...everything is worth anything if the end result brings you happiness...

I got this amazing card in the mail the other day, that put a smile on my face that never left that day. Shannan in Spokane sent me a wonderful card . I checked the mail before I left for work as I always do in the morning, and in the stack of junk mail is a envelope addessed to me....yup me! I wanted to rip it open as if my life depended on it, but I didn't. I carefully opened it now eager to what was inside. Now I'm not going to share the inside, because you just don't need to know, and it personal. Friendships should be respected on both ends. I love the card Shannan, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

So Shannan says she hates surprises, but unfortanatly I love them so she's got in for her. She's been warned that I've got something good up my sleeve. It's not about the gift or card of cost, it's about putting a smile on a friends face....everything is worth anything if the end result brings you happiness....that's right baby I just made that quote up...how you like that....?

T.G.I.F

I'm so glad it's Friday. The sun has been shining the last couple of days and I can just feel spring around the corner. We are suppose to have a very nice, sunny weekend and I'm hoping that is what we have.

We are going on a road trip to the Tri-Cities tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited, and Jason is even more excited. The reason we are going over is because Jason is getting a portable GPS for his birthday coming up on March 9. He's turing the big 30 and I've been giving him so much crap....I stopped latley because I know how it gets when it's actually your birthday. I think he's excited....I know he's excited for the GPS...but I think he's nervous about the age think.

We have my step mom who is my Wmom, her birthday is the 5th, we are doing dinner at Lorenzo's. My oldest brother's birthday is the 8th, which we'll do a family dinner at the parents house. Jason's birthday is next on the 9th, we are going to go out to the parents house for a lunch a birthday cake & ice cream. Jason's mom, her birthday is the 10th, she is in Spokane so we will just be calling and wishing a happy birthday. Our friends BFamily(Refer BFamily Post) their son's birthday is the 20th, unfortanatly we will not be to his birthday party, but we will make a trip very soon after to see him. Last but not least, my youngest brother's birthday is on the 22nd. He's having a birthday party at the ice chalet. Everyone gets to ice skate & eat birthday cake. Sounds good to me. I don't dare get on the ice, but I know all the kids, and I include Jason, my dad, & JG(oldest brother) with the kids. They all have a blast. I always dread March because I get like family overload and after March is done I'm like...yea....give me a call in a few months!

If I didn't say it already on here I loved that American Gangster movie I was talking about last week. It was long but worth it. Just plan on a long movie. If the weather is nice I'll get some new pictures for everyone ♥

Our weekend

I hope today is as nice as yesterday. We had the sun shining, and 50 degree weather yesterday. It was awesome. I'm ready for spring, not to much longer.

Dinner last night was awesome. Food was great, game was fun. We have been beat twice by the N family. I guess Jason and I better bring our whoop ass caps next time. We didn't stay for as long this time, I was passing out on there couch so we decided to take off.

I have lunch plans today with some old friends I use to work with. We always go to the Mongolian BBQ, which we all love. It's always fun getting together with them. We eat, bullshit, and laugh our asses off. 

Beef Torelinni Soup: One of our favorite's

Beef Tortellini Soup

8 oz. beef round steak, cut 1 inch thick, boneless
1 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1-2 tbs butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
18-oz beef broth
1 14-oz jar garlic pasta sauce (white sauce)
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup water
1 medium zucchini, cut into thin bite-size strips
1 9-oz package refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
1/2 tsp favorite seasoning
Cut beef into thin strips. In a plastic bag combine flour, salt, and pepper. Add beef pieced, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In large skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add beef and onions, cook and stir unitl beef is brown and onion tender. Drain off fat. Put beef and onions into crockpot. Stir in broth, pasta sauce, carrots, water, and seasoning. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3.5 to 4 hours. If using low-heat setting, turn cooker to high-heat setting. Stir in zuccini and tortellini. Cover and cook for 30 min more. Check tortellini's to ensure cooked, cook longer if needed.
Enjoy

What did I do?

