute to say a prayer for this woman and to count your blessings.  We don't have to look very far to realize just how blessed we are.

Sick Day(s)

Thanks to the seasonal head cold that has been making its way around my office, I have been sick for the past four days.  I stayed home on Monday thinking I could rest up and be fine to go to work on Tuesday since we had our big Annual Meeting that day and I really couldn't miss one of our biggest events of the year.  Plus, I had several responsibilities that evening that I couldn't just leave for someone else to handle.  So yeah, I really couldn't miss that day. 

After close to a 14 hour day, I was spent and couldn't get out of bed on Wednesday.  So, Koby and I hung out again and I rested up hoping to feel better.  I got up and went to work this morning and felt pretty good until about 2:00.  I tried to muster up enough energy to make it through the day, but I just couldn't, so I came home around 3:30. 

I hate feeling crummy for this long because so much gets ignored!  For instance:

• I haven't made the bed since Sunday.
• I haven't made a grocery list, let alone thought about going to the store.
• The house is a disaster because I just don't want to pick it up.
• The dog is getting cabin fever (i.e. sitting next to me whining while he waits for me to throw his headless duck or armless monkey).
• Poor Brandon has had to fend for himself when it comes to meals (its a good thing he likes leftovers and we made chili over the weekend).

Thankfully, things are pretty quiet at work since the annual meeting is over so I haven't missed too much there.  Tomorrow, we have a morning staff retreat and then our staff Thanksgiving lunch, so hopefully it will be another easy day.

In other news, since I've been home I've had a lot of time to browse the internet and I just might be doing 90% of my Christmas shopping online this year!  There are so many sites that are offering free shipping or online exclusives we just might save a little bit of money.  So, while everything else is slipping out of control, at least I have my Christmas shopping under control...

I guess I should go try to focus my energy on productive things like preparing for Thanksgiving next week.  I can at least make a grocery list while I lay in bed...

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a pretty hectic weekend here in the Brungardt household, but it was a good kind of hectic so I'm not going to complain.

Friday night, we had planned to cook dinner at home and watch a movie (we just started a Netflix subscription and LOVE it!), but our plans quickly changed when we heard the news that our friends, Luke and Emily, were going in to have their baby!  While we didn't go to the hospital, we did pitch in to babysit for Matt and Ali (Luke's brother and sister-in-law and our good friends) so they could be up there when the new baby entered the world.  We had a good time with their little one until it came time for a diaper change, and then she decided she was pretty much done with us! 

Saturday morning Brandon had to go to the job site, so I stayed home to do typical Saturday morning chores.  Brandon came home for a quick lunch and then he had to head back so I went back with him to see what his job was looking like on the inside.  Boy, it is going to be an impressive theater!!  We'll probably only be able to afford one IMAX movie a year, but it will be neat.  I know he will be happy to have that project finished, but it will be one project he will be proud of.  I got home from running errands in time to catch the second half of the KSU game.  Too bad the game didn't have a better ending...  After the game, I headed up to the hospital to meet the new baby.  He is just a little cutie and Luke and Emily seemed very at-ease and happy!

Later in the evening, we were in the basement watching a movie and we heard quite a commotion in the ceiling.  Yep, we have mice!!!  We have been dealing with these little rodents pretty much every fall since we've lived in our house and this year, they have been quite stealthy!  We had already caught two of the invaders, but we had yet to capture the last one (at least we think there is only one more).  Once we heard the commotion, Brandon jumped up and went to the storage room, which has an unfinished ceiling, to find out if he could see anything and sure enough, the yucky mouse had gotten partially stuck to the sticky trap and had dragged it across the ceiling to the middle of the room.  Fortunately for Brandon (at this point) the mouse had gotten away so he wasn't going to have to touch a live mouse.  But, he went ahead and set more traps just in case.  Well, to make a long story short, we didn't get the mouse the rest of the night, but after quite the ordeal yesterday afternoon, Brandon got him and he is GONE!!  We haven't heard anything since then, but I'm still not convinced we are in the clear.

On Sunday I had to work check-in at church and Brandon had to go pick up my aunt, uncle and cousins at the airport, then we met Brandon's mom, sister and brother-in-law for lunch.  Later in the day, I went over to my friend Ali's house to help her fill out Angel Tree angel information cards (this is when the last mouse battle took place). 

