You are all so crafty!

Now that I'm home, I have been busy unpacking things and finding appropriate places. I went to bed last night with decorating dilemma and wanted to see what you geniuses thought. Watching your creativity’s in your blogs just makes me dazzled with the possibilities!


I have a picture of my formal living room. It is of the bookshelves and the TV.




However, the problem enlies with the soaring vaulted ceiling wall above it. See!



WHAT, do I do with THIS? I was thinking tapestries, but that makes me feel old. I was thinking plate wall (Thank you Kim for you post!) but our furniture has a more "English Study" feel to it. We LOVE rich dark wood and our chocolate leather couches.

Adjacent we have a fireplace with 2 tall windows.



This is what we have so far but again, we have a wall and windows needing some love.



Thank you in advance!

Yeeeee-Ow! That's my happy sound!

I am proud to announce that we are currently making our first trip home to Houston with a load of our belongings!

Carl got a tip off from one of his friends that Triad was hiring in Houston, paying the same amount as Higdon in Dallas. He called the Super's office at 8:00 this morning and they told him he was hired, show up tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. for your paperwork and a potty test.

So he called me. I was dancing and singing with Boscoe (BTW, that dog does NOT like to dance with his mommy, he gets really excited and his tail hurts me!) We were jamming out to my iPod, packing up the kitchen, then the bathroom, then the closet, the living room, and finally, the refrigerator. In the cooler the freezer contents goes!

We are only driving the truck back tonight so we did not get a chance to bring everything, however, everything is packed for either tomorrow night or Saturday.


DID I MENTION HOW GOSH DARN EXCITED AM?!

Back to my fabulous husband that wanted to get me home.....

He talked to his Super at Higdon and Ron said that he was really sad to see Carl go but if this was the best decision for us than he understood and wished us luck. Ron also told Carl that he would always have a place at Higdon Construction whenever he was ready to come back.

So here we go on another adventure...this one is sure to be THE BEST!

We even got invited to a Halloween party by my friend/realtor Tonya tomorrow night and I got an email from Jason Lebeda that he also lives in a suburb of Houston!

I've already got a fabulous baked potato bar neighborhood party stewing in my brain! Eeek! So happy!

Hope everybody else's day is turning out as good!

Just something to think about!

I got this in an email but I couldn't help but post it because it makes me happy!

Think about each one and get gobbled up in the warm and fuzziness....

1. Falling in love.

2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.

3. A hot shower.

4. No lines at the supermarket .

5 . A *special* glance.

6. Getting mail.

7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.

8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.

9. Lying in bed listening to the -*rain*- outside.

10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.

11. Milkshakes (Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry).

12. A bubble bath.

13. .~*Giggling*~.

14. Fresh cut grass.

15. The beach.

16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.

17. Laughing at yourself.

18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you ♥

19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.

20. Running through sprinklers.

21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.

23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS .

24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.

25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.

26. Your first kiss with your partner.

27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.

28. Playing with a new puppy.

29. Having someone play with your hair.

30. Sweet dreams.

31. Hot chocolate.

32. Road trips with friends.

33. Swinging on swings.

34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.

35. Making chocolate chip cookies.

36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.

37. Holding hands with someone you care about.

38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things never change.

39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.

40. Finishing a project.

41. Getting out of bed in the morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.

42. Knowing that somebody* misses you.

43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.

44. Brunch with a best friend on Saturday morning.

45. All the pretty flowers in the world! Giving or recieving them.

46. Watching fireworks with our arm around a loved one.

47. Having a stranger be impressed with something you do everyday as facisnating.

48. A family tradition.

49. Watching a bon fire or fireplace.

50. ♥ FRIENDS & FAMILY ♥

Experimental Kitchen

After having a long and drawn out conversation with Lisa in regards to the leftover can of pumpkin I had, I decided to take the leftover pumpkin into my own hands!

Sue told me about a WW recipe that Lindsay told her about for muffins. Now, why couldn't I do that with a vanilla cake? So I looked up vanilla cake mix and pumpkin online. Lot's of renditions but I ended up just mixing the two ingredients together and making a brown sugar glaze... I have to say, not beng a pumpkin fan, it was the most moist, delicious cake I have ever had in my life! I'm still eatig it. We had it for dessert last night and I'm eating another piece for lunch, preceeding the piece I had for breakfast. Hope you try it and like it!




Glazed Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:
1 Box Vanilla Cake Mix
1 28 oz Can of Pumpkin Pie Filling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together in a bowl until well blended. Lightly grease pan with margarine or butter. Spread mixture into pan evenly. Cake will rise 1/4 inch. Bake for approxiamately 1 hour. Spread a thin layer of glaze over cake and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before serving so the glaze can set. See glaze recipe below.

Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients:
1 TBSP of Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Brown Sugar

Directions:

Melt butter or margarine in pan. Add sugar. Mix well and bring to a rolling boil. Take off heat and wait 2 minutes before spreading on cake. (Also good for pancakes if you run out of syrup!)

Adventures of Boscoe the dog Episode: 1

Once upon time there was a beautiful APBT named Boscoe. He was a very good boy that left a foster home of 5 dogs. Though he loves his mommy and daddy very much, he often sits by the door, window, or on the balcony looking for a friendly canine face.


On October 19, 2008, Boscoe's daddy came home early from work around 2:00 p.m. Before saying hi to mommy or Boscoe, he went to the back door and went out to the balcony. He said, "Boscoe, come here and look at the other baby bull outside."

That's when Boscoe saw the pit bull that would soon become his sidekick, Rocco. (Pronounced Rock-Oh.)


Boscoe and Rocco went for a walk later that evening with both their dads, marking their territories and running around Heritage Loop.

Tune in next time to see more Adventures of Boscoe the dog and his sidekick Rocco.

(P.s. Rocco looks pretty tough, but he's just a muscular dog. Some APBT are just built that way without any training or fighting in their lifetime.)

Pulleeeeeze Help with #81.

Dear Friend,

It seems that I am constantly struggling with keeping an address book full of addresses. Most times I am feeling an urge to drop a letter in the mail for no reason other than to let you know I'm thinking about you, or a birthday card, thank you, recipe card, get better, etc.....

Some people I haven't ever been able to get their addresses and others, well, you frequently get an email, text, phone call, again, etc....and I quote, "I swear you'll never have to EVER give it to me again, I'll burn it into my memory, can I please have your mailing address...again?"....

So here I publicly announce that I am in dyer need to get your address. PLEASE, with a cherry on top, with sprinkles, whipped cream and whatever your little heart desires...CHOCOLATE! Yesssss....Dove chocolate pieces...YUM!

Rose.Brauning@gmail.com is where I would love to have your address sent, please.

With Love,
(And gratitude again for putting up with my memory)
ME

A peek* into my recipe box...

Since I’ve been at home, my mid-western roots have DEFINITELY kicked into high gear. I figure since I’m being a Homemaker now, I have a duty to fulfill which is a dinner that meets all 5 food groups complete with a dessert. I hope that this does not come off as a pessimistic vibe, because in all actuality, I adore being highly domesticated!



I again did some research on the top 25 Sloppy Joe recipes online and decided to do a little experiment concoction of my own, if I may say so myself, (You will just have to take my word for it since it was just Carl, me and Boscoe.) I would have to say that it was pretty darn tasty! So I wanted to share with you the recipe I created to make the Sloppiest, Sloppier, Sloppy Joe. (Sorta makes you think of that Adam Sandler song, doesn’t it? HA!)



Sloppiest, Sloppier, Sloppy Joe

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb of ground Beef (Leanest possible so you don’t have to drain)
1 chopped Onion
1 chopped Green Bell Pepper (Optional)
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Beef Boullion (Or 1 cube)
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp crushed Red Pepper (Again optional, we love spicy at our house)
1 - 16 oz can Diced Tomatoes
1 – 6 oz can Tomato Paste
½ cup Brown Sugar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp Mustard

Directions:
Brown and crumble ground Beef. Sautee chopped Onions (and Green Bell Pepper if desired) with Garlic Powder, Beef Boullion, Black Pepper and crushed Red Pepper. Let simmer 5 minutes to soak up flavors. Drain fat if desired and/or needed. Add Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, Brown Sugar, Water and Mustard. Bring to a Boil while stirring all ingredients until mixed well. Cook on low heat for at least 1 hour to soften meat and let ingredients fuse .

To top it off, we had Blueberry Bread and Banana Pudding Ice Cream for dessert!



As Rachel Ray says, YUM-O! (I ♥ her!)

Daddy, Mommy, Cow and baby

We went to go get the truck wen Carl got off work last night and I almost fell out of the passeger seat of my car when I saw THIS!



All things wonderful...it's the least I've see it since 2007! Is yours even lower where you're at?!

When we got home, we started off the evening with yummy corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner (We weren't together for St. Patrick's Day and well, corned beef and cabbage is always really appetizing to both Carl and myself, so we feasted on Irish tradition. We have this condition that we call I-can't-wait-itis where we eat traditional meals at awkward times. What can I say? Carl married a Christmas in June kinda gal...



