My Revue on Air Supply Mumbo Jumbo Album!

This revue I am going to do different. This album was given to me by my boyfriends mom. She asked me if I liked the group and I said yes and she handed me the cd.

His parents went to the concert to see them. They both said that they could hardly hear the music and was a little upset with the concert. They did get the cover of the cd signed by the group. I thought that was awesome.

I did listen to the cd in my car while I was driving around doing shopping and paying bills.

Listening to this album it is different. Some of the music is like the romantic type, then you have some just different. It is the mellow music still. But this one is just really different for the group. I think they did an awesome job with this album.

I can't do this album song by song like I usually do because the whole album is just so awesome. I really like the whole album. It is so awesome you just have to listen to it yourself. I can't say enough about this album of how much I really like it.

The song for the cover is  great and when I first heard it I was dancing in the car while I was driving. You should have seen the other people looking at me. It was really funny.

I looked on all music and they gave this album four stars for it. I thought that was amazing to see that. What they wrote about the album was really good too.

I would really like to hear what your thoughts of this album is. I am leaving you with a video like always!♥
Have a save and Happy New Year!♥

Happy New Year!

I thought for this blog I would tell you what I have been doing this year.

This whole year has been so great for me. I have been with the best man. I know I have never told you my boyfriends name. His name is Drew. Drew is so sweet, kind, caring, handsome, knows how to make me laugh and just wants me to be happy. He is everything I could dream of in on man. We have been together for over a year and a half.

It has been a very busy year for me. This is what

I have been busy doing this past year.

My son came down for the Superbowl and he told me that his girlfriend was pregnant and I was going to be a Grandma. I was in shock that day. All I remember is calling for Drew to tell him what my son just told me.
 
Yes we did have the blizzard the beginning of the year. After the blizzard our car decided to go on us and we had to go looking for a new car.

For Easter we went up north to be with our families and friends. It was really nice to see them after the long winter. It was great to get away.

Then we had a lot of graduations. There was my daughter, Drew's daughter and my niece graduating from high school. Then Drew's son graduating from eighth grade.  This was a really busy time for us. This was the same time as Drew's birthday too. I had the graduations, the parties and Drew's birthday all at one time.

Then Drew had his vacation and we didn't really do a lot. We did go to Summerfest and we seen Styx. We did plan to go and see some other concerts but we didn't. During his vacation we did go to the beach to see bands there and we went for long walks in the woods around here. 

During the summer we did have my ex husband's seven year old daughter. We had her one time for a week and then on weekends. We took her to the pet store where she could pet animals, to the park by the lake, my daughter had her in the pool here and we went out to eat one day. But most of the time she followed Drew around. She also went with me to see Drew for lunch.

Then my niece that graduated got married. This was on the hottest day of the summer too. Then come to find out she was having the service outside. But the wedding was beautiful and it all turned out great. I was really happy for her.

I was getting everything ready for the kids for school again. My youngest daughter was starting college and his son was going into high school. My daughter is going to Gateway so I had to go with her to find out what classes she wanted to take and get his son's class schedule for high school. This was all during when I just started my new job too. It was hard getting all this together plus going school shopping for the things they needed for the first day.

Then next was the baby shower. I was going and buying some things for my first grandchild. We had to go up north for the baby shower. Drew's mom went with me and this was the first time she met my kids and the rest of my family. She also met my ex husband. This turned out really good.

Then my son called me and said the baby was coming and wanted me up north with him when the baby was born. I just happened to have this weekend off of work. We had my ex's youngest daughter with us for the weekend. I told my son I had to talk to Drew about it and my son kept calling and Drew gave in. So we went up there for when she was born. We missed a concert we planned on going to but it was worth seeing my granddaughter being born. She was a little stubborn one like her daddy too.

To tell you how sweet my man is he took me away for my birthday. Yes we did go up north by ourselves this time to get away from everything here. My daughter stayed here with the dog. It was so nice to just get away with no kids. We did spend time with both families and I did get to see my granddaughter again. It was just what we both needed time alone together.

Then for Thanksgiving we spent here. I could only get one Holiday off of work and I decided not to take Thanksgiving off. Drew's parents went out of state for the month and my family understood. I had to work and Drew made dinner. The dinner turned out great and this was the first time he had made a turkey.

