30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 4

Okay, so technically I'm writing this in the early morning of day 5, but that's because I had a fun filled day 4.

Today I am thankful for my mom and her generous heart. We spent a fabulous day together visiting, shopping for Christmas decor and topping off our day with dinner.

I will admit that like any mother and daughter sometimes we don't see eye to eye and I'm sure there are times we grate the others last nerve, but then we spend a wonderful time together and it makes me realize how much I love my mom and need her in my life.

We had so much fun shopping for Christmas stuff at the Decor Store and Home Goods. Picking out gifts for our upcoming ornament exchange and things for our homes. Mom generously bought me a couple of things I normally would have not purchased myself. I can't wait until Christmas to display them.

My mom truly has a heart of gold when it comes to her family. She is one of the most unselfish people I know. How lucky am I to call her my mom?

I love you mom!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 3

I started out posting these on my Facebook, but have decide to post them here from now on. I did a similar blog challenge a few years back and it really made me think about and count my blessings. November just seems the perfect month to take the time and reflection on them again this year.

Today I am thankful for precious time spent with my husband's grandma. We are very close and I don't just think of her as just an in-law. When I came into my husband's life 12 years ago Grandma Rosie became my grandma too.

I have always felt comfortable and welcome in her home. Some of my favorite times together are evenings spent just the two of us enjoying dinner and visiting as we watch TV together, like we have done tonight.

Unfortunately due to difficult and personal circumstances I no longer have a close relationship with my only living biological grandmother, so it is comforting to know I have Grandma Rosie in my life to share her wisdom, advice and share her lifetime of knowledge with me.

God not only blessed me with a wonderful husband he also fulfilled my desire that the person who became my husband also have a wonderful, loving family who would love and accept me. Grandma Rosie is just one of those special in-laws and I am so lucky to have her in my life.

Paper Crafting: Lil' Paper Pumpkins

I absolutely love Autumn.  It is without a doubt my favorite season.  I love everything about this time of the year: the sites; the sounds; the smells; the changing colors of the leaves on the trees; the fact that we are approaching the Christmas season, my other favorite time of year.  It seems like I awaken and become more energetic as cooler, crisp Autumn days approach.  Since August I have been pinning for cooler weather and the chance to have an excuse to put out some of my Autumn decorations.

This week I met with my little group of handmade card making friends for our monthly get-together.  Each month we have a theme and we each present and teach the others in the group how to make a card in that theme.  This month our theme was Fall or Holiday and we could make either a card or a little project that would take the same amount of time as a card.  Sometimes I am bad about waiting until the last minute to decide what I'm going to make and present to my group.  This month was no different, but I knew I had the desire to present something other than a card.  The night before card group I found myself search Google and Pinterest for project ideas.

NOTE: If you haven't heard of Pinterest check it out!  It's the most amazing little website filled with all kinds of cool, unique and beautiful things found on the Internet.  Basically you create your own virtual pin boards where you can pin the photos and links to all the cool ideas, awesome products, fabulous crafts, or delicious recipes you find on the big ol' web and keep them all easily in one place, plus you can  peak in on other people, follow them, and repin their great finds onto your boards.  Seriously, you will fall in love!

Anyway, back to my point.  In searching for ideas I came across this fabulous blog, Stamp-n-Design with Lynn Pratt and I came across the tutorial for these cute lil paper pumpkins.   They looked quick and easy to make and they are super cute so I decided to whip those up for my cardmaking group project.  In making mine i did end up using a few less strips of paper.  I chose to use 12 strips rather than the 16 that Lynn's tutorial suggested.  I tried it with the 16 first and it was just a bit too difficult for me to get my chubby little fingers between the layers to separate all of them.  I also decided to alter my paper design between a pattern and a solid and I added a Stampin' Up scallop circle to the top to hide the strips before tying the ribbon off.   Then I finished off by adhering two "leaves" punched from my Stampin' Up Blossom Petals Builder punch.

I absolutely loved how easy these were to make, and I can just imagine the possibilities using different patterns of paper and different lengths of paper.

I used mine as part of my Autumn mantel decor.  What do you think?

What season inspires you?  What do you love most about Autumn?  I would love to hear from you.

Crispy Butterscotch Snack Mix

For those who don't know me well, I am a crafter and a scrapbooker.  I've been an active member of an online scrapbooking message board for several years.  Once or twice a year I either organize or attend scrapbook retreat weekends with some of the ladies from this group.  This past weekend I attended a retreat organized by one of the other members from the board.  I had a great time meeting a couple of new ladies, visiting with some fellow scrapbookers whom I have met and become friends with over the years and I also had the chance to meet in person for the first time our hostess, a scrapbook friend whom I have known for many years, but never had the chance to connect with face to face.  We had a fabulous weekend together socializing, scrapping, and snacking.

I haven't met a scrapper yet who doesn't like to snack while she scraps, and I wanted to make something special to share with my fellow scrapping friends.  I came up with this recipe.  It was a big hit with the girls at the retreat this past weekend.  From what I was told by my husband the leftovers were a big hit with his co-workers today, so I decided that this was an original recipe of mine that was worth writing down for future use and sharing with you, my blog readers.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it and sharing it with friends.  Trust me when I say that you will want to share this snack mix with friends.  Not only does it make a lot, but it is also so tasty that I think it could easily become an addiction.