Then daddy wrestled with Boscoe and the baby....HIS baby...we bought Boscoe a backpack so that he could burn off some extra energy. APBT's have a lot of energy and we usually take him on a mile walk when Carl gets home. HOWEVER, he still runs around the house like a banshee when we get home, so we bought a sport pack and were going to put my little 5 lb weights to it...HE WAS NOT HAING ANY OF THAT!

I chased him a round th house for half an hour and I was getting really frustrated because he wasn't listening to me. Turns out he just REALLY hates it. He sits, rolls over, crawls and always DOWN when he's told so I was getting hurt that he wouldn't sit still for he backpack. I assume it might be because his previous owners (Before he was taken in by his awesome foster parets through HPPL) maybe tried to train or fight him (He's scared bout random thigs.)

I just wanted to share the awesome pictures of Boscoe, his baby and daddy! He was plum tuckered out after the aformentioned hot pursuit!

Who invented the washing machine...?

I have searched high and low, over and under, all Internet resources! I might not have been paying much attention in school, but I don’t think we went over who invented the washing machine. I remember Eli Whitney, but as I google until my heart’s content (which it still isn’t, so I may need to search some more….) I come up with several names and several machines that have all done the work of our ancestor’s hands.

A washing machine, or washer, is a machine designed to clean laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets.

Today, I revisited those times when women did laundry by hand…


I know, I know, you’re probably asking, “Why, on this green earth would you do that?!



WELL… I’ll tell ya. We haven’t gotten a washer or dryer in the apartment yet and I didn’t have any cash to the laundry facility they have available here at the complex. Carl’s truck is in the shop, so he took my car to work, which voids out the possibility in going to the ATM across the freeway, PLUS I’d have to lug the laundry, again, across the complex. So, long story short, let my hubby wear dirty clothes to work, spend the time we have together in the evenings to go do laundry or……do it all by hand!



If you wonder, than I will tell you, the answer is, “NO!”

I WILL ABSOLUTELY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES EVER DO LAUNDRY BY HAND AGAIN!!!!

In the end, it was long, hard, tedious work and I must say we are all VERY lucky to live in the privileged world that we do! Never take such a small thing as the washing machine for granted again…. The good news it…the socks passed the Rosie Sniffer Test!



YAY! Hands are sore, cracked and dry…but what a good lookin’ sock-er-doodle!

!En Mexico Nuevo, dece Muy Delicioso!

Yesterday Jill come over for lunch, on Le Menu we had an Asian Salad, made by, you guessed it, an Asian! LOL. Here is a picture of said salad.

I thought it made a really pretty picture, so I wanted to share it with everyone. It was awfully tasty, so, "I miss you salad!" LOL.

Carl, Alex and Jordan are in Oklahoma working until tonight (I MISS YOU!!!) and I’m pretty bored. I have been taking Boscoe for long walks and he is REALLY tuckered out on the couch. He’s even snoring, must be a good dream cause he’s snuggled next to his teddy bear and a feather pillow. He’s so spoiled.

Carl did get a job offer to work in Houston but it’s a temporary, 3 month, all hands on deck project. It’s a rebuild for an oil company but he thinks that it will be a good idea to stay with Higdon. Whatever the outcome, I’ll keep everyone posted, we just decided that one way or another, we’ll get the answer if we pray about it.

I went to a karaoke* bar with Jill last night. Since I don’t drink or smoke, I had to have something to keep my interest there. We met a lot of people, I just gotta say, I love Texans. They really are very friendly people. Some Texans can be rather arrogant when they are visiting neighboring states (ex. OK, NM, KS) and they seem to come across as so because they’re loud and proud of where they’re from! I think it’s alright now that I live here, and look back on incidents I either witnessed or have heard horror stories of. I also very much enjoy Texas and the majority of the folks are great southern people who are quick to hold the door for you, even if it will slow them up 5 seconds. Plus, you know it’s a good sign when you walk your cow (Boscoe is now a whopping 75 pounds now!) and people always nod or say hello. I even got to use a touch of my muy piquito espanol with Jorge from Peru that Jill talked with about Salsa and Marranga (I DON'T know how to spell that.)

That’s the small town country girl, living near a big city life I love!

I do miss my girlfriends in NM and KS, and PLEASE don’t get me started on how much sleep I lose at night without my knight with shiny curling iron near by, I am in desperate need of root touch-up….So far, nothing bad to report on the Texas home front. I’m too lucky to be blessed with the life I live.

*Karaoke is unfortunately still my favorite, next to the seasonal dependency on Tetris.

Not quite Walt Whitman....

