Dipped Cinnamon Bears

Not really a fan of Halloween.
But it's the last day of the month.
I needed to get some Visiting Teaching done.
And a birthday gift delivered.
So I dipped some cinnamon bears.

Because there certainly isn't enough candy in the stores.

It was nice to get out the marble slab and play in chocolate.

It was easy and fun.

(Not sure what I was thinking when I ended up dipping 5 trays though.)
Happy Halloween!

I. CAN'T. STOP. CANNING!

Today.

Huckleberry Syrup.

OK.
Now I am done.
I think.

The Winner of the Cherish Bound Ticket!!!!!

I have a winner of the ticket of the Cherish Bound Story at Home Conference.

Congratulations to Renee at Singing with the Birds!!!

She's an amazing blogger and cook and come to find out she used to live here
and we were sorta neighbors
and our kids hung out!!!
BUT I didn't appreciate how wonderful she was until she moved.
Sounds like a sad country western song don't it?
Congratulations Renee.
Email me and I'll send you the details of the ticket!

I THOUGHT I WAS DONE CANNING

But I wasn't.
I was given a jar of Apple Syrup.
Oh my YUMMINESS!
It tastes heavenly on pancakes.

So I juiced all my apples from our two trees and made some.
Ain't it purty?
Then I made some more!

38 pints of the stuff!
NOW I'm done!

Apple Syrup
5 C apple juice
7 1/2 C sugar
Boil one minute
Add one packet of Certo
Boil two minutes.
Add 3-4 drops of red food coloring.
Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal.

ONE OF THESE {THINGS}

.....is NOT like the other.

Holy COW chicken!
It was pretty eggsciting to see such a sight in the
Garden of EGGan.

It was EGGnormous!
Totally made my day.
Probably the chicken's day too.

{CHOCOLATE}

Oh, I guess I do
Have a chocolate bar bigger than my head.

A ten pound brick of the most fabulous chocolate ever.
I need three more of them.

So I can do this...

And this...

So I have this...

For this...

Not many shopping days left.
(OK, that makes me twitch a little.)

WHY in the WORLD Do I Have a Blog?

I have no idea!

(image swiped from Pinterest)
This is so descriptive of my blog.
I have NOTHING to say.

I just feel compelled to spill things out of my brain
so it doesn't leak.

It's my 1st Amendment Right.

I'm nothing specific.
I have no genre.
(I love saying genre. It makes me sound bilingual.)
In fact, I would say that my blog is downright weird.

One minute I'm being all sentimental about writing on a brand new calendar and the next I'm stressing about naming my chickens!
That is 1st Amendment Weird!

There are blogs I go to because they are
crafting blogs
cooking blogs
learn how to can blogs
writing blogs
photography blogs ("be higher up than your subjects when you take the photo or you'll give them a double chin.") Best advice EVER!
inspiring blogs
raising kids blogs
....you name it.
It's out there.

I even have a friend who I love to blog with and she's done all of the above.
AND...
She's been to Pioneer Woman's Lodge and stayed!
Ya, amazing, I know!

There have been sad things too.
Blogger friends that have lost people they love.
I've cried with them.


I've even met people through blogging!
I know......weird, right?

Two bloggy buds stayed here while they attended functions at the nearby university or went to weddings.
Another blog buddy stopped by while she was in town visiting her daughter.
Then I went to St. George and met more fabulous women.
Had not met any of them previously, but when we did we picked up conversations like we'd known each other for years.

Nearly two years ago, I did something that for me was totally out of character.

I attended the CBC.
A bloggers conference.

People go to events like that all over the country.
Not me.

I HATE meeting people.

Maybe I should re-phrase.

I'm terrified of meeting people.
Anxiety-attack-terrified.
Heart-pounding "what was I thinking" terrified.

But there were so many blogs that were so interesting/hilarious/inspiring to me.

I wanted to meet some of these people.
And I don't have any sisters.
(Only an older brother.
So I'm basically an only child, right?)

So I went.

It was the best time.
I learned about photography, writing, blogging tips
AND
I met such nice amazing people.

As you can tell...

it was a completely serious

and dignified event.

100% hilarious!

AND I won some REALLY cool stuff.
You can read about Tauna-overcomes-her-fear-of-people here.

I went to Bear Lake last year and met up with a few other bloggers.

Another best time!
Gigi and Wendy even came!

I haven't been sorry that I've met any of these fabulous people.
Ever.
They are like the sisters I've never had.

So imagine my excitement when I found out there was going to be another Blogging Conference!

My ticket is bought and I'm ready to go.
I plan on meeting up with some old friends and making some new ones and having a ton of fun!
(Is it OK to use the word old and refer to tonnage when talking about friends?)
We plan on having so much fun we might get kicked out of the state!

