Doing with what I got.

You know, I realized today that we really probably have to much... Food that is.. I have been thinking for a week that I have to go grocery shopping to fill up the fridge and pantry. I think that Jim and I are used to having a fridge bursting at the seems and a pantry that you really can't find anything in. So.. with all of this said I must add that I am not a person that goes to the grocery store that often. Not a weekly shopper or stop at the store on the way home from work to pick up milk.. I let a list accumulate on my fridge for a couple of weeks and then go get it all. I like to take my time and walk up and down every isle and look at stuff.. bye myself !which very seldom happens) .. Now if I am not going to fill up my pantry but going for the bare essentials, I stick to the outside isles and shop for the fresh stuff... ( I do this most of the time unless I need cleaning supplies and lunch stacks ) this keeps me on task and my kids can handle the length of time it takes..... Anyway back to the fact that we have enough for a week......
So Friday, I invited Greg and Twylla over for Twylla's birthday supper.. Jim had already commented on needing groceries. I made a beautiful supper of roast beef, gravy, potatoes, peas and carrots, salad, asparagus and I did get Jim to pic up a Dairy Queen cake.

So I felt pretty proud of myself for putting together a nice supper " and not having any food" So as the weekend progresses I still haven't made it to the grocery store yet. (again, not my favorite place) I mowed lawn a bit and worked around the house a bit. Made lunch of Mushroom soup and tuna sandwiches and watermelon... and for supper pork chops with shaken and bake, salad, potatoes, carrots and peas and all the sides... sour cream, bacon bits, etc... A very nice Sunday supper. I even made dessert.

Before I share my dessert with you... I wanted to let you know that I was very inspired today by this web site. The Pioneer Woman. She talks about being more organized in the country because we don't have luxury of going to the store in 2 minutes. I believe over time that I have just become more aware of this and have done it in some ways already. Apparently, after pulling my two major meals with all the food groups included I can manage for a couple of days without a C0-op down the road... Any way I think you should check out the "pioneer woman" site. She is quite funny and shares some good ideas....

Now on to my dessert, to prove a point ( to myself mostly) I scrounged the freezer in search for something special for Sunday supper.. this is what I came up with..

Some frozen blueberries thawed. I kept the juice to make a sauce.
On the stove I used the juice of the berries, added some lemon juice, sugar and water with corn starch and boiled it. Then I put the blueberries back in the sauce and cooled.. The color was light like this until I added the berries back in then the color was nice and rich again. (corn starch lightened it)

then I baked these little flaky delights ( Tender Flake with the centers that come out)

and I came up with these for dessert..
Destiny said... the best dessert ever... All without having any groceries in the house. I think I even out did myself and was more creative than I would normally be because I had to think about it.

It was a eye opening experience and I think I will take inventory of the "on hand" more regularly before filling my cart with what I think I need.

have a good night

A night out!

After a long wet boring day at home we decide to go to a movie as a family.

Who knew that the city would be a crazy, crazy place to go. I thought everyone would be curled up at home with a book or a movie out of the wind, cold and rain......but oh no, everyone had the same idea as I did and wanted to be in a movie theatre with all of the other bored people. We actually had to leave one theater after standing in a long line because all the movies we wanted to see were sold out. The parking lot was crazy....lined up out on the roads. We finally made our way to Chinook and found a parking spot and bought a ticket for a movie and then had 1 1/2 hours to go eat and walk around.

We seen the 10pm showing of this.

It was really good. Some skelaton parts as in the past movies but.. quite a bit of comic releif. Our whole family enjoyed it. I would recommend it.

Strathmore Ball June 5, 2008

Do what I want if I want

Well last weekend, I decided "I would do it if I wanted" was the attitude that I was going to adopt for two days. Obviously I loved it and it turned out I got a lot done with out a "to do" list lurking over my head.

