Meme Monday

My good friend, Karen, started a Meme Monday on her blog(The Huffmanicas). She wanted to know everyone's favorite orange item. It didn't take me long to think of two things that were orange that I really like. I did however, try to think of cooler things but to no avail! So here it goes...




First, I love pumpkins! I like the way they look. (I think they are very cute!) And I like the way they taste. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin muffins, etc... The list could go on for a very long time!




And second I picked my scissors! I know, I am weird. But they are really great to have when trying to be crafty. And I even went out and got pinking shears. I am so excited to use them!

Are there any orange things you love?

Rainy Weekend

I hope your weekend was drier than ours!

Foodie Fridays

My friend Fran started a Foodie Friday on her blog, so I thought I would play along. And of course I have to be difficult because the first recipe I am posting isn't really a food. But oh well, it is a great glaze so I hope you will give it a try.

We have tried it on a lot of things but marinating chicken and steak in this teriyaki glaze seems to work the best. We usually have some left over marinade so we reduce it and put it on top of the meat.

Teriyaki Glaze

1 C. pineapple juice
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. honey
1/4 C. soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ginger

Yep, that is all there is too it. I put it all in a bowl, whisk it together and pour it over the meat to marinate. Yummy!

A Bummer

I went back to Joann Fabrics today to find more buttons. They had more orange but not the ones I bought before. They had some orange ones there that looked like their color had been washed out of them. Bummer!

Note to self: "If you really like something, buy a few more than you think you would need." I guess I will just keep checking back.

Here is the newest pumpkin. I really like the green ribbon. It gives it a little something extra!

Who Knew?

In case you thought my path had veered, have no fear, I am still walking down the crafting road. I have gotten most of my project ideas from other blogs. There are a lot of very talented ladies out there! And I for one am grateful they are willing to share their projects/patterns and directions for those of us who are less talented.

I came across this Button Wreath Ornament by clicking around on a craft blog. It looked my speed... simple! I didn’t have any buttons at home, so I just saved the link in my favorites thinking that I would try it out someday. I was walking around Joanne Fabrics the other day and came across a bunch of buttons on clearance. My mind immediately went to the button wreath and I bought a few different colors for less than a $1.00. I love sales!

Anyway, I knew Aaron was going to be a little later at work tonight so I decided to give the button wreath a try. I started out making it for my sister for Christmas (don’t tell her!) because she loves the color orange. But I may keep it for myself. :o)

As I was finishing up the wreath, I noticed how much it looked like a pumpkin. All it needed was some green ribbon. Who knew!? I started out making a Christmas ornament but I think I like the idea of pumpkins better. It's my way of adding a twist to the project!

A New Do

Those of you, who know me, know that I have looked the same for a long time. If I had to venture a guess, I would say I have had the same haircut for about 10 years. Well last week, I temporarily lost my mind and cut 3 inches of my hair off as well as asked for the beautician to give me bangs! I told you...lost my mind.

I am still not sure if I like it yet. Those around me seem to react positively but then again people can always tell little white lies! I think it is just a shock to me right now. I think when it grows out a half inch or so I will feel more comfortable.

I guess only time will tell!

"I wanna see a wreck!"

This past weekend, Aaron and I traveled down to New Hampshire Motorspeedway for the NASCAR race. I have been to two races before (Watkins Glen & Lowe's Motorspeedway) but it was Aaron's first race. I was really excited to go but I think I was more excited for Aaron to go. We really like watching it on tv but when you go you can smell the burt tires, hear the loud roar of the cars flying by... It is just better seeing it all in person!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head to the speedway. We parked and headed right over to the Army 'tent'. It wasn't really a tent per say, but they did have a lot of stuff set up to help in their recruiting efforts. That night we watched a bit of the Craftsmen Truck Series. I had never seen the trucks race before but we deicded to stay since the weather for Sunday wasn't looking so good. We figured we might as well see some kind of racing while we were there just in case.

Rain. That is the first thing we saw when we got up and what we continued to see up until race time. I don't know how it happened but when it was time to drop the checkered flag the track was dry and the race began on time.

We had a blast! It helped a lot once we got ear pluggs that is for sure! We also had a great time because we got to not only watch the race but we also got to tour the pits, tour the garage area and meet the Army car driver, Aric Almirola, in the Army hospitality tent.

Here are some pics from our NASCAR adventure:

The speedway.

Almirola and I.

Pre-race car inspection in the garage area.

Gordon's car in the garage area. We almost got hit a couple of times by crew members pushing cars.

I spotted Joe Gibbs in the #11 Fed Ex hospitality tent. He owns a bunch of teams through his Joe Gibbs racing team.

Babe and I watching the race from turn #4.

Let's go racing!

Round and round they go!

Greg Biffle won the race. Here is his victory burn out!

Even though the race started out really slow (There were no cautions for a long time and I kept telling Aaron that I wanted to see a wreck!) the race was great. There were some wrecks towards the end to help make it interesting. But don't worry, no one was hurt. Also between the rain drops over the two days, we met some really great people. We seem to be able to make friends where ever we go!

I took a lot of pictures that weekend but I won't torture you further. All in all, the weekend deserves two thumbs up!

Rockin' Gratitude

I recently finished another scarf for my niece. She likes purple and wanted a softer one than I had made her the last time. (Although, I will tell you that she picked out the yarn and I warned her it was scratchy. But I think the florescent obnoxious colors were more appealing to a 6 year old than comfort.) I sent the newest scarf out to her last week. Here are two of the pictures I received from my sister over e-mail.

She makes me feel like a pro. If she only knew... If I can get this kind of reaction from the purl stitch, imagine how happy she will be when I master the tassels!

Knitting Novice

I made some great friends when we were stationed at Fort Drum. I know without them the deployment would have been unbearable. The year our husbands were away we did a lot of crazy things. But one of my favorite things we did was have knitting nights. Sounds fun right!? I know what you are thinking. Don't make fun! We had a really great time. Fran was very patient in teaching us how to knit. There were many nights where we would sit and watch a movie knitting all the while. Well, except for Karen, she is a speedy crocheter. :o) Since I have learned how to knit, I have made at least 10 scarves.

Here in lies my problem: I relied so heavily on the girls knitting knowledge it is hard to knit on my own. I have started knitting a few more scarfs but all I can do is the purl stitch. And while that is great, I need to branch out. I don't want to keep making the same thing over and over. Short of asking Fran to fly up here and teach me something new, I wasn't sure where to turn. So, I went to my trusted friend, The Curtis Memorial Library, and got out a book. I checked out Teaching Yourself Visually Knitting. It isn't as easy as you would think. Knitting speak is weird. Knit 1, purl 2, knit 2; huh?! I will say the pictures are of some help.

But I have realized that not all things are easily learned by reading. So I have searched the web and found multiple videos on youtube.com that could prove very helpful. We will see how that goes...

Do any of you knit? Are there any sites or videos you would recommend? I will let you know how my 'learn by watching videos' goes. Who knows, maybe someday I will graduate from scarves to hats!

Worldless Wednesday