Still here

I thought I better check in before more time goes by and I don't. It's been pretty crazy at work. I went to Reno/Fernley last week on a 2 day trip and then this morning after my run they asked me to go to Wendover tonight to take them somewhere south of Ely tommorrow. I have to go tonight to beat the snowstorms coming in. So it's really crazy now, I have to pack and get everything ready so I will check in with everyone when I get back!

Dinner

i tried a new recipe last night. If I was one to make resolutions it would be to better feed my family. So I took a page from my sis in laws book and decided that if I make it they will eat it! I found this one one of the fundraiser recipe books that you buy to support whomever.

Vegetable Stroganoff
12 oz. linguini 2 c. broccoli
2 c. sliced carrots
1 c. cottage cheese
3/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. grated parmesan
i medium onion chopped
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 lb. mushrooms
3 Tbsp. margarine
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 c sliced olives
2 to 3 c cubed cooked chicken (optional)

Cook linguini. Rinse in hot water. Cook broccoli and carrots, covered in boiling, salted water for about 5 min, till crisp/tender. Drain. Combine cottage cheese sour cream and 1/4 c paremesan.

Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms till onion is tender/clear. Stir in flour,salt and pepper, cook until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in milk. Cook until mixture is smooth and thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in olives and veggies. Carefully blend together, adding cooked chicken if desired. Add hot linguini. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Now I changed it just a bit. I love veggies so I thought 'veggie' what else would be good with that. I didn't think Rick would like the olives but looking back it would have been ok. I added artichoke hearts and red peppers to it. It was fabulous! Rick came in and looked at it and went OOOOOHHHHH I don't think so. SO I gave him Suzy's great line.......I cooked it you will eat it! and guess what? HE LIKED IT! Zac of course wouldn't have anything to do with it, not even his two bites and you can have something else and Rick and I were just tired enough to not fight him this time. Oh well, another night.
So what new recipes have you tried? Oh yea and by the way it was simple and fairly quick to fix... my kind of meal.

Memory lane................

Recently we've been planning a baby shower for Ashleigh, John's wife. She is due with their first child (a boy) the beginning of March. Ashleigh asked me if I could get her copies of John's baby pictures as they want to make a collage of pic's from when the two of them were kids. Cute idea I thought.

So finally I pulled ALL of the pictures out and started sorting. Now I've always wanted our pictures scrap-booked nicely and I've even bought stuff to get started but the task as so overwhelmed me that that is about as far as I've got. So this request was probably not such a bad thing. It actually gave me a starting place and an idea of how to go about it. I've decided to separate the kids' individual pictures and then do an assortment of group photo's. It was fun to take that stroll down memory lane and relive John's life through the photo's I have. I found lots more than I thought I might have so I was also pleased to find them. It was a time consuming job but when it was over I found that it was worth it. I started on Courtney's pictures this afternoon but since I don't have a time constraint I plan on taking it a bit more slowly.

I always tell stories about our dogs but did you know we have goldfish? Seven of them. They started out as feeder fish for the snakes we used to have (Rick convinced me to let them go back to the wild.) so their lives were spared and they turned into pets. They live in a 50gallon fish tank and swim happily around it every day. They're lots of fun to watch and will come to the top and kiss Zac's fingers.... he thinks that's really cool.
Speaking of Zac he lost his first tooth last week and the tooth fairy came to visit leaving him $2.50. I guess the tooth fairy has her pockets full of cash to leave in exchange for kids teeth. Now Zac has another one getting ready to come out, how come they always go in groups? He's saving his tooth fairy money in his Spiderman bank so he can buy a new Wii game.

Chance got a bath yesterday too. He really loves getting his tummy rubbed and will lay in your lap for just about forever if you rub his tummy!

It's not the Emerald City

So off to Reno I went with the Elko High girls Basketball team. Man is that a long drive. The athletic director for the district went with us and she is licensed so I drove half way there and then she drove and I took a nap. The reason she went is because the varsity team went to Las Vegas for a tournament after today's game so they will be there through monday. I want to go too!!!! oh well. I brought the freshman and JV teams home which is why I am editing this post at 4:00 AM. Can't sleep yet. But I can and will sleep in this morning. Rick is always great at occupying Zac and letting me sleep after trips like this. 16 hours all told and about 650 miles. Not bad for a Friday huh? OK off to bed.......

-8 degrees

This is one of those mornings when I don't mind being a substitute and not working. It is officially minus 8 degrees at the Elko airport. Last winter we had 4 to 6 weeks of minus temperatures every day with the coldest being minus 28 with the windchill! I have never been so cold in my whole life! This is the coldest it's been this winter however so I guess I shouldn't complain and the closest I have to actually going outside today will be to take Zac to the bus.

Zac woke up early this morning. Rick and I were watching the news before Rick had to go to work so I had Zac snuggle under Mike & Lonaka's afghan, kind of give it a test drive. He's gone back to sleep and Chance decided that this would be a good time to take a nap with him! Too cute huh?

So what do you do to keep warm when it's freezing out?

Cold, Cold, Cold........

I finally got Mike & Lonaka's Christmas afghan finished. A few years ago I had the bright idea to make each of my children an afghan for Christmas. What a great thing I thought. I don't quilt but I do crochet. I have made numerous afghan's through the years and Courtney so much liked the largest most complicated one that I made that I thought.... I ought to make one for my children and pass on my talent, they also make good couch snugglers! So of course Courtney got the first one and John & Ahsleigh got theirs last year (I tried to get it done for their wedding but of course that didn't happen). and Micheal and Lonaka were scheduled for this Christmas. I tried blaming it on a really crazy year, not getting theirs done. It really does take me a full year to make a really good size afghan and I wanted each of them to be really nice, something that would last. I also really liked the yarn that I chose for theirs, it's a variegated green and blue, very classy combination and this particular pattern is a no-brainer type. You don't have to count it the pattern does it for you! And it actually turns out square (or rectangular). So now it's on to Tiffany's for next Christmas. I've even been thinking about doing one for each of the grandkids (I'm a gluten for punishment!)