After I got home from Ali's, I made an apple cake to take to a dinner party at my friend Kourtney's house.  Kourtney and her husband, Branden, just moved to town this summer for med school (yes, they are BOTH in med school...CRAZY!!) but we haven't had much of a chance to hang out with them since our schedules are so different.  So, they had us and our other friends, Jon and Emily, over for a fun dinner party.  I can definitely say it was a super fun night spent with two really great friends and our husbands!  We did a lot of laughing and a lot of sharing and it was just a perfect night.  I meant to take our camera, but I was in a little bit of a rush to get around and I wasn't feeling all that great, so it really just slipped my mind.

Today, I am still feeling a little under the weather (sore throat) so I decided to stay home from work in anticipation of a big day tomorrow.  We have our big annual meeting tomorrow so I wanted to give myself the best chance possible to not get full on sick!  Wish me luck!

Hillbilly Salon

You know, we try to be relatively classy people.  We keep up our yard and house (unlike our lovely neighbors), we try not to over-do our Christmas lights (again, unlike our neighbors), and we don't have broken down cars in the street (yes, our neighbors do that, too).  But tonight, we just might have crossed the line.

Brandon has been trying to get me to cut his hair for a long time, but I've been hesitant because the only hair I've ever cut with a razor was the hair around our horses' hooves.  I finally convinced him to go to the girl who cuts my hair and he has actually been pretty happy with the way she cut his hair, so I thought I was in the clear....until Brandon found a set of clippers on sale at Target.  Suddenly, I became the new stylist at the hillbilly salon in our garage!!

Thankfully, my friend Christy occasionally cuts her husband's hair so she came over tonight to give me a few pointers.

Pretty nice digs we have at our salon, huh?  After she made the initial "cuts", she handed over the clippers to me.

{I posted this last night without looking at the photos in detail, but this photo desperately needs a disclaimer...it was taken after a long day of work.  My hair looks awful and greasy and my face doesn't look much better.  My apologies for hurting your eyes!!}

I couldn't tell if Brandon was nervous or not, but he sure did complain more about my skills than he did about Christy's skills.  What's up with that?

After we finished with the #4 on the top (I've got to learn the proper terminology), we went down to a #2 to do the bottom and then it was time for blending.  I gave the clippers back to Christy so she could show me how to do it because this is where I was afraid I would really mess up!

The lighting in my salon isn't so good, but I think we did a pretty good job despite that fact.  I only made a little mistake on the blending part but Christy was able to fix it and we were able to make him look pretty darn good!  Christy only threatened to scalp him once (and he was totally oblivious)!

Next time, I will probably have to cut his hair all by myself so take a good look because this may be the best hair cut he gets in a while!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Our weekend was blissfully relaxing and much needed after a crazy summer and fall!  We didn't have any projects hanging over our heads and no real plans (for me) to do much else so we spent a lot of time just hanging around home. 

On Friday, we went out to eat at a new-to-us pizza place and then went to the movie.  We saw Due Date, which Brandon was pretty excited about because he loves Zach Galifianakis (from The Hangover), but I would not recommend the movie unless you wait for it to come out on dvd.  It started out slow and then it just was not very funny and extremely unrealistic.  Our only saving grace is that we had free movie passes and did not spend actual money on the movie.

Saturday morning Brandon got an early phone call and had to go unlock the job site gates, so I was pretty much awake from then on.  We spent practically all morning hanging out watching TV, browsing the internet, making Christmas lists, etc.  Finally, I got up and cleaned house a little bit while Brandon ran a couple of errands and then he got ready to head to the KSU football game.  I bowed out because it was a late game and I didn't really want to drive home at midnight.  My absence then gave Brandon an excuse to hang out with some of his high school buddies who live in Manhattan and he ended up staying the night at their house so he didn't have to drive home by himself late at night.

While Brandon was gone, I ran a few errands myself, made a grocery list, and had dinner at my friend Christy's house.  She was cooking for her sisters and another friend so I crashed the party, too.  We had a good time chatting and eating a yummy meal.  When I got home, I decided to try out a new recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars while I watched the Cats whoop up on Texas.  Oh my goodness!  They are yummy!!  I definitely didn't bake mine long enough, so they are a bit gooey, but they are delicious.  They taste a lot like the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins that I make.  Koby and I spent the rest of the night watching the football game and then we went to bed.

