Picasa Header "How To"

I've received a few inquiries as to how I do my header with the custom pictures and text.  So, here is a tutorial on how I do it.  I use Picasa.  If you have a Gmail account, you have Picasa.  You just have to download the program, but it's free and you have free online storage as well.  If you don't have Gmail, it's all free so just creat an e-mail account and you get a free Blog (Blogger) and photo storage (Picasa).  Here goes.

Start by picking a blog layout from your favorite designer that has a matching header.  Some sites I use are Shabby Blogs, Delightful Dots & Delightful Dots Headers, Cutest Blog on the Block, and Alllie Brown's Layouts (hers are a bit more complicated, but cute).  Headers work like a picture.  Just right click on it and save it somewhere on your computer (I have a Blog folder in My Pictures). 

Then open that picture in Picasa.

On the bottom tool bar, there is a button that looks like a green push pin.  While clicked on your header picture push the green push pin button.  That will save the header in your "selection" box.

Then repeat the process for all the pictures you would like included in your header by pushing the green push pin button for each one.

All of your header pictures should now be in your "selection" box at the bottom.

To the right of that box there are several one click options such as "Upload"& "Email".  You need to choose the "Collage" button (right next to the "Blog This" button which is also pretty cool).  This will put all of your pictures onto one platform.

It will automatically put it into "Picture Pile" which allows you to place the pictures anywhere on the page, which is your best option.  You can play around with the other layouts if you want to.

VERSION 1: If your header is the right shape, you can click on that picture and on the right-hand tool bar under "Background Options" choose "Use Image".  This will Automatically place your header picture as the background.  If you like how this looks, just arrange you pictures on top of it and you can be done.  You can adjust size and rotation of each picture easily just by clicking on each one and using your mouse.  You can also right click choose "Bring to Top" or "Move to Bottom" for overlapping pictures.

VERSION 2: If your header is NOT the right shape (the more likely to be true), resize your header to be as big as possible without cutting anything off.  Then arrange your pictures ONLY on top of your header picture.  Don't let them go off of your header unless you are ok with them being cut off later.  You will need to choose "Move to Bottom" for your header picture in order to see them all.

Once you have all your pictures exactly where you want them, on the right-hand tool bar choose "Create Collage".  This will save your collage under My Pictures/Picasa/Collages.  Wait until you see the little box on the left-hand side say "Collage Finished! (click to view)".  Click that.

Now if you have VERSION 2 you will need to crop your collage before continuing (VERSION 1 will skip straight to the next step).  On the right-hand tool bar choose the "Crop" button.  Click and drag your cursor to ONLY be around what you want to be shown in your header, i.e. trace your header picture.  When you have achieved the crop you desire select "Apply".

Now for text.  You can still use the Blogger text over top of your header, but sometimes it's hard to get just the right colors and you can't change where the header is and just a little tweek in that can make a big difference.  I recommend doing your own text, it's more fun anyway!

On the right-hand tool bar select "Text".  Where ever you want your text to be, just click there and start typing (you can move it later).  I type my header and my header description seperately just in case I want different fonts or sizes.  Whatever text is in the same box will automatically be the same size/color/font...keep that in mind.  After typing all the info you want, click on the box.  From here you can change the size/color/font on the right-hand menu and it will automatically update your text so you can see how it looks.  When changing the color, the left "T" with the color circle next to it is for the interior color, the right is for the outline.  The drag bar (sorry I don't know the technical term) next to the right "T" controls the thickness of the outline.  Play around with all the fun stuff you can do :)

When your header looks exactly the way you want, SAVE IT!!!!!

Now you can upload your new header into Blogger just as you would any picture.  In Blogger, go to "Layout" and "Edit" the header.  Upload your picture (don't forget to "Shrink to Fit").  If you chose to type your own text on top of your header, remember to click "Instead of header and description" or you will over lap your words.  Save and View Blog.

I know it seems like a lot, but once you go through it, it's really not that bad.  Oh and I really wanted to have pictures of the steps for you, but Blogger wouldn't let me paste my print screens :(

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Besties

Does anybody know?

If I change the URL for my blog, will I loose all my Followers?  It may seem like a dumb question, but sometimes there are exceptions, like it will just point them to the new one.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Frustrations

It's so frustrating that some days I have 500 things I want to say on my blog (but don't want to be overwhelming with tons of posts) and other days I have nothing!  I wish I could remember all the things I was going to talk about on those days and pull out those ideas on my *blank* days.  Hey, maybe I'll keep a journal, just thought of that!  I will need one by my bed because lots of ideas come in the night.  And then I'll keep on on my computer.  Then maybe I can be more effective.  Hhhhmmm, might have to actually try that.

Anybody else have this problem?  Or does my brain just not work properly? :)

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Riley has been waking up so early the last two days.  He starts coughing around 3ish and then wakes up coughing around 7am and doesn't go back to sleep.  And to top it off, I woke up with a a tention head ache in my neck this morning - must have slept funny.  Waking up too early and head aches are a huge frustration for me!

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Riley has starting making monkey sounds - so cute!  "Ooo-Ooo, Eee-Eee" he goes around saying randomly.  The only other distinctive sound he's ever made is for truck and lions - they both sound the same :)  So it's a big deal that this is a new one.  Oh wait, this isn't a frustration...ooops!  Still cute and I wanted to share.

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I went to the dentist yestday.  I haven't been in at least 5 years since we haven't had insurance for it.  I totally don't mind going, just can't pay for it.  The result of waiting so long: 4 cavities and I need all 4 wisdom teeth pulled!  Luckily our medical spending account renews next week so that will pay for it all.  But still, no fun!

