freshly squeezed...



and well worth the wait

Me & My Kindle...

Photo courtesy of Mr. Clean

...and our stockings (hung by the fire with glee).

The Corporate ABCs: H is for Hounding

that holster hooked to the hip 

hounds hired help at home without hesitation.

Salt Lake Temple in Fog

Photos courtesy of Mr. Clean

festival of trees [November - December 2010]

For the last month our young women have been working tirelessly on their submission for the Festival of Trees.  Dozens of snowmen heads were painted, dozens of snowflakes assembled and hand-beaded, dozens of beaded picks and styrofoam sno-cones crafted, all leading up to our big reveal this week. 

A few of us leader types went up to the expo center to put the final product together. All of our decor was wired and/or glued to the tree, which was auctioned off and sold for more than twice what the starting bid was set at.  Proceeds from the sale were donated to the Primary Children's Hospital.  

I'm proud to bursting of all of the effort that went into making the tree a success. Oh yeah, and I painted this snowman head.  Check out how crafty I've become!

5 things I learned while making ravioli

Here are five things I learned while learning the old family recipe

for homemade ravioli from Mr. Clean's dad.

5.  You need to knead the dough...a lot...
and just when you think you are done, you knead some more!

4.  Flour is your friend.

3.  Ricotta is pronnounced "Ri-coh-tah," not Ri-cah-tah," like I've always said it.   

2.  Mr. Clean's Dad is one of the coolest and wisest guys I've ever met.

1.  Homemade Ravioli may just be the most delicious thing I've ever eaten.  :)

Fantastico!

An Announcement

After twenty-six years of zero cavities, today I found out I have my first one. 

Curses! 

butterfly sanctuary [MI trip 2010]

Our visit to the butterfly sanctuary on Macinac Island was a highlight for us gals.

 Unfortunately, the boys were done after about five minutes, 

 but they were troopers and stuck it out

while Mrs. Webb and I proceeded to snap picture after picture of the beautiful bugs.

 These are just a few of the many different varieties of butterflies

 they breed on Macinac Island.

 As bugs go, they're not so bad.

A Pair of Pies

Peach: Before

Peach: After

Blackberry: Before

Blackberry: After

Miss Spider Part 2

Will you walk into my parlor? Said the Spider to the Fly...

Super. Duper. Gross.

And it happens every day in my garden.

5 reasons why today feels like a Monday

1.  I woke up at a quarter to seven (I'm supposed to be to work at seven), so I skipped breakfast

2.  Five minutes after I got on the freeway, I realized I'd forgotten my access badge and turned around.  Near home I realized I was going to need to stop at the gas station.  Stopped at gas station.

3.  Made it home, clipped my badge to my skirt pocket, took a quick drink of OJ...and spilled OJ all down my front.

4.  Changed clothes, threw my OJ clothes in the hamper (with my badge still neatly clipped to my skirt, of course).

5.  Got to work, realized my access badge was in the hamper, and resisted the urge to pound my head on the steering wheel

On a positive note, after all of that I was late enough that my co-workers were here and they let me in.  Welcome to Tuesday. 

the prophet said to plant a garden

so that's what we'll do

for god has given us rich brown soil

 the rain and sunshine too

 and if we plant the seeds just right

and tend them carefully

 before we know good things will grow

 to feed our family

Recruiting Week

 

It's nice to be on the other side of it

(even more so for Mr. Clean than for me, I imagine).

Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level.

Max L. Forman

Nature Preserve [MI trip 2010]

Our visit to a nature preserve a few miles from my Grandparents' house was full of

 sand

  stones

skipping

spiders

 and 'shrooms.

Spectacular!