Brandon was home by 10:00 on Sunday so we had the rest of the day to hang out.  We had to go to Kohl's to get him new work shoes and another pair of work pants and then we went to the grocery store.  After we got home, we both took naps (I don't always sleep so well when he's gone) and spent the rest of the day watching football.  I tried making taquitos for dinner and they were just okay.  I probably stuffed them too full because they were oozing out of the tortillas.  We'll see if I ever make them again...

And now it is Monday and we have another work week ahead of us.  It is supposed to be close to 80 degrees here today so I'm not quite sure when fall is going to be here to stay, but I suppose we'll enjoy it while we can!

Alternative Thanksgiving

It's November 2!!!  How can this be??  To me, once November hits, the year just flies by, however, this whole year has flown by so I'm not sure what to think about the next two months. 

As November arrives, it also means it is time to start the holiday preparations.  This year, we are celebrating Thanksgiving with Brandon's family but we are celebrating the day after.  While I won't be hosting the official Turkey Day meal, I will be hosting part of the family on Thursday and I want to prepare a fun alternative Thanksgiving meal, but I need help thinking of what to do.  Below are the specs for the day:

• Small gathering = 5 people
• Want to do as much prep ahead of time
• Could be a themed meal
• Not opposed to using my china, however, the thought of hand-washing all of my dishes for just 5 of us is not so appealing
• Football will be on TV
• Thinking of doing a brunch around 10 so we don't have to plan three meals that day

I've thought about doing an Italian meal since I could do a lot of prep ahead of time (enter Grandma's lasagna recipe).  I've also thought about doing heavy appetizers and having a sampling of treats, but that seems like more work.  Because I love to cook for a crowd and entertain and I still want the day to be special, I wouldn't mind making something different and unique, either.  Oh decisions, decisions! 

Has anyone else ever prepared an alternative holiday meal? Any new (to me) recipes out there that I need to try?  Any tips for a stress free day?

Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat

Last week, I mentioned I received a box in the mail at work and I couldn't have been more excited about the contents of the box.  Over the past few weeks, Brandon's mom has been working on a Wildcat t-shirt quilt for Brandon and me!!  I've always wanted a t-shirt quilt, but knew I didn't have the patience to do one myself, so I am so grateful that Pam was willing to make one for us.

We spent a lot of time gathering t-shirts, but we finally got everything she needed and it didn't take her much time at all to put it all together! 

She pieced the t-shirts together and then backed it with a cozy sweatshirt fleece material.  And let me tell you, it is definitely cozy!!  We have already gotten a lot of use out it :)

Of all of the t-shirts we looked at and eventually chose, this t-shirt is probably my favorite of all...

...because it is true!  Brandon never, ever thought he would become a Wildcat, but he did and there is no going back!!

Thank you Pam, for such an awesome gift!!  We love it!!

Happy Halloween!

Yes, Koby had to put on his traditional lobster costume, and as you can see, he was thrilled!!  At least he didn't pee on the floor this year!  We're making progress...

After we let him take the costume off, he decided he needed to restore his manhood and stand guard at the door.

I think he was eyeing the little red devil across the street!

We probably had close to 30 trick-or-treaters this year and we still have a lot of candy left (which will be going to work and NOT staying here)!  We also had a couple of friends stop by with their kids and I made special treat bags for them full of candy and a homemade brownie.

Brandon bought the candy this year and he believes in buying "filler candy" to mix with the good candy and then picking who gets what candy.  As you can see, we have a lot of the "filler candy" left....

Hope you had a fun and happy Halloween!

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Okay, so that was the only catchy title I could come up with that had anything to do with boots.  But, I do have a boot dilemma!  You see, I have been on a LONG search for the perfect pair of boots, and by long I mean like two years.  I want a pair of boots that are good quality (i.e. not made of "pleather"), classic design with a little flair, but not too much of a flair and comfortable!  Here are a few examples of some of the boots I've been eyeing:



 

So, you would think finding the perfect pair of boots wouldn't be so hard, right?  WRONG!  One piece of this puzzle that keeps tripping me up is the width of the boot leg (is that the right terminology?).  I have been blessed with many good features, but my calves are not one of them.  And, many of the cute fall boots that I have been drooling over(including both parits above) are not made for my calves.  Sigh.... Thus, making the search for the perfect fall boot a bit more challenging.