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Alright, that's all for now.  Happy Tuesday!!!!!

Chocolate Chunk Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Tonight I made my first coffee cake from scratch.  I love coffee cake, but coffee cake with chocolate is even better.  It's the Chocolate Chunk Cinnamon Coffee Cake from Allrecipes.com.  I would make a couple of suggestions if you choose to make it.  DON'T mix the chocolate chips with the sugar/cinnamon before hand.  Just spred them out seperately.  I feel like I wasn't able to get and even amount of both since the sugar/cinnamon just stayed at the bottom of the bowl.  Oh and I did NOT use pecans either...icky!!!  The other alteration I made was I used half milk and half dark chocolate chips, so yummy!

 

I wasn't sure sure about my sour cream quality. It was a few days past it's date, but hadn't been opened for a while, so I just risked it :) I'm also so bad at estimating the "pour half the batter in" part.  I always do too much or too little.  I think this time I did too much in the bottom, but it was fine.

I got to use the Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract that Travis' company sent us for Christmas.  Of course you can't really taste it in cake, but it was fun to use.  I also altered the recipe and added Almond Extract as well.

And here's the final product!  I thought it was strange that the cinnamon didn't melt into the cake all the way, but it was still great.  Amazing recipe!!!!

Christmas Gifts

So my hubby went a little crazy with my Christmas presents this year.  In October he gave me a brand new set of kitchen knives.  Some people may say that's boring, but I was so excited!  Then right before we left on our trip he gave me Wii Fit Plus.  I'm excited to have exercises to do around the house.  With all the yummy cooking I do now, goodness knows I need to exercise!  And then on our Christmas morning (AKA Dec. 27th) he gave me Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and a book on how to use it.  I was totally suprised by this one, really.  I had absolutely no idea he was even thinking of getting this for me.  Oh and the new Kris Allen and Michael Buble albums, oh yeah!

I feel so richly blessed that he invested in me so greatly.  He told me the reason he went a little overboard is because he knows I don't have a lot of hobbies (which is true) and he was hoping that these things would help me.  He can just do research on the computer, bust out his guitar or a million other things to keep him occupied, but not me.  I need a project, ya know?  I love to work in scrap booking, but never have enough products to accomplish what I want and don't have anywhere to work on it besides the kitchen table.  Scrap booking, blogging and my cross stitching is about all I have that I can do around the house.  Since I'm home all the time those things really don't fill up a lot of my time.  Yes, I'm busy with Riley and the house, but sometimes it's nice to do something you wanna do.

The knives help me in my new love for cooking.  The Wii Fit Plus helps me in my desire to be healthy.  The Photoshop helps with my scrap booking, blogging and just being creative and learning something new.

Thank you honey, you are the best!

My New Blog

I've decided to start a second blog.  I know, I need one more thing to do :)  I have really been feeling lately that I need a blog to focus on our new journey in trying to conceive again.  So I just did it!  Please visit inCONCEIVEable and let me know what you think. If you know anyone who deals with infertility at any level, feel free to pass on my blog to them.  I only have one post up right now, but I'll be working on the others this week.

Thank you for your support!

I'm back!!!!!

We FINALLY made it home yesterday at about 5:45pm!  We are so grateful to be home, sleep in our own beds and get back into our normal routine.  We had a wonderful time visiting my sister and her family, but coming home is always the best part of any trip!

Ok, so here's what happend....

We left for the airport at 10am Friday morning.  Our flight was scheduled to take off at 12:30pm.  We got our bags checked and through security rather swifty and headed to our gate.  Our first flight was a little over an hour to Columbus, OH.  Then we would take a plane to Denver, CO and then home to Boise, ID.  As we waited to board our first plane, we ate some lunch and let Riley run around.  It was finally time to board, so we got in line and off we went.  We were on such a small plane that we just walked outside to the tarmack and went up the tiny stairwell of the plane.  It was a one seat/two seat configuration - very tiny plane.  We got all settled in and only about 15 people on board when the flight attendant told us we had to get off the plane and get onto another one.  They wanted to send our plane to Indianapolis instead.  She also said it was very strange because protocol says once the plane starts to be boarded they can't change it like that.  She told us we needed to go to gate C18 (we were in the A concorse currently) and that there would be an attendant to guide us.  She and the pilot were going to follow shortly.  We headed off the plane and there was no attendant to help us.  So we just started heading towards C18 hoping it was right.  I checked the Departures board and it had been updated correctly so we felt pretty confident.  I don't know if you've ever been in the Dulles airport, but you pretty much have to take a shuttle outside to get from one concorse to another.  So we all boarded the shuttle and headed off to the C concorse.  When we approached C18 the attendant looked suprised to see us.  We told her what happended and asked when the plane would be boarding.  She said this plane was delayed due to mechanial issues until at least 4:30pm!  This would make us miss ALL of our connections so that was unacceptable.  She told us that customer service would help us.  So we all (meaning all 15 or so of us that were on original plane plus some that were already in line that they didn't let get on the plane at all) got in line at the customer service.  At first there were only 3 people manning it, but after about 15 or 20 minutes, all 6 stations were manned.  When we first got in line, I noticed that Riley's eyes were drowsy, so I laid back his seat in his stroller, put up the sun shade and rocked his stroller to put him to sleep.  It only took about 5 minutes and he was out - THANK YOU LORD!!! He slept the whole time we were dealing with the new plane arrangements and for about 10 or so minutes after.  When we finally got our turn at the customer service, the guy worked for a very long time trying to figure out how to get us home.  Basically we weren't going through Columbus anymore and we needed to get to Denver.  The later flight from Denver to Boise was full, so we had to be on stand by for the next Denver flight to try and make our original Denver-Boise flight.  If we couldn't get onto that flight we had to fly out Saturday morning instead.  He booked us the flight just in case and we were good to go (ha, ha, yeah right).  We had to wait about 2 hours before we would know if we could get on that plane.  Of course we didn't get on it.  In the mean time, we found out that our original flight had been cancelled.  So at about 3pm I called my sister to come pick us back up.  That's 4.5 hours in the airport, boarding and getting off of one plane, 4 shuttle rides.....and we went no where!!!!  And on top of that our bags were on a cart somewhere outside and we would have to go back to the airport about an hour later to get them.  When my Dad and husband went back to get them, they still didn't know exactly where they were because they hadn't been scanned again.  Basically they were probably on their way to Boise but they weren't positive about that.  So we went back to my sisters, borrowed clothes so we could wash ours, set all our beds back up and crashed.  We had to get up at 6am to make our 9am departure to San Fran.  We didn't have any bags to check, so that made it a bit easier.