Last weekend we had the luxury of not have anything planned. Jim worked Saturday and I kids and I just worked around the house...
Some of the things I worked on.
Jim and I were given this book shelf from a friend.
it came out of the Rockyford school and they figure it is about a 100 years old. Well looking at this picture, it looks really cool, right? crackling paint, original handles...
Well, then someone decided to paint it......



Teal.....











They didn't get quite finished and then left it.

So, I have taken the knobs off and soaked them in paint thinner and they have been restore to original.I have decided to paint the whole thing white and then I will antique it with some brown.
I think when completed it will look nice.. Jim has suggested using it for a trophy shelf .. so we will see.













the whole family worked on this Saturday afternoon. Setting up the the pool turned out to be a bit of a pain.. (Just because of me really)
It took most of the evening on Saturday night to get enough water in it.. I of course didn't want to leave the water running over night so I undid the hose for the night. In the morning the pool was 6" away from being empty.. It had all syphoned out overnight... I guess I wasn't thinking.. Anyway by Sunday afternoon Destiny and Katie were swimming in the freezing water.
and as you can see the new cover I bought is a 18' rather than a 16'.. oh well.. keeps the leaves out.



The last big project.
who can keep up?.. If it would stop raining... I guess I could. I couldn't even beat the rain the other night. I cut for about 10 mins when I got home... but the rain followed me from town and I was drenched. Oh well, as you can see, not a cloud in the sky today. I can start cutting as soon as the grass isn't sopping wet..









My point being to all of this.. I think I did better without a list than with.. Between all of that.. I got my grocery shopping done, helped Tanya with her rock garden, went shopping for tile for under the pool. etc.... and had a fire out back with my kids.. oh ya. and Destiny had a Katie sleep over..
Just a nice relaxing weekend... tehe..
twink.

Some kind words

Well, Stacey you did it.. I am proud of you ... you not only looked at my blog but you made a comment. Thanks for taking the time. I hope you don't mind me sharing your comment with everyone.
Most of you know that Stacey is my business partner , but not only that she is my nearest and dearest friend that continues to pull me through some pretty tough spots in my journey. I am sure you can only imagine how hard it is to watch a friend go through the loss of a sister and friend. I feel sometimes that it harder to be the person watching .. really not knowing what to do or say.. Stacey, thanks for being so strong and sharing your comments .. I am hear with you through it all as we always have been for each other..

Stacey and her sister Tanya
Having such great friends and family in my life has been helping me get through the loss of my friend and my sister. Right now I actually have tears rolling down my face. Life seems to be unfair and hard to understand. I keep trying to look at all of the good things that have come out of this and it does help me a lot. My sister had said a quote in the Drumheller Mail and it sticks in my mind. She said 'a hug cannot cure cancer, but it can heal you in a way no drug can." Even though our kids can drive us crazy, please give them a hug just because we can. Stacey Wilson

busy, but good

good morning, As we are going into the weekend.. it is a welcomed treat to not have to go anywhere. I think that I will do some yard work and just hangout.

Life lately has been very busy.. As much as I hate to use that word ( I prefer active)because I think that you are only as busy as you want to be.. and we do have to learn to say no.

With all of that said, there are brief moments in your life were unforseen things happen or doing the "right thing" play a part.

I think this morning I am feeling mentally busy and body drained. I think I need to find "self" again. As we read every magazine and listen to the radio they all encourage courses & products to enhance this process. What I think I need.. more time to reflect and just "be"

I was listening to Martha Stewart Radio the other day and the whole talk show was about just simply slowing down. Not sure what that looks like with a family, business, yard, sports.......etc. but I think I am sure going to put a plan in place to make that closer to reality.

I think I am going to start by making praying a priority. Not something that comes easy for me and I think that quiet reflective time could do us all a little bit of good.

I going to leave everyone with that thought and please comment on what helps you slow down..

I am sure we could all use this advice.

blessing, Twink.

Do you blog about it.?

