Wednesday, August 31, 2011

"This just doesn't seem to be my day"

  Yep, a lot of things have gone wrong for me today.. First I made awful breakfast bars for breakfast... Then I relized that I had forgotten to set the beans to soak for lunch. Then also, I went to the store and bought the wrong things and forgot to get some other things, came home and started to make some hamburger buns for lunch tomorrow, also some jello salad for supper, made a mess of the salad and splattered it on myself and then when I was washing all the dishes, I sloshed a fair amount of dish water all over the sink and floor.... Gosh. Then I started another kind of bread and after mixing the first part of it, I realized that it had to rise three times... and I won't be finished with it til about 8 or 9 pm.... I wonder what else I'll mess up today....
I am also feeling a bit lonely today... most of my friends (who are younger than me) can drive and I can't yet. and I have some married friends (also younger), AND Kieran is getting married (she's older), but I just feel a little left out..... I know that they sound like (and probably are) small things, but that's just how I feel right now...


Yesterday wasn't too bad... I got to go to Graham with Daddy. On the way we drove under a huge smoke cloud, there is a fire near there, it was the weirdest things I have ever seen. The sun was RED through the cloud. The lighting was very eerie too..... I played secretary at the church and helped file music. That was fun, got to use a really cool number stamp thing. I think I'd like to do something like more often. Maybe I could get a job in that line... Daddy took me out to supper, we ate at a place called The Steele Grill. I had a very good hamburger and homemade potato chips. The Daddy took me to a place called Neri's and we ate chocolate pecan pie. After that we took a quick walk around the square to burn off all those calories :) then we drove home. That was a fun time, I had like a "Daddy Date".

I really need to get a job, because I added up most everything I'd like to get for my 'new' room and it is about $70.... golly, I hardly make any money now....

I watched The Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night" the other night. They sang some songs that I didn't even know they sang... It wasn't nearly as funny and The Monkees. My very favorite are of course still The Monkees, but I do like some of the Beatles early stuff.

Book- Still reading Hardy boys.

Craft- I think that this yarn is the coolest stuff http://www.yarnandstitcheryalcove.com/page/391446217 I would love to buy some of it and make myself either a poncho or a sweater. for a sweater I'd maybe use this pattern http://www.freevintagecrochet.com/free-sweater-pattern/spinnerin116/formal-time-sweater

Cooking- I'll just tell you the jello salad recipe. I got it from a very good friend, who is like my grandmother.
2 boxes of any flavor of jello (I used cherry, she uses lime)
1 can of pineapple chunks
1 container of cottage cheese
1-1 1/2 pecans opt.

Make jello according to package directions, substituting the pineapple juice for some of the cold water. Mix jello until coolish... add cottage cheese, and pineapple chunks, and pecans if using. Pour into either a lightly greased 9x13 casserole dish or a jello mold. Refrigerate until set. Enjoy!! I love this, so cool and refreshing on a hot summer night. I hope you like it.

Here is the song I used in my title today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m8w-Ij4BWo
And so concludes this week's post, a look into the life and adventure (sometimes misadventures) of Erin Smith.  Vaya con Dios
I also really LOVE this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nLPO-Dhe7s&feature=related
Wish some guy would sing this to me.....


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Not much today

How are you?
 Not much going on this post, just more wedding stuff....

I found a quit I really like, I hope to be able to buy it for my room soon. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes-and-Gardens-Four-Patch-Quilt/14914958
I am going to re-do my room in various shades of orange and green. Neat?

Anyway, it's one month til the wedding and 32 days until Anna moves in to Kk's old room. I am having fun redecorating mine and Anna's rooms. Have I already said that? If I have, sorry, but it IS fun. :)

Well, as for books I finished "The Open Gate" and it was wonderful!! I really enjoyed it. Very sweet and nice. I have also read two Hardy Boy books since last post. I love mysteries. Yes, I know Hardy Boys aren't the best mysteries in the world, but they are short, and right now, I don't have time for a really long and involved book.

Crafts-I made something like this today to put on a hat I finished. http://crochet.about.com/od/motifs/a/Multicolored_Flower.htm

Cooking/recipe- Here is a great, fast and easy pie crust recipe. (which I am going to use as soon as I finish this post)

Pie Crust.