The rest of the day went even better than expected.  We didn't have any seats together originally, but the attendant at the gate was able to get two together for us.  When we got on the plane, we asked the other lady in our row if she would switch with my Dad and she did - so nice of her!  So we were all together on the 5 hour flight.  We then had a 4 hour lay over (not so much fun) before getting on the tiny plane to Boise.  It was a two and two configuration.  So Travis and I were on one side and Dad and Riley sat across the isle.  This plane was not full so Riley got his own seat.  That is so helpful with a lap child (although I guess that doesn't make him a lap child does it?).

This is the last time we will fly without Riley having his own seat.  Our next trip is in June, but after he turns 2 so he's not eligable for sitting on our laps anymore.  We may even drive for that trip, so it might not matter anyway.

Alright, that's my story!  I'll write about our acutal Christmas Day and everything in the next day or so.  I'm exausted!

Delayed

Well, we are still in Virginia.  We should be in the air right now on our way to Denver.  Our flight to Columbus, OH was cancelled and they tried to get us on a direct flight to Denver.  We were on stand by but the flight was totally full so we didn't get on.  We are booked on a flight tomorrow morning at 9am to San Francisco then home to Boise.  Hopefully all the weather will be good and we will get out ok.  There is MUCH more to the story, but I'm a little too burnt out right now so I'll share later.

It does give us one more evening with the fam, so that's the up side.  I tried to be extra nice to every airport worker today because I know it's a sacrafice for them to be working on Christmas Day.  I told one of the security workers that I appreciated him working today so we could get home and on of the other lady security workers stopped me and said "Thank you for saying that.  It makes it all worth it!".  I was glad that it encouraged her.  It's amazing how nice everyone was because I took the time to talk to them and recognize thier efforts.  Sometimes just a simple "Thank You" makes a world of difference. 

Oh and by the way, this is my 150th post!  Thanks to everyone for reading, you are all so very special to me.

An update on our furnace - it's fixed!  It was actually fixed the day after it broke, I just forgot to update the status on here.  So our house should be nice and cozy when we get home.  Or rather when we turn it back up.  I'm sure the land lord turned it down pretty low while we were gone.

As fun as it has been to be with family, sometimes you are just ready to go home, ya know?  Especailly when you get all packed up and get to the airport and actually get on your plane and then you not only have to get off, but have to go home again.  Just done traveling :)

Merry Christmas to all!  Talk to you when I get home!!!!

Not me Monday - First timer

Ok I've really never done this before for a few reasons. 1).  I'm too embarrassed to share the things I *don't* do 2). I'm not creative like some people in how they word them with such great humor.  I felt like I could contribute today, so here's my attempt.

*I did NOT let my child run around with his blankie that is only for bed time just to have some peace and quiet

*I did NOT have my guard up in line for Santa to make sure a certain family did not cut us off and made sure they were behind us instead

*I did NOT force my child to sit on a strange man's lap with a red suite on while he screamed bloody murder just to get a Santa picture

*I did NOT then force him to stay there and also take a picture with his cousins and Santa

*And I did NOT pay $30 for three sheets of pictures (2 of Riley and 1 of all the cousins)

Happy Monday!

Sunday Funday!

It's Sunday! How bout a little Sunday Funday action to get this Christmas week started.  For this weeks Getting to know YOU, KEELY thought it would be fun to do some one answer questions and make it easy for us! 

All you havta do is copy and paste the questions to your blog, answer em, go HERE and link up.  Of course you can always answer the questions as a comment.  Love me some comments, don't you????

Today's questions..

1. Middle name?  Ann

2. What do you think is your best asset (physical)?  Eyes

3. If you could only eat one type of cuisine for a year, what would it be (Mexican, American,Chinese..etc.)?  Italian

4. Walmart or Target?  Walmart

5. Favorite State besides the one you live in? Oregon

6. What side of the bed do you sleep on, left or right? Left

7. King or Queen size bed? King

8. Beer or wine? Beer

9. Water..ice-cold or room temp? Cold

10. Christmas..love it or hate it? LOVE IT!!!

A new award

Yay, I haven't gotten an award in a long time.  Laura @ Life Happens gave me this fun award.  Thank you Laura!

