I have found a new recipe blog!

OMG!! You have to try these recipes. I made these apple dumplings tonight and I thought Neal was going to gorge himself on them. They are sooooo good and so easy!!! Ree at Pioneer Woman Cooks has the best recipes. I have found so many that I want to try. Tonight we had Marlboro Man sandwiches and tomorrow we are having Chicken Spaghetti. I think we'll have to take a break for a few days after that and clear out our arteries.

Ree also had a blog about her life on a cattle ranch and being married with 4 kids. I stayed up late way to many nights and read as far back as I could. I need to go back and finish but I also need to get some sleep...lol! She also started writing about how she met her husband and how her planned life changed so much.

Anyways, check out the recipes and enjoy!!

Annabelle the cat

This is Annabelle the cat also know as Kit-Kat, Annie, Cutey, and that Damn Cat. Kinsey has also told me her name is Annabelle Elaine...lol! It's a common middle name in our family.

Kinsey has wanted a cat for a few years but we kept putting off getting one until she was a little older and able to help take care of it. This year when she wrote her letter to Santa and spoke to Santa himself she asked for a "real live cat" for Christmas. We decided this was the year. Santa called Mama and Daddy and told them to go pick out a cat at the Humane Society and he would take care of everything. When we walked in we told the people there that Santa had sent us they were very kind and played along with us. Annabelle was the first kitten we looked at and the one that captured our hearts. I specified that we wanted a short haired female so that limited our selection. Annabelle is a tortoise shell short hair. It's a combination of a black cat and a calico. She has a lot of orange on her back that you can't really see in these pictures. Her eyes are a beautiful green.

In this picture she is in the bathroom sitting on my towel basket and laying in my hanging towel. It's a favorite place of hers to sleep or nap. Now when I have to go to the bathroom during the night and she's there is almost scares me to death to see her eyes glowing in the towels!

Notice the coloring on her face. I keep saying it looks like someone took a black marker and divided her face in half. It's a very distinct line. Half her nose is pink and half is black.
For Kinsey's birthday party I ordered some items and they came in this box with the pink tissue paper. Annabelle found the box and made it a new napping place. She loves to "hide" under the table or on the chairs and attack you when you go by. I can't tell you how many times my house shoes have been attacked.
Her favorite place to sleep is on Neal's stomach. She loves to stretch out and get comfy. You can see her surgery scar on her tummy in this picture. She was spayed in January. She's not a modest cat as you can see in this picture.

Right now she is racing around the house playing with her toys. Grandma gave her a Christmas stocking full of mice, balls, feathers, and all kinds of goodies. I'm sure over half of them are under my bed right now :) She loves to race from one end of the house to the other at full speed, tail flying.

I wish I had a picture of her sitting in the window talking to the birds. We have bird feeders right outside the living room window and she loves to sit there and talk to the birds. She chirps and makes funny little noises. On nice days, I've opened the window so she can talk to them through the screen. She loves it! Hopefully I'll have a picture or video of that soon.

Thanks for checking out our newest pet!

I have a Brownie!

Kinsey joined Girl Scouts in December and is now a Brownie. We joined a great group made up of Daisies, Brownies, and Junior Girl Scouts. Last month we took orders for cookies and have been delivering them this month. Kinsey ended up selling about 350 boxes! She was awarded a special star to wear on her vest (not in picture). Last weekend and for the next 2 weekends we are selling cookies at booths. Her troop has done really well with this.

Here is a picture of Kinsey helping me sort the cookies. We had a good system set up and she did really well. Thank goodness most of our deliveries were to big places like Daddy's work or Mama's work or LaLa's work. We only have one delivery left and it's to Grandma! We'll do that in person. Thanks to everyone who ordered.

This last picture is of Kinsey before her Girl Scout Thinking Day Event. Her group represented the country of Brazil. We read and looked at pictures of girls in Brazil. They wear brightly colored skirts and white shirts (the white leggings are because we live in cold NM). Kinsey also wore her Mardi Gras beads uncle Bill brought her back from New Orleans since Brazil celebrates Carnival (similar to Mardi Gras). I made the skirt in about an hour--thanks to my 4-H Club sewing teacher! Thanks Mama!

We are both loving the Girl Scout experience. In May Kinsey and I will attend Mom and Me camp at the Girl Scout camp at Mitre Peak, Tx. This is the camp that I refused to attend when I was a Girl Scout because I didn't want to be away from my Mama. I'm glad they have camp where your Mom can come now. I'm just not sure about sleeping in a sleeping bag and a tent...lol!

Hello! Anyone out there?

Knock, knock, knock! I'm here! I just thought I would post an update before someone (mumble-mumble-Kristina-mumble-mumble) reminded me that I hadn't posted in February! Ha! Got ya before you got me! ;-)

Let's see....where to begin? We had a great Christmas and New Year. Kinsey got a cute kitten from Santa for Christmas and we've all fallen in love with her. I'll have to find a newer picture to post another day because she has grown so much since this picture. I have lots of cute stories to share about her.

My Mom has been sick since before the first of the year. She is having some heart problems and seeing a cardiologist about them. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Neal has bought yet another pickup because you know it's only been 3-4 months since he got the last one. I need to take a picture of it so I have documentation of it before he sells it and gets another one...lol! It's by far the nicest one he's had so far. It's a '92 Chevy Silverado that reminds me of the one my Dad used to drive. I drove it the other day and it brought back memories of Old Brownie or was it High Ho Silver?

Lastly, we are looking for a house to rent or buy very soon. We've lived in this house almost 5 years and were looking into buying soon but things got moved up for us. After 5 years of traveling and other things our landlords have decided to settle down and want their house back. They are having a baby and want to be settled before it gets here. We have 2-3 months to get this going. I have been scouring the newspapers and realtor sites online but haven't found to much. Well, I did find my dream house but after calling about it and almost falling out of my chair when I was told the price I quickly marked it off my list. It had my dream kitchen and garden tub. Someday..........

Anyways, just wanted to touch base and say I am still alive. I plan to start posting again. I haven't been trying many new recipes but do have a few new ones. Keep an eye out and I'll try to get back more often!!

It's December!!

It was pointed out to me today that it was December and I had not posted once this month. I just wanted to take care of that. So there Kristina, I posted in December....LOL!