Sunday, January 18, 2009

Project 365 Day 13















{I took this photo on Tuesday, but didn't upload.}This is my boy, mischevious Sam. Sometimes he is serious Sam, sometimes he is Samwise.. but today, he is mischevious. He got a haircut and a shave without me nagging him!!! The boy is growing up before my very eyes!!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Project 365 Day 12

This pattern is called "Weaver Fever". I worked on this quilt for quite a while during the time when my dad was sick. My mom ended up finishing it for me. Today I packed it up and sent it to my brother Ross and his wife. It will make a beautiful snuggle blanket while they are watching movies and staying warm this winter!
Today mom flies home from Tucson! Hope the weather cooperates for her and Vance, as he is going to pick her up at the airport. Guess they were having 40 mph winds and blowing snow, so Vance's boss told him he didn't need to come to work today.
Last night we had freezing rain here. The roads were good by 10 this morning, tho!
Enough rambling!
The quote for today is: A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.
Mark Twain

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Project 365 Day 11


This is a Baileys Trifle! Easy to make and delicious!
First bake a 13X9 pan of brownies. Poke holes in the top with a toothpick. Pour a cup of Baileys Irish Cream over the top. Let it soak in. Cool. Cut into 1X1 inch squares. While that's cooling, take 3 small boxes of chocolate instant pudding mix and whip up! You'll also need a large container of cool whip and a package of Heath crumbles.
When the brownies are cool, layer 1/2 the pan in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Spoon on 1/2 the chocolate pudding, sprinkle on a light layer of Heath bits, and a layer of cool whip. Repeat with the rest of the brownie pieces, pudding, Heath bits and cool whip. I used a few Heath pieces for garnish. Some of that pretty chocolate that you can make curls with would be so pretty!
So, I am on a diet, and my photo is all about food again today. Just so I was fair to myself, I did not eat breakfast or lunch today. I only had a small portion of my Mexican stew, 1 tortilla, and 1 scoop of beans. (with cheese on 'em!) And I had a big whopping scoop of desert! I invited our friends from down the street and our neighbors over for dinner. I think they were surprised that I could cook! I never have adult guests over, except holidays!! Maybe I'll start something new! It was fun!
This photo I added a little light to it and did the auto contrast and auto levels. Otherwise it's straight out of the camera.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Day 10


I wish you could smell my house!! All day I've been drooling!! I roasted 2 garlic and onion marinated pork tenderloins from Costco. When they were done I cut them up (sliced) and tossed in a bunch of cilantro (chopped) 2 onions cut in strips, 2 green peppers, 1 yellow pepper, 1 orange pepper, and 1 red pepper all cut in strips. I poured in 2 16 oz jars of La Victoria Salsa Ranchera Hot, 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, and a can of petite diced tomatoes. I slow cooked this mixture for about 3 hours in my cast aluminum roaster. I use the crock pot sometimes, but it takes a little longer. The mixture stays a little juicier in the crock pot. Since I used 2 large pork tenderloins, this is taking a little longer to cook. So tomorrow I will serve it with re fried beans and tortillas. I love to dip my rolled up tortilla in the beans. {I like melted cheese on my beans, but, since I'm trying to watch what I eat, I'll try to do without. This is pretty spicy. You can make it using medium salsa, or mild, depending on your taste buds. I don't have a name for it. I just call it my Mexican Stew.
I think I'll invite friends over to help eat this tomorrow, and I may have enough to freeze a little. This has got to be one of our very favorite meals!! Maybe I'll make a Baileys trifle for desert!! Eat your heart out Ree!! Actually, Ree is my hero, and I know I will never come close to her awesome writing skills, or cooking skills!!
Check out her fabulous blog!! It's the Best!! http://thepioneerwoman.com/
P.S. This shot is SOOTC. No tweaking!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Quote of the Day

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Charlotte Bronte

Day 9

I missed yesterday so I posted two photos for today. Does that count??
This was my lunch at Red Lobster today. I knew I should have written the name of it down, I think they call it the Admirals feast. And feast it was. {Shot my diet all to be damn} I did give the healthy piece of fish away!! I had the ceasar salad. Yummy! The shrimp scampi was some of the better scampi I've had at Red Lobster. The breaded shrimp was good!! No mushy dough!! {I hate it when that happens!} The baked potato was done just right! I do love my potatoes! Sometimes they don't get baked, but this one was just right!! We had a coupon from last Sundays paper inserts that gave us $3.00 off 2 lunches, so that was a really nice bonus!! We had great service. So sorry I don't remember our servers name. Jamie, our favorite, was not working this shift. Anyway, bottom line... I give this meal 4 3/4 stars and our service gets 5 stars! {Out of possible 5 stars}.
The top photo has been enhanced some. I used the Diffuse Glow, (My all time favorite filter) and contrast auto fix and levels auto fix. There is not a whole lot of difference from the SOOTC {Straight out of the camera} photo.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Project 365 Day 7



