These are a few of my favorite things...

It's been a little while since I've been able to get to my blog what with the holidays being upon us!  But I've got to squeeze at least one in before 2011 begins!  So I figured a nice and easy one would be some of my favorite things!

1. TiVo...the most amazing invention EVER!  My parents upgraded theirs, but since they had a lifetime subscription, we got the old one and we get the service FREE!  The downside is the remote from the original TiVo is waaaay beat up.  We're talking the pause button, up button, and down button no longer work!  But since my parents are wonderful, they got us a new remote for Christmas...and we've been pausing programs ever since...just because we can!

2. Peanut M&Ms...I love them.  That's really enough said.  And my wonderful mother-in-law got me a GIGANTIC bag of them for Christmas.  And my hubby put a bunch in my stocking!

3. My hubby...I gotta put him on the list somewhere!  He's really probably my favorite favorite thing :) (also I'm including my babies here!)

4. Fuzzy blankets...not fleece but that really soft cuddly stuff, microfleece or something I believe they call it.  Joan got me a really big one with snowflakes for Christmas.  It's great because I can lay down and it covers my feet and I can pull it up around my shoulders and "sleep like a turtle" (or so I've been told)

5. Glee!...I know I've written about Glee before but it's so wonderful I have to add it here!  Alex got me the Glee Christmas album and I'm not going to lie, I've still been listening to it :)  She also got me the Rocky Horror Glee Show Album which I've yet to listen to because I love the Christmas one so much!

6. DISNEY WORLD!....there is something so magical about this place.  Even now, when I'm a grown-up (sort of).  It has a different kind of magic for me now.  I could write a whole blog JUST about it...so I will and we'll leave it at that for now!

7. Christmas!!!!!  I LOOOOOVE this time of year!  It's so exciting and happy!  And I'm always really sad when it's over :(

8.  My friends...my wonderful, amazing, beautiful friends.  I love them so much and I can't wait til Steph is home from Alaska so I can finally see them ALL again.  This hasn't happened since my wedding day!  Almost a whole year!

9. 2011.  It's just one of my favorite things because 2010 has been rough for us since we got married.  We've had a lot of hard things to go through and are both really looking forward to a new year (and another trip to Disney)

Of course there are many others, but really who wants to read about ALL of my favorite things?  It's a long list, I assure you!

What are some of your favorite things?

Yummy Breakfast Casserole

Every year, my church has a special pot luck brunch the Sunday before Christmas.  Last year I had NO idea what to bring!  I searched and searched and I finally found the perfect recipe.  I am not an excellent cook and I am not yet comfortable taking on complicated recipes that have lots of ingredients.  So, I'm going to share my super easy breakfast casserole, which I will be making later today!

You'll need:

1 lb of sausage or chopped ham (I usually use sausage)
6 eggs, beaten
1 tube of cresent rolls
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp of pepper
1 cup shredded cheese

In a 13x9 inch pan unroll the tube of cresent rolls.  Make sure all the seams are pressed together. 

Brown the sausage (or use chopped ham) and place on top of cresent roll dough.

Mix the milk and eggs together and pour over meat

Top with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.


See?  Super easy and SO good!

Wedding Cake...mmmm...

Since I'm sitting here worrying about my darling husband getting home and off the icy roads, I decided I'd write a little about our wedding today.  We had the BEST wedding and grooms cakes.  They were DELICIOUS!  We got them at Sweet Promises Bakery, and Heidi was wonderful.  She was easy to work with, and her prices are extremely reasonable!

My cake was pretty simple.  We got the topper at theknot.com store.  They were just plain silver letters.  I bought the pink and black ribbons and brought them to Heidi and she added the silver dots.

Matt's cake was MUCH more complicated.  He had a really hard time figuring out what he wanted, but finally decided he wanted a Frosted Flakes box because that is his favorite cereal.  Well, we had to get permission from Kellogg to use the images, because it's copyrighted.  This was NOT an easy thing to do.  Thanks to my mom though, we finally got permission!  I was expecting a blue cake with Tony the Tiger on it.  Boy was I blown away when I finally saw the real thing!  She even included the barcode and nutrtion facts!  That cake was simply AMAZING!  Heidi can't use the cake to advertise for herself because of the copyrights, but I want her to get credit for her great work!  So here it is!

This isn't the best picture, but it's the only one I could find right now.  The color was perfect.  The whole cake was perfect.  If you're getting married, or even if you just need a cake for a special occassion, please consider Sweet Promises.  I absolutely will in the future!

Ok I admit it...

I'm a television ADDICT!  I love it!  And I've managed to get Matt slightly addicted also. 

Matt used to be the kind of guy who always had the TV on but never really watched much.  Go to channels were always ESPN 1, or 2, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel.  He's less that way now though, thanks to me!

We have a TiVo THANK GOODNESS!  So here's the rundown!

