I'm Such a Copy Cat

Dinner tonight...

Grilled turkey sausage with green bean fries.  I also mixed some Ranch dressing and stone ground brown mustard for dipping purposes.  Excellent.  Thanks to my blogger friend Lawst & Found for the green bean recipe!

Heart Strings in a Spasm

I received this in the mail today from my sister.  I don't know why she had it, and I don't know where she got it, but seeing this made my heart just ache (in a good way) for my Nannie.

I know that I learned to write cursive in third grade but this looks pretty advanced, so maybe fourth or firth grade --- still this has to be close to 40 years old.

"Smile, Nannie, Smile!"  Be my valentine.  I love you!!!!! 

I love her very much.  Still.  Always.  Forever. 

Cousinly Fun

Nine years separate us, and we've never really spent much one on one time with each other.  Until last weekend. 

What a fun cousin I have!!!

Cut me some slack...

I've never seen a pink poodle.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you this right now...
I'd rather see than be one.

Guess I can't say THAT any more.

Yard Work

We woke up to rain this morning.  When it was all said and done, we had gotten 1.5 inches of the stuff.  The day was quite breezy, and by 6 o'clock it was dry enough that I was able to mow.  Again.  Ted mowed on Saturday.  Today is Tuesday.  And it's time to mow again.  I'll probably have to mow again on Friday.  But look how pretty our yard looks...

Speaking of pretty, look what popped up in our side garden this year.  Seriously.  I've never had tulips there before, and I didn't plant them.  That bed was even tilled a few years ago.  What a glorious gift!

But, before I get too excited, we have these pop up too...

Yesterday I "built" a raised bed garden.  That consisted of putting it together and adding 17 cubic feet of soil.  Oh, and fluffing up the dirt underneath it then leveling it.  I worked hard.  I even got a bleed.  Check it out...

Today I planted my leeks and a few marigolds.  I also have two tomato plants, a red bell pepper plant, zucchini and basil that need to go in.  Oh, and I bought a blackberry bush.  Not for the raised garden, of course, but for somewhere in some garden.

Is it weird to remember what you cooked for dinner one day in 1999?  Well, I remember because it was the first time I used my new Weber gas grill that I had purchased.  I had filet mignon (rare) and ranch style beans.  I have been waiting to use my new Weber grill to cook the same meal, but, well...things happen.  I ran out of gas from the old grill and ended up cooking Italian sausage on the new grill.  They turned out just as good as the filet all those years ago. 

Finally, speaking of food, I made a menu for the week and I have stuck to it.  Today was Italian sausage with pasta-y stuff (spaghetti, tomatoes, black olives).  Tomorrow is Julie's crock pot chicken with the carrots and sweet potatoes.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Happiness Abounds

Happy April!  We are nearly half way done and rounding the corner to spring...  Time flies when you are getting older!

Here are some things that make me happy...

Look at that lazy bones puppy!  He loves morning pats...

This was a very fun surprise!  One of moms' friends painted a lovely watercolor of Levi from a picture I took of him on his one-year birthday.  She painted some others too, but this one is my favorite!

The LOML (love of my life) on our anniversary!

A hand-cut and hand-painted anniversary created by Bryan and Marie.  She even added bluebonnets (even though she didn't know I am originally from Texas)!

Redemption

Cookie redemption, that is!

I gathered my ingredients.  Once the cookies were mixed, I sandwiched a Reese's peanut butter cup in between two scoops of cookie dough.  Baked them at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.  Absolute beauty coming out of the overn!

Nom-nom-nom-nom-nom!