Dear Unknown Lady

I understand that your conversation is important and carrying a phone around and having a conversation in public is the norm now, but it is NOT OKAY for you to talk while you are in the public restroom doing your business. I promise you no one and I repeat NO ONE wants to hear what you are doing on the other side of the phone. They also don't want to hear strangers doing their business either. Plus, it kind of makes other people uncomfortable (me) knowing that you are on the phone and people can hear ...well you know....it's bad enough there are other people in the restroom. So please from now on keep your conversations on the other side of the bathroom door. People will thank you.

Yours Truly,

A Concerned Public Citizen

THE PIONEER WOMAN!!

Tuesday night changed my life. I met THE Pioneer Woman. That's right. I met her!!! It was so awesome. It was well worth the 4 hours of waiting at Borders for her to finally sign my cookbook and talk to her for like 20 seconds. I am completely star struck. Not that Ree thinks of herself as a star or anything but she is famous whether she thinks she is or not. It was such a great day!!

Jennifer, my friend from work, and I went and got our wristbands for the signing on our lunch break on Tuesday, and I am so glad that we did. They gave different color wrist bands to every 100 people and there were 8 colors. We were red - the second color to be distributed. After work, we headed over there to make sure we got a parking spot and get in line. Around 6:30, they started lining us up by color and at 7:10 - Ree showed up!!! She was so sweet and adorable just like I thought she would be. She thanked everyone for coming and then answered the question that everybody wanted to know - that yes, she will be publishing her Black Heels to Tractor Wheels romance story!! I am so excited and don't worry - I will be at that book signing too!! After 3 hours of waiting in line, I finally got to meet The Pioneer Woman. She was so nice and kept joking that everyone was type A except for her. She also gave out the t-shirts that she posted on her website to everyone that came. Bonus! We had so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.

So excited to meet Ree!!

So is Jennifer!

Waiting in line to see Ree!

And this is what we waited by before the line moved. We didn't read any of it though. Go ahead and say it - real mature to take picture Elizabeth. Thanks. I know.

HI!

So far to go....

Getting closer...

We love Ree more than we love our luggage!!

Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

You will need:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 1 large apple, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup Ocean Spray Cranberries, chopped in half (fresh or frozen)
• 1/3 cup of butter, melted
• 1/4 cup Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, toasted (I didn't put nuts in mine because I don't like them but feel free if you like!)
• 1 Concord Foods Sweet Potato Casserole Mix with Marshmallow Topping (I couldn't find this box last year for Thanksgiving so I improvised and used my own spices, feel free and add as many as you like if you can't find the box)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 11X 17 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, apple, cranberries, butter, cranberry juice, and Sweet Potato Spice Pack; mix well. Pour sweet potato cranberry mixture into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sweet potatoes are softened when pricked with a fork.
4. Remove from oven; stir in pecans. Sprinkle top of sweet potatoes with Sweet Potato Marshmallow Pack. Return to oven for 5 minutes or until marshmallows are softened and light brown.
5. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!!

Thanksgiving!!!

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Jason's family in Houston. It was a great time with family and loving on the new babies this holiday season. We ate lots of food, relaxed and caught up with one another. Thanksgiving night, we went over to a family friend's house and played games and ate desserts. I played Phase 10 with 5 other people and I won. I love winning. I think I have a slight competitive problem.

On Friday, I decided to skip out on the early morning shopping since I really wasn't shopping for anything specific because I have yet to figure out what I am getting people for Christmas. I did go to Target later in the day to buy some more Christmas decorations and was really surprised with how many of the things they advertised in their ad were still there that afternoon. It made me really glad that I hadn't bothered to get up before the sun that day. We spent more time hanging out with family that night and then left after lunch on Saturday. We had such a great time and we're sad to leave.

The cousins meeting each other for the first time

Happy Karis

Starting early on the coffee..jk..

Lucye even made a new friend. The cat, however, chased Lucye around the house. It was pretty funny.

New Moon and Cooking with Friends

Last Friday night, we went to go and see New Moon with some friends of ours. We braced ourselves for the screaming teenage girls and crazy crowds and had a great time. The movie was awesome. Way better than Twilight! It kept more to the book with a couple of added parts. I definitely approved. The only things that I didn't like about the movie were the visions of Edward that Bella saw. I didn't imagine them that way at all in the book and it didn't seem that she actually saw him , just heard his voice. Making her actually see him in the movie made it seem more creepy. It didn't portray the deep ache and longing she had for Edward because he was so much a part of her. That's just my two cents tho =). I also didn't like Dakota Fanning's line of "This might hurt a little". Lame!! Jane is so evil in the book that I'm pretty sure a cheesy line like that would not come from her lips.