Mondays we always watch Hawaii 5-0.  We love it, it's fun and we always love the stories. We also really like the characters.  Hello Jin from LOST!  We also used to watch The Event, but I didn't love it.  I felt the same way about LOST when it first came on so if The Event stays on maybe we'll end up catching up on it.  We also have a tendency to put on some Monday Night Football.

Tuesday is one of my FAVORITE night!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Glee!!!  This show is so wonderful.  I love everything about it!  We sort of "rediscovered" it this year.  We watched a little of season 1 last year and then sort of forgot about it.  Well we bought season 1 and had a little Glee marathon week :)  I also love NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles on Tuesday nights, but those are not Matt shows.

I can tell this could go on a while, so I'm gonna just jot down some other shows I love and the networks they're on!

Cougar Town - ABC (LOVE the cast of this show...it's HILARIOUS!!!)
Modern Family - ABC (one of the best shows on TV)
Criminal Minds - CBS (so interesting)
Bones - FOX (LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!)
The Office - NBC (even if Steve Carell is leaving)
The Defenders - CBS (love the characters, and the hilarious situations)
Undercovers - NBC (we tend to still be on the fence about this one)

There are plenty of others I'll watch when we get the chance.  Most recently we've kind of gotten into The Sing Off on NBC.

What are you favorite shows?

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the newest addition to our family.  We've had her about a year and a half.  She is our playful cat.  I have several scars to prove it.  She is also our vocal cat.  Every time we walk in a room, she greet us.

Her story is not quite as interesting as those of the other two, but I'll tell it anyway!  Mazzie is Matt's cat.  He picked wanted to get her and he picked her out.  When we decided to get another cat, I got to pick.  I got on McKamey Animal Shelter's website, and looked around.  I found a cat that I REALLY wanted.  It was part siamese and really pretty.  So we went to McKamey to look for that cat.  We got into the first room with cages full of kitties and one cat was walking around out of her cage.  She walked right up to Matt, purring SO loudly and looked up at him.  He picked her up and she licked his hand.  We both fell in love instantly.  We went to find someone who could help us adopt...J-Lo?  Really?  Obviously, we renamed her!  On a funny side note, the cat next to her was Beyonce.  I think McKamey is running out of names (which just means everyone needs to go adopt an animal!). 

Cinnamon is also our fat cat.  Poor thing probably has low self esteem because we refer to her as "the fat one" quite frequently.  She is our cuddle cat as well.  At night, she usually sleeps right above my head or inbetween our heads.  And this cat PURRS.  A LOT.  And loudly.  But we love it, because we know she's happy to have her forever home!  She is the kind of cat that will be enjoying being petted one moment then turn around and bite you to start play time the next. 

That wraps up our animals.  If you are ever wanting to adopt an animal (which is the best way to go!), I highly recommend McKamey.  The people there truly care about the animals and are so nice! 

On another side note, I HAVE A DISHWASHER!!!!  And it works beautifully!  I'll post pictures soon...when my kitchen doesn't look like a disaster!!!

Mazzie

Since I wrote about Dottie yesterday, I decided to share the stories of the rest of our pets also.  So, we'll go in the order that they joined our family.  Dottie was first, but next we got Mazzie.

Matt decided he would love to have a cat.  At the time, the Humane Society here had a donor that paid for all adoptions, so we decided to look there.  We headed down there and Matt immediately fell in love with her and her tounge sticking out.  She hadn't been fixed yet, and they don't let you take home a pet that hasn't been fixed, so we would have to wait a couple of days but then we could pick her up at Wally's (a local vet that has low cost vaccinations and fixes pets at a low cost).  So the day we were to pick her up we headed down there.

We get to Wallys and they tell us that our girl cat was actually a boy.  Well ok that can happen.  Then they bring us a box with a cat in it.  I peeked in (thank goodness) to find an ORANGE cat.  Mazzie was grey (and a girl).  I speak up and say "this is not our cat".  So they take me to the back to look at all the gray cats and she isn't back there.  I end up spending the rest of the day calling the Humane Soceity and no one ever answers the phone.  So when Matt got off work, we headed down there.  Turns out someone had named the orange cat Mazzie also (even though it was a boy) and changed the names in the system.  Our poor little kitty didn't even have a name any more.  So they put her in the system as Gray Mazzie, and we finally got to take her home a couple of days later!

Mazzie's tongue frequently sticks out of her mouth and the vet says it's because she is missing some teeth in the front.  We aren't sure how old she is, but she is not a playful cat.  She is very serious and tolerant.  Matt and I frequently do things she doesn't really like, but she just gives us a look.  She never scratches or bites.  We get a lot of entertainment by where she decides to sleep.  It changes frequently and is sometimes quite strange!  I'll leave you with an example!