Makes 3 crusts (singles)

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup ice cold water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening. Add water. Mix well. Divide in to 3 balls. Roll out and make in to pie or what have you. I like to roll out the crust and then spread butter on it, the sprinkle cinnamon sugar on it, roll it up jelly roll style the slice the roll, (like cinnamon rolls) then bake them at 350 for about 45-50 mins. Yummy!!

Kieran is leaving tomorrow to be in her friend, Hannah, 's wedding, and Daddy and I are going to take her to the airport. Then Daddy and I get to go to a huge Half Price Books!! Yay, I am going to look for the T-Tapp 15 min work out DVD and some Monkees CDs. :)

And now for a song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEh38KiLxAg&feature=related Hope you like it.

Vaya con Dios

~Erin

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Ideas

Hey!
   Our trip to San Antonio was fun, but tiring. The shower was very nice and Kieran got a lot of nice things. I fished her wedding present today. Yay, that makes me feel better. They were getting a bit annoying, as the wash cloths seemed to not get any bigger. ;)
 Also I am going to give them to her tomorrow at the shower the church ladies are giving her.
I know I said I'd post a picture of my shoes last week but I can't post a picture of my wedding shoes right now, as my brother has help me with that.... I don't really know how to download or get them where I want them. :)
  Got my business card the other day!! They are so neat looking. I am making up lots of hats too. I think I shall go to some different places in the next few days and pass out my cards.
Right now I have three projects going, and all hats. Two knitted ones and one crocheted.

  I am planning on redoing my room soon. After the wedding, Anna is going to move into Kieran's old room and I get my own!! SO I have been trying ideas out in my head and on paper. It's lots of fun. I think that being a interior decorator would be neat. But for now I'll do my room and Anna's.

  Could you please pray for my grandmother (not the one that lives with us my other grandmother.) She had a test done last week and it came back abnormal and she is kind of scared and upset. Could you also pray for me? I am looking for a job and would appreciate the prayers. I am praying that I get this job at a dinner near us.

Kieran and Richard found a house! It's a town house and looks very nice, I saw pictures of it.


Book- I finished the Mr. Parker Pyne book. It was very good. Now I am reading a book called "The Open Gate" by Kate Seredy. It's out of print, but Mama has a copy my aunt found for her. If you find it anywhere I suggest buying it. It's very sweet.

Crafts- This is so cool! http://moderndaymoms.com/make-it-yourself-monday-tp-wall-art/  hopefully I'll get one of these made for my room soon.

Recipe- These are going to get made to go with supper tonight!! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/skinny-fries/detail.aspx YUMM-O ;)

and now for a song. hmm... what was I going to share? I think I forgot..... ho hum... well this one is funny and I like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqpCye6vIto Here it is without the 'distractions' ;) plus this one is better quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BloxTCKwa4

So, hope you like this post. See you next week

Vaya con Dios


~Erin

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

different things...