While I've been looking for the perfect boot for some time, I have also been looking for a cute pair of suede slouchy boots that I would consider a bit more trendy and a bit more casual.  Since slouchy boots are a bit wider by nature, I have had good luck in this department!

I found these boots over the weekend and I was so excited!  I think they will look great with skinny jeans and long tops, or if I'm really daring a cute fall dress :)  And, they are ultra comfortable!!!

So, there is my boot dilemma.  I'm going to press on and hope to find something.  I've got a DSW coupon burning a hole in my pocket, so I'm considering buying the first pair above and praying they stretch out a little bit after I wear them a time or two! 

Yep, I'm Still Here...

...just trying to crawl out of my busy work week and other life distractions.  I have a lot to post about including a YUMMY new recipe and a fun package we received in the mail yesterday :)  We are also going to a corn maze with our small group tonight and I've never been to one before so I'm sure there will be some kind of story to tell afterward.

I will be back...SOON!

Pet Blogger?

I received the following newspaper clip today from Brandon's mom with a note that read "...right up your alley!":

I must say, I would partially agree!  I love my dog and I love to blog so it seems like a natural fit.  While I know I could recount endless stories about my own dog or life with a dog, I'm not sure I could dish out much advice.  I mean, we pretty much feed him, give him water, play with him, take him to the vet regularly and bathe him every now and then.  We didn't do too much training with him, but he ended up being a pretty good boy, so I don't know.  I think I will have to let it marinate for a little bit to figure out if I think I could really do it and if I have the time to devote to it. 

In the mean time, here is a funny life with Koby story:

A few nights ago, Brandon was having a hard time sleeping so instead of tossing and turning all night, he got up around midnight to get a glass of milk and some peanut butter (yes, he snacks on spoonfulls of peanut butter).  Well, Koby and I were sound asleep and in fact, I didn't even flinch when Brandon got up.  The next morning, Brandon was telling me about this and he said he could hear Koby snoring as he went into the kitchen.  But, apparently the minute he opened the jar of peanut butter Koby came running.  You see, Koby LOVES peanut butter and will typically come running from anywhere in the house when he smells that tantalizing scent and then he will sit at our feet or follow us around until we give him a taste of his own.  But, never in my wildest dreams did I think peanut butter could wake him from his deep, deep slumbers!  I guess his peanut butter induced dream must have really wiped him out because last night Brandon said Koby kept him up all night with his snoring...

Weekend Recap

We had another busy weekend!  Our victory over the Jayhawks was a great start to the weekend!!  And just in case you are wondering, our Wildcat flag is still flying in front of our house :)

Friday night we went out to dinner and then went to see The Social Network, which was a fantastic movie!!  It is the story of how Facebook started, which was when I was a Junior in college, and I was so intrigued by the story.  I hear that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, says that the movie is not 100% accurate, but that is probably because the movie reveals his less than stellar character.  Anyway, it was great and it really makes me want to visit Boston!!!

Saturday morning I tried to sleep in but couldn't, so I got up and got on the treadmill and then got ready to go make bierocks with my friend Ali.  I had planned to take my camera, but I forgot it.  The bierock-making process is long, but it is so worth it in the end!  While I was making bierocks, Brandon stayed home and mowed the yard and worked around the house a little bit, and he watched a lot of football.  The rest of our day was spent just hanging out and being lazy.  Oh yeah, and we had bierocks for dinner (I made a few without cabbage for Brandon)!

Yesterday, we went to church and then went to brunch at Panera.  After we got home, my brother, sister, sis-in-law and nieces stopped by our house on their way home from my parents' house.  They didn't stay long, but it was good to see them.  After they left, we got busy washing windows (for the first time since we've lived here, the outside parts anyway...SAD!) and cleaning out closets.  Finally, after hauling out three trash bags of clothes for Goodwill and another big pile for a consignment sale, we were done for the day.  We capped off our evening with homemade chicken and noodles and more football...okay and a little bit of Keeping Up with the Kardashians ;)

Now, it is time to get ready for the week ahead.  Don't be jealous of me, but I have a half-day workshop on Tuesday to learn the new Microsoft Office 2010..yippee!!  Our office is getting the new operating system and apparently, everything has changed so we have to spend four hours learning how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.  Can you tell I'm just so excited?!?!