My Substitute Child

I'll confess.  I am totally one of those sick people that treats their dog like a child.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my cats.  But Dottie is a whole different ball game.  I love her like a child.  She is for all purposes my baby as of this time in my life (which Matt thinks is completely insane!).  So today I'm going to tell you a bit about her!

I got Dottie when I was 19.  I was living out on my own with my friend Katie.  On a whim, we went to this place at Northgate Mall that used to showcase animals from local animal adoption places.  That's where I saw Dottie, and I instantly fell in love with her.  We walked her and I got down on my knees to talk to her and she put her front paws on my shoulder like she was giving me a hug and I just melted.  Needless to say, we adopted her that day, and picked her up after Christmas. 

We found out that she was about 2 1/2 years old, and had been with another family previously.  They told us to watch out because the other family brought her back when she climbed their fence and escaped repeatedly.  She is VERY skittish and especially scared of men.  The way she acts has led me to believe that she was beaten at some point in her life.  She hates when people raise their voices, and she's still very nervous.  Otherwise she has adjusted really well.

Dottie of course came with me when I moved back home where she became super attached to my parents' dog, Maggie (who recently passed away).  Dottie has what I call "junkyard dog teeth".  She is missing a couple and some are cracked and crazy looking.  But she came that way and her teeth are very healthy.  My mother fondly refers to her as a "beagle on stilts".  She has some hound in her, no question, but I have no idea what the rest of her is.  She is a wonderful dog and I love her to death!  Until I have a baby (which is probably a few years off), I have my Dottie.  And I'm perfectly happy with that!

Oh by the way, I still have no dishwasher.  It's installed but evidently the geniuses that installed the old one did not ground wire (maybe?) it.  Which is dangerous and has to be fixed before I can use the new one.  But at least it's in it's place and looks very nice in my kitchen :)

Our home is wonderful...in some ways.  It's a place to live and we are slowly making it our own, although we don't plan to stay here forever.  My parents actually own the house, but we pay the mortgage.  Which is one of the biggest reasons we don't plan to stay.  The biggest problem we have is that the people who lived here before us as well as those who built to the house took some SERIOUS shortcuts!  It seems like every time we try to improve something, some huge mess is created by the shoddy job done the first time.

Take for instance, our new dishwasher.  The old one was straight from the 1970s, as was the oven.  It's hideous, and didn't really wash the dishes.  I pretty much had to wash the dishes, and THEN put them in the dishwasher.  I have always felt like the dishwasher still gets them cleaner because the water gets hotter.  Anyway, here is a picture of the kitchen from when we first bought the house.

We now have a beautiful new oven and flat top stove, which I LOVE!  Well, we also have a new dishwasher.  Which is currently sitting in the middle of my kitchen.  Because when Matt and his friend Johnny were going to put it in, they discovered the original one was put in incorrectly and so now there is also water.  All over my kitchen.  And wet towels.  AHHHH!

They are trying to fix it tonight (I bribed them with hamburgers).  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow, but hopefully I'll have a new dishwasher, dry floors, and an EMPTY sink!

The Story of Us

We've been married a little over ten months now.  Some days it feels like waaaaay longer than that and others it seems crazy to think I have a HUSBAND!

Matt and I met way back when I was still in high school.  He was actually dating one of my very best friends.  We didn't become close until a couple of years later.  At that point he was one of my best friends.  We would talk for hours, but never had any romantic feelings for each other.  We ended up growing apart as our lives went in different directions, but then he called me one night and we made plans to hang out.  It was instantly different between us.  The spark was there, and 2 years and 3 months later, we were married!! 

In the next few days, I'll post more pictures from our wedding and discuss all the details.  It was one of the best experiences of my life!

About Me

About Me

Me (and Mickey)

I am 24 and married to a wonderful man!  I'm a mom

to three furry babies, who I love very much.  We are

all learning to live together, keep a house, juggle our

jobs, our families, and everything else in our lives.

Matt (in his Crocodile Dundee hat)

This is my husband!  He is a great guy who always

keeps me laughing.  He eats my cooking without

complaining, cleans our gutters, and takes care of

me.  What else could I ever ask for?!

Dottie

Dottie is my first "child".  I've had her since I was 19,

and I love her to pieces.  She is quite a strange dog.

My mom says she resembles a beagle on stilts :)

Mazzie

Mazzie is our first "child" together.  She is our serious kitty,

although her tounge is usually sticking out due to some

dental issue.  You can usually find her hiding in some

random spot or curled up near Matt.

Cinnamon

Cinn is the newest addition to our family.  She is very playful

and really quite strange.  Her favorite toy is a wooden spoon

we brought back from the Britsol race.  She has MANY

nicknames and is rarely actually called Cinnamon.

I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it, and gets a kick out of some

of the crazy things that can happen to newlyweds with three furry kids!

Day One!

Well, I've never done this before, but you've got to start somewhere right?

Hopefully I will learn what I'm doing and improve this blog.  That way it will be attractive and interesting to read!