Zac's hair has gotten really shaggy over that last few weeks. His hair grows like CRAZY! He really needs his hair cut once a month and when we skip or put it off he starts to look hairy! So it was off to Rae Lynn's for a haircut. I love this sign she has in the shop! It was hard to find a new hairdresser when we moved here. We had been going to Leslie for a very long time! In fact the first 18 months we were in Spring Creek we would coordinate our haircuts with when we went to SLC. Then last summer I got desperate for a perm. Most of you can probably relate to when you want to shave your head that it's really time for the hair salon! I took a chance and out of the phone book picked Taylor'd hair salon where I booked an appointment with Rae Lynn. She did a fabulous job and we had found a new hair stylest.

Football

Like many Americans we spent most of this weekend watching the Football playoffs. Rick and I are Washington Redskin fans (Rick lived in the DC area for about 15 yrs.) and our second team is the New England Patriots (go Pats undefeated) I often wonder why football player parents name their kids such weird names.... Plaxico,Tiki, Marion, Peyton....just to name a few. It was a good football weekend with most of the teams we wanted to win winning! But alas it also means the season is almost over.
OK on to business..... Suzy tagged me with the 5 things questions so...
5 things I was doing 10 yrs ago.... that was along time ago. It was the beginning of 1998. It was the year ............
Rick's brother passed away
We went to the Temple for the first time
We hiked to legendary Mary's lake in Yellowstone with Mom & Dad
Alaina and Brianna were born (does that count for 2?)
Rick and I celebrated 5 yrs together.

5 things on my to do list...........
get the baby blankets done.
finish Mike & Lonaka's afghan (I did this weekend)
get my desk cleaned and organized
just be more organized in general.

5 of my favorite snacks............
anything dark chocolate...ok chocolate in general
kettle corn popcorn
rice crispy treats
chocolate turtle cookies
egg rolls or spring rolls

5 things I'd do if I were a billionaire........
pay off all my debts (go figure)
pay off all of my loved ones debts (go figure)
invest
I don't think I'd retire but we would live a much nicer life financially
buy a few more dogs

5 places I've lived...........
SLC, Uath
Ogden, Kansas
Muldrow, OK
Georgia
Newport, R.I.
Spring Creek, Nevada.....ok that's 6

5 jobs I've held.......................
Dog kennel cleaner
Shoe salesperson
Alteration person for a dry cleaners
Motor Coach Operator for the mine shuttles
School Bus Driver

does that make any of my life interesting? I think some of it has been.

so the only person I can 'tag' is Christina.... so TAG

Snow day

We had a great time yesterday Zac and I. The decision was made to close the schools for the day. We got quite a bit of snow and the fine employees of Elko and Spring Creek just couldn't keep up with it so.......

NO SCHOOL! We did however half to get up and take a friend to work. Her husbands car was stuck in our front yard and she had to go to work. We happen to have-wheel drive on our truck ( I love my truck) so Zac and I volunteered to give Sue a ride. The snow was so deep (how deep was it?) in our driveway that we had a bit of a time just gettinmg out on the road. But we got Sue to work just fine and enjoyed a lazy day. Had to go out in the afternoon and run some errands.

I found these really cute pieces of fleece to make baby blankets for the upcoming babies! I got them at Walmart. as I explained it to Rick you have to buy it when you see it at Walmart. Even more so here4 because it's the only reall place to shop here (sigh) but I think they are just adorable! And I found this flannel......

for burp rags! Now I just have to get them done! What do you do special for new babies?

And more snow

snow?

I've been contemplating snow today.

Most people either love or hate snow. You don't like the cold but do like the moisture it brings.....

It can remind us of the Holiday season and the new year bringing the promise of spring and a new begining..................

Me? I like the snow, it makes everything white and fresh and new looking. I even don't mind driving in the snow. Most people hate driving in the snow. You have to respect it...... not be afraid of it. That's the key to driving in the snow...................

so whatever your feelings. I say.............

'Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!'

Oh yeah..... and if you have one make a nice roaring fire and snuggle in front of it with the one you love.

Back to school & work

After two weeks of sleeping in and staying up late and endless playing it is time to get back to work and school. Zac was so tired when he got home yesterday we sat on the couch for the afternoon and evening before dinner and bed. And of course we indulged in Zac's favorite meal....

McDonald's Happy meals.

Zac, Rick and I had bunches
of fun when Alexis and Conner
came for the New Years weekend.

Zac had alot of fun playing with Chance.

And then there was the snow.......................

We have decided that Chance is really a snow puppy. He loves to be outside, in the snow, he and Zac had lots of fun chasing each other around till Zac was frozen!

But now it's back to real life and schedules and homework.

Happy Holidays

Christmas has come and gone, the presents are all unwrapped and the New Year is here.

Zac was thrilled by all that Santa brought this year. Now that is one excited guy!
He has new games to conquer and a race track to zip around. Even a spiderman camera to continue his love of abstract pictures. Alexis and Conner came to visit New Years weekend and play. We had a great time having them here. Being grandparents is so much more fun than being parents. You can spoil them and have fun with them and then send them home! It really is true.

So here is a pic of Buhl, Idaho......

Where I took both the Spring Creek Basketball teams and the Elko wrestling team. BB was a one day trip and the wrestlers had a tournament. Luckily both times we were able to skip the snowstorms that have been bringing us all kinds of snow.

So a happy winter is being had by all at the Clarke homestead. With the New Year comes a time of reflection and looking towards the future.