December Daily: 31

Today was a busy day for me. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. It was so much fun. Not... Anywho. It has been raining here ALL day so far and there was a short period of time when the sun came out. But its gone now and it's just pouring. I gave Shooter and Hank a bath today. That was about an hour and half of my time. I had to take this photo of Shooter trying to get the almond shampoo smell off of him by rolling around on the carpet. He was too cute! Hank just wanted to play with Shooter once he was done with his bath. I am soaked from both them trying to get out of the tub every two seconds. Now I just need to dry off as well.  Now that they are all clean I bet they will find something in the backyard to roll around in just so they don't smell nice anymore... Silly puppies!

I also made these cute Phyllo Cups with Brie, Preserves, and Pecans. I found these on a blog called Cafe Johnsonia. I thought that these would be a good appetizer for tonight. These phyllo cups are so easy to make it took me no time to make them. If they look anything like they taste I think that I am in heaven. I even think that Jon will like them as well. Wait who am I kidding he is going to LOVE them. Well I have to get back to cleaning. I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve tonight!

December Daily: 30

Yesterday was a big day for our website! It had over 7,000 page views. I cannot believe it. I think that is is from the project that I was doing with Ali Edwards of December Daily’s but I was shocked. I believe in 1 month there was about 4,000 total page views of my website. Yippee!

The project was fun and it made me realize that I enjoy having a page to do every night. It keeps me on my toes. I think that I will continue to do Daily photo/scrapbook page every day. So here is the first one. Not sure if I should use this or if I should just use my template to keep everything the same. Maybe I will switch it around just to see which one I like better.

Today was a warm one. I think that it got up to 40 degrees. All the snow started to melt and there is hardly anything left. I got off early from work today, since our company let us out early. I came home and ended up cleaning backyard. I did not finish at all. I think that I got 3/4 of the yard finished. Hopefully it will be warmer tomorrow so that I can pick up the rest. Tonight should be a quite night. Jon has to still work tomorrow while I am off. What should I do? I think that I will clean the house since we have a busy weekend. Hope everyone has a great New Year! I am counting on that it will be a better year than 2010.

Hunting:

Here are some photos that I took over the weekend when the boys went hunting...

December Daily: 26

This morning Jon, I and the boys went our hunting up north. It was great everyone was there. It was pretty cold out and I think that my shoes were leaking but it was a fun time with everyone. Jon’s cousin ended up getting a rabbit. Shooter and Hank wanted nothing to do with hunting today which was weird. I got some great shots today out in the woods but thank god I took my old camera since the shutter was sticking since it was so cold outside. I got this great shot of everyone with a dog and their shotguns. I think that it turned out pretty nice. I will have to print this one out and give it to all of them... Back to work tomorrow. But at least it is a four day week again!

December Daily: 25

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas as Jon, I and the boys did. Today we went to my parents house to exchange gifts. I got this great cleaner that I have been searching high and low for and could never find. My Mom was able to find one for me and here I am cleaning my floors at 11:30 at night. Then we went to Babcia’s house (Grandma in Polish). It was great to see all of my family since I have not seen them in a long time since half of them live in another state. My cousin’s ended up giving Jon and I Snuggies that were in camo even for the dogs!!!  Also, My Aunt gave Shooter and Hank these cute bandana’s! The boys love them or maybe I just do. After dinner Jon and I headed over to his Aunt’s house to see his side of the family again. I think even though Jon and I travel so much this year it was worth it! Love our families! Now off to bed soon so that Jon, I and the boys can get some sleep before we go hunting tomorrow!

December Daily: 24

Yesterday was a busy day for us. We left the house around noon to head up north to see our families. We first stopped at my parents house so that Jon’s brother could pick up the snowblower that he bought from my parents. Then we went to Jon's sister house to celebrate Christmas with their family. Jon’s grandparents were in town which was great to see them since they live in Georgia. Then around 6 pm we went to my parents house again and celebrated with my mom’s side of the family. It was great seeing them too. We did not get home until 10 pm last night and I was exhausted and took little naps while watching the movie The Christmas Story.

December Daily: 23

Last night I finished up some of the wrapping while Jon put together a motorcycle model that one of our neighbors gave him. The boys just laid around upstairs with us. I still have so much to do tomorrow so I will be up early trying to finish everything before we leave. I am not sure it will all get done but I am keeping my fingers crossed...

December Daily: 22

I am skipping day twenty first due to it was a horrible day for me and I am picking back up with day twenty second. One thing that happened to me yesterday was that I fell down at work on the sidewalk that was not salted. I fell on my wrist, so that is sore as is my whole right side of my body. I was glad that I did not break a bone this time! That was the start of my horrible day and it just got worse so I will spare everyone. I am ready for 2011 to start already. Too many things have happened to our families or friends this year. I am hoping for a better year in 2011.