The rules are to list ten things that make me happy and five blogs that make me happy and pass this along to them!!  These are in no particular order.

1. Snow!!!  We have a blizzard here today at my sisters house in Virginia.  It is such a happy thing, as long as you don't have to drive in it.  My favorite thing is to sit by the window with my Christmas Tree lights on drinking coffee or hot cocoa.
2. Singing.  I have been singing since I came out of the womb pretty much :)  It's my most favorite thing to do and it's what brings me my peace and purpose in life.
3. Family.  There is nothing that replaces them.  Through all the quirks and multiple personalities you still love them and they still love you.  As good and wonderful your friends can be, they have their own families and their own lives.  Your family is your rock!
4. Friends.  Yes they still make me happy :)  A friend is someone you can complain about your family too and know that they understand you just need to vent sometimes.  Friends are the ones you can call to go hang out, but it's still ok if they say no.  Friends are the ones that take you to the airport at 6am and pick you up on Christmas Day.  I love my friends!
5. Coffee.  I love to start my day with a good cup of coffee.  And any time I have a few extra bucks, Starbucks is where you'll find me.  Yes, I am an admitted coffee snob and proud of it!
6. The sound of my sons laugh.  Yes, my son makes me happy (most of the time), but his laugh is the best of all.  It's so happy and joyful I just can't get enough of it.
7. Blogging.  It brings me joy to write out my feelings and have someone listen.  To be able to be myself and you all still love me makes me incredibly happy!
8. Christmas.  It's the best time of the year!  I even love the crowds at the mall, I know, I'm crazy.  It's just the bussel of the season and the decorations at the stores.  I love the lights, the presents and the reminder that God sent his only Son to come into this world for you and me. 
9. My husband.  He is the best!  He is all I could ever ask for in a husband and a best friend.  He is so amazing beyond words.
10. The future.  It makes me happy to think about the possibilities of our life and what it may hold.

Now here are 5 blogs that make me happy.  I have chosen 5 of the newer blogs I'm following to pass on the love to.

1. More than a Mom
2. A New Kind of Normal: Living an Abundant Life with Chronic Illness
3. Endurance Isn't only Physical
4. Everyday Surrender
5. Once Upon a Mommy

Happy Saturday!

Let it....blizzard!!!!

We woke up to over a foot of snow this morning in good old Virginia!  The forecast last night was over 2 feet throughout the day today and possibly more tomorrow.  So crazy!!!  It's still coming down pretty good.  Riley is still a bit sick and the snow is practially over his head, so he's not going out in it.  Luckily he doesn't know the difference yet, so it's all good.  My Dad took my neice out in it, but they didn't last long - it's a little nasty out there.  They dug a trench to get through the portch, but it's already being covered up again!

So just a short recap of our trip so far...

Riley did pretty good on the plane - between all four of us :)  He spent most of the time between Pop (my Dad) and myself, eating and looking out the window.  I finally got him to go to sleep just as we were decending to Chicago, urgh!  So he slept for about 20 or 30 minutes.  Time seems to have a different effect on you when you are traveling.  Sometimes and hour feels like two and sometimes only 15 minutes, so I'm not exactly sure how long he slept.  We has a little over an hour in Chicago and then we were off again.  We were on a 777 going to Brussels after Dulles, so that was fun!  A very international group of passengers and a very large plane.  As we walked down the isle to the back of the plane, we passed the giant First Class with the huge side ways chairs, then Business Class with the over-sized chairs and large isles.  Then there was the Economy Plus, with decent sized chairs, and then us...Ecomomy - with squished chairs and tiny isles.  We were in the very last section of the plane, but in the front row of that.  So the middle 5 seats were in front of a wall for the lavatories.  My Mom and I both get a little air sick, so we made the boys sit in front of the wall and we sat in the two seats on the side by ourselves.  They kept Riley entertained and we got to chat.  It was a nice break and the flight went by so much faster.  We landed safe and sound in Dulles earlier than expected, but my sister was right on time.  Everyone's bags arrived safely and we have been enjoying our family.

I just have to add a funny happening...

Travis said the first day, "I need a new toothbrush.  As I was brushing my teeth last night I thought I had a fish bone in my tooth, but I haven't eaten any fish.  It turned out to be a bristle from my tooth brush."  So when my sister, dad and I went to the store later that day, Dad remembered at the last minute that Travis needed a tooth brush.  So this is what he bought him...

Can you see Woolverine?  I decided that this is going to be my life from now on since it won't be long before Riley wants himself one of those.  When I looked down at our tooth brush cup, I just had to take a snap of it.  It made me giggle :)

Well, we are snowed in today so not much going on.  Hopefully we will be going to see Santa tomorrow and maybe some family pictures later in the week.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas week!

One more day....

Ok, are you tired of my count down yet?  :)  I only have the rest of today to get ready!!!  It will be fine I know.  But today when I got home from my Bible study Christmas party, it was freezing in my house.  I went to the thermostat and it said 65, but it was set on 69...hhhmmmm I wondered to my self.  I tried turning it up and... nothing.  So I called my hubby, yup I'm that girl.  There are some things which I will attempt to fix myself, but I know my limits and I knew this would not be something I should mess with.  Plus I was busy getting Riley his lunch and down for a nap.  Travis was planning on coming home early today anyway so he just wrapped up and headed right over.  He did everything he knew today, called the land lord and did everything he knew to do and...nothing :(  Luckily our land lord has a very handy uncle who is in my garage right now trying to fix it.  A few months ago we bought a space heater for Riley's room since it's the coldest room in the house.  I am so grateful for it right now!  He's been sleeping this whole time and I didn't have to worry about it being too cold in his room.  The living room on the other hand is slowing turning into an ice box.  I'm sitting in my big chair in multiple layers and a blanket drinking hot cocoa.  Listening to "The Message" on XM and writing this blog.  Ah, it can't get much better than this!  Oh and I'm feeling much better today, thanks everyone!