So for Christmas I took the time off of work and we had a wonderful Christmas. This was our second Christmas together. It just seems like each year just gets better and better for us. This year on Christmas Eve morning my son, older daughter, granddaughter and the seven year old came in the morning. My younger daughter was here with us and Drew's son also. It was great. We opened gifts with them then they went to Illinois and we went up north by Drew's parents. We had Christmas Eve with his family. Then Christmas Day we went and did Christmas morning with my mom and younger sister then we went to my older sisters and had dinner there. Then we left there and came home. We got home just in time for the Packer game.

So for New Years it is going to be a nice and very quiet one for us. My daughter is up north and his son is spending it with his mom. I am going to enjoy every minute I can alone with the one and only man that I love in this world. Yes that is Drew. I could never ask for a better man I have the best man in the world right here with me. I have never been as happy as I am with him right now. This past year has been the best for me and I have been so happy being with Drew.

I am leaving you with a video that I thinks tells you how much I love Drew!♥

An easier way to make homemade cinnamon rolls

If you received a bread machine for Christmas this year (or any year), here is a recipe you can't beat for cinnamon rolls without all the traditional mixing and kneading you have to do to make the darn things. All you need is a bread machine with a dough setting. If you are like me, you might be a bit tired of sweets so I think waiting for a few weeks to make this might be best, but this is a good recipe to try and a great way to put that bread machine to good use. The bread machine takes the work out of a hard job that I hate -- kneading!

The recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls 
(for the bread machine -- Rolls will not bake in the bread machine yet the equipment does the hard work!)

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk (or almond milk)
1/2 cup butter (or margarine) softened (20 to 30 seconds in the microwave)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I don't use bread flour because it contains more gluten)
1/2 cup sugar
5 teaspoons yeast (or 2 packages yeast, not the quick-rise kind)
Cinnamon/Sugar/Butter mixture, recipe follows
Glaze, recipe follows

Add ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed above. I like to add the yeast on top of the sugar because I feel putting them together at first makes the yeast act more quickly.

Set the machine on the dough cycle and turn it on. Be sure to check to see that the ladle inside the bread machine is turning. Let it run through it's cycle. My bread machine's dough cycle runs for 90 minutes.

Two photos above, make sure the ladle is in place; an action shot of the bread machine doing it's work.

When the dough rises to the top, turn it out onto a clean surface and cut the dough in half. With a rolling pin or with your hands, flatten the dough and pull it out until it forms a rectangle.

Spread the dough with the following
Sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Use half of this mixture for each half of dough you prepare.

Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into 15 equal slices. Place in a greased pan. (I use a large cake pan.)

Repeat with the second half of the dough until the pan is full. You will make 30 cinnamon rolls.

Allow to rise about 30 to 45 minutes until the rolls rise until all gaps are filled and are about an inch high. They will get a little bounce in the oven. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and bake the cinnamon rolls for approximately 25 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

Make the following glaze and pour on the hot rolls.

Glaze:
1 box Confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Milk (or Almond milk)

My family likes tons of glaze. If you prefer less, only make half the recipe. Pour the Confectioner's sugar into a bowl with a pourable spout, if possible. Add vanilla flavoring then milk, a little at a time, and stir vigorously until mixture is thin enough to pour but is not runny. Pour or ladle the glaze onto the hot cinnamon rolls.

Allow to cool. Store in an airtight containers or in two large gallon, plastic bags lined with Wax or parchment paper.

This may seem like quite a bit of work but if you have ever kneaded dough for five minutes to make rolls, this will seem like a breeze! This works for all kinds of rolls, too.

Bears Week #16

Yes the Bears lost to the Packers 35-21.

I think the Bears did the best that they could with all the injured players Cutler, Forte and Barber.

I also think the third string quarterback did a good job. McCown did a better job than Hinie has done. Yes I know we are still not in the playoffs.

The defense did give the Packers offense a little run for the game.

Like Urlacher said " If we play like this it's what we get". Yes they could have played a lot better but what can you do when you don't have your other players there. Also what can you do when the second and third string people don't get the same practice time as the first string. This is what happens.

All in all I do think this was a good game. I am also going to say good luck to the Packers in the playoffs!

This Is How It Is At Our House For Football!

Yes this is exactly how our house is. I am a Chicago Bears fan. I grew up in Chicago for 13years and then my parents moved out to a suburb. So yes I have lived most of my life in Illinois.

My boyfriend is a Green Bay Packers fan. He has lived in Wisconsin all of his life.

So yes our house is divided between the two teams. But we have fun teasing each other about the teams. Like today they are playing against each other and we are having fun tonight. This is all in good fun with the two of us.