Good evening everyone.. If you are reading this you are probably the 1400 visitor to the blog or close to it. I couldn't believe the number when I scrolled down tonight. I was excited and sad at the same time. So... I have a lot of people that "click in" but not that many comments.. now either you don't know how to comment, you don't want to comment or my posts are not interesting enough to encourage a discussion. What ever the case may be, I am glad that I have this "little space" to write some stuff down and an opportunity to share some pictures with you.

If you don't know how to comment, click on the bottom were the word "comment" is, type what you would like to share with us and then you can simply click on anonymous and send.. We would truly love to hear from you. If you would like to share a thought or a idea on this blog.. email me and I will add it too.. please send pictures. twink@myipplus.net
_____________________________


Saying Good-Bye.. I lost a friend this past week to cancer. Do I blog about it or not? This is the question on my mind tonight. My business partner Stacey's sister dyed of a brain tumor and I am pissed and sad. The fight against cancer is a tough won and she fought hard..


I often wonder if sharing in this format is appropriate or if maybe I should just leave it alone.. I think tonight just sharing that I along with hundreds of people are mourning the loss of Tanya is enough. My prayers are with her family and her three boys for their terrible loss.. as well as her siblings and parents who I know are grieving and will be grieving in the months to come, I will think of you often and keep you in my prayer.

Relay for Life 2006 Strathmore

Myself and Tanya

you will be sadly missed

High River Little Britches

The Stevens Caravan left Sunday afternoon for the High River little britches rodeo that took place on Monday. I pulled the holiday trailer and Jim with his new trailer and three horses took off in the wind to camp for the night prior to the parade and rodeo.

The kids participated in the parade with the Future cowgirl and cowboy Rodeo Asc. that they are in all winter. They won first price for there two wagons and participants on horse back. They all looked so nice in there red sponsored wrangler shirts.

Destiny rode her pony Razzle Dazzle in the goat untieing and then borrowed a horse for the barrels. Hayze of course rode Hot Rod "hotty for short". Hotty worked really well for Hayze. We just got to get Hayze to keep his elbows in and down... and he will be on his way.

All and all it was a fun weekend with friends and the kids had a blast. Long day for mom and dad.. but ... fun for the kids with there friends and horses and that is what it is all about for our family.

Venice Beach.

Click to make larger.

Pacific Ocean

click on it to enlarge

I competed a layout. Our first day in California we went straight to the beach. None of our family had ever been to the ocean in California so before we even checked into our hotel we dipped our toes in. We got some fantastic shots on the beach of the kids playing, which ultimately ended up in full clothes change. they both fell in and had a blast.

this picture was taken at the Santa Monica beach.. (Made famous in the movie "Big") we also visited Venice beach that afternoon for awhile. I will share more pictures as I do layouts.. until then, google "Harry Perry". I earned 5 points locating him first while visiting Venice Beach..

( a little family game we played)

Making it Home

Well we made it home from our Disney Adventure and we really had a great time.

The Happiest place on earth, turned out to be just that. The kids and I were very sad to leave.this is the kids at the exit gate on Tuesday.... A little "put on" but not far from how we were all feeling.

This actually was our only hot sunny day that we had on our trip, which turned out to be great for walking around on pavement all day and for the sales of hoodies at the park. I prefer the cool weather so it was perfect. We spent 5 days on the park, 1 day at universal studio's, a day shopping and a day touring Hollywood, Beverly hills and rodeo drive. It was a great mix for a holiday

I have committed myself to complete a scrapbook just of the trip, I will share the pages as I complete them. If you know me at all, this will be a huge undertaking... to actually finish a complete book... wish me luck.

I will leave you with that for know. watch back for some more pictures.

twink.

no time a wasting

Well as the count down to our fabulous holiday continues.. I find my self very busy, just getting last minute stuff done.. I will start packing tomorrow closer to the completion of the laundry..

I got all the banking done today and enjoyed one of these.and then went for a crack... a little tune up for the holiday..

