My Christmas Wish List

I usually have no idea what I want for Christmas. But, this year I handed Josh a list, even though he has done GREAT every other year, without one! Here is what I've asked for so far....

1. Black and Decker Scumbuster
2. Day planner
3. Deceptively Delicious cookbook
4. Real Simple magazine subscription
5. Coffee maker w/ thermal caraffe...ours is a hotel-sized 4-cup coffee maker that drips every time you remove the pot and scorches the remaining coffee...yuck!
6. Yankee candle
7. Clothes
8. Bath and Body Works Jasmine Vanilla lotion

I can justify my selfishness with the fact that "I'm just trying to make our house run more smoothly!" These are all the things a housewife needs...right?!?

Happy Thanksgiving!

100 People and Things I'm Thankful For: (not in particular order)
1. Josh
2. Mom
3. Dad
4. Joe
5.Matt
6.Mandy
7.Vivian
8.Grandma
9.Gran
10.Pam
11.Gene
12.Reece
13.MawMaw
14.PawPaw
15.Aunt Laura
16.Uncle Philip
17.Aunt Susan
18.Aunt Mary Fern
19.Cousins
20. 2nd cousins
21. House
22. Job
23. Food
24. Clothing
25. Faith
26. Church family
27. Education
28. Marriage
29. Grace
30. Children
31. Opportunity
32. Technology
33. Car
34. All extended family
35. Chocolate
36. Mexican Food
37. Target
38. The adventures of this year
39. Life's lessons
40. Running water
41. Air Conditioning
42. Heat
43. Electricity
44. Comfy bed
45. A husband who loves me
46. Having a husband to love
47. Happy childhood
48. Big brothers to protect me
49. A dad who sill heats up my car on a cold night (thanks, Dad)
50. A mom who is my best girl friend
51. Music
52. A musically and artistically talented family
53. Seeing my big brothers on Thanksgiving
54. A healthy and beautifu new addition to the family
55. Friends
56. Friends who are in the same phase of life
57. Morning television shows
58. Inlaws who accept you into their family
59. A husband who is so thoughtful and nurturing
60. Health
61. Clean laundry
62. Clean dishes
63. Clean house
64. Family gatherings at my house
65. Hosting friends at my house
66. Teaching
67. Babies
68. Friends/family who allow me to keep their babies weekly
69. Traveling
70. Dates
71. Holidays
72. Christmas music...coming soon:)
73. Turkey
74. Dressing
75. Mashed Potatoes
76. The dessert table!
77. Green Bean Casserole
78. Women in my family and Josh's that are great cooks!!
79. Clean sheets on the bed
80. Bubble baths
81. Christmas decorations
82. Birthdays
83. Blogs
84. Blog-stalking
85. Clearance racks
86. Fritos w/ onion dip
87. Christmas stockings
88. Cold nights
89. with hot chocolate or coffee
90. Makeup
91. Winter coats
92. Hair products
93. Warm feet
94. Hugs
95. Kisses
96. Movies
97. Eating out, on occasion
98. A fun and crazy family
99. Snow....when I don't have to leave the house
100. My whole life

She's Here!!!

Vivian Mae Stansberry:

Happy Birthday Vivian, Mom and Josh!!

Aunt Aubrey and Viv:

My beautiful new niece (my one and only) arrived today and I'm SO in love with her!! She is absolutely precious! She decided to come the day before her schduled C-section to be born on the same day as Josh and my mom, pround new "Nan-Nan". She was born at 4:22pm, weighing 8lbs 6oz and 20"long. She has darling chubby cheeks and a headful of dark black curly hair!! She is gorgeous!! I'm so happy she's here! Happy birthday to Vivian, Josh and Mom!!! Congrats, Matt and Mandy!!!

hahah

I just noticed my profile says that I'm from Afghanistan...that's hilarious! I guess I ought to change that:)

Happy Birthday!!!

Today my precious husband turns 26!!! Woohoo!! Have a very happy birthday, Joshy!!! You are AMAZING!!!

Happy b-day to my mom, too! She'll turn 50 today!!

I love you both!!

