Survey Says

1 - What's your staple meal (what meal do you cook often when you can't be bothered to be adventurous)? Ha Ha! This one makes me laugh considering I hate to cook and will look for any reason to eat out. Casseroles are probably my staple, easy and a full meal in one pan...love it!

2 - What do you want to be when you grow up? My dream job would be a Social Worker working with kids with cancer at St. Judes. But, for now I'm content where I am.

3 - What book are you reading at the moment? House Rules by Jodi Picoult and LOVE IT!!

4 - How do you relax? Reading, Watching BB 12, and running. Running by myself gives me time to think about anything and everything and I love the solitude.

5 - What color are the interior walls of your home? Depends on which room. Living room upstairs - red and  beige, living room downstairs - plaid wallpaper (that is coming off in the near future) and cream, kitchen - baby poop yellow, Madelyn's room - pink, our room - textured green and cream, upstairs bathroom - lavender, downstairs bathroom - khaki, spare room - boring cream

6 - What is your guiltiest pleasure? Any and all junk food! I love sweets and I love inhaling an entire bag of chips. Napping - I love naps and usually get at least one on the weekends.

7 - What time is your bedtime and getting up time? 9:20pm bedtime, 5:15am wake-up if I'm running, 6:15am if I'm not running, and whenever Madelyn makes me get up on the weekends

8 - How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)? If work is slow I can spend a good hour reading blogs per day, but I check my favs almost daily.

I'm tagging Shelly and Jen to complete this survey next! :)

Wordless Wednesday (how I feel today)

Apple Pie Made Easy

One of Ryan's most favorite pies is Apple. I'm not a huge fan of it and always thought it would be too difficult to make so for many years I never tried. My mama always enjoys spoiling Ryan and makes him his very own apple pie at least once a year. Then my mom shared the recipe with me and I had no excuse but to make an applie pie as a good wife should. My favorite part about this pie is that it is so easy. The one thing that makes it is easy is that I use store bought crust vs homemade. I know some of you may think that is not the proper homemade pie etiquette, but I guarantee if you tried it you wouldn't know the difference. I have tried it both ways, as for many years my mama only made homemade crust, but I think the store bought crust is just as good and it takes half the time.

1 pkg of pie crust

Then.....

6-7 Gala apples (or the apples my neighbor picked and shared) peeled and sliced
1 1/2 Cups of sugar
1 Tbls of cinamon (give or take, I usually just add until I think it looks good)
2 Tbls flour or constarch
1 Tbls of fruit fresh (help keep the apples from turning brown)

Mix the above ingredients with sliced apples.  Pour mixture onto bottom pie crust (that you have already  placed in the pie pan).
Add 3 Tbls of margarine over sliced apples. Then add top crust and pinch sides together.
Make some slits on the top crust (or mark it with an M for Muhlig :) ).  Cover with tin foil and bake @ 375 for 1 hour, then uncover and bake for another 1/2 hour. It should be done at that point but check with a fork to make sure apples are not crunchy. Once removed from the oven, brush a bit of milk over the top and then sprinkle cinamon and sugar. Enjoy!

60 years on 8/22/10

My mom's 60th birthday was last Sunday. I think that is a reason to celebrate, however she was not on board. She was adamant she did not want a big party. She would have really much prefered that my dad take her on an Alaskan cruise (Yea, that didn't happen either). Since we knew it would be impossible to pull off a surprise party we just invited my mom's closest friends and we met at Bruffs for a late lunch last Sunday.

My mom's BFFs Brenda & Aunt Rosemary

Jacinda (Brenda's daughter), my sister, DeAnn, Cierra (Jacinda's youngest), and Kaitlyn (my niece). DeAnn & Jacinda were childhood best friends and now Kaitlyn and Cierra are friends.

Mom getting ready to blow out her candles.

Madelyn, my niece Aubrey, and Lakin (Devin's daughter)

Bryce (Devin's son), Jim & Brenda Kahle (Jacinda & Devin's parents and my parents BFFs). My parents and the Kahles all graduated from CGHS. My mom and Brenda have been best friends since before then.

Terry & DeAnn

Devin (Brenda's son), his wife Becky and my mom chatting. Devin is two years older than me and we were great buds growing up.

And this one is posted again because I couldn't get the dang thing to delete!

And Like That He was Gone. :(

A couple weeks ago we noticed a kitten living in the gutter across the street. I observed him/her for a few days and noticed there was no mama to be found and he/she was very, very thin. One evening Madelyn and I took post beside the gutter to see if we could get close to the kitty. I brought a bowl of milk to lure the kitty in and before long Madelyn was able to touch the kitten. This ritual went on for a few evenings and before long the kitten became "Jack" (we like to recycle names), and was living in the bushes beside our house and getting a daily dose of cat food. Although he would still venture over to the gutter because as we soon found out he had a sibling.

Madelyn looked forward to seeing Jack each morning and evening (as did I). We had warned Madelyn to not to get too attached because he would likely get hit by a car or eaten by our dogs. I tried to convince myself I wasn't getting attached either. One evening as I was returning from my run I noticed a lady sitting near the gutter petting "Jack." I tried to place my claim on "Jack" by telling her we were feedig him, and she soon went on her way. On Friday evening we did not see Jack when we got home, but I put food in his bowl anyway hoping he would return. This morning the food is still in the bowl and "Jack" and his sibling are nowhere to be found. I have a feeling that lady came back and took them home. I know "Jack" will likely have a better home with her and possibly won't have to fend for his life around cat killing dogs, but I have to admit I was getting just as attached as Madelyn if not more so.  I told Madelyn that "Jack" is gone and she stuck out her lip and pouted for a second and then went on about her merry little way, if only I could be that carefree. I should know better than to get attached to some animal. Living on a farm I learned quickly that what you love today may very likely be dinner tomorrow (don't worry we did not eat Jack).

Girl Scouts

With no encouragement from either Ryan or me, Madelyn decided to join Girls Scouts. Ryan signed her up yesterday and then told me he signed me up to volunteer at all the meetings. Thankfully the latter was a joke. Not funny to me, but Ryan thought it was hilarious.

I'm sure Ryan will be Madelyn's best customer when she is selling cookies. He will buy her out of the thin mints in no time.

Madelyn & Mama Day (rescheduled)

Pedicures

Lunch & Games at Madelyn's favorite place

Then it was off to Portrait Innovations for Madelyn's 7 year pics. That was a much longer process than we had hoped but the pics turned out darling.

We finished our evening at the Augusta city pool for Lincoln Elementary swim night.

Next year I'll make sure to check the school schedule before I plan Madelyn& Mama day so it doesn't have to be rescheduled.