Jim's new horse trailer arrive yesterday and he was very smiley... It is a beautiful trailer and I know that he will be very happy with it.. It fits 4 horses and has a large tack room and a good size goose neck.tack door on both sides.
the kids are very excited about it too...

We will get to use it the weekend we get back from California.. High River little britches is on the holiday Monday...

Well that is really it for today.. I didn't get a chance to "organize" my organization project that I was going to share with you today... I will have to save that project for when I get home.

I think Destiny is going to try another new horse tonight.

good night

I am back

I have been a bad blogger lately and unfortunily this morning is a bit of a rush so I just wanted to touch base and let you know that we are all fine and continue on with our active spring schedule.

We are counting down to Disney.. Just 4 more days .... and uncle Wendel has decided to come with us.

My computer has been so slow lately .... Internet tower problems or something, so I was unable to blog... I do have some ideas on a couple of good posts.. so keep watching for some organizational tips that I want to share... Amish bread is ready to be made again today.. Does anyone want me to send them a starter.. It is really really good...

I like to leave photos on my blog so I will leave you with this...

Mr. funny guy.. In our rental car in Vegas..

Gold Medalists.

What a fantastic day Hayze and I had together at the.........

Stacey and Kadin picked us put at 6:30 this morning for a day at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
Cassie Campbell put on a street hockey festival for all age levels of Hockey.. Hayze and his buddies were the "Strathmore Road Dawgs"....

Look at the action.....

Group photos were taken of all teams and then sold for the charity.

Exciting moment for me, I think more than Hayze.. however he looks pretty happy..

Cassie was really nice and very approachable. She talked to us all and was very casual.

I even got my picture with her.. She didn't sign my shirt.. (she offered, jokingly)

Hayze also go MIKE BOOSEY to sign his shirt... I never got a picture.. a little late.

the boys...
The boys met under a tent and were educated a little about Ronald McDonalds House and given "loot bags".. they received a tone of free stuff..

Happened upon Ronald himself as he was arriving..

the boys all played really well and won there division in the morning taking them to the gold medal round. Hayze was in goal for this game and played really well.. the final score of this nail biter was 4-3 for us.. Winning the Gold for the novice division.

receiving their medals.. Don Cherry ( look alike) interviewed for coaches corner.. was fantastic.

a priceless picture of the gold medals, and Casie Campbell .... So very proud of the team.

and this little man....

Expressing Yourself

Well as some of you know I get the opportunity to work with clients and the spa staff on Wednesday every week. On those days you can always count on some great conversations, topics ranging from kids, hockey, movies, life's worries and a lot of just fun, silly stuff.. Well yesterday was no different. Some parents of teenagers my have heard some of the new saying that the kids are using...apparently "like" has made it's way back into mainstream vocabulary and a couple of other great ones... The one we have been talking about is the use of "RANDOM". You look so "random", that dance was so "random"... not really to sure how that all fits in but it is the new word.... so... Tanya and Karli thought that they would start there own word... "saber tooth".. yes..saber tooth.. they are waiting for it to catch... you look so "saber" today.. you are the "toothiest" of all " sabers"... Well you get the idea.. We had a lot of laughs over this..

Which brought us to our next conversation about computer jargon... You know all the abbreviated phrases everyone uses.. I actually am a hater of the cutesy little :) ;) (:") (wow, that was a lot of work to figure those out..) I don't text that much and maybe that is why I don't like the whole lol, omg... stuff either..

I say this to the clients and the staff yesterday, only to figure out that I have my own way of "laughing out loud" when I am typing.. HE,HE Te he, ha, ha... and my clients favorite was just HA!!!!.

Our conversations are always fun and assorted... yesterday's brought up a lot of comments and questions about texting and actually socializing with your friends.. A sign of the times the mom of two teenager assured me.. Still not to sure if that makes it OK...

I am feeling a bit of a generation gap as I write this.. simply in my thoughts that it is still OK just to pick up the phone and really just "laugh our loud"

Have a great day.