A Last Post For 2007

I for one am glad that 2007 is only hours from being behind us. It was a hard year, but it had good times mixed in there too. I was able to hang out with some old friends, made some new friends, learned to knit, made a scrapbook album, found a church to attend, lost 35 pounds, had our 6th wedding anniversary with Travis, was blessed with Bella for the whole year, grew closer with some family members but at the same time grew really, really far apart from others. 2007 was definitely a mixed bag with everything good we had, and the not so good things like the family drama and Travis being laid off. But that's all behind us, thank goodness, and now I'm looking forward to 2008! I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions but there are some things I would like to do in the coming year.

1. Be happier!

2. Do what God wants me to do.

3. Help those in need.

4. Do work for our church.

5. Do more good deeds to bless other people.

6. Knit socks.

7. Lose some more weight.

8. Spend more time with friends & family.

9. Go on a vacation.

10. Be a more positive person.

I hope that everyone has a very happy and safe New Year!

How Was Christmas?

It was great! I got so many nice things.

I got this Fossil watch.

I also got knitting needles, a dishcloth pattern book, a doggy sweater pattern book, an Eastern Star ring, a Wood Wick candle, a Weaving Stitches gift certificate, 6 Nativity scene napkin rings, a 2 cup tea server, and $100 to name a few. I plan on taking a knitting class with part of the money though.

I also got the Vera Bradley Capri Melon Purse. I love it!!!

Since I finished up my "special project" I finally found a new knitting pattern that I am trying. It is just the cutest thing! It's called "Cables & Bits". The pattern can be found here. It involves knitting in the round, which I've never done before, so I'm hoping I can learn how and pull this one off for Bella. I'm making her's pink. I'm sure she will look darling in this.

Model: Jax; Photo by Sarah Wilson; http://www.knitty.com/

In this month's issue of Weight Watchers Magazine there is a really cool product mentioned that I just had to tell everyone about. It is called Fit N Fresh. There are several different tupperware type containers that so innovative for those of us trying to watch our portion sizes. Along with the containers there are recipes that give great ideas for healthy foods to make in them. Here are some pictures from the website. http://www.fit-fresh.com/

Just look at these layers!

This is just amazing! It has a utensil box to hold silverware! And has a dressing dispenser! The salad bowl holds up to 4 cups! And the removable ice pack keeps it cool for up to 6 hours! Do I hear my birthday rolling around??? Too bad I didn't know about these for Christmas!

There are tons of container systems to choose from. I just think it's amazing!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

Knitting This & That

I was looking through some knitting blogs today just out of boredom and came across some projects I'd like to try in the coming year. I'm not sure Travis would wear this, but I think it looks very handsome. It's sort of a scarf/tie. Very stylish. This comes from a blog called Little Purl of the Orient.

I saw this picture on Chie Crochets' Blog and loved the idea. All those little knitted sweaters are just adorable as ornaments. I guess there are 12 patterns as in the 12 days of Christmas. I looked at the pattern though, and it looks rather difficult. Maybe I could tackle this after I get some more experience. Or maybe that is just procrastination hee hee.

Almost all the knitting blogs I go to have pictures of cats all over their pages! What's up with that? I'm representin' the dogs. (Oh no, that sounded like a rapper lol).

Well, that's all the time I have for now. Have a great Thursday!

A Cool Website

I wanted to let everyone know about a really cool website my cousin Jennifer told me about. It is called SkinIt. They have an out of this world selection of skins, which are like hard protective covers, for cell phones, ipods, PDA's, laptops, printers, etc.

And thanks Anna for telling me about Google Gadgets. They are very cool!

Decorating Madness

Last night I started on my Christmas gift wrapping. I need to just stay on task with it, but I keep finding myself trying to make every little detail perfect and it's driving me nuts! I think doing things like that in moderation could be a good thing if I'd only learn that. Note to self: You can't make everything perfect! Deal with it! I feel like I have so much to get ready for and I'm losing time and getting really stressed out by it. Like today, I have a special gift I'm working on but instead of doing that, I was on Myspace all afternoon uploading pictures. But as I was saying (here we go again) ...gift wrapping. Here's a picture.

We're having Travis' family over this Saturday and I decided to decorate little gift bags for my nieces. I used my Sizzix to punch out their name and little holiday figures. I think its cute, but it took a freakin hour! I guess I'm just trying to make this year special because this will be their first Christmas with us. And as you can see, the package beside it I handmade shiny bows out of ribbons. I'm sure that by the 30th package I wrap I'll be hating myself for that one. Well, that's all for my holiday rant lol.

Have a great Tuesday!

The Ash Family; A Favorite Blog

I had such a great time yesterday with my family. I was really surprised that 22 people fit into my little house! But it was great to have our home full of family. Here are some pictures of the day.

Here are the Aunts and Uncle.

Starting on the left is my Aunt Nancy, Aunt Mary Lou, then my Uncle John and his wife Diana, Aunt Jeanne and her husband Jim behind her, and then my mom and dad.

The whole gang! It was completely awesome having everyone here!

Aren't we beautiful?!On the left is my cousin Ashlee, cousin Jill, me, cousin Jacey, and cousin Jennifer.