I finally got my Christmas cards in the mail yesterday, whew that's one thing off my list!

Today I want to leave you with these words from the song "The Words I Would Say" by Sidewalk Prophets:

If we were face to face,

I'd tell you just what you mean to me,

I'd tell you these simple truths,

Be strong in the Lord and,

Never give up hope,

You're going to do great things,

I already know,

God's got His hand on you so,

Don't live life in fear,

Forgive and forget,

But don't forget why you're here,

Take your time and pray,

These are the words I would say.

Unsure

Well I'm not really sure what to say tonight, but I feel like blogging.  I feel a little beat up for no real reason.  Maybe it's because my Bible study is officially over and I haven't really been good about doing it on my own lately.  Tomorrow we have our last official study of the year, but it's just a Christmas party so we haven't had any homework or anything.  I'm really excited to start the next study, Esther.  I've heard such great things about it.  I can't wait to get back into a weekly study, it helped me focus so well.

I haven't told my husband yet, but I am seriously considering trying to go to the Emerge Conference in Oregon in March.  I really need a refeshing and I KNOW this would do it.  Partially because it looks like an amazing conference and partly because it's at my home church!  I'm trying to talk a friend into going with me, so we'll see.  Have to pray about it a bit more and see if I can come up with the money.  If you like near Aloha, OR or South Bend, IN, check it out.

We leave on Wednesday, oh man I do not feel ready.  I know we don't really have that much stuff to take, but I guess it's just the pressure of 'feeling ready' that I'm experiencing.  I would love for my house to be spotless before I go, but I'm not sure that's gonna happen.  I really don't want to stay up super late tomorrow night because we have to get up at like 5am on Wednesday. 

As much as I love seeing my sister and her family, I greatly dislike traveling now that we have Riley.  I used to love traveling.  I liked getting to the airport super early and just chill until it was time to board.  Now I don't want to be at the airport early at all because Riley just runs around every where and it kinda uncontrollable.  Luckily my parents are traveling with us so that will be a huge help, but still crazy.  I have an AMAZING friend who is willing to take us to the airport at 6am and pick us up on Christmas Day.  Thank you Tina and Bob - you are a blessing!

Just typing this is already making me feel better!  Thank you for listening my friends, you are so special to me!

Hey, what do ya think?

I have been wanted to make my blog 3-column for quite some time now.  I am completely illiterate in HTML so I had no idea where to start.  I found some instructions about a month ago and tried it....didn't work.  I didn't have the patients to try again that day and just kinda forgot about it.  I finally decided to look again tonight and found better instructions, yay!  The only think I don't like is the size of the header.  If I make it the recommended size (880px - no idea what that means!), the header is the only thing you see when you first get to my page and you have to scroll down to see any other content.  So I put it back to the original 660px and it makes it a bit smaller, but it doesn't go to the edges.  Does that bother anyone?  Kinda bothers me, but I'm a little bit OCD :)

I also changed my Christmas background. Delightful Dots just added some more Christmas backgrounds and I fell in love with this one!  It's a bit more me.

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We had a very nice Sunday afternoon at my parents house.  In spite of the fact that Riley decided to only take a 30 minute nap, he was very good and had tons of fun with Pop.  Daddy and Pop took him to PoJo's (kinda like Chuck E Cheese) for about and hour or so and they all had a blast.  That gave my mom and I some quiet time at the house and we got to watch part of our favorite movie, While You Were Sleeping.  We spent too much time trying to re-create my hot chocolate with the ingredients in her pantry when we should have been watching the movie.

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Tomorrow I have lots of cleaning and organizing to do to get ready for our trip.  I'm hoping to get some of my packing done and out of the way.  I have my last bible study of the year on Tuesday so I only have a day and half to get ready!  I'll be happy when we get there.

Happy Sunday!

Finally Home!

I decided to make a super yummy dinner last night to celebrate my hubby's home coming.  I searched around on different sites to find something to make with what I had in my pantry, but alas I was unable to locate a particular recipe that would work and had good reviews.  I was tempted to make one dish that I found, but the reviews were not great, so I didn't want to do that.  Then the other one didn't sound flavorful enough.  So I made combination of the two!  The first was a BBQ chicken with veggies and potatoes all cooked together for an hour.  The second was an herb chicken with Olive Oil veggies.  So here's what I did.

Italian Poatoes
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Red Potatoes
1 Garlic Clove - minced
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper

Saute in a skillet until golden brown and tender

Roasted Veggies
1 head of Broccoli chopped
10 mini carrots cut in half long way
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Place all the veggies in a small baking dish.  Lightly coat veggies with Olive Oil, salt & pepper.  Bake at 400* for 20 minutes or until tender.

BBQ Mushroom Chicken
2 chicken thighs (or whatever cut you have)
10 oz of sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)
1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce (or just enough to cover the chicken)

Place chicken in a small baking dish.  Cover with BBQ sauce and top with mushrooms.  Bake at 400* for 40 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.  Turn half way through to prevent drying out.

