Weather Happenings

So this past Saturday here it was 74 degrees & perfection outside.

Tonight thru Wednesday morning we are under a blizzard watch. Along with like 3/4 of the United States. CRAZY!

See below, yes that says Tulsa may get 12 - 20 inches of snow! What in the world.

Eric, Capone & I will be enjoying a snow day or two this week. We just hope the power stays on! Eric was supposed to travel tomorrow, but oh darn...all his flights have been cancelled. YAY!

Our plans are to make cookies tonight, Eric painting the media room, me watching the Bachelor, sleeping in tomorrow, we will be making Pioneer Woman Sour Cream Pancakes for breakfast, watching some daytime tv, do some laundry, make Chicken & Dumplings, watch Pride & Prejudice (w/Colin Firth) and Anne of Green Gables...perfect snow day flicks!!! Snowman building & Eric attempting to get me to sled down our driveway may be involved as well.

I am actually really excited to do all of this. Yay to snow days & the power staying on :)

Be safe everyone!

Jesus Calling

If you are needing a good devotional, this is it! My mom bought this for Eric sometime ago & some others I know really like it also. I had to wait a couple weeks for Mardel's to get any in because they were out for awhile.

It is written by Sarah Young. "After many years of writing in her prayer journal, missionary Sarah Young decided to "listen" to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever she believed He was saying to her. It was awkward at first, but gradually her journaling changed from monologue to dialogue. She knew her writings were not inspired as Scripture is, but they were helping her grow closer to God. Others were blessed as she shared her writings, until people all over the world were using her messages. They are written from Jesus’ point of view, thus the title Jesus Calling. It is Sarah’s fervent prayer that our Savior may bless you with His presence and His peace in ever deeper measure."

The book is worded as if Jesus is saying the words to you. Every day the devotion is so fitting for me, especially on topics of trust & faith. There are 2-4 verse references at the end that relate to that day's devotion. Its short & sweet & to the point. There is also a journal that goes with it if you wanted to go more in depth.

I highly recommend this to have at work, travel with, or have it at home to reference daily.

Menu Monday

Here are our dinner recipes chosen for this week :) Its so much easier when I plan ahead!

Monday

Nanny Hazel's Meatloaf

Green Beans

Tuesday
Spicy Tuscan Soup

Wednesday (church tonight so its crock pot day!)

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

Thursday

Baked Potato Soup

Bacon Cheddar Drop Biscuits

Masterpiece is back!

So my beloved Masterpiece Theater has begun again, YAY!

I didn't start watching this until a few years ago when my mom was really into it & I would be at her house on Sunday nights. She has always liked all things English (except for maybe the crooked teeth, hehe) and so has been watching these for a while. Until then, the only Masterpiece Theater I was familiar with was what I had seen on Sesame Street growing up--Monsterpiece Theater with Alistair Cookie. See 80's flashback below: (You can pause the background music on the player at the bottom right of the blog)



Now I always watch with my mom, its just something we both thoroughly enjoy. The first program I watched on Masterpiece was Pride & Predjudice with Colin Firth. LOVED IT, and him :) Mr. Darcy is one of my favorite characters. The scenery & houses are so lovely, I was definitely born in the wrong era! They are so proper and can get to the point quickly with few words. They also hold a lot of words back, which drives me crazy sometimes. Just say it already!

One spring PBS ran a whole slew of Jane Austen/British stories, it was fabulous! So I proceeded to watch Persuasion, Northanger Abby, Sense & Sensability, Bleak House, Mansfield Park, Cranford, and my 2nd favorite after Pride & Prejudice---Emma (the version below). Mr. Darcy from P & P and Mr. Knightly from Emma are my 2 favorite male characters out of everything.

The current series that is on is Downton Abbey. I was not familiar with this story, but its so good! There are four 1.5 hr episodes total, and now only two left :( HERE is the 2011 Winter/Spring Schedule. I am looking forward to April & May when they air Upstairs, Downstairs & South Riding, both sound very good.

So when I have church AND Masterpiece on a Sunday, it makes for a perfect day :)

Christmas Vacation

Let me just say......10 days off work. Bliss!

We've had a great last couple weeks of the year! I started off the break by baking Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls to give to the neighbors & a couple friends for Christmas. It went perfect, believe it or not! I was pretty proud of myself since it was my first time to do anything with active yeast! I did the dough one evening & let it rise & do its thing in the fridge overnight. It would be good to make them ahead & freeze them for different things also. I'm planning to do them every year now and hopefully I will perfect it!


Eric's mom was able to come to Tulsa this year for Christmas. It was a last minute thing & we were so happy to have her from Tucson. She got in Christmas Eve, to a nice cold, overcast day :)

We had Christmas Eve at my Nanny's house with my Mom's side and then Christmas Day at my Dad's. What a blessing to have another Christmas with Nanny, who is 91 and still in great spirits!We had a yummy dinner and then watched Christmas Vacation & Elf. We all bunked it up at her house, despite it being slightly cramped. Makes it cozier anyways :)

Christmas morning was gift wrap madness once the gift opening began. What fun! My most surprising gift was from Eric & was a new computer. Yay! We had planned to wait until next year to get one but he worked up a good deal and changed up the plan. Its a new TV/Monitor, so we can use it for the computer or to watch tv. Genious! And its huge, such a nice improvement. It has plenty of memory for all my pictures, which I am most protective of.

We then had Christmas Day at my dad's house which was nice even though my aunt couldn't make it in this year. After the Christmas festivities ended at my dad's, we took Bonnie to look at Christmas lights around town. It was cold but lovely!

My mom's birthday is right after Christmas we celebrate that the next day. Bonnie & I went shopping for after Christmas deals & then to the birthday dinner (pizza & cupcakes!).

The next couple days we went downtown to have lunch with my mom & go ice skating at Winterfest, made Pioneer Woman's White Enchiladas (delish!) for dinner, went to see the new Narnia movie, and had a little watch party for the OSU Bowl Game.

New Year's Eve we drove to Dallas to stay with our friends Peete & Bethany. We went to dinner at Uncle Julio's with 3 other couples and their kiddos and then back to Peete's house for the night. Capone came along also & was worn out after being the main toy for the kids to play with :) He was pretty good though & slept the entire drive back home. New Year's Day we went to visit our friends Ty & Natalie and to see new baby McClain and big sister Kate! She was the cutest little doll running around & McClain is perfect! On the way home we stopped in Southlake to shop & I finally found some new pajamas :)

What a blessing to have so much time with family and to have my grandmother for another Christmas! We are looking forward to what 2011 has in store & have some high hopes on what God will be doing!