New Years Resolutions...................not for me

I have never been one of those people that makes New Years Resolutions because I know that I probably won't keep them...............so instead I just pick a day.........pick something to do....................and hope I will stick to it. Seeing as life is going by so quickly and aging is just a part of it, I have decided to give healthy eating a try. O.k. there is no way I am giving up chocolate............that's something I know I can't do, but I will be eating more fruits and veggies and do a little juicing. I am also putting a little time into exercising and hoping that will become part of my life...............I'll have to wait and see on that one. One thing for sure is I want to start feeling better and just enjoying life a lot more............sure hope this works.

An hour with Oprah,

A couple weeks before this trip I received an email along with my other sister's that my sister Paulette had put in our names to get tickets to the Oprah Show. She told us not to get excited as the chances of getting in were slim to none... and the thing is that even if we did get them that we would have to be ready to leave in two weeks. I decided to double our chances and also put our names in. By morning my sister sent us an email with the news that we had not been excepted to the Oprah Show and that is was probably for the best as she probably couldn't take the time off anyway. I than opened my email and with great surprise I saw that I had received tickets to the show and that we had 3 days to accept or turn down the tickets. I then contacted my sister's and before the night we were booked on flights to Chicago. What a beautiful time it turned out to be. We met people along the way that were just every day people with every day lives, but man were they great people. Oprah was of course more than beautiful and the subject was Sarah Palin, Jeff Bridges via satellite but the best part was the message of no texting while driving which I totally agree with. And of course Haiti and how great the suffering is there. I hope everyone will take the time to help the people of Haiti. While in Chicago we did a little shopping, went to the theatre and headed to the Museum. It was a great experience and we learned so much about ourselves and each other.

My third purse

So I sewed my third tote bag and did a few revisions.I made longer handles and added pockets on the outside for easy access to a cell phone and pocket camera or whatever a person needs handy. I am learning a lot from these trail bags and hope to improve them as I try different techniques.

Our condo

Karen's Tote Bag

This is only my second bag and I made it for one of the most special people............that is my sister in law............well really more a sister. She is one of the most special people and I feel blessed that she is in our family. She is a great mom, a loving wife and truly a person anyone would want to get to know. I felt very previlege to get to sew her this. I poured all my love into each stitch and I hope when she holds it she will feel the love I feel for her. My brother and her and their children are moving away and I just wanted to show her how much she means to me. I Love You Karen and wish you all the best in your new journey. May God always keep you safe and may he always let you know that you a truly a special person.

Family pictues

Well these are the first pictures for the year and I tell you boys are never keen on the idea of getting their pictures taken. After my shower they gave me a total of 15 mins. to get ready...................they really wanted these pictures over with. Without proper lighting etc. I knew it would be hard to get good pictures but I'd rather have a picture than no picture. The wind was way too cold to go outside so this is the best we could do. We had to set the timer so I had to run back and forth each time..............it really became fun but I didn't push my luck. Look at the cat he looks like he doesn't want to be there either..........go figure, he's a boy too. Well Happy New Year to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sons are home!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's so nice to have the people you love most back home. Funny how you get your energy back to cook, clean and just be a mom again. Time is going so quickly and I am learning to really appreciate the moments we have together.

My first tote

Well thought I would try my luck on making a tote bag. It is the first I have made. The instructions drove me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a hard time understanding them, but reading and rereading them finally got me to make sense of them. This is the results which I am very pleased with. The only thing I would have changed is the black strap, they didn't have brown so I had to settle for black. Oh yeah by the way I didn't put the big strap because I ran out of the welting. I will do so as soon as I get to the city to buy more.

Mister Sister takes a jacuzzi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this was a much needed bath. We don't usually bath him often but the kids were complaining that the cat smelt a little funky. Thought these were such cute pictures.

My new cosmetic bags

Ever come across something that you needed, that is inexpensive and kinda cute. It is not a brand name item................as I am one of those girls that those things really don't matter. But I thought it was cute and practical and I love, love, love the color!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At this time of year you can find the cutest things for a great price.

This one is for you, Sister Sue.

Sometimes when you get something and try to explain it to someone you can never describe it that well. Well sister Sue, this one is for you. It is the grater you have been looking for. If you can't find it in your area let me know and I will pick one up for you.

Another Great Recipe!!!!

Chocolate Almond Macaroon Bars: Well if you are a chocolate lover like I am you will absolutely love these squares. I never bothered putting the white chips on them and used pecans instead of almonds but other than that I followed the recipe to the tea. If you love coconut chocolate bars you will certainly loves these. Again click on the recipe picture to see the ingredients up close. Maybe I will learn to love baking after all........................o.k. I doubt that will ever happen. Enjoy!!!!

Orange/Chocolate Cheesecake

So if you read my previous post you already know that baking is just not my thing. But when the kids are set to come home from their break from university, I jump at the chance to do whatever I can to make their time relaxing while they are here. My husband loves when they come around otherwise he would probably never get a home made treat. So the baking started in full force a week ago. Last night I came across a recipe for Orange/Chocolate Cheesecake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounded way too good not to give it a try. Instead of putting it into a round dish I put it into a rectangluar one so that I can serve them more like squares. I am telling you they are my new favorites. I can't have dairy for the most part, but hey I just had to try these, they are way delicous. I just took a picture of the recipe out of laziness of typing it all up. It you click on the picture you should be able to see the whole recipe up closer. Hope you give it a try.

My little Pantry

This is my new little Pantry inspired mainly from my oldest sister that I went to visit a couple weeks ago. It is a project I had in mind for a long time but I tell you to get the motivation to do it was another story. My oldest sister is the baker in the family, it is her passion and she could see herself doing it for a living one day. My oldest brother is the chef in the family, no kidding, my mom has 4 girls and two boys and he turns out to have a love for cooking and I tell you he can take any dish and turn it in to something spetacular!!!! My other sister is the business lady, I tell you that girl knows what she is doing in the office, I call her a busy beaver. Next sister loves kids, has taken care of children I believe for the last 25 years at least!!!! Man you have to have patience for that!!! My youngest brother is the repeat of my dad, he loves to tinker with vehicles and is a super family man. I on the other hand am known as the crafty one. I love to come up with new ideas and to work on them makes me soooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. I get my talent from both my mother who loved to sew, crochet, and knit and my father who loves to do wood work. Wow if you look at all this we could really live together and survive pretty well (o.k. maybe that is pushing it). Anyway the one thing we all have in common is that we are all great organizers. O.k.we all have one messy area but besides that we can organize anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which leads me to my pantry. This was once a hallway that really was wasted space. I hired someone to build me cabinets which I designed and was missing a work area until this weekend. I asked my husband to build me a shelf for my Kitchen Aid and away we went. I put all my baking items in containers and my husband got to work on the labels. It was a real team effort!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The shelf still needs staining and if you look real close some of the labels are misspelled but I decided that it just made the experience a little more memorable, so I plan to keep them that way. I still have a little bit of work to do on it but for a 3' by 14' area I think it turned out pretty good. Will this inspire me to bake???? I am not sure of that, but it is sure a cute space.