Hello Wednesday,
   Today is a new blog post day. This morning, I got up and did my exercise, went down and made breakfast. Got the muffins in the oven (I'll post the recipe later) and then left to go with Kieran. We went to Clark Gardens, were she is getting married, and tried out the aisle runner. Golly it was HOT and it was only 9am. Anyway we got that marked and cut, then went to Walmart to get stuff for lunch and came home. Then we got some muffins and left again(leaving the stuff for lunch). We went to go pick up her wedding dress from the girl she had alter it. Then we came back home again :) I made homemade corn dogs (next post) for lunch. Whew.. I am tired.
  Last Thursday I went to Ft. Worth with Daddy. Unfortunately the car sorta broke down and we had to sit in a hot auto shop for a few hours, then my grandfather, Gramps, came a picked us up and let us barrow his car(this was about 3 o'clock). Then Daddy and I went straight to this dentist lab. He works on their computers and they were about to close. Boy howdy did it smell bad there! it smelled like a nail salon and that goes right up my head and gives me a head ache. After awhile the smell wasn't too terrible. Then we were there for a few more hours. The waiting didn't bother me, I finished "Highland Legacy" it was good in the end. Anyhoo, I finished my book and then I started on a new chemo hat... after Daddy finished the computer we left and went back to the automotive shop and put the car back together, then we went to go eat "lupper" We hadn't had lunch so we went and and lunch/supper. Daddy took me to Apple-bee's. That was nice, I got mexican chicken and he got a steak. Then we went to pick Gramps up, so he could drive us back to the car place and then take his car home. Well, on the way over to the car place my grandmother, Grammy, called and asked if I could please spend the night with them and help her take care of my cousin. I said I'd be happy to help Grammy out, but could Gramps please take me to Half Price Books first? That was one of the reasons I had wanted to go to Ft. Worth with Daddy. So we dropped Daddy off at the car place and Gramps took me to HPB. I had been wanting to look for a Monkees CD and a book called "Color Me Beautiful" and the T-Tapp book, "Fit and Fabulous in 15 minutes". I found a Monkees CD (yay!!) and I found the T-tapp book (again yay) I also found the color book but didn't have the money for it this time and they had like 6 copies so I wasn't worried about not being able to get it at a future time. Soo, then we went over to Grammy and Gramps's house. I watched took a shower and then watched a movie and went to bed. Whew was I exhausted! I went home the next day.

  Yesterday I did the T-Tapp 15min work out, BUT I don't think I'll do it right now. The reason being, is I don't really understand what I am supposed to be doing, and I don't have the money to buy the DVD. But I will keep doing the T-Tapp work out I have been doing, which is one you can find on youtube and some other exercise that I found on the T-Tapp website. It you want to know what I do, please leave a comment and I'll let you know. I have lost 1 inch off my tummy and some fat off my back and hips just doing this exercise!! I am happy about that, and I will do the 15 min work out when I can purchase it. I do want to lose more inches and pounds, but I don't think I'll be able to do it before the wedding. That's okay with me because I don't want to have to majorly alter my Maid of Honor dress.

 Okay, now it's time for my new tradition of give you a book, a craft and a recipe.
Book- Agatha Christie's "Parker Pyne Investigates" or is sometimes published as "Mr. Parker Pyne, Dective"
They are very funny short stories. I have enjoyed them immensely. Oh by the way, when I finished Highland Legacy, that was my 50th book for the year!! Last year I read 50. This year I am going to try and beat my own record :).

Craft- I found this great blog that has great patterns! I really want to make these http://arpelia.blogspot.com/2008/09/super-simple-tawashi-flower.html I also like these http://easymakesmehappy.blogspot.com/2010/07/6-petal-puff-stitch-flower.html Going to make this last one for the hat I am working on. Should be fun!

Recipe-
Ham and Cheese Muffins
makes 1 dozen muffins

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I know what you are thinking and believe me it's great and cool)
1/2 cup cooked, chopped ham (or lunch meat ham, cold)
1/2 shredded cheese (I used cheddar but I think you could use any kind you like)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tin. Mix dry ingredients. Add mayonnaise then cheese and ham. Add the milk and mix. Divide batter in to the 12 cups. bake for 16-18 mins or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for a little bit, then remove from muffin tins. Eat and enjoy.
  We love this recipe. what neat it is had no fat or eggs, because all the is in the mayonnaise. I doubled the recipe and I didn't have any ham so I just used 3 cups of cheese. For a single recipe I would suggest using  1 1/2 cups of cheese.

Oh guess what? this Friday Mama, Kieran, Anna and I are going to San Antonio for a bridal shower for Kieran, given by Richard's aunts or mother's friends. I don't know exactly ;) Anyway that will be fun, just us girls on a trip. Then Mama and I will come back Saturday evening and Kieran and Anna will stay for a few days while Kieran and Mrs. Sartor go apartment/house hunting.

I have started Kieran's wedding present. I am knitting her some dish cloths, and then I am going to crochet her some hot pads. I hope she will like them.

Well I must go now, Kieran and I have some more wedding things to do this afternoon. Oh before, I go I forgot to tell you that I finally got some silver shoes for the wedding!! yay. that is a relief for me, because we have been looking ever since they got engaged! They are pretty tall, but I like them. I try to post a picture of them, perhaps next week?

