Shopping Maniiiiac Maniiiac...

That's for sure!

Last night I scored a $75 off a $100 coupon for Old Navy. So...we went shopping at Old Navy today. Two shirts, two pairs of flip flops, a purse, mints, and a dress (keeping with my New Years Resolution) for me; One shirt, three pairs of pants, and a pair of pjs for Makenna; and a new pair of dress khakis for Brent later, we paid $29..Sweeeeeet.

We also made a run to mall after dinner to hit up the Victoria Secret b/c they sent me a birthday coupon for $10 off any purchase, a duo gel eyeliner compact and $2 later I was done.

What a day of good deals in the world of shopping.

Car pictures...

as promised, because it's such a nice day out!

We really do LOVE the new car, and I totally take back anything nasty I ever said about a Prius. It is really fun to drive and cute, and I love the sound system. Yesterday I filled up with gas and spent......$10, seriously. Our baby is a 2004 with package 9, loaded. 6 disk cd changer, fog lights, traction control, auto dim rear mirror, heated outside mirrors, smartkey enabled, side curtain airbags, bluetooth enabled, voice recognition navigation system..you get it.

New photos are up!

What a weekend...

First off we are selling the Mountaineer so here is our Ebay listing, pass it on if you know someone who is interested: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190288961742&sspagename=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&viewitem=

So like I said we have the Mountaineer listed on Ebay and Craigslist, we've had a bit of interest so far, a few questions and one person that wants to come and test drive it, woohoo.

Brent rode the train up to Wisconsin on Saturday morning to pick up the Prius, it took him a little while to get home because of the crazy winds and patches of snow but he made it home around 7. The prius is great we drove it all weekend, it is in dire need a car wash b/c of the salt from the roads. I'll take some pictures later in the week after I wash it and it warms up, brrrrr.

So we thought this weekend was going to be a rather uneventful weekend, then we started looking at the prius, bought it, so Brent needed to pick it up, Grandma Bonnie came to visit us, and Chris and Lara joined the madness and stayed the night on Saturday, lol.

No big plans for next weekend, it's my birthday and I'm just going to order some pizza, eat some cake and maybe watch a movie. I know right welcoming 25 with a bang!

I thought I'd introduce.....

the Prius we bought yesterday on EBAY, it's in Wisconsin but we certainly got a deal. Whoot, I'll take more photos after we get it. I think Shampoo Banana got to us.

Anyone in the market for a 2001 Mercury Mountaineer Premier edition, v8, loaded, leather, 101k miles?

Car Cravin' and Sushi Maiden

What up peoples. It's that time of the decade, yep, we are looking at a new car. Our car is really fine, it is just feeling too big for us. We don't need the v8, we don't use most of the room, and we would like something a little more fuel efficient. Oh and a smoother ride....so interest rates are low...it's a buyer's market because of the economy.



Seriously again looking at the Prius (we also looked at them last year), but they were too expensive and everyone was all over them because of the super high gas prices. Did I mention we rented the zipcar Prius again on Sunday night? We rode it multiple times at multiple speeds over the train tracks, that nearly throw the Mountaineer on it's side if you aren't going say...5 mph but the Prius handled them GREAT...even at 25 mph.




Sunday night was our valentines night. We went to Ko-fusion and it was marvelous as always and seriously Brent's steak was the best steak I've ever had...everrrrr. I was in luck because they happened to be doing $1 sushi, so I ordered a champagne roll (oh my word, so good, but reeeeeeeeeeeeeeallllly spicy) and I order three pieces of the big roll (my usual). I also ordered the seaweed salad, because I love the taste of it. Oh annnnd two pineapple mojitos (yes, I said two, they are THAT good).


For dessert I ended my meal with the obligatory and oh so yummy green tea ice cream. Brent had the Fillet with roasted potatoes, and baby carrots in a red wine mustard sauce and finished with a chocolate cake. I also let him has some, just some of my mojitos (you see he had to drive, that's what I told him). It was all really good and we didn't have to wait that long for a table, we were seated to the left in a back room (which I didn't know was there) and it had a little fireplace and projection screen with orchids.


After all the culinary madness we decided to hit up someplace new, like the glow in the dark putt putt place. It was pretty cool and Brent won, he always wins. We decided we'd come back and bring Makenna next time, she'd be all about it.


Here are some photos, some from the visit with the Grandparents, Makenna making Valentines cookies with Grandma Vicki and falling in love...I mean renting the Prius.




This last photo is the doo-dad that lets you in the zipcar, you can have your card in your wallet, tap it on the window and it unlocks or locks the car for you...soooo cooool.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope everyone had a nice v-day! We ventured over to St. Joe to look at the antique stores. I bought a cast iron skillet, for $6! Whoot and an old horse shoe for $2, lots of very cool stuff! We also rented the prius and drove it over there, very cool car. It had a nice ride, it was fun to drive, it had a backup camera, a touch screen console, heads up display and it was plenty roomy.