It would be nice to hear if anyone else has a house divided between two football teams!♥

I haven't posted all week and I do feel kind of bad about it but my husband had minor surgery and I had more duties than I expected in getting ready for Christmas. Today I am back with some last minute Christmas ideas.

Above is my new favorite Christmas tree topper from MyHomeIdeas.com. It's hard to imagine that I am still in awe of all the berries on all the hollies I see EVERYWHERE this year, but I am. This is so beautiful and if I have time, I will add some holly to my tree and all around my house. It's too pretty to pass up this year. It may never be this lovely again!

The simplicity of the table decor from MarthaStewart.com is striking. I love it! The Amaryllis is a beautiful Christmas flower but any red flower would work.

 I love the idea of wrapping gifts in useful kitchen and bath linens, also from MarthaStewart.com. This is a Japanese art I would like to learn.

 Thought I had found every kind of cupcake decoration there was? This from Michaels.com escaped my notice -- until now.

I really like this idea because -- well, have you priced the very popular photo cards? You would think that the volume of users would drive the price down but not so this year. With this DIY card you could pose for the shot and then print out the card and cut with an x-acto knife and insert the photo inside. Of course ordering cards might be less time consuming. This would be great gifting and it could later be framed. Neat idea from MarthaStewart.com.

Kids love to draw on things and I love these napkins, again MarthaStewart.com. There is still time for your kids to do this. It would help to keep them busy now that school is out!

And last from MarthaStewart.com, a favor tree. I love it. This is a great way to be ready when guests arrive. They can leave with a nice gift presented in an easy, yet decorative way.

My Revue on Heart Presents A Lovemongers' Christmas Album!

Yes I know I have not done an album revue in a very long time. I am sorry about that it is I just have been so busy with work, family and the Christmas Holiday.

The past couple of weeks I have been making my Christmas cookies and listening to different Christmas music. This is why I am choosing this album to write about.

My boyfriend had told me that this is one Christmas album that he really likes. So I decided to listen to it. This is a really good album and if you like Heart this is one to get. The music on here is so awesome and the songs are really different. This is not your regular traditional music like all the other Christmas album's out there. When I listened to it for the first time I kept an open mind about it and I just love this album.

Here are my thoughts about each song on the album-

Here Is Christmas- The music on here is so awesome. I just love the story this song tells you about the song.

Balulalow- This is a great song and it sounds like they have a choir singing with them.

Christmas Waits- This is a really good song. I do like this one.

William and Rose- This is a sad but good song. I really like this song it is like they are singing about a true story in this song.

Ave Maria- I like the guitar in this song. This song is alright not my favorite on the album.

How Beautiful- This song is really good. I do like this song a lot.

The Last Noel- The person singing this song on here is Frank Fox. But it is a great song I really like this song.

It's Christmas Time- This is a great song and I really like the music on this song.

Oh Holy Night- Yes this song is a traditional song. But her voice on here is so great and just catches you so much. The music is great on this song too.

Bring a Torch- The beginning with the music I just love it. There is no lyrics to this song it is all music and it is great.

This is a mellow Christmas album but it is just so awesome. I can listen to this one over and over. If you like Heart this is a Christmas album for you collection. Yes I am leaving you with one video of a song that I really like off the album! I hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas!♥

FREE e-Book: Stuck In The Middle {by Virginia Smith}

By Heidi on December 19, 2011

 

Amazon is still offering the ‘Stuck In The Middle‘ e-book by Virginia Smith for FREE!

• Got a Kindle or eReader App? Get it for FREE on Amazon!

This post was obtained from www.thefrugalgirls.com.
For similar posts, visit cjrlbooksandmore.blogspot.com. 

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Merry Christmas!

Yes it is time for me to write about Christmas.

I think everyone has forgotten the true meaning of the Christmas Holiday. This is suppose to be about Baby Jesus born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. He was wrapped in cloth and laid in a manger in a barn. They had visits from the animals, wisemen and angels. They brought Mary and Joseph gifts.

I remember growing up and going to church to celebrate Christmas about Jesus being born. This is the way I had raised my kids. Then all of a sudden I am listening to my nieces telling my sister what they want for Christmas. The things that they wanted was really expensive. I asked one of my nieces if they know the true meaning of Christmas. She said yes just to tell my mom what I want for Christmas and I will get what I want. I was really shocked what came out of her mouth. I heard the same thing from my boyfriends son saying what he wanted his grandparents to get him for Christmas. Then my youngest daughter told me he said he can get what ever he wants from his grandparents. I know he was never taught this from his dad. That is not what you would hear from my kids.