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We then spent the rest of the evening catching up on shows and watching the first 2 hour segment of SyFy channels "Alice" (a modern story of Alice in Wonderland).  So far it's pretty interesting, can't wait to see where they take it.  There are 4-2 hour segments total, so it's pretty long.  We should be able to finish before we leave for VA if we watch one a night.

Then we woke up this morning to MORE snow!  The snow we got on Monday never went away because it's been freezing all week.  But today it's been coming down steadily all day long.  This is a picture of my Aspen tree in our back yard.  I think this morning my back yard looks like an Ansel Adams picture!  I love the lone tree, all bare without leaves and the snow falling down around it.  BEAUTIFUL!

I don't know how many more blogs I'll get to do before we leave or while we are gone.  So if it's quiet around here until after Christmas, please don't abandon me, I'll be back!

Loving my blog friends today!  Merry Christmas!

TGI F(riday)

Tea over at Homemaker's Heart as changed this to included F is for Favorite.  I decided to go with that and do all four, 'cause I like it.  Thanks Tea!

Trusting - that I will make it through one more day with a sick kiddo and no hubby

Grateful - for a much needed girls night

Inspired - to cook by watching Food Network

Favorite - time of year right now.  I could have Christmas all year long!

Cocoa, Cookies & Comedy

My hubby is out of town this week, and when that happens I always try and make sure I have a chick flick coming from Netflix.  This week it was Bride Wars.  Last time I watched The Women all by myself and it made me depressed - I even cried at the end.  I definately didn't want to do that again.  So this week I invited some friends over to watch with me.  Much more fun!  A couple of gals came over, including my mama, and we had lots of fun.  It was nice to have a break from mommyhood and just be one of the gals.  Thank you my friends!

I have been dying to make some home made hot cocoa for about a month now.  I love me a good cup of cocoa.  I'm not quite bold enough to come up with my own, so I used Alton Brown's Hot Cocoa recipe off of The Food Network.  It was definately rich, but so yummy...mmmmm I can still taste it.  It actually has a dash of cayenne pepper in it which I thought was strange.  I can't even taste it, so I made add just a dash more.  I had to go to the store for the cayenne pepper and the powdered milk.  I was not looking forward to going out in the sub zero temperature again today, but I was determined to make the yummy cocoa.  So, off we went to the local grocery store.  I decided not to get a basket to put Riley in since I was just getting two things - wrong decision!  He was already very grumpy after getting up from his nap and I should have known better.  It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that I couldn't locate the powdered milk.  I found evaperated and condensed, but no powdered.  Finally I noticed this gigantic box of powdered milk down on the bottom self.  It was $18.99!!!  Not paying that much for one batch of cocoa.  I finally called my mom - who always has the food answers - and asked what I should do.  Then she pointed out that I could use it for just about anything that calls for milk as long as I added the appropriate water to liquify it.  I then noticed the smaller box next to it (still 25.6oz) for about half the price.  So after fighting with Riley up and down and all around the store, I could get out of that horrible place!  Once I put Riley in the car I remembered that I was also supposed to get stamps for my Christmas cards and forgot.  NOT going back inside to get them, sorry people your cards will be another day later!

After all this, I finally put together the cocoa.  What do you think?  Looks good, right?

I also made Sasha's yummy sugar cookies again, they are my new fav!

So glad I had some girl time and now my hubby comes home tomorrow, yay!

Oh and for those of you who have read my blogs about trying to watch my calories - nope, didn't happen tonight!  I'll blog about that another day.

Nighty, night everyone.  Remember, you are my friend!  I wish you could have come to girls night too.

Thoughts for Thursday

It seems like every other day of the week is taken up by some sort of blog hop.  Last week I did my own "Thoughts for Thursday" and decided to continue the idea.  It's just an actual post created completely by me with not ideas from anyone else.  I do love me a good blog hop because it helps me have content, but sometimes thoughts and ideas of my own are good too.

Today I'm thinking about a few things.  One in particular is my sick kiddo.  He's had a pretty bad cold for almost a week now, so I'm taking him to the doctor today.  I feel really bad that he is miserable and I'm hoping they can help us out.  They will probably just tell me he has a cold - go home!  But I can hope, right?

I am so super excited that my hubby is coming home tommorrow!  He's been gone since Monday on his monthly business trip and with Riley sick, it's been a long one.  I do have girls coming over tonight to watch "Bride Wars" with me, so that should be a nice break.

And what's most on my mind right now....

WE LEAVE IN 5 DAYS....AAAHHHH!!!  We are going to my sisters in Virginia on Wednesday.  I can't believe it's already here!  I have to much to do, but can't do it too soon or we won't have any clothes to wear because they will all be packed.  That's another reason why I want Riley to be better - sick kiddos on an airplane are no fun.  And I don't want him to his cousins sick either.  I am really excited for the cousins to spend their first Christmas together.  The last time we saw my sisters family at Christmas I was pregnant.  Wish I could say that again, but nope, not yet.

Nothing profound today, sorry.  Better get ready for my day.

What are your thoughts today?

Wordless Wednesday...sleeping boy

Tuesday Blog Hop

The Blog Hop theme for today is "CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS". Show a pic and/or tell a story behind your favorite Christmas ornament. Your photos and stories will help others with ideas for ornaments in the future.

This is my favorite ornament on my tree.  It was given to me the first year Travis and I were together.  His company always had a really nice dinner and then the owners wife would hand out presents.  The guys got fun things for their desks from Bombay & Co. and the girls got this beautiful hand painted ornaments.  The ornaments are hand painted from the INSIDE.  I have 5 angels like this and one that looks like a tear drop.  They are all very special.