So today was better. Jon and I had leftovers of baked mostacolli. We finished wrapping up some of the food gift tonight as well. I think that we have enough to give each person or couple a gift bag of all the treats that I made this year... Jon is working on this bike right now as I finish this page. I also made my calendars that I make every year for the grandma’s of the boys. They turned out cute. Last year was a little easier with the calendars I made but hopefully these are just as cute. Also, I do not think that I am finished shopping for everyone on my list. I am certain that I have forgotten about someone... Hopefully not! Hope everyone is having a great week! 3 more days until Christmas!!!!

December daily: 20

Jon and I decided to cover the almond biscotti’s with chocolate to make them look and taste good. I think that they turned out great. It also started to snow really heavy. Jon and I went outside and shoveled twice last night. Jon even went around to some of our neighbor’s houses to help them out since we had the snowblower out. I think that he ended up doing four and a half driveways last night. Not bad...  That was our Merry Christmas gift to everyone in the neighborhood. Well off to make more biscotti's.

December daily: 19

Today I made almond biscotti’s. I also packaged my lemon poppy seed cakes. It was a busy day today. I took photos for my neighbor of their kids for their Christmas card and came home and started to bake. Jon was out hunting with his uncle and the boys. I wish that I would have went but I had too many things that I had to do at the house. It was a peaceful night. We actually even ended up watching a movie from Netfilx as well.

December Daily: 18

Yesterday I found this great pan at Wal-Mart that is fluted 12 cup pan. I thought it was cute so I bought it and made Lemon Poppy Seed mini cakes. They turned out so well. I was shocked. I guess it helped that I buttered and floured the pan so that they would come out nicely or actually come out of the pan. Then that night we had Jon’s family over for dinner. Here is Jon cutting up the Beer Can Chicken. Everything turned out nice. I think I am more of a serve yourself kind of person than a sit down dinner. I think that I get too nervous and I can’t eat because I am looking around making sure everyone likes what I have cooked. I guess I am way too hard on myself...

December Daily: 17

Tonight Jon and I were getting ready for our holiday get together with Jon’s dad, sister and brother. Jon wanted to have Beer Can Chicken for dinner. Since I do not like to touch chicken that much Jon helped me out and got the seasoning on the chickens for me. Jon thought it was funny how the chicken’s looked in the bowl so he wanted me to take a photo. We also did a little cleaning to get ready for the party. Most of the cleaning will be done tomorrow but at least we got a head start. I also made baked Mostaccioli last night. I wanted it to taste like Portillo's baked Mostaccioli and I almost got it but must try again...

December Daily: 16

Well there was no room for me to write on this page so I will write everything here. Tonight I cam home to find the carpet upstairs was deep cleaned and that the garage was cleaned as well. I had a smile when I walk in. Jon had the day off today and he went to visit the dentist as a LONG and OVER due appointment. He has to go back and get 2 teeth pulled in the back on January 6th! I hope it doesn't hurt too much. I also made some berry scones. These are the first batch and still need to make another. Maybe I will finish them this weekend.

December Daily: 15

Today is my Dad’s 60th Birthday! So first off HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! So after work I started to work on my Holiday cookies or treats that I make for the boys. These are Shooter and Hank’s favorite cookies of all time. They are made from peanut butter. They whole time I was making them Shooter and Hank were sniffing the air. I was thinking of packaging them in a mason jar with a pretty ribbon and the recipe. I always give Jon’s sister’s dog Isis some treats every Christmas as well. Time to get the second batch out of the oven!I hope that these turn out well! I have already given Hank and Shooter about 3 each and they seem to love them.

December Daily: 14

Tonight I made Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Meringues.I found these on a blog that I like. (Please see below for link.) I really wanted to end up making these from scratch but I did not have enough time and I have never made meringues before or melted chocolate. So I thought that I would find store bought meringues and melt the chocolate myself. These turned out so cute! I cannot wait to give them away for Christmas this year! I still have many more things to bake but this is the second thing so far that I have made and I think that I am on a roll. I finally finished my Christmas Cards that need to be sent. I had a hard time finding the same envelopes as i had for the first batch so they seem like they are just floating in envelope. Oh well. I guess I cannot be perfect in everything. Here is were I found this recipe on: http://pieceofcakeblog.blogspot.com/.

December Daily: 13

Tonight we ended up cleaning the hallway with the carpet cleaner. Jon’s sister let us borrow hers for the week to clean our carpets. They need it bad from the dogs and just the dirt. It needs a good cleaning. I think that I am going to end up buying one of these and get rid of the Botspot that we have now. I took this photo of Shooter last night but I was experimenting and trying to do a bokeh photo. It did not turn out like i wanted it to since my aperture did not do low enough. But you get the point... Well now off to do round tow of Christmas cards while Jon finishes up cleaning the living room. Oh and tonight we had ground sausage taco's. it was ok I think that I need to have them again to see if I really like them. All I can say is that is was spicier than I thought it would be.

December Daily: 12

Today Jon and I went up north to see our families. We have not been up there since Thanksgiving due to hunting. It was great to see everyone. When I was at my parents house my mom put up the Christmas Tree and we opened her ornament swap box. It was fin seeing all the different ornaments that everyone made. The boys we very tired and slept most of the time that they were there. Today was very windy at home and even up north. I kept thinking that something was going to get distroyed. But nothing did. Tonight I am going to make grill cheese sandwiches with cheese tortellini soup. I hope it turns out ok. Then relaxing until bed.

