Animated Love Notes

When you have a minute, go to Imagination Cubed and make a happy little drawing to send to someone you love. I had a few extra minutes while the phones were slow today to dink around a little and sent one to my hubby and one to my sweet friend. The email will actually play the animation of you creating your drawing. I wish I could actually play an example for you here here, but we're out of luck. Anywho ... anyone can do this. Go try it out for yourself.I know they're not anything to go all gaga over, but hey, I only had a few minutes. :D

Week in Review 2/18/10

We're approaching 2 full months of 2010 and I haven't missed a week so far. Now, there's a lot of year left ... but I'm feeling hopeful that I can keep it up.

This week was another full one. We watched the Winter Olympics begin in Vancouver, had yummy desserts, watched Izzy dance like a rock star, celebrated the end of cutover at jetBlue, had a fun shopping day out on the town with my oldest while she finished up her 3 week grounding, drove through spooky-ooky fog soup and most importantly found my long lost wedding ring!

Lost and Found

This is horrible to publicly admit, but I have lost my wedding ring more times than I can count. Usually it turns up in a day or so at the bottom of the washing machine or in a pocket of my purse. It's not my fault, I promise. The design is just so open and intricate that I take it off a lot to keep from getting lotion and goop stuck in it. I swear I only take it off to protect it. The problem is that I get sidetracked all too often and will forget to put it back on right away and then lose track of it.

Last night I'd had enough. I just had this feeling it had to be in my closet somewhere. I pulled all my shoes off the floor tipping them upside down and shaking them like a crazy person. It had to be there. Somewhere. Then I pulled out my shoe cubby thinking maybe it had fallen out of a pair of pants and behind the wood cabinet. Nope. Going against what all my common sense was telling me I started pulling the shoes out of the cabinet to look in each cubby. (stupid me, I started at the top for no reason) It wasn't until I got to the 10th compartment that I saw it ... back in the dark corner, shivering and afraid. We smiled at each other and both breathed a sigh of relief.I just don't understand how it ended up there of all places. In my closet. In my shoe cubby. Way the heck behind a pair of wooden sandals I haven't worn in over a year because they make me sound like a horse clomping around. How do you explain that one? Leprechauns? Evil house elf? Whatever it was it couldn't keep us apart. I was so glad we found each other. I immediately burst into tears and said a long prayer of thanks. We enjoyed the evening together and had a great day getting reacquainted. Isn't she lovely? I love her white gold goodness. She's my perfect jewelry match!

Drumroll Please!

Today is the day! The One World One Heart Magic Carpet Ride has come to an end. I've visited hundreds of new blogs in the last few weeks and it has been great to 'meet' so many new people from so many different places. It has been quite the ride and now comes the best part for me. I get to announce my lucky winner!!! To be fair I entered the number of entries I received at random.org and let their random number generator do the picking for me.So, without further ado ... the lucky winner is .... Abigail from Rusted Wings Studio in Whitefish, Montana!!! Congratulations, my friend. This lovely package will be coming your way shortly. I hope you will truly enjoy it.(I am hoping that Abigail will indulge me and let me post her beautiful picture and her own artwork in a future post for you shortly)

Week in Review 2/11/10

Another busy but beautiful week filled with all kinds of family and all kinds of fun. We had a baby shower, talent show, the family 'Love Dinner', a zesty orange popsicle mask, hubby's parents' 52nd anniversary with 52 fun gifts for them to open ... our anniversary and a very silly night out with the kids, jetBlue's 10th anniversary with hundreds of cancelled flights, a fun craft show and lots and lots of overtime hours with more commuting. I'm beat and can't wait for some down time. When is it that I have that scheduled in? Someone make a note on the calendar please.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

This was the happiest day of my life. I know it sounds corny, but it is absolutely true. I'd been looking for this guy for WAY too long! What in the heck took him so long to find me? I love him so much. This is a day our whole family celebrates, since that's the day we became a 'whole family'.

Week in Review 2/4/10

I really mean to post these every Friday, but that just hasn't been happening. At least I have the pictures. I haven't missed a week in review yet ... so this is going a lot better than my commitment to the gym. ;)It was a great week. We had the Raingutter Regata, a baby shower for our neighbor, driving time with Izzy, shopping time with #2, mixed in with practicing for the talent show tomorrow and getting the older kids ready for school registration next year. This week's off to a great start too. Can't wait to post the pictures.

Raspberry Chipotle Pork Medallions

This is way overdue, but here as promised. I hope you like them as much as I did.

Sauce:
1/2 C chicken broth
1/2 C low-sugar raspberry fruit spread
2 T white balsamic vinegar
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 large chipotle pepper seeded and chopped

2 lbs lean cut pork chops
2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 T olive oil

1. Place all sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix well. Set aside.

2. Rinse pork chops with cool water, pat dry with paper towels. Use the palm of your hand or a meat mallet to flatten each piece to 1/2-inch thickness. Combine remaining ingredients and rub into both sides of each pork chop.

3. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil into a large nonstick skillet and preheat over medium-high heat. Add the chops and cook a couple of minutes on each side or until nicely browned and no longer pink inside. Remove the meat from teh skillet and set aside to rest. Cover to keep warm.

4. Pour the sauce into the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes, or until sauce is reduced by almost half and is syrupy.

5. To serve, place your beautiful piece of pork-licious on a serving plate. Drizzle each serving with some of the sauce.This is adapted from a lovely recipe found in Secrets of Good-Carb/Low-Carb Living by Sandra L. Woodruff.

The Urban Baby Blanket Revisited

I was due for a good crafty project and this fit the bill perfectly. I love making baby blankets! I can't help it. Just strolling through the fabric store, there are so many great prints and textures that would make gorgeous blankets that make a statement. Now, don't get me wrong, I love sweet little prints and polka dots just as much as the next crafty mama ... but I like to do things my own way. This time I found a nice big floral print and paired it with a lightweight denim. I cut flowers from the extra fabric and appliqued the 'stack' to dress up the plain denim. Gorgeous! I love shaking it up a little, don't you?

Music Inspiration ... Butterfly Boucher

I have to admit with all the ups and downs in the last week and a half, I can't help but feel a little down. This song is exactly how I'm feeling. Thanks Butterfly.

Week in Review 1/28/10

Wow! I'm spending way too much time at jetBlue these days and more time than ever in my car commuting. Can you tell? So far the whole cutover process has gone smoothly. There are a couple hiccups in the system which was to be expected, but it's been great to have different duties in the meantime. It's hugely refreshing to take calls from crew members instead of customers for a change. It was about time to shake things up.So, lots of work. Lots of driving. A quiet, tear-filled dinner, just me and my oldest girl, to give her the space to clear the air with me and earn back a little trust. A quick trip to the vet for Izzy's last set of shots. A yummy dinner out with the whole family and a homemade pot roast somewhere in the middle.