This one was given to me by the mother of the only other person I've lived with besides my parents and my husband - my BFF Patti!  The Christmas we lived together her Mom and Dad came to help us decorate and she brought these beautiful angels.  They also have loops on the back so they could be napkin rings, but I love them as ornaments.

These are the ones that I feel make my tree stunning!  They are my favorite color, steel blue, and they have a great subtle design that reflects the lights so beautifully.  I think I might like them better than the angels, but they aren't as special.

These are my other bulbs - can you see me in the reflection?

These are Riley's ornaments.  My Mom got the stork one for me the Christmas I was pregnant.  It has the year on it which is fun.  The "1" ornament is from my MIL for Riley's first official Christmas.  So far my tree is still pretty fancy and I know that won't last much longer so I'm savoring every moment.  I know it will be fun to have "hand-crafted" ornaments made by my children, but I'm enjoying my beautiful tree right now.

OK I'm totally editing my blog right now because I forgot my tree topper!

I've never had an angel or a star because I never got around to buying one.  I actually don't have a clue where this ornament came from, but it's become my tree topper over the last few years.  I really like it because it's different and it represents what Christmas is really all about - unconditional love.  The love of a Father who sent His Son to be the sacrafice for all of us.  Merry Christmas to all!

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

This is the view out my front window this morning, I LOVE IT!  I'm sitting in my over-sized chair next to the window and my Christmas tree, drinking coffee and doing one of my favorite things - talking to you!  My little one is watching Blues Clues (kinda) and quietly playing with his toys.  I wish I could take him out in the snow, but he's been pretty sick this weekend and I really need him to be better for Bible study tomorrow, so I don't see snow men in our immediate future.  The only down side to this morning is that my hubby left for his monthly week long business trip and has to drive in this weather.  He said it's not too bad though, so that's good. 

I am so excited that my bag finally came!  I ordered this bag from Avon about a month ago, but it is so popular it was on back order.  I really wanted it for Bible study.  It will fit my book, bible and any essentials I need nicely.  Trying to lug Riley, my purse, my book and my bible all into the church and up the stairs every morning has been quite a task.  I've been using Riley's large diaper bag as a tote for all my stuff, but that's a pain.  He doesn't even really need a bag there because they don't ever change him anyway :)  I figured I could just throw a diaper and a small thing of wipes in the bag too and I'd be set.  It was only $10 and all proceeds to towards breast cancer research.  It also has 3 small pockets on the inside which I didn't know about - BONUS!

I'm so excited that I have my Christmas shopping done!  Well except for my niece and nephew because I'm going to buy their gifts when we get to Virginia.  We are leaving next Wednesday - only 10 days, woo hoo!  I can't wait to spend Christmas with my whole immediate family.  Oh back to the Christmas shopping.  I got to go out last night with my Mom and finished shopping for both Travis and Riley.  We are doing a pretty laid back Christmas this year, which is totally fine.  I really like to buy gifts for people so I'm more sad about not getting to buy a lot of gifts, not about not getting a lot.  I already got my Christmas present so I won't even have anything on Christmas Day, but I'm so ok with that.  I am much more happy having been able to use my knives this past month, especially for Thanksgiving.  My carving knive went through the ham like butter!  I was also afraid Riley wouldn't have a lot to open, but thanks to wonderful Grandparents, Great-Grandparents and Mommies who go to Midnight Black Friday sales, he's gonna be set.

Oh and can I just say I am so proud of Riley!  He has not tried to touch the ornaments on the tree since the day we put it up.  I am in awe of that!  He's just a wee bit mischeivious :)  Speaking of, I just looked over and he can now reach not only the door knob on the front door, but the dead bolt - AHHH I'm in trouble!

Well those are my thoughts and goings on for this BEAUTIFUL Monday morning God has given me.  I hope your day is full of blessing and wonder.

P.S.  I just turned on the XM Radio "The Message" and Phil Stacey's You're Not Shaken was on.  Just had to share it with you - it was empowering and I wasn't even listening that closely!

Sunday Funday!

Keely and her sister posted these questions to get to know your "blogger friends" a little bit better.  I hope you join in the fun and don't forget to go to her site and add your blog to the list!

1. How old are you?  29....the big 3-0 in April.  Oh man, not sure about that!!!!


2.Where are you from and where do you live now?  Born in Portland Oregon and basically lived in the Portland-Metro Area my whole life.  Almost 4 years ago (WOW) we moved to the suburbs of Boise, Idaho for a fresh start.  We miss all our friends and family, but we love it here.

3. What music have you been diggin lately?  Of course good old Christmas Music!  I would be happy if it was Christmas all year long.  But other than that, I love me some good contemporary worship.

4. Favorite food(s)?  Where to start?  Dessert is definately my downfall, so that probably counts :)

5. Single,married, divorced?  Very happily married for almost 9 years!

6. Kids? If so, how many and how old?  My beautiful 18 month old son Riley

7. What are 3 blogs you read daily?  I read much more than 3 on a regular basis, but 3 I love to make sure and check every day are: Emersyn Grace, Our Biggest Little Blessing; Lemonade Makin' Mama; and newly discovered Homemakers Heart.

8. What is your favorite Christmas/Holiday tradition?  Decorating my house Thanksgiving weekend and spending time with family.

9. Lastly, if you're a blogger, how long have you been blogging and if you don't have one..how long have you been reading blogs?  I have had this blog for about 18 months :)  I started it just before my son was born.  I started it so family and friends could be apart of our life with Riley, but now it's turned into my thoughts.