When I was living back in Illinois my kids and I would help out with a live nativity scene for church. The kids loved to do this with my parents. You should have seen my son and my dad just goofing around getting ready for it. I wish I would have taken pictures of them. My ex-husband would never take part in this with us.

I love going around looking at the Christmas decorations. I remember when I was younger my dad taking my sisters and I around looking at the decorations. My dad has been gone for about fifteen years and I miss him so much.  This was his favorite holiday and the one holiday I really like. There are times I get sad because I think of my dad.

When I was growing up my parents would have the family and friends coming over to visit during the week of Christmas and New Years. Some of them would call and ask if they could bring one of there friends and my parents would never say no. This is how I was raised you never say no to people and you share what ever food you have with people. There was also one Christmas my dad was laid off his job. That Christmas we really didn't get anything from our parents but we where happy with what we did get. My mom would make all her homemade cookies and give them out to family and friends. I took on this tradition with my mom.

 Now it is all about getting what you want not about being with your family and friends. I really miss seeing my family that I use to see when I was younger. Some of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents have passed away.

I just wish some of the kids would just realize how it was for us when we were younger. The really should get the real reason for Christmas.

I also have fun putting up the Christmas tree and the decorations in the house. While I was married my ex-husband started a Christmas village for me and my family kept it going. I have about a fifty piece village to put under the tree. I haven't put it up in the last two years because we don't have the room for it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and please be safe. I am leaving you with a Christmas song and video!♥

Bears Week #15

Yes what I hear the Bears lost to the Seahawks 38-14.

I had to work yesterday. Then when I was done with work I had to go and finish my Christmas shopping so yes I did miss the game. I am going to write about what I heard about the game.

Hanie got 10-23 passes for 111 yards with a first half touchdown.

The second half of the game the Seahawks defense made it hard on Hanie to get anywhere. They sacked him and the turnovers also.

This was just a really bad game for the Bears. I just hope they get it together for Christmas Day with the Packers. If someone can just let me know how the game was I would really appreciate it.

Good-for-you marshmallows

My daughter made these amazing recipe of homemade marshmallows and blogged about them. Here is the same information. These are marshmallows made for those that need to stay away from cane sugar and eggs. They were easy to make and they made our little fella who is allergic to a number of things and needs to stay away from foods that feed yeast, very, very happy.

This recipe may be made with agave nectar which has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar.

Here is what my daughter had to say:

Actually, these marshmallows are not only egg-free, but they also contain no cane sugar. They are made with maple syrup, but you could use agave or corn syrup according to your needs. They should stay refrigerated, and they are slightly gooey-er than the typical marshmallows, but the recipe I used said they work well for rice-crispy treats, which I plan to make soon.

The best part? They are super-duper easy!!

Egg-free (and sugar "free") Marshmallows

6 tablespoons cold water

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 cup agave, maple, or corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Flour or corn starch

Add gelatin to water and microwave 30 seconds. Pour into mixer. Add syrup, vanilla, and salt. Beat with electric mixer for 12 minutes until the marshmallows are very thick and tripled in size. Pour into a 9x12 baking dish coated with cooking spray and dusted with flour or corn starch (I lined my dish with parchment paper and put a little corn starch on top). Let them cool in the fridge at least three hours or overnight. Cut marshmallows with a wet knife into squares.

When I first put the ingredients in the mixer I thought, "These are gonna be brown!" But they fluffed to a nice color fairly quickly.

 

 

The mixture globbed down into the dish, and I spread it with a rubber spatula. I didn't worry about trying to make them too "pretty" as I am just planning on using them in a recipe. It would be good to note that this would make a great marshmallow cream to add to a recipe without any other steps.

 

 

And this is the finished product -- not beautiful, but very tasty. My 6-year old allergic child was thrilled when I gave him a bowl-full!! I may make some Christmas shapes the next batch using cookie cutters.

The prettiest wreath ever

My sister surprised me yesterday with this gorgeous wreath. It is made from holly she found growing in her yard. I think it is probably the prettiest wreath I have ever seen.

A couple of weeks ago I posted photos of a wreath she had made earlier with some details on how to make one. I knew she was planning on making one for me but I am just blown away by how pretty it is. I am so proud of it and I really appreciate my sis for taking the time and using her considerable talents to make me this wreath.

This photo makes me realize how faded my front door is but it's not as bad with this beautiful wreath.

Thanks sis and Christmas blessings to you!

selena gomez style

selena gomez style

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selena gomez style

selena gomez style

selena gomez style

selena gomez style