December Daily: 11

Today I decided to make sugar cookies. Nothing special just used the pre-made mix. I got one batch done and still have another one to do. Also, I was going to make orange bowknots but sis not have enough time to start one those. Maybe next weekend. I finished the Christmas cards for the most part. just need to write out the address’ and put a stamp on them. Jon came home from work and started to work on the motorcycle for about a half hour and then he came in to watch a movie with me. I ended up falling asleep half was through the movie so I missed it. But that is ok since we have Netflix through the Wii I can go back anytime and just watch it myself.

December Daily: 10

Working on the Christmas Cards. I have 60 printed out just need to get everything else ready and then they are ready to ship. I still need to get more envelopes and stamps but that is on the to do list for today. Why do I wait until the last minute on these things? Next year I hope to have more ahead of the game.

December Daily: 9

Here are the last 3 Christmas' Cards that we have sent out over the years. The first one in 2008 i had them done by Walgreens. Then in 2009 I was taking a class and i made my own. So of course this year I had to make them again... It turned out nice. Jon said that there was SO many photos of us this year. I think that it is ok. Now all I have to do is print them and send them this weekend. I have the address' all ready to go so I just need to go to Office Depot and get labels to print on and envelopes and they will be in the mail! I was hoping to get them out December first but that did not work out so well but to be only 11 days behind not bad! We have only received 3 Christmas Cards so far so I think that the majority will come next week!

December Daily: 8

Jon and I have been married for two years now. My mom got these two ornaments. The one with the snowman was made for our first Christmas. I love this one. Then my mom found this couple for when we got married. They are great ornaments. Oh and the top photo of Hank and Shooter is from tonight but I kept forgetting to take the actual photo. Hank took and chewed these ornaments the first day that the tree was up. I think that he got ahold of five different ornaments and of course they are always the good ones. Our tree looks a little sad since we have to have the ornaments start three feet off the ground so that Hank cannot get to them when he stands on his hind legs.

December Daily: 7

Tonight Jon and I had his favorite Chicken Pot Pie. We did not eat until really late since Jon was working on a side job but it was still tasty! As you can see Jon has a huge serving in his bowl. Our neightbors gave us this Beer Bread MIx in a bottle. She thought of one of the recipces that I make; Beer Can Chicken. She thought that this could be used whenever Jon and I make it again! That was really nice of her to do. Tonight I also was working out to Wii Active and I think that I pulled something in my back. Not good. So right now I am sitting on the couch with a heating pad trying to make it feel better. 

December Daily:6

December Daily: 2,3,4 and 5

Well I have been a little busy this week but I have finished 4 more pages for my December Daily Project.

December 2nd:
I was trying to figure out a way that I could make an advent calendar but instead use photos. It took me about 2 hours to figure this out. But the time I was finished with all of the day leading up to Christmas I started to print them on 4X6 photo paper. Well that ended up to be bad. The template that I was using was an 8X10 and it was printing out funny and cutting the photos. So then I gave up. So I have a digital advent calendar instead.

December 3rd:
Tonight Jon came home from a hunting trip up North. It was great to have him back home with me and the boys. He didn't have any luck. Hopefully he will have some luck on Sunday when he goes back out with his cousin. Later that night we hung out with some of the neighbors. Jon and I took some funny photos tonight. It was a blast.

December 4th:
Today was our first snow fall. It was so pretty. I think that we ended up getting around 2 inches. The boys had a blast in the backyard running around and playing! Later that night we had our friends from up north stop by and hang out. It was great seeing them. Jon also changed oil on our neighbors car while he was out of town. I also took care of one of our neighbors dogs while he was out of town! It was fun. I brought his husky named Koda over to play with our dogs in the backyard. hank really like Koda since he chased Hank but Shooter wanted nothing to do with Koda but that is typical of Shooter.

December 5th:
Today was a busy day for me. I ended up painting the wall where we put the TV again since we missed some spots when we originally had painted it. I had also fixed all the nail holes that were in the wall from my photo frames. This took me almost the whole afternoon to finish. But it looks great and I did not even use any painters tape on this! Jon came home this afternoon from his last try at hunting deer. he and his cousin had no luck. Hopefully he will have some luck in January. Now we are just relaxing and watching TV.

December Daily: 1

I found this great project by Ali Edwards called December Daily. Last year my Mom and I did a similar project called Holiday In Hands but I did not finish it. I made all the pages in advance last year but kind of strayed away from the project at the end.  I am very determined to this year to actually finish this project and have a great digital album from the holidays.

I created a template for this project so that I can just plug in all the papers, ribbons, photos, etc. I thought that the HIH template that we used last year was a good idea. So tonight I played around and figured out a way that I could make my own. It took me awhile to accomplish this one but I think that it turned out alright. Now I just need to keep on top of it everyday and make a page. Maybe tonight I will finish more pages so that all that I will need to do is add the photos but I am pretty tired.