Me and Jessica waiting for the movie to start!! So excited!!!

On Saturday, Jason and I had a breakfast date at this place called Cafe Brazil. It was really good. They had limitless coffee with a line of different types of coffee you could try. I tried the Holiday blend. Yummy! It was like Christmas in a cup! Then later that night we went to the house of our friends, Amy and Ryan, and had a shrimp boil, made homemade margaritas, and played Michigan Canasta. I had never played that game before but it was way fun. It took a while to get used to the rules, but once we got the hang of it it was a blast. I even lost and I thought it was still a great game (shocking I know!)

On his third cup and feeling good!

On Tuesday, my friends Deborah and Jacque came over while I cooked the dishes I was bringing to Thanksgiving dinner. We drank a glass of wine and talked and talked and cooked a little. It was a great time with my wonderful friends.

Deborah brought the wine! She brought Purple Cowboy and it was really good. Plus it was recommended by The Pioneer Woman so it has to be awesome. Deborah and I were really excited that she had found this wine because we love Pioneer Woman. Maybe it will give us something to talk about when we meet her on December 1st! One can only hope!!!

I love these girls! I wish they lived closer. And when I mean closer - I mean next door.

This was one of the dishes that I made. It's a sweet potato casserole with cranberries and apples. I made it last year for the first time when we hosted our first Thanksgiving. My family liked it so I thought I would try it again this year. It was huge hit this year as well. I'll blog about the recipe later because if you love sweet potatoes you should try this. So good!! I forgot to take a finished product picture of this dish - oops. But let's just say there are marshmellows involved on the top - need I say more.

Prematurity Awareness Day

It’s Prematurity Awareness Month and today people around the world, including me, are blogging to spread the word on this crisis.

Every year, one in eight babies are born too soon in America. In our country, the rate of prematurity has increased by 36% in the last 25 years. I don’t know about you, but that is a very frightening and disturbing number for what is considered a developed country. Around the world, 13 million babies are born premature and one million die because they were born too soon. Premature births usually have no cause and hit every ethnicity and socioeconomic status. No one is immune.

Babies who do survive can be faced with a number of health problems including blindness, chronic lung disease, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy. It’s time we stand up and fight for the little ones who can’t fight for themselves.

This issue is very near and dear to my heart. My nephews, Blake and Jacob, were born at 24 weeks in 2003. There was no cause for why my sister-in-law went into labor so soon. Jacob passed away 2 months later from complications. He will always be in my heart. Blake is now a 6 year old beautiful boy, but he’s had his share of surgeries and medical issues that I believe no child should ever have to go through. We need to find a way to end prematurity!

Today, if you feel compelled, I would ask that you make a donation to the March of Dimes. It can be as little as $5. Every little bit helps to save babies. March of Dimes is a great organization that supports research to not only find a way to prevent prematurity but oral clefts, eye diseases, and advances in heart surgeries. They funded research to create the polio vaccine and education to decrease neural tube births by folic acid awareness. I love this organization.

If it’s not feasible to make a financial donation, I ask that you do this: Pray! Say a prayer of thanks for the healthy babies that you know in your life. That is a blessing and a miracle in itself. And then I would ask that you say a prayer for all the babies out there that are fighting for their lives. Pray for healing, pray for life! Say a prayer for their parents – for energy for the sleepless nights they will endure in the NICU, for peace as they have no control over their baby’s next breath, and for courage and strength to make it through each day. Prayer is very very powerful thing.

I pray for the day that all babies will be born healthy.

Parties

This weekend I got to attend two parties. Friday night, Jason and I went to Lauren's birthday party. She turned the big 2-5. It was a great time to hang out with friends and enjoy some good food. They even had ordered karoke and we all sang the songs together. Although no one was brave enough to use the microphone, we all just followed the words and sang. I discovered that a lot of the songs I like that are popular are kind of dirty and have some innuendos I didn't realize until the words were on the screen. Oops. Oh well. I still like them =). I can just pretend I don't know the words now.

My friend,Deborah and me. I hadn't seen her in ages. I miss her!

And this little cutie was there too. He danced to a Beyonce song. Adorable!

I am sad to say that I didn't get a pic with the birthday girl. Sorry Lauren!! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!! Saturday, I went to a great friend's baby shower. Fallon's little one is due in January. I can't wait to meet her! She will be full of personality - I can guarantee it.

Me and the mommy-to-be!

Great times with friends this weekend. Does things to your soul =)