So, in other news, as I was browsing online today I found a great blog called Hungry Girl on Yahoo! Food. As she describes, the blog says, "Hungry Girl is not a nutritionist, she's just hungry. Hungry Girl delivers fun diet tips and tricks, guilt-free food finds, low-cal recipes, food shockers, reviews, and more." I've found that alot of her content is Weight Watcher friendly. She has some good tips, so it's worth a read. She also has a great year-end post called 2007's Guilt-Free Foods of the Year, it's really impressive. I've added her blog to my fav's, so check it out.

A Holly Jolly Christmas

Tomorrow is the first party of the season at my house. I'm having over my mom's four sisters, one brother, and their families. I made each family a loaf of Banana Nut Bread, made from scratch. And yes, it took awhile. I also made chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Ah, now I'm too tired to Christmas shop! I never thought I'd say that. But I think I'll go anyway. :-)

On Dogster they are having a Holiday Picture Party for doggies. Here is Bella's Yule-tide mugshot.

Have a great weekend!

Holiday Hostess-ing

I wanted to share some new ideas and tips I've come across for hosting a holiday party this Christmas. I am hosting two different parties this year at my house, which I'm really excited about since I really love being a hostess and cooking/baking special things for everyone. I definitely needed to do some research since I wanted to do something that everyone would remember and love. I'm not set on anything at this point, but here's some neat ideas that I might try or that's just noteworthy.

These look so good! And seem pretty easy to make. I'm sure guests would love these and they would look so beautiful displayed on a table for them to just grab up.

Chocolate Pretzels by Robin Miller- Food Network

Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
User Rating: 5 of 5 stars

2 bags chocolate chips (dark or milk chocolate)
1 bag pretzels (logs work well for this, but you can try any of the medium to thick variety of twists)
Chopped nuts, for garnish, optional
Colored nonpareils, for garnish, optional
Sprinkles, for garnish, optional
Coconut, for garnish, optional
Crushed cookies, for garnish, optional

Melt chocolate in double boiler over medium heat on stove top. Using tongs, or your fingers, quickly dip pretzels in chocolate allowing the excess to run off. Place dipped pretzels on waxed paper lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, colored sugars or other toppings. Allow to harden. You may need to refrigerate for a while to help this along. Once hardened, remove from sheets and store in a cool location, with waxed paper between layers.

Tip: Package pretzels in clear cellophane bags or in vase for festive gift giving!

Ingrid Hoffmann- from Food Network tells us this cute idea.
I make cookie labels which can hang on a tree, be a place card setting or even a name tag on a gift. Cut cookie dough into label shapes, bake, and when cooled, write the guest's or gift recipient's name on it with icing.

I doubt many of us have a label shaped cookie cutter, but we could improvise by using a knife to cut out the design ourselves.

A personal recipe that is always a big hit is Banana Nut Bread. I'll be making loaves to send home with my guests wrapped in holiday saran wrap and tied with pretty ribbons.



Serves: 12 slices

1 3/4 cups All Purpose Four
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup White Sugar (or for a lower calorie alternative use Splenda)
1/3 cup Butter, softened (or used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)
2 Eggs
1 cup mashed Banana
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add butter, eggs, nuts, and mashed banana. Beat until well blended. Pour batter into pan.

Bake at 350 for 1 hr. 15 mins.
It's done when a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean.

From the December issue of Kraft Food & Family Magazine there are some cute decorating ideas. It says that for a lovely last minute centerpiece put two different sizes of pretty ball ornaments in a vase or crystal bowl.

And you can make your own gift wrap with craft paper and rubber stamps. A quick and easy idea for scrapbookers to put a personal touch on gifts. Or, let the gift inspire the wrapping: for baked goods, use tea towels and fasten with raffia. You could use Christmas themed tea towels as an inexpensive touch. They are available at Dollar General for only $1.00!

You can sign up for the free magazine at Kraft Foods. They have alot of great recipes and tips. I've made quite a few great dishes from them and they're always a hit with the family and guests.

And with a husband and father who are brownie fanatics, this is a great holiday touch.

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 50 min
Makes: 1-1/2 dozen brownies or 18 servings, 1 brownie each

4 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup coarsely chopped PLANTERS Pecans, (I would say this is optional)
1 tsp. powdered sugar

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in granulated sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and pecans; mix well. Spread into greased foil-lined 13x9-inch baking pan.

BAKE 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not over bake.) Cool in pan.

CUT brownie in pan into 18 decorative shapes with 1-1/2 inch star-shaped or holiday cookie cutters. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Reserve the trimmings for snacking or another use.

Happy Holiday Hostess-ing!

I Love Picasa Too & This Song

My friend Anna wrote in her blog about Picasa, an awesome photo editor. I absoloutely love it! It is great for us scrapbookers. Now I can't wait to make more collages like this for an album.

Pictures from Christmas 2006

My Bella

Picasa can be downloaded for free here.

I also heard this song the other evening and loved it! It reminds me of me and Travis. And plus, I would buy him Rogaine if his hair starts to fall out :-)

Ingrid Michaelson: The Way I Am

Have a happy Monday evening!