Jason is online with the Xbox now. You would of thought he was going to die if he didn't get it soon. He bought the package you have to but today and has been playing all afternoon.

This was me the other morning when I discovered someone had slashed our truck tire. So we took the truck down to Les Schwab today. We had a really good spare in the back so we just got that put on for now. We had planned on changing all four tires but not till the end of next summer. And these are some expensive tires. I am so mad that someone did that. I know it happens but is just sucks. We live across from a Safeway and they just got done remodoling the entire store inside out, and someone sprey paited all over the back side. It's horrible. The area we live in right now use to be a pretty bad area, but in the last 5 years they have really cleaned it up a lot. It's frustrating because we all are working so hard to keep it a good looking neighborhood. I can't wait till we have a garage to keep our or at least my car inside. :)

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the orange juice and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

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After mixing all ingredients together I let mine sit in the fridge for a half hour so the mixture is easier to form into balls.

So cute

We have dinner on Saturday at the parents house with my dad's family. Then after dinner Brock (my youngest brother) will be coming home with us and staying the night at our place. This will be his first night staying over. He came over this last Tuesday while the other kids went to hockey. He had a blast!  He called me Thursday and told me that he had his bag packed and ready to go. I think it is so cute that he's already got his bag packed 2 days ahead. Jason got his new Xbox game so him and Brock will be busy playing Xbox360. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Hockey season over

Jason had his final game this last Wednesday for hockey. This game was to determine 3rd & 4th place for the two teams. Unfortantley we lost, so that put us in 4th place for this season. It was a really good game, and the team they played was a really good team. At first I was thinking that I would be glad there are no more games, but now that I won't be going to anymore untill November I'm kinda sad. I had a lot of fun watching the hockey games. Jason still has stick night on Mondays' & Wednesday's. I'm sure I'll get over going to games every Wednesday. I am so proud of Jason for playing hockey. I would of never have thought he would be so passionate about it. It makes me proud to watch him play. He has improved so much since he first started. My dad also. They don't realize how much better they both have gotten. Jason is all ready talking about next season, and that makes me really happy that he's going to keep playing. Here's to winning the championship next year.

Chicken Cordon Blue Bake: Valentine's Recipe

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

INGREDIENTS
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 slices Swiss cheese
6 slices ham
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS
Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.

I love to add fresh basil to my cream before adding to the skillet.....yummie

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This is somethig I've been thinking about doing. I am going to do a recipe of the week that I personally have made and love. I hope you enjoy.

Looking forward to Valentine's day

I love Valentines day. I love everything about it. I know a lot of people who think it's just a corny holiday. Some of my favorite things are: flowers, chocolate, & anything pink. Now that just about sums up Valentines day. You know I always get Jason something he wants, or needs. All I ever ask for is flowers and chocolates. To me flowers and chocolates are all I need to make my Valentines day an awesome one. I also love those little candy hearts. I don't really like to eat them but for some reason I think they are so cute. I always wanted to be the person who thought of the little sayings they put on them. I save everything. And I mean EVERYTHING! I have Valentines from when I was in 4th grade. I was at the store the other day and I was looking at the kids Valentines. They just don't make them like they use to. As a kid you don't know how cheesey the cards are, but reading them now cracks me up. I hope your Valentines day is a good one.