This Conference is Cherish Bound.
It's a conference about storytelling and sharing your story.

It will be held March 9-10 of 2012 in the LDS Conference Center and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
If you have a family and you want to preserve their history or write about your family, you want to go.

If you have a blog, you want to go.

The classes they have planned sound great.

Do you have to be LDS to be able to attend?
NO!
It is open to everyone that wants to be able to write about their family, learn blogging tips or learn about family history.

Even better
I have been given a ticket by Cherish Bound.
I already bought my ticket.
So I'm giving this ticket away!

You get 3 chances to win.

Chance #1:
Leave a comment on my blog telling me you would LOVE to go and promise that you'll let me have your autograph.

Chance #2:
Like Cherish Bound on Facebook.

Chance #3:
Put the Cherish Bound Button on your sidebar.
That's it!

I'll close this drawing on the 27th.
(Why the 27th?
I have a haircut that day and I'm pretty excited about it.)

Now enter!
Pack your bags!
Get a babysitter!
Put some meals in the freezer!
I'd love to meet you!

If you have further questions or want more details you can contact DeNae@denaehandy.com or Carol Rice

Empty Nest

They finally are named!
Steve

Bewwa (also known as Bella)
Lexi named her.

Scawwop (also known as Scallop. For the scallop around her neck)
Also named by Lexi.

And last but certainly not least:
Elvis

And speaking of Empty Nest...
...not a single egg today.
Someone's slackin'.

Sometimes...........

Mother Nature is just RUDE!

(Looking down my back steps. I had been in the hospital all day with my MIL and "missed" the snowing, but didn't miss the evidence left behind.
But then again....
Sometimes grandMOTHER NATURE is rude too!

I believe it's my duty to post embarassing blackmail pictures of my children or grandchildren at every opportunity.
Mission accomplished!
Lexi spent the weekend with me.
She totally rocks the underwear on her head.

(This is some of the arsenal I'm using throughout their lives to keep them from dating until they are 35.)

Myrtle

First off, let me start by saying
I love my days off!
No doctors.
No hospitals.
None of that jazz.

Who's Myrtle?

Myrtle is my sweet mother in law.
She'll be 91 in two weeks.
She's an amazing woman.

She had 10 children.

Thirty years ago she buried her husband.
Within 5 years of the death of her sweetheart,
she also buried four of her children.

She's never lost her faith, her sense of humor and her kindness.

For the last month or so I've been going to Pocatello, about 80 miles away and taking her to various doctors and having various tests so she could get clearance for a new knee.

So on my days off..
I've been around doctors and hospitals.

Today I wait in a WAITING ROOM.

Waiting.

Because that's what you do here.
Unless you're blogging.
(But there is no BLOGGING ROOM.)

We've put on a lot of miles over this last month, Myrtle and I.

Her other family has been out of town/state/country.
We've visited and laughed and enjoyed ourselves.
It's been a joy.
And a privilege.

My sweet nearly 91 year old Mother in Law.
Not a wrinkle on her face!
Waiting for her new bionic knee.

Her Cardiologist wants to see her in 3 months.
He wants to race her.
But she had to promise to give him a head start.
Love you Dr. Stutts!

So here I am
In a Waiting Room.
Being with other patients and families.

Waiting.

In a different hospital than my own.

It is interesting having the tables turned.
Deciding if I like Myrtle's nurse.
Is she nice?
Is she gentle?
Is she good at IV's?
If she isn't will I be nice?

(She was good, so I didn't have to smack her see if I was going to be nice or not.)

I've discovered a universal truth as
I've spent hours and miles during all this medical stuff.

"Sometimes doctors are NOT jerks."
.......but sometimes............

DEAR GARDEN......

FREEZE WILL YA?

I canned 36 pints of salsa on Saturday.
I really do love to can.
It's a ton of work.
It probably doesn't save me a dime.
BUT...

I've never found a store that carries a peach preserve with jalapenos and pineapple.

Ya, sounds icky.

But you pour this over Cream Cheese and serve with Ritz Crackers.
Seriously.
You'll want to name your firstborn after it.

We spent Saturday putting finishing touches on the Chick ChaLAY

(Isn't that the sweetest face?)
I do have some decorating to finish.
I was thinking about gingham curtains.

I also canned 36 pints of chicken.

NO NO!
Not my chickens.
Probably some of the kinfolk though.

I also loved listening to General Conference this weekend.
It was great to hear the messages from our Church Leaders.
Things I needed to hear.

I'll spend tomorrow getting all the tomatoes and cucumbers out of the garden to finish ripening.

It's supposed to snow on Friday.

I hope to have the tomatoes ripen slowly throughout the coming weeks and enjoy a fresh tomato long after the snow flies.

The zucchini that's left in the garden?
It can stay where it lays!