I got a nice little surprize today when I came home for lunch. A belated Christmas present from my friend Carol. Isn't it gorgeous!! A pink turquoise neclace. I didn't even know there was such a thing as pink turquoise!! I love it!! I also got a pair of felted wool slippers, which I am wearing right now and a ND High School Rodeo Association National Finals Team calendar! It's amazing how much like their parents some of these kids look!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

6a


Okay. Here's the picture I took. It doesn't look near as bad in black and white as it did in color! Notice I left the colored photo underneath and used the transparency brush just on our eyes. Just a little dab of color. Now if I could just learn Photoshop!

Day 6


I gave my darling daughter a guest spot on my Project 365 today. I tried to take a picture of us with my little Panasonic Lumix and all I got were eyeballs and noses. She is a black belt in self/friends portraits!
I look so much younger in black and white and I added a little diffuse glow to soften and even out my complexion. I look like a porcelain doll. Oh wait, that's my daughter!!
Can you tell I had a rough day at work. I must have left all my good sense there!
Thanks for lookin'!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Savannah and Friends


I'm on a roll!! Here's another photo for the day!!
Here's my first Scrapbook page for the year. I like how it turned out. Do you suppose that's a good sign that I'll have Mojo in 2009??

Project 365 Day 5



On the way home from Billings today the fields were just thick with Geese. We called them Honkers when we were kids, because of the noise they make. I had to stop and take a picture!

It was late in the afternoon and I love the pastel sky. This picture came out a little dark, so I played with the brightness and contrast. Then I lost the pink in the sky, so I played with the tint a little and added the pink back in.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Day 4



It's been so cold, the birds are coming to our cats food and water bowls to eat and drink. That is brave!! There is no way they could know that our cat Smokey only has 3 legs and Bandit is a scaredy cat! (and both our cats are lazy and well fed.) There is no way these birds could know this, right?? Now that I see this photo, I see I should have backed up a bit to show the whole picture! There are probobly 40-50 bird tracks on my deck!! TTFN!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Where the Hell is Matt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

You gotta watch this You Tube Video clip. It's called "Where the Hell is Matt?"
I wanna do this!!! :)

PROJECT 365 Day 3



Today is Saturday, January 3rd, 2009. I took down my Christmas tree today. We had the prettiest tree this year. It was real!! And full!! And tall! {Kinda like me!! LOL!}

I really enjoy my eclectic ornament collection. This is my favorite. My oldest son Matt made it for me {With the help of his Sunday School teacher} when he was just a little shaver!

Even though I am at that age where the memory is slipping a little, I remember who gave me almost every ornament. {Or if I bought it, I remember where I bought it.} This year my friend Chrsti gave me a pretty Montana Silver ornament. I love how it catches the light. A few years back, my friend Carol gave me a candy cane shaped Montana Silver ornament. I think of her every year when I hang it on my tree. Last year my friend Margo gave me a super cute ornament. It has a cap, scarf and a pair of ice skates hanging on it. It reminds me of when I was a young {age 8,9 maybe 10?} girl. I got a pair of "already broken in" ice skates for Christmas. Mom and Dad had them polished up and looking good! We went to the creek under the railroad bridge many, many days that winter. I remember being so excited when I did the "single axel". I think that's what it's called in "Olympics" terminology. When I jumped in the air and spun around, came down and didn't land on my fanny, I thought I was ready for the Olympics!! A very exciting day indeed!

Friday, January 2, 2009



My Darling Grandson Asher broke his arm. The Dr gave him a Barney sling to wear as it's broken too high up to cast it, from what I understand. Poor little guy. Let's hope it heals fast, 'cause he does not know the meaning of "settle down" or "take it easy"!

We went to Billings today and we had to brave the snow and wind on the way home!! Another little blizzard. We haven't had cold and snow like this for a long time!

Happy Winter!!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

PROJECT 365

January 1, 2009

Wow! I am going to have to get used to writing 2009! Remember when it was 1999 and everyone was worried that the computers would all crash come 2000!

Here's my first photo for my 365 photo project. It is not pretty or happy. My son Sam rolled his pickup on icy highways Tue Dec 30th, 2008. He is safe which is the most important thing. This is the end of an era. My boys used this cute little pickup from the time they got their drivers licenses. I think we bought it in January of 2002.

Happy New Year!!