Las Vegas 2009

So Jason and I have decided to take a BIG VACATION next year. This vacation will be in LAS VEGAS!! That's right, Vegas baby here we come! We were going to take a nice vacation in May, then go to Cannon beach with my WWfamily in July. We are still going to go to the beach in May it just won't be such a big vacation as we originally planned. This will be our 1 year anniversary in May so I want to do something special and since we went to Lincoln City for our honeymoon, and we loved it, I thought it would be something special we could do for not that much money. We are not going to go to Cannon beach, which would of been really cool. At the time we were going to be there they have there annual sand castle building going on. The pictures were amazing, but we have decided to save that money and go to Vegas in April of 2009. Jason nor myself have ever been there, so it will be an amazing trip for us. I am really excited about this and now I just have to control myself for the next year and 4 months. There are so many shows I want to see, I don't even know where to start. Thank god I have some time for all the details and the preperations for this kind of trip. I am a very organized person and I always have a game plan. This will be Jason's first plane ride, so I'm excited for him to experience that. Growing up my family went on a big vacation every year, so I never really thought about being on a plane and that whole experience, until I met Jason and he told me he's never been on one. I speak for myself that I always took that "plane feeling" for granted. I know what it feels like to be on a plane looking down on "the world" or through the clouds, but how do you describe that feeling to someone who's never experienced it?! I know this trip I will appreciate that feeling more because of him. I even told him I'd give him the window seat, only because this will be his first time. The window seat is my favorite. Next time we will definatly paper, rock, scissors or it!!

In need of a new soup recipe?

I am so glad it's Friday. Some much needed sleep will be recieved this weekend. As I told you yesterday, I was trying a new recipe in the crock pot last night. It was so good. I'll be making it again here soon. One thing I really liked about this soup was that it wasn't to heavy. It had no meat in it, which we are meat eaters, but it was still really yummy. Jason loved it. If your interested in the recipe let me know. because this is a good one. I found a recipe in this new cook book I got that I really want to try. It a black bean soup you cook in the crock pot. It sounds so yummy, I think I'll try it on our next menu.

So last week I was telling you about Jason and I playing Monopoly. Just so you know I did win that game. He was a good sport about it though. I took this picture that night and I just found it and wanted to share it with you. Hope you all have a great weekend.

No championship this year

I'm so glad it's Thursday. Only one more day to go! Jason played in his hockey game last night. There team did so good, but unfortanatly we did not win. They played against the number one team for the season, and we only lost by one point. GO ICE MEN!! We only have two more games left of this season. They will continue stick nights on Monday until April or May. I was really hoping we were going to win last night but there's always next year for the championship.

We have dinner plans on Saturday, and I'm so excited. We are going for Chinese food and then back to the house for games. This couple we have been hanging out with are so great, I'm glad we all have become friends. Crystal & Roger, you guys ROCK!

All our snow here is GONE that's right GONE! I couldn't be happier. The wind is zipping through here, but nothing like the wind storm last month. That was some crazy times. Jason was telling me that he heard that the wind storm last month cost Walla Walla and surounding area's over 2.5 million dollars. Now that's some damage! Picture on the right is a car across the street from our place, this damage was done during our big wind storm here last month.


I'm trying a new recipe for dinner tonight. It's a cheese enchilada soup in the crock pot. I have a hair appointment to get a trim today at 5:30, so I decied it was a good crock pot night. It looks good, and smells so good. I'll let you know how it turns out tommorow.

Is my vacation over already?

It's definatly a Monday. The day is taking FOREVER to get through. Today is my first day back after a 4 day weekend. I'm already day dreaming about my next vacation! I will tell you this Jason and I are going back to the beach for our anniversary. Now that's a vacation I'm excited for! (Picture on the left is on our honeymoon at Lincoln City beach). On this trip we will also visit a friend who moved to Portland this last spring. It will be good to see him. There is another person I know who lives in Portland that I would love to visit, but unfortantly we don't talk anymore. Long story short, he was a real good friend, or so I thought, always there for me, always cheering me up, you know always just being a friend. I talked to him a week before my wedding and I was telling him how I was nervous and I was really excited to see him. He ensures me that HE WILL BE THERE. As you can guess he never showed up. I called him a week later and he acts like nothing happend. He acts like he didn't miss the most important day of my life, whom I want to share this day with everyone I love, and he tells me that it wasn't really a big deal. I havn't talked to him since. This was a friend who I called or called me at least once a month. I miss him a lot but realized after the whole thing, there's a reason he's not in my life anymore, and there's a reason why he didn't come! I wish I could say that I was stopping by to visit my friend Russell but I won't be saying that for a long time if ever.