A few new faves

I have a few new (and a few old) favorites that I've encountered lately:



-Starbuck's peppermint mochas...THE best!



-Coffeemate's Peppermint Mocha creamer (because let's face it, I can't afford Starbuck's everyday!)



-Tresseme hair products....especially the hair spray, straightening gel and root boost: they smell great, are cheap, and work well, too!



-Suave shampoo (Clarifying) and conditioner (Refreshing Waterfall Mist)...remember, I'm frugal!



-Restoration Hardware's Sheet Spray in Fresh....at least I can pretend that I just washed my sheets.



-Neutrogena's 3-in-1 Concealer for Eyes: This actually helps my eyeliner glide on much more smoothly.



-My long time favorite: Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Makeup in Classic Porcelain...Yes, I'm THAT white!!!



-The White Barn Candle Co. Concentrated Fragrance Spray for Home (at Bath and Body Works) in Creamy Nutmeg, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin or Spiced Cider. I just counted and I have at least 7 or 8 of these in my house. They are GREAT!! They actually smell more like candles than cheap room fragrance! And, you can beat it at $5. It lasts forever! I used ot use Kitchen Spice in my classroom and loved it! It is much better than the smell of sweaty children after recess!



I'm sure I'll think of more favorites later. Now I'm off to bake and freeze some banana bread with my overly-ripe bananas for this weekend.

Cranana Bread part II

The Cranana Bread was really good! I had another slice for breakfast this morning. I changed a few things, not much. I will say the cranberries are very tart, so you may wish to slice them and mix them with sugar, first. I actually liked them tart.

Cranana Bread (recipe from Wilson's Farm, Lexington, MA)
-1/2 stick butter, softened
-1 c. sugar
-2 eggs
-2 small bananas, sliced (I mashed mine...I don't like chunks of banana)
-1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
-1/4 c. water
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-1 3/4 c. flour (I used 1 c. white and 3/4 c. whole wheat)
-1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/4 tsp. cinnamon
-you could probably add walnuts to this, too

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan(s) (I used 3 mini loaf pans)

Cream butter and sugar together. Add in eggs, one by one, mixing well between each addition. Add in bananas, cranberries, water and vanilla. Mix until blended

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to batter and mix until combined...do not overmix.

Pour batter into pan(s) and bake one large pan for about 55 minutes or 3 small loaf pans for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let rest 10 minutes, run a knife around edges to loosen and turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Cranana Bread!

Well, I'm currently waiting for some Cranberry Banana Bread or as I like to call it, "Cranana Bread", to come out of the oven. I found a recipe for it, because I had cranberries and bananas that I needed to use. If it's good, I'll post the recipe:) I will say that it smells really good! It may be a weird combination. Who knows!

Oh, it gets worse!

Okay, so I felt bad about the cell phone. Thanks to Josh, it is now taken care of! I got a cute red one WITH a leather protective case AND insurance! Hopefully that will help! Also, my teacher retirement check came in the mail today, too, which helped with the guilt factor.

But.....I feel guilty today again. Much MORE guilty than yesterday. Why? Because I bit a beautiful and precious 4 month old's finger:( While babysitting today, I was playing on the floor with the baby and talking to her and was in her face talking and smiling and she stuck her finger in my mouth, without me realizing, and I bit down while talking. Poor baby, she was VERY upset with me and it made me a little teary too, because I felt ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! Thankfully there were no marks, it wasn't red and it wasn't bleeding! I think if anything I scared her terribly, because I gasped when I realized what happened and I freaked out!

Sorry, baby Aidan!!!!! I promise not to bite you again!!

So, if anyone is looking for a babysitter, you know who to call! I bite...FREE OF CHARGE!!!

Feeling Guilty

So, I am horrible at taking care of my cell phone. I try. I really do. But, it seems that at least once a week I drop my cell phone and of course it's always on the concrete in a parking lot or on tile floor in a store. Needless to say, my phone is cracked and not so cute. But my phone has still worked....until now. Tonight my phone gave up it's struggle to survive. I can still make a phone call. But, it has absolutely zero display. So, it's impossible to see what I'm actually dialing. You just never know if you're in some other mode or setting or in a different menu. For all I know I could be texting someone in China.