Lucy the Lamb

I'm really into giveaways right now.  Still haven't won anything, but one can only hope!  Today it's from Mama M. over at My Little Life.  She is giving away this adorable lamb that has a removable heart pack heart!  It's good for upset tummies or just warm snuggle time.  I would LOVE to have this for Riley to snuggle with, she is so sweet. 

Wish me luck!

Five Question Friday

1. Favorite gift you are GIVING this year?  We aren't doing a lot of gifts this year so I'm not really sure.  Probably Riley's toy bin.

2. How many parties are you attending between now and Christmas?  I don't think we have any.  We were supposed to go to one tonight, but Riley is a little sick so I'm not sure if we will go.

3. What is your favorite Christmas song?  O Holy Night

4. Who was your favorite elementary school teacher and why?  5th grade Mrs. Wollam - she taught us German, had animals in her room and read to us while we colored these cool geometric designs she printed out.  And we went on tons of field trips - she was fun!

5. If you had a choice to live in any other period of time (other than now) what era would you choose and why?  In my literary life, I life in the victorian era - beautiful dresses, carraige rides, and wonderful parties!

Thoughts for Thursday

I {heart} blogging!

 One of the best things I've gotten from blogging is meeting new friends.  Yesterday I met the sweetest lady that I now count as a blogger friend.  And you know how she found me?  Because we both said we like the movie "Julie & Julia"!  It's so amazing this world of blogging, I can't even get over it!  Of course I've made many other fun friends as well, but this one just made me think of how cool blogging can be.  And now I'm up to 17 followers!  May not seem like that many to some of you, but I've been at 15 for a long time so it was fun to have a few more friends.

My true life BFF Patti at Emersyn Grace, Our Biggest Little Blessing,  first convinced me to start my blog just before I had my son.  I have lots of friends and family out of state because we moved away from home almost 4 years ago.  I decided to do this so that all of our loved ones could be involved in our new life with our son.  My first blog entry was short and sweet, but it was the start to all of this.  My very favorite post even to this day is Riley's birth story.  It's so fun to go back and read about that amazing day and go through it all again - but without the pain :)  So for the first year it was mostly about Riley, his growth and the fun we had with him.  Then after his first birthday it turned more into my blog.  The things I'm going through being the Mommy of this wonderful, active, entertaining little boy.  I still put in stuff about him from time to time, but it's turned into a hobby and I am so grateful for it!  Thank you Patti for being my inspiration - your blog is my fav!

So for all of you who have joined me on my journey, I thank you!  Thank you for listening, giving advice and just being there for me.  I look forward to getting to know you all better and gaining new friends along the way.

If you can't read the inscription on the picture above, this is what it says:

If you are along, I'll be your shadow.

If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder.

If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile.

But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me.

This is how I feel about you and hopefully I can be those things for you.

I love you my friend!

Almost forgot about....WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!

Anybody want to know what to get me for Christmas? ;)

All from Avon (oh hey and I can hook you up with a rep....ME!!!  Oh wait that won't work.  I can still find someone for you).  Aren't they so cute? I love the hat particularly!  I'm sure you will all get right on it :)

Goin' on a Walk....finally

Success!  Today I went for a 30 minute walk!  I kept a brisk pace the whole time and almost wanted to run at one point.  I didn't run for three reasons: I was on a main road and it was rush hour; my first time just walking in a few months; I've never been able to run well due to my asthma.  Right at the end I started feeling shaking from low blood sugar, even though I had a good snack about 30 minutes before my walk - ggrrrr!  I called my doctor today to see if I needed to continue to take my meds that give me the low blood sugar and I do.  I think I need to go to a doctor that specializes in pre-diabetics so that I can get my blood sugar under control and eat better at the same time. (I'm not actually pre-diabetic, but if you want to know about what I have, you can read about it here)

It was a little chilly out there for the little one, but he did really good!  He is so cute when we go for walks because he just sits there and stares at everything and says "cruck" (truck) about a thousand times.  He was insistant on bringing his Bible with us and he barely even touched it.  He got a little antsy towards the end, but all in all, he was great.

I did a lazy dinner tonight, Easy Chicken and Rice Bake with steamed broccoli.  So easy, but really good.  Just have to be careful how much rice you eat with it :)  I am breaking the rules and makeing sugar cookies tonight.  I've been wanting to try Sasha's sugar cookie recipe over at Lemonade Makin' Mama.  So today I mixed up the dough and stuck it in the freezer in two batches.  I'll cook up one batch tonight and save another for later.  My rule is that I can only have two per day, that's it.  And if it doesn't work, when I make the other batch I'll give them away to someone so I'm not tempted. 

On my walk I thought of so many great things to blog about and whitty ways to say it, but my Mommy mind can't remember it all now. Oh wait, I just remembered one.

I took Riley with me on my walk today (no other option) and it was kinda cold with a really cold wind.  I bundled him up good and even had his hood snapped up on him.  How do you feel about taking kids for walks in the cold?  I don't really know what I think.  I don't really like the idea, but I've been using it as an excuse not to walk and goodness knows I have enough of those already.  I won't take him out in the snow or anything and I think next time I'll use the rain cover to block out the wind.  I would really like to know what you think, so please share!

Well, that's all I can remember for now.  Hopefully my brain will catch up with me and I can blog some more tomorrow.

Thank you for being a part of my journey today, I appreciate you!!