Evidence of a Wonderful Husband.

On Tuesday, Andrew brought these to me at work. He said he gave them to me for being such an understanding wife, I think he gave them to me because he is a wonderful Husband.

Thursday night, he cooked me dinner. I got home from work, and this is what I saw. I am so lucky to have a husband who enjoys cooking, and cooks good.

Not just Germany - London Too!!

Yep, that's right. I'm going to London too! Since I will be over there for 10 days, Jennifer and I decided that it would be cool to take a mini-trip somewhere else. We will be in London for 3 nights! I am so excited! I have never been to Europe, and now I will be going to two different countries. We are still trying to find a hotel, but the airplane tickets are booked. Any suggestions on where to stay or what to do would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a list of what we are planning to see and do, so far:

• Sightseeing bus tour
• Buckingham Palace - Changing the Guard
• Big Ben
• The London Eye
• Westminster Abbey
  

On the Road Again

We found out last night, that Andrew will be traveling for work through the whole month of February. He will be in Martinsville, VA, working at the Liberty Fair Mall Chick-fil-A. This is just one step closer to him becoming a Chick-fil-A operator. I am so proud of him, and I know he will do a fantastic job in Virginia.

All Politics aside - Letter to Obama Girls from Bush Girls - Very Sweet

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Apricot Sheet Cookies

I went over to my Parent's house yesterday and Mom was still trying to get rid of some of her magazines, so I took all of her Paula Deen Magazines that she had. I found a recipe for Apricot Sheet Cookies and it sounded really good, and I had all of the ingredients at home, so this afternoon I made them. They were very easy to make, and very yummy. I thought I would share the recipe with all of you.

Apricot Sheet Cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup apricot preserves

confectioner's sugar (optional)

1. preheat oven to 350, pray a 9x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

3. Add sugar and beat until creamy

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Gradually beat in flour until combined.

6. Beat in vanilla

7. Reserve 1 cup batter, and spread remaining batter evenly into prepared pan.

8. Gently spread preserves evenly over batter.

9. Drop remaining batter by tablespoons over preserves.

10. Base for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes and cut into bars to serve. Garnish with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Easy Skillet Pimiento Mac 'n' Cheese

The other night, I tried a new recipe that I found in my Southern Living Magazine. It was really easy to make, and it was very good.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 (16 oz) package penne pasta

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups low-fat milk

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 (4 oz.) jar diced pimiento, drained

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

pinch of paprika

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Whisk together flour and 1/4 cup milk. Add flour mixture to remaining milk, whisking until smooth.

3. Bring milk mixture to a boil in a large skillet over medium heat; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, whisking constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth.

4. Stir in cheese and next 4 ingredients until smooth.

5. Stir in pasta, and cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

Scrapbook Night

Every Thursday, I get together with some girls to Scrapbook. I look forward to it all week long. It all started this summer, when I was talking to my neighbor, Abby. On a whim, she asked if I scrapbooked, and of course, I said yes. I just so happened to be scrapbooking that night, so I asked her if she wanted to come in and look at my different scrapbooks. That was the beginning of our scrapbook bond. A few weeks later, she was having a get together with some ladies from her church to scrapbook, and invited me to join them. We had so much fun that we decided to do it every week. There are probably a total of 10 of us, but not everyone shows up every week. So, every Thursday from 6-8 you can find me cropping, scrapping, cricuting, etc... Here are some pictures of what I accomplished last week. They are from Christmas 2008.

SNOW!

Well, all day yesterday, there was big hype about the snow that was supposed to come late last night. Well, when I woke up this morning, this is what I saw...

It was just enough to make things look pretty, but not too much where the roads were bad. I still had to go to work, which is fine with me. By lunch time, most of it was melted.

I love the snow. I grew up in upstate NY, where they have tons of snow all winter long. I really do miss it sometimes. Living in the south, this is about as much as we can hope for.

In-Laws are a wonderful thing

Look what my In-laws gave us yesterday! This is not their permanent home, but it will do for now. We plan on putting these on our screened in porch. We would keep them on the front porch, but we already have a pair, and they are a maple color. So, these don't go so well. Maybe we will put the maple ones on the screened in porch, and keep these on the front porch. They match the porch swing, and the railings. Oh, decisions, decisions....
Here is a picture of the rocking chairs that are currently on the front porch.
Which ones do you think look better?

Baby it's cold outside!

When I left the house this morning at 7:30 my thermometer said 15 degrees!! It's hasn't been this cold in a long time. I bundled up with my hat, gloves, scarf, and coat and headed out the door to work. Days like today, I wish I could stay in bed with a good book. That might be what I do this afternoon. On a more positive note, at least I'm not up in states where it is in the negatives.