I would like to think that I am an eloquent writer, but apparently when it comes to my husband, I get all mushy, gooshey, whooshey, vocabulary of a 5th grade, "Roses are Red", kinda brain waves. Eh, I'm in love. Here's my poem!

The food was laid out, the cake was stacked high,
I breathed shallow breaths with my father by my side.

The roses were red and the carnations were white,
The butterflies in my stomach had barely taken flight.

The piano was playing, the guests were all set,
My mind drifted to the first night that we met.

Who knew that we would ever see each other again,
It was all a part of Heavenly Father’s great plan.

We didn’t exchange numbers, but little did we know,
We’d see each other again within 2 months or so.

Another day, where I worked back then,
You called out my name, recognizing a friend.

We went out to eat and you dropped me off at home,
3 more months passed and neither one of us phoned.

Out of the blue we started to talk about all things,
You said “let’s get married…but I don’t have a ring.”

A little reserved I thought back on our past,
Ours is a love that will always last.

Without hesitation I told you yes,
Some say we were hasty but we knew it was for the best.

Marriage isn’t perfect, it’s love; patient and kind,
You learn to compromise, it’s takes learning and time.

Thank you for being my husband and making my dreams come true,
It’s been a wonderful two years, all because of you.

Holy smoking buckets and Highway 45 North, Batman!

When I left Albuquerque, I filled up the truck with gas at Diamond Shamrock service station at $3.49 per gallon. I thought that was a smoking hot deal! I felt even better about my purchase as Highway 40 East was showing signs of $3.79 and $3.89 fluctuating all the way to Dallas!


Until today that is...


$3.29


How much is it in your city?

Hooray! Cross another off the list!

YAY!!! After all the Half of 72 times and Half of 72...again... We have broken ground and I am able to successfully cross off #72 on my 101 in 1001! I read the book by James Frey, My Friend Leonard.



Saturday, Sept 4, 2008 was a great day to lay around under the semi-blown over pine tree in my backyard. I had my swim suit on to catch some rays, a blanket spread out and a good old dog to lay on.

Now the book, the book all in all was fascinating. There were a lot of curse words in it, but that portrays the recovering drug and acohol addict that is our first person narritive character. Interestingly enough the character is also the name of our Author James Frey. If you are able to look over the curse words you will find an intriguing story of a man who overcomes his addictions and takes you on a vicarious ride!

"Frey achieves another stylistic coup... This book packs a full-body emotional wallop. The inside of county lock-up; the flat, gray Chicago winter; an out-of-control Super Bowl party in Los Angeles; the grind of living day to day -- all come alive in his sparse, powerful prose. At its core this is an examination of a friendship. Frey's extraordinary relationship with Leonard is alive, a flesh-and-blood bond forged in the agony of rehab and sustained through honesty and trust."

- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

We are now on our way back to McKinney from Spring now. We should be there in about 3hours. I am kicking myself because I just realized that I left our wedding pictures at the house. However, It might be just as cool to order a wedding book online since all my pictures are on my laptop anyway. It even be cheaper after the materials re said and done. Is that cheating?



I couldn't take a picture of myself under a tree so I put a picture of Boscoe under the pine.

Hazmat

Other than our tree, I was left to face the ugly aftermath of the power being off and the creatures lurking in the night of the refrigerator... I am sparing photos of the innards of the fridge, your worst imagination is much more attractive than the truth. So here is a quick 3 picture reference to how my morning went.

infestation



in·fes·ta·tion

1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious.



paraphernalia



par·a·pher·na·lia

1. (sometimes used with a singular verb) equipment, apparatus, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity.


disguise



dis·guise

1. to change the appearance or guise of so as to conceal identity or mislead, as by means of deceptive garb.


Afterall, I don't want the millions of spore cousins coming after me in the night! LOL. Have a great rest of the week guys!

Half of 71.

So. After my pity party blog yesterday I decided that my destiny is in my hands! I am the ruler of Rose's World, and I make the choice to be sad, bored or downright productive! So I pulled myself up by my chakras and took a look at my 101 in 1001 list to see what accomplishments are attainable while I am work-free.

A good majority of my list is established around being in Spring. I wanted to scrapbook our wedding, but those pictures are in an album at the house, so I looked for some other pictures and Voila! I found the ones from Wyoming with Mitch and Alex.

P.S. There will most likely be lots of pictures/slideshows because I have a chance to finally put my camera phone to use and upload, edit and publish. :)

P.P.S. We are currently driving to Houston tonight because Carl, Alex and Jordan have a 2 day job to do back home. How exciting! So I will be able to get those wedding pictures after all!!!