We are just chillin' right now, earlier we also made a stop at Peep to eat and maybe after dinner we'll go to the grocery. Tomorrow night is going to be our Valentine night out (less people), and we totally changed directions, we are going to hit up Kofusion instead of Escobar, the tempura fried sushi has been calling me all week!

Fridayyyy, whhhhattt...

I couldn't come up with a better name, but it is Friday! The weekend woohooo, we don't really have anything to do. We are gonna rent the a zipcar tomorrow and take a leisurely drive to an antique store. We have a zipcar credit that we have to use by like Monday and we were interested in driving the prius soooo that's what we are going to do.

Whoot I ordered some eyeshadow samples today off the net, hopefully they are just as pretty in person. Here are some that I ordered, I didn't take these photos they are archetype cosmetics.

Sharing Our Home With Those Before Us

Otherwise known as: Our house is a little bit haunted.

Warning: You may not want to read this post if random weird stuff freaks you out and you like to stay at my house.

Don't get me wrong our house has some quirks but we are most definitely meant to be here. We even had a contract on another house before this one that fell through, I was done looking after that. Brent had to beg me to even drive by this house, but once we did finally get in to see it, I knew. We had a list of items our potential houses had to have, ie-central air, fireplace, at least some wood floors, Brent added a pond to our list a few days before seeing this one. Low and behold this house had one.

The realtor opened the front door, I saw the pocket doors, oak floors in one room and the stairs and said I would sign the contract. She chuckled and said we should probably look at the rest of the house. It just felt right.

Back sophomore and junior year in high school after Brent and I started dating I would have a reoccurring dream of a house, which at the time I thought was my parents, the trim was about the same color and siding was the same white wide aluminium. After seeing the outside of the house I would be in a bedroom, which I thought was mine, though it was white.

The first few times I had this dream I would crawl through the heating vent into another smaller room with vaulted ceilings, it was dim, there was only one little window at the end of the room and on the wall with the window were shelves with dusty dolls covered in cobwebs. The same dream over and over again. Until after having the dream several times I was able to walk through a door instead of going through the vent, the vent still being there to the right of the door, but it was the same room every time with the dolls.

I could never understand why I kept having the dream. Until one day not long after having moved here the door to the closet room happened to be open on a dreary day and I was standing in the adjoining bedroom, and happened to peer in just the right way and boom. That was the room, no dolls, no shelves, no dust, no cobwebs, but the same room. The window, the door, the heating vent passes straight from the bedroom to the closet room making it possible to access.

One bedroom we slept in, the one Makenna sleeps in now always made me a little uneasy when sleeping in there with the bedroom door open. I had to have it closed or I felt like someone was standing in the hall looking in. I thought I was a little crazy and after we moved into the purple I never had a problem with it.

I let that leave my mind, one day two of Makenna's toys went off by themselves, separate toys, different rooms, different times, haven't done it since. I figured maybe, batteries going out rigggght (since then, toys that you have to move with bells in them have made noises)? Put that out of my mind, though it really did freak me out.

Some days the house will have certain spots that smell of woman's perfume or men's cologne. When it doesn't smell like anything we own and the scent is gone after a matter of minutes and it very concentrated in one spot. Uhhh, fabrics maybe giving off a scent?

I was cleaning the house one day and heard some music coming from the front parlor room, like old record music, I thought now who would be outside listening to faint old school record music, I was halfway to the front room when it stopped, I stepped back a couple steps and it started again then stopped. I rushed outside, needless to say no old record music outside. Yeah you come up with a reason for that one.

And then about a month ago around 6 am I turn over in bed and I must look at the clock every time I turn over, I have no idea why but I do, so I'm turning over and my eyes are scanning for the clock that is on top of the tv, when they stop...they stop on the man in our bedroom between the door to the hallway and the door to the bedroom adjoining ours.

He is quite tall a little less than 6 foot, white, older around 55-60 years old, balding with lighter brownish hair on the sides, while in an off white almost yellowish long sleeved shirt on almost a mandarin collar with buttons on it, but they don't go all the way down the shirt. His hands at his sides, wearing dark pants, I can't tell what color, black or brown, and I can't see his shoes, because I'm in bed.

After seeing him I pull the covers over my face because, what the crap there is a dude standing in my bedroom and I listen for the sound of footstep, figuring this is an actual person. I don't hear anything so I look again, nothing, I go back to sleep. I wasn't dreaming.I can't reason that one away, Hi Mr. late 1880s dude that I saw standing in my room!

What can I say the house is old....and we share it with those who have been here before us.

Home

Earlier I was reading a blog about someone about to move from the area, her being from the East and her husband finishing school, them moving on, for a brighter future in the long run.

This is why I'll never leave Cham-bana. I love the diversity, the people, so cordial and nice. The weather, yes it is crappy at times but 75% of the time I LOVE it! I love the four distinct seasons we have.

I love the land, the corn, the rows, when driving by you can look for miles it seems down a single row. The farming, being able to live off the land, growing sustenance..love.