Thursday Thoughts

1.  It's Game Day for the Cats tonight so Koby and I (and Brandon, too, but he was too embarassed to be in the picture) put on our purple this morning!! 


{This picture was taken early this morning before I left for work, so please excuse the "tired" look in my eyes...}

We will take on the Chicken Hawks in tonight's Sunflower Showdown!  While I wish I could be super stoked that we're going to blow them out of the water, after last week's game against Nebraska I realize I need be a little more cautious this time...you just never know what might happen. 
So tonight, I'll be making homemade pizza and we will be hunkered down in the basement watching the game.  If you hear loud screaming, it might be my husband!

2.  The weather this week has been amazing!!  This is my absolute favorite time of year so I'm trying to cherish it before it turns too cold.  I hope we can get outside and light the firepit this weekend.

3.  Because of the change in seasons, I have had this nagging urge to purge the closets in our house.  This will be on my to-do list for the weekend.  We have two hall closets, the closet in our bedroom and two guest room closets that ALL need some attention.  If you can't find me this weekend, I'll be buried under a pile of junk.

4.  I've been watching Dancing with the Stars this season (as usual) and I have really been cheering for Kurt Warner and Bristol Palin.  I know I have good reasons to cheer for Kurt - he's a good Christian guy, he's respectable, he had a cute tea party with his girls in preparation for one of the dances, I follow him on Twitter now and he just seems so genuine and nice, etc. etc.  However, I'm not sure why I feel the need to cheer for and vote for Bristol Palin (yes, I vote for people on DWTS - judge me if you will), but my heart goes out to her.  I know she's made some stupid decisions, but I guess I feel like she's trying to get out from under her mom's shadow so she's putting herself out there by doing something so out of her comfort zone and I just admire that.  I also know she's not a "star" which can cause her to be a bit of an underdog, so maybe that pulls at my heart strings too...I don't know.  Anyway, once they are off the show, I may lose interest.  I do like Jennifer Gray and I assume she will win, but I'm not sure I will stick to the show just for her.

5.  Today, while I was sitting at my desk, an old man pulls into the parking lot right outside my window, gets out of his car and starts peeing in the lot!!  This has happened before, but I hadn't seen him in a while so I thought maybe he was gone, but oh no, he is back!!  I started yelling "the peeing guy is back, the peeing guy is back!" and before I could finish my sentence, one of my coworkers (a guy) had ran out of his office and out the door and was in the parking lot giving this guy a piece of his mind.  I felt bad because the man is pretty old and we think he's a drunk, but there is NO reason for him to be peeing in public, let alone outside an office building that has huge windows!!  I doubt he'll be back after my co-worker gave him a talking to. 

6.  This past weekend (I know I still need to blog about the weekend) while we were shopping, we (my mom, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, aunt and myself) went into the Coach store to browse their purses.  About half way through the store, I realized I was carrying one of my "foach" purses or fake Coach purses that I got in NYC and suddenly, I got SOOOO embarassed!!!  I just knew the minute I walked into the store, red lights went off and I was labeled an imposter by the clerks.  So, being all self-conscious, I just tried to play it cool and not draw attention to myself, while I politely tried to hurry the group out of the store.  Well, I saw a real purse that I liked up on a shelf so I decided to get it down to look at it closer.  Well, it was on a shelf with two other purses that were hanging on these metal stands.  Wouldn't you know the purse I wanted was behind the other two purses and when I went to pull it down, the rest of the purses and the stands fell too.  So, I had to ask someone to come help me and by that time, I was just mortified!!  Once I got myself composed and the purses back in their spot, I whipped off my foach and threw it in my mom's shopping bag.  I just wanted that thing OFF of me so I could just slip out of that store without causing any more commotion.  My sister was worried the clerks were going to think I was stealing a bag, but I had to reassure her that the they knew they had nothing to worry about with me!

7.  I have been having trouble coming up with things to bring to work for lunch.  I am not a person who likes to eat leftovers too many times and I am definitely not a sandwich kind of gal.  I really like salads, but the salads I throw together just never taste as good as a salad from a restaurant or a salad bar.  Thankfully, I read the Wichita Eagle dining out newsletter and found out that a local office building, which just so happens to be about a block from my office, has a great salad bar and a large container (the size you would get at Dillons) only costs $4.25 including tax!  Score!  I have gone there twice this week and have been pleased every time. 