Anyway, here is a song for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbiH9igrlKs&feature=related It's pretty funny. I'll have a great one next week too!
Vaya con Dios


~Erin

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Weekly ramblings.

 Hello,
   How are you today? I'm not so good, well, I guess I am fine my foot just hurts...  I dropped a wooden box on my toes yesterday. It is rather bruised and painful. As I am typing this I have my foot propped up and that helps.
  Alrighty, I have decided that I will try my utmost to post every week (every Wednesday). I also will either give a short review of a book, or recommend a book. As well as give you or tell you about a craft, and tell or give you a recipe. How does that sound to you?

 So to start off, I am reading a book called "Highland Legacy" I got it at a thrift store. It's a christian romance novel. It is centered around a girl named Audrey, who is researching her family tree. Within the story of Audrey are  3 stories about her ancestors. I am on the second of the novels within the novel. It's pretty good.

 As for a craft, how about a crocheted chemo hat? I have made up my own pattern and I thought I'd share it with you.

Crocheted Chemo Hat


Red Heart yarn- Any color (right now I am using Perfect Pink)
Susan Bates Crochet hook- Size J-10 OR K10 (you don't have to use Susan Bates, that is just what I use)

Round 1- Magic circle. chain 2, 10 double crochet into ring, slip stitch in to first stitch to join. 10 stitches chain 2 turn.

Round 2- Double crochet twice into each stitch around, *slip stitch in first to join, chain 2, turn* (*do this at the end of each row unless otherwise stated.) 20 stitches.

Round 3- *Double crochet in first stitch. Double crochet twice in next stitch*. repeat from * ending with double crochet twice. 30 stitches.

Round 4- *Double crochet in next 2 stitches. Double crochet twice in next stitch* repeat from * 40 stitches

Round 5- *Double crochet in next 3 stitches. Double crochet twice in next stitch* repeat from * 50 stitches

Round 6- *Double crochet in next 4 stitches. Double crochet twice in next stitch* repeat from * 60 stitches

Round 7 through 15- Double crochet (once) in each stitch all around.

You could stop here and just have a benie like hat or you can continue as suggested below

Brim-
Round 16- Re peat row 3.

Round 17- Double crochet in each stitch all around. Slip stitch into first stitch. Tie off and weave in ends.

If you have any problems, please let me know and I will try to help you.
You can embellish your hat with buttons or a crocheted flower or anything you want! I hope you like this hat. It fits most heads. It might be a bit tight at first but it will stretch.
Someday I hope to make a video of this pattern, and if I do, be assured I will post it here.

Okay, now for a recipe!! yumm...

Last night I made homemade Swedish meatballs. They were very easy and oh so good!

Here is the link. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/the-amazing-swedish-meatball/detail.aspx
 I think my post is long enough as it is, without adding this recipe. I used just ground beef, and I doubled everything and used 3 lbs of meat. I think it made 65 meatballs, got 40 in a 13x9 pan and the other 24 in a pie plate.
I made spaetzle to go with it, but you could serve it with just plan egg noodles. Green beans on the side are nice also.


Oh guess what? I won the summer reading program at the Mineral Wells library. They called me on Monday and told me that I had won. They said to come a pick up the prize on Tuesday. So yesterday Daddy took me to the library. I told the librarian who I was and she went to get the prize. Do you know what it was?? Three very strange, New York Times best seller, vampire books, a candle, a pad of note paper and some "free stuff" coupons in a nice blue basket. I thanked them, and left (after a while). I thought to myself " I will NOT read those books, never in a million years, BUT I could sell them on Amazon or half.com." hey, they were free ;) I will use the candle, note paper and basket. I hope you don't think I am weird or anything, but when I can't or won't use something, I like to sell it and then take that money and buy something I will use.

 I think I shall give you a song every time I post too.
Hope you like it as much as I do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuS82UWtmc This is the same song but with a nice "drive" to watch.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W0HGvM3JRE&feature=related

I pray you have a great week,
 Vaya con Dios,


~Erin