Family and memories, family is close even those who have moved are within a short driving distance, along with the town both Brent and I grew up in. I love that Makenna was born down the street and I live four blocks from where my Grandfather was born. I love that I had family that lived in this town before I came here, though I didn't know that until after we had moved here.

I love my house is in the mix of age, race, and income, as it has always been. I love that almost everyone that has owned our house has had some German ancestry and has been catholic, we fit right in. I love our old house. I know every creak, and scratch, we share it with those who have loved it before, especially those who were talented enough to make a structure that would last 115 years. I love the wood, the beautiful floors, the mouldings, and secretly run my hands along the banister every time I walk the stairs, imagining who else has touched it. I love that we love our house, it seems these days people buy starter homes, something to tide them over until better comes along, but this is our home and will always be, I couldn't imagine being in a different house.

I just feel that this area, land, and house resonates with me and living or being somewhere else would be a lie, both to myself and to where ever I was.

Stay tuned tomorrow for "Sharing Our Home With Those Before Us".

My First Love In Life

SHOES! I adopted the below this evening, I found them sitting a box with a $10 price tag saying take me home. The breed: A faux croc patent sling back stiletto in brown. I love a good stiletto. I'd say about 1/3 of my shoe collection are stilettos. Lord help me, these weren't the first pair of shoes I've bought this week.

I present exhibit B: These shoes are freaking cute and super comfy with the 3 inch wedge. I don't remember how much I paid for them, but they were on clearance as well. As Brent says, I think your Mom's job in going to be a problem for our budget.

Tasty Tuesday: Crab Cakes

Photo from Cooking Light website.

These crab cakes were sooo good! The recipe originally has you make a butter sauce but really you can't do crab cakes without a remoulade so I've included the recipe for that instead. I will also admit that I added some hot sauce to the crab cake mix and the remoulade because I like em' spicy.

Crab Cakes from Cooking Light (Love Love Love this cooking magazine!)

Yields 4 servings: 2 cakes per serving

Ingredients
Crab cakes:
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
Cooking spray

Preparation
1. To prepare crab cakes, combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Gently fold in crabmeat. Gently stir in 3/4 cup panko. Cover and chill 30 minutes.
2. Divide crab mixture into 8 equal portions (about 1/2 cup each); shape each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Place remaining 3/4 cup panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 patty at a time, dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with the remaining patties and panko.
3. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat both sides of crab cakes with cooking spray. Add 4 crab cakes to pan; cook 7 minutes. Carefully turn cakes over; cook 7 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, cooking spray, and remaining 4 crab cakes

Remoulade:

Ingredients
Sauce:
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped cornichon
1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation
1. To prepare sauce, combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill.

It's a sunshine day...

The weather was so nice this weekend! We were able to spend quite a bit of time out and about. Makenna drove her four wheeler down the block and back a few times. Makenna played on her swing set, went down the slide a few times and got her shoes stuck in the mud. By the time we went inside her shoes, socks and pants were all muddy. We did a little bit of raking and until I remembered that I like the idea of raking but not actually doing it....I did see some daffodils poking through the ground though!

This weekend we also ventured into Green Jade again, ohhh I loooove the food there, it is really good. All the leftovers we had from Saturday are gone. I believe the last time we were going to go there they were full, all the tables were taken. We went to Pasha instead, I did like the gyro I had there but it was kinda pricey and it took nearly 3 hours to eat there, really. We've been trying to eat at some new places we've not been to yet..hence us going to Escobar for Valentine's Day.

Are you waiting in anticipation for Tasty Tuesday? New photos are up!

I'll do it...

I've not realllly posted in...some time. So I'm just gonna do. First off I'm vowing to stop reading cnn and watching the news. It's just depressing me too much with the whole economy and people losing jobs and companies shutting down, two wars, the whole crazy governor thing, it just feels like a free fall and no one has an answer (I know there isn't one answer, there never is). I know this too shall pass and maybe tomorrow I'll feel different but I've been hitting the treadmill a lot more recently to curb the stress feeling. It's just been DISTURBING me. Anyway, I'll probably feel a little better after it gets springy outside (or maybe I just need to go tanning to get some vitamin D). Not that that will change any of the pressing issues lol.

Last weekend we didn't really do anything interesting. Umm played wii, went to the grocery store, watched the superbowl commercials. And it was a lovely weekend of nothing-ness. Makenna is starting to speak in longer phrases, yesterday she turned towards me while sitting on the couch and said "Makenna wants Mommy get cereal", lol, she's lazy and wanted me to get her bowl of cereal off the coffee table for her.

We installed a shower filter last week, lol yeah it's been slow around here. We have REALLY hard water which equals crappy hair for me so we installed a filter and I'm in love, soft shiny, bouncy hair, commercial hair, LOVE!

Valentines day is coming up, Brent and I decided on Escobar's this year, say it really slow esssscoooobbaaarrrr, I like the name, it's fun. We've not been yet but we've heard good things about the place. It has been 8 years people, whew, still feels like we started dating yesterday.

Seacrest out! Yeah I'll be watching American Idol tonight while my butt is on the treadmill. Out!