Jason is going to attempt hockey tonight, so we'll see if his knee is any better. There tournament is next week, so he's dying to get out there. I've been thinking about what's for dinner for the last couple of hours and I'm really hungry. That's like going grocery shopping when your hungry, never a good idea. We are having fajita's or nachoes. Both sound good, we'll just have to see what I feel like when I start cooking dinner.

We recieved the last of the W2's we have been waiting for. Jason had one from Spokane that of course they didn't send out until January 31! I think we'll file them tonight or tomorrow. I'm sure it will be tomorrow since there is hockey tonight. This will be our first time filing as married. I'm kinda excited to see if it makes a difference.

Cameron, Kaela, & Joshua

So I was thinking I'm always talking about my friends Cameron & Kaela. So to put a face to who you are reading about I thought I would do a post on them today. I met Cameron early September 2003. We both started our jobs the same day at Zip Trip in Spokane. I worked in the store side as swing shift and he worked in the A&W as swing shift. The A&W was located inside the Zip Trip. I also worked in the A&W on my days off so we worked together then as well. We imidiatly started hanging out and have been great friends ever since. He moved into the trailer with Jason and I when we first started dating and we all lived together for over a year. We had so much fun in that trailer, I will never forget the memories we all had together. I LOVE thinking about those times in my life. I couldn't of asked for a better friend to have in my time of need. I thank you Cameron for all the help you gave me without even knowing you were helping me, thank you. He eventually moved out with friends and later with his girlfriend Kalea. We met Kaela at the A& W as well. Her and Cameron hooked up later on. They now live in Spokane with there beautiful son Joshua, who I miss everyday. I love these guys very much, I feel like I've know Cameron FOREVER. I can tell him anything with out the fear of rejection or judgement. These are great frineds of our and I know that we will be apart of each other's lives forever. I love you guys. Very top picture was at my wedding, and other pictures are from 2005 & 2006.

A true friend goes thorugh it all with you, no matter what

On Thursday Jason and I went to Pendleton and visited my friend Elidah. We had a blast. We all went to lunch, then we headed to Hollywood video. I love getting movies there because #1 they have great deals, #2 we are in Oregon which means no tax, and #3 Elidah is the manager so I get her discount. We got five great movies we've been wanting to get for under $40.00! What a deal! Then we dropped Jason and Christopher, Elidah's 6 year old son, off at her place and her and I headed to the dollar store. This friend Elidah of mine is one of a kind. She is an amazing friend, and a great mother. She is a true friend through it all. I love her to death. I hope everyone has an Elidah for a friend. Picture above is Elidah and I on my wedding day. I was thrilled she was my maid of honor.

While leaving the dollar store I noticed a Hallmark store next door. I LOVE Hallmark stores. I got some AWESOME buys! I got a Christmas wax burner 75% off. I also got an awesome Christmas count down. I've been wanting a Christmas countdown for some time, but the ones I want are a little more expensive so I've been holding off on getting one. I found it for 75% off. My total at Hallmark was$13.45. I saved over $42.00!! Score for Morgan! I love the things I got, I'm very glad we went.

We got home late last night so we grabbed a bite to eat and rented some movies. As in buying 5 movies wasn't bad, we rented 3 movies! We watched Saw 4, and some Kevin Bacon movie last night, both were good. Jason is watching War right now. It looked good, just kinda movied out.

We did go get some wine the other day. We got one white wine and my favorite red wine. I'm not enjoying one yet but I will be later. I think Jason and I are going to relax at home and play Monopoly tonight. I kicked his ass in Life the other day. I better watch him tonight, I know he's got it out for me ever since I kicked his ass on Life! Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.