Okay, my lunch break is almost over.  If you think about it, say a little prayer for the Cats tonight!!  Go State!!!

A Few Fall Recipes

I spent this past weekend with fifteen of my aunts and cousins from my dad's side (more on this later) and during breakfast on Sunday, one of my aunts reminded me of this lovely fall recipe, perfect for this time of year when the apples are at their peak!  I plan to make this soon, but thought I would go ahead and share the recipe now since it is currently apple season.

Chopped Apple Cake
4 cups diced peeled apples (not fine)
2 cups sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts (optional)
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients together and add chopped applies. Beat eggs and oil and add to dry mixture.
Spray 9¨x12¨ pan with Pam. Pour cake mixture into pan and bake at 325º for about 1 hour. Test with toothpick.


Another recipe that I have already made once and plan to make again is my homemade applesauce.  I know I have posted this recipe once before, but I can't seem to find it so I'm going to post it again.  I really can't remember where I originally got the recipe, but I know I modified it a little bit so I guess I will claim it as my own now.

Fresh Applesauce
8 Granny Smith apples (or any other apple that you like to cook with)
1-2 T. lemon juice
Water
1/4 - 1/2 c. sugar
Red hots (I usually just dump them in, but if I were going to guess I'd say about 1/2 cup)

Peel, core and quarter all of the apples and toss with lemon juice.  Place in a large and heavy stock pot.  Add enough water to come about a quarter to a third of the way up the apples, but do not cover the apples with water.  Cover the apples and cook over medium high heat for approximately 15 - 20 minutes or until the apples are soft.  Remove the apples from the heat (if there is still quite a bit of water in the pot, drain it at this time), mash them with a potato masher (you can make it as smooth or as chunky as you like - we like ours on the chunkier side), and stir in the sugar and red hots.  Reduce the heat to low and return the pot to the heat.  Let the apples cook until the sugar and red hots melt.  Pour into a large bowl to cool and then place in the refrigerator.   

There you have it!  A few fall recipes that are sure to please just about anyone!

I Will Get Back To Blogging Soon...

I am catching up from a really fun extended weekend (with the exception of the KSU v. Nebraska game -- I think the score keepers gave too many points to those Cornhuskers...).  I have bags to unpack, a house to clean, a calendar to organize and the list goes on.  I also hope to have lots of fun pictures from the weekend so I don't want to post until I get those.  I will be back soon!

Summer Must-Do List (Revisited)

Remember when I wrote this post about my Summer Must-Do list?  Yeah, I didn't think so...  I've realized that I'm not very good about giving updates on posts from the past.  So, in an effort to keep things real here, I am going to provide a pathetic update.


1.Host a big backyard BBQ bash (this was an ambitious goal because we were only home about three weekends out of the summer, so we never got around to this one...)

2.Visit the Farmer's Market on a regular basis (I did do this on a semi-regular basis)

3.Celebrate our 4th anniversary (check!)

4.Go to a Royal's game (check!)

5.Sit on the patio and enjoy the summer evenings more frequently - with bug spray of course. (check! And boy did I need the bug spray! )

6.Make popcicles (eh! I tried once but not successfully enough to say I accomplished this)

7.Work on my tan (does the Jergens self-tanning lotion count?)

8.Wear breezy dresses more often in an effort to break out of my norm (check!)

9.Take an unexpected weekend trip somewhere new, but within driving distance - just the two of us (My b-day weekend in KC sort of accomplished this...)

10.Pray for a different person everyday (I would say this one has been accomplished in the sense that I've consciously been trying to pray for different people.  It hasn't happened on a daily basis but I have gotten better)

11.Make mojitos (I never made them but I did drink a few!)

12.Take Koby to the new dog park (fail!)

13.Visit my bff (she visited me and we had a grand time!)

14.Get the basement decor finished (it is not finished yet...)

15.Go to a bonfire and make smores (we didn't go to a bon fire, we broght the fire to our house and we had smores too!)

So, there you have it.  I wasn't a total failure, but I also didn't accomplish everything I set out to do.  Oh well...I guess that's what goals are for.