Crispy Butterscotch Snack Mix

Ingredients

1 17.9 oz box of Kellogg’s Crispix cereal

½ lb butter-toffee covered peanuts

1-½ 16 oz bags of mini pretzel twists

2 c plain M & M candies

1 12 oz bag of milk chocolate chips

1 12 oz bag of butterscotch chips

Directions

Line two large cookie sheets with silicone baking mats, or line them with parchment baking paper and then coat well with not stick cooking spray.  Set aside.  In a large bowl mix together Crispix cereal, butter-toffee covered peanuts, mini pretzel twists and plain M & M candies.  In a microwave heat milk chocolate chips in a microwave safe glass container for 30 seconds and then stir well.  Keep heating the chocolate in 10-second increments, checking the chocolate and stirring each time until it is thoroughly melted.  Pour the melted chocolate over the cereal mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until the mixture is well coated in chocolate.  Spread the mixture out into a thin layer on the lined baking sheets.  In a second microwave safe glass bowl heat the butterscotch chips for 30 seconds and then stir well.  Keep heating the butterscotch chips in 10-second increments, checking the butterscotch chips and stirring each time until the butterscotch is thoroughly melted.  Using a metal spoon or a spatula drizzle the melted butterscotch over the cereal mixture in a quick back and forth fashion until the cereal is well coated with the butterscotch, but some mixture is still showing through just a bit.  Loosely cover the cookie sheets with foil or plastic and refrigerate until the chocolate and butterscotch is set, approximately ½ hour.  Remove the mixture from the refrigerator, break in to smaller pieces and serve.

When the holidays come around I am always trying to think of thoughtful, cute and inexpensive gift giving ideas.  The Crispy Butterscotch Snack Mix would make a tasty gift and there are so many cute ways you could present it.

Here are a few ideas:

Place some in a cellophane bag and tie with a cute ribbon, add a gift tag and you will have a great, yet easy to make gift for your favorite ghost or goblin.

For the holidays you could fill canning jars with Crispy Butterscotch Snack Mix and then top them with a circle of cute holiday print material, wrap a ribbon around the neck of the jar and give them as gifts to your children’s teachers or your neighbors.

As a Christmas gift for friends or co-workers - save and clean your Starbucks frappuccino bottles or canning jars.  Decorate and fill each bottle or jar with the butter-toffee covered peanuts, M & M candies, milk chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips.  Place the bottles or jars in a basket with a smaller box of Kellogg’s Crispix cereal and 1 bag of mini pretzel twists, wrap in cellophane and attach the recipe and instructions for a “do-it yourself” snack mix kit.

Shared on: 

 

 

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

My 10th Anniversary Tribute to 9-11 - A Thank You to My Loved Ones in Public Service

The overcast skies of this afternoon are so poignant when I think of how I was feeling 10 years ago today.  I remember waking up to my radio alarm clock to hear the news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center.  I was just a little over a month away from being married and still living at home.  I ran in to my parent’s bedroom to wake up my mom to tell her the news.  Still groggy, she flipped on the TV in her bedroom as I went on to get dressed for work.  At the time I was working as a secretary in the fire department division for a local city’s emergency services agency.  Mom saw the second plane crash live on the morning news and ran in to where I was to tell me about it.  I remember having this overwhelming feeling of wanting to stay home close to my family, but also knowing that because of the line of work I was in, being at work was a place where I knew I would get the most up to date information on everything that was going on.

That day at work was surreal and so bizarre.  There was not a place in the building that you could go that every available TV was not on monitoring the news and turned up loud.  The instant buzzing of officials and bosses through the building that day and the sudden changes in building security that day and in the weeks to come was amazing.  In a matter of hours our building was locked down from the public and new security measures were in place or being planned.  By day two we were having security cameras installed everywhere around the building and new measures for keeping us safe and secure were in place.  I still can’t believe how fast we went from what we once accepted as normal to another whole new normal.

However, what I remember most from that day and the days to come afterward was how it felt to be American.  How for the first time in my lifetime we, as a country, all came together as one.  It didn’t matter our age, what we did as a job, our race or religion, what part of the country we were from, or what political party for which we belonged.  We were all just Americans, just humans, caring and grieving for our fellow humans. 

Even though I was on the other side of the country, so far from this tragedy, I grieved for those lives lost and I hurt for the families who lost loved ones.  I felt pride for the fire fighters, paramedics, law enforcement officers, and other emergency services personnel who rushed to New York City, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon to do what they could to help. 

I felt pride and still feel pride daily for being a part of a public safety and military family.  So today, on this 10 year anniversary, I would like to thank my own family and close friends for their service to our country, both those who currently work and serve our community and those who have served us in the past:

• My husband Greg, for his service as an emergency services dispatcher

• My brother-in-law, Scott, a fire chief for a local town

• My be brother-in-law, Chris, a volunteer fire captain for a local department and an EMT/Paramedic

• My father, Vincent, now retired, for his years of volunteer service as a fire captain for a local department, which included being severely burned fighting a fire once and surviving it

• My father-in-law, Bob, a Navy veteran, for his years of service to our country

• My grandfather-in-law, Jim, now deceased, for his years of service in the Army

• My grandfather, Tom, now deceased, for his years of service in the Navy

• Our close friend, Steve, for his service as a law enforcement officer and detective

• Every other family member I may be forgetting, every acquaintance, and for every other man and woman who is currently working in emergency services or serving in the United States military, or who has in the past worked in emergency services and served our military

I want to personally say thank you all for your service to our country!  It is very much appreciated!