So, I have to buy a new cell phone and I'm feeling guilty. I'm so used to getting cell phones for free every 2 years or so that I had no idea that they were $130+. Maybe this time I'll get a protective case for it. I'd like to say that I'll quit dropping it. But, I can't be so sure.

R.I.P ugly Motorola phone!

Pressed Shirts and HO, HO, HO

Today was a very satisfying day! I got everything on my "to-do" list completed!!!! That is a very rare occasion, considering I've had ironing on my list for at least 2 months (yes, I hate ironing)! I got laundry, dishes, ironing AND Christmas shopping done!!! I have very little left to do! I had a lot of fun getting Josh and the rest of our family shopped for. My goal this year has been to have all of my shopping done before Thanksgiving and before the holiday rush. I'm proud to say that I have accomplished that! Sadly, I have a new set of "to-dos" to make! I better get to that right now!

You've got to be kidding....

So I thought I had a new favorite product. But, it only made my "favorites list" for one day. I tried the Neutrogena anti-wrinkle/anti-blemish cream, hoping that maybe I could be proactive and clear up my face all at once. However, it made it WORSE!!!! Not only am I actually noticing smile lines now, I also am having MAJOR breakouts!!! Not so cute! So, I sit here with a mask on my face, hoping to get rid of the mountains on my face! I'm hoping that this is just one of those "it gets worse before it gets better" creams, or it's a complete waste of money! Meanwhile, I'm on the search for a cheap ($10 or less) anti-blemish cream type thing. We shall see! Maybe that's my problem...I'm a cheap-skate!!

Life is flying by....

Caution: This blog entry may bore you to death, but then again, this is my life, as boring as it may be!

We had a fun and busy weekend. Josh will be celebrating his 26th birthday on the 19th. So, everyday, starting November 1st, I have been surprising him with mini birthday gifts/activities. Yesterday I took him to Full Cup for breakfast. It was fun to sleep in a bit and get out for breakfast, do some shopping and go to the bookstore. We had a crazy week, so it was great to just enjoy the beautiful fall day. After that, I went home and baked 4 dozen cupcakes for a baby shower and got things (decor, dishes, etc) ready for that. We caught an early movie and then went for dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise! It was very yummy! We ran to Jessica's after that to drop off all of the shower food, decor, chairs, etc. and got that all set up. Back at home, I made a chocolate silk pie for Sunday night, while watching SNL. It was a full day, but a great day, because I actually got some time with Josh!

This morning we were up on time and were going to be early to church, but then my blow dryer decided to go out. So, Josh ran to Walgreens and bought me a new blow dryer and luckily we did make it on time to church. We almost thought we would have to skip...heaven forbid me go to church with wet hair! We were the monitors for "toddle time" during second service and it was fun. The 2 year olds are so cute!! They were very calm and quiet. I was actually quite surprised! We grabbed a 20 minute lunch after church with John and Jessica and then headed to Jessica's to get ready for the shower. The shower turned out really cute and was fun! After that I came home, changed clothes and went to small group. Now I'm finally home and blogging and relaxing.

I will say that time really is flying by! To think that we're already on the 4th day of November is crazy!!!

Steamy Success!

I was at Target yesterday and randomly decided to buy some of the new Ziploc Zip N' Steam bags. I didn't actually know what I'd use them for or when, but they sounded fun.

I tried them out for dinner tonight and I made steamed chicken, steamed vegetables, along with salad and grapes and the whole very healthy dinner only took 15 minutes tops to make! It was actually really good, too! I was a little iffy on the whole idea of steamed chicken at first, but it tasted like baked chicken and was much simpler. As an added bonus, no dirty dishes!!! They offer different sizes of bags, so you could even make dinner for one easily!

For the chicken I placed a very large frozen boneless skinless chicken breast (big enough to split) in the steam bag with EVOO, kosher salt, ground black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. I microwaved it for 7 minutes and it was done...perfectly!

As for the veggies, I put frozen broccoli and carrots along with seasoned salt in the steam bag and microwaved it for 3 minutes and they were done perfectly, too!

I may never use a pot or pan again:)