Foodie Penpal Box - June

I participated in the June Foodie Penpal Box sponsored by The Lean Green Bean. I recieved this month from Janelle in New York.It was an awesome box. LOVED it!!!

This is what I got.

This a great bag from Wagman's, a grocery in her area. We don't have them here in the south.

Quakes Cheddar Cheese Rice Snacks! Loved these. Had never tried them before.

Annie's Gluten Free Bunny Cookies. Never even heard of this brand, but hubby will contest- they are so good!

These fruit twists were the bomb!

Green tea- a daily must have!

Z-Bar by Clif! Hubby got this one. He said it was great!

a granola bar- tasted like a fancy rice kripie bar. Very good!

 

She also sent me brochures of places to go in her area which were very informative, and a really cute card.

This was my 1st Foodie penpal box, and I loved it. Doing it again next month. Hope you will too. Just go here and fill out the form.

Thank you Janelle!!!

Week in Review

On Sunday we saw this gorgeous sunflower field on our way to Helena.

Could not resist stopping to take pics.

I LOVE sunflowers!

This is my friend and landlady Pam. Her daughter  Heaven had her 2nd birthday party

on Monday afternoon. It was fun, and the cake was delicious!

Wednesday- made a big pot of southern chicken and dumplins! Yummy!

Thursday is "me" day. Painted my toes a pretty shade of pink!

Friday is Dexter Day. This is his profile shot.

Lily(L) and Maddie (R) went to their friend Grace's

birthday party on Sat.

Hope you all had a great week. :)

Do You Like Chocolate Eclairs?

Then you have to try this-

Chocolate Eclair Cakeby Debbie Mortensen

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
3 cup milk
1 8 oz. container cool whip (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container)
chocolate syrup

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.

Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).

Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with chocolate syrup.

I have made it and loved it and hubby keeps asking when we are having it again.

This recipe is from The Girl Who Ate Everything blog. Thank you for the great recipe!

60 by 60

1. Spend a week at a beach.

2. Lose 130 pounds.

3. Go somewhere new.

4. Give up sweet tea.

5. Take a cruise.

6. Write my life journal.

7. Grow my blog.

8. Move to Alabama.(home)

9. Walk daily.

10. Exercise more.

11. Get even closer to my hubby.

12. Read the entire Bible.

13. Organize my entire house.

14. Visit kids at least twice a year.

15. Make most of my Christmas presents by hand.

16. Do a Random Act of Kindness at least once a week.

17. Attend a blogging conference.

18. Cook a new recipe monthly.

19. Add new states to my "visit each state" on my bucket list.

20. Take better care of how I look to the world and hubby.

21. Make lots of Barbie clothes for the little girls.

22. Start saving money so at the end of this list we can go on a nice trip.

23. Give up sugar (this will my hardest thing to do).

24. Pray more.

25. Stop playing recluse and get out of the house more.

26. Get my granddaughter tattoo on my arm.

27. Read a book a month.

28. Make more friends. (Remember one must 1st leave the house to do this one, lol)

29. After organizing, donate to charity.

30. Make blankets for the homeless.

31. Organize all my photos onto discs.

32. Save dimes the entire time and see how much I have at age 60.

33. take thousands of pictures!

34. Get a massage at a spa.

35. Go on an unplanned road trip with hubby. Just pack, get and the car, and go.

36. Take up painting again.

37. Make "Sunbonnet Sue" quilts for the 3 little girls.

38. Learn yoga.

39. Get my belly button pierced after losing 100 pounds,

40. Write a letter to my sons and grandchildren for them to read after I'm gone. I know, sounds morbid, but something I really want to do.

41. Learn to better live in the NOW and put the past behind me.

42. Go to a St Patricks Day parade (I am half Irish).

43. Resume once a week date night!

44. Use my new sewing machine.

45. Make a rag quilt.

46. have a "ME" day every Thursday.

47. Get another car before ours falls completely apart.

48. Help to better someone Else's life.

49. Get healthy. Stop cancelling Dr appts.

50. More intimacy in my marriage.

51. Celebrate daily holidays in small ways.

52. Get off my walker and walk, walk, walk.

53. Be happy!

54. Be positive!

55. Be motivated and motivational as well.

56. Buy a goal weight outfit.

57. See my brother Chuck and sister Tracie somehow, somewhere, someway.

58. Save money. Save, Save, save.

59. Work on becoming a better me on a daily basis.

60. Countdown the 570 days til my 60th birthday. and ENJOY it!

Ralphie May

Wordless Wednesday

My nephew Mitchell and his girlfriend Kelly went to see Ralphie May in concert this past weekend.
I am a Huge Ralphie May fan!!! Meeting him is on my bucket list, and just go at the last minute. Lucky, lucky people!

20 Random Facts

About me of course..........

1. I am very crafty. I paint, crochet, sew, paper craft, art journal, scrapbook, and lots more.
2. I used to own a craft store in the 80's.
3. Watermelon is my fave summer time food.
4. My life used to be full of drama, mostly my own doing. not anymore. I lead a drama free existence.
5. I have gained 100 pounds in the last 3 years.
6. I have lived in cities my entire life, but now live in small country town of 725 people.
7. I love fresh garden veges. Especially, corn, cucumbers, green peppers, green beans, and tomatoes.
8. I could eat pizza every day, all day.
9. I live in an elderly apt paid for by the government. My rent is VERY cheap. Have great neighbors.
10. I had a liver transplant 3 yrs ago and am doing great.
11. My toothbrush is Hello Kitty. :)
12. Robert is my 3rd husband, and last.
13. My fave place to live was Los Angeles.
14. I grew up in Alabama.
15. I cannot dance. Have NO rhythm.
16. I love card games, and Bingo.
17. I HATE being fat.
18. I have 2 tattoos and want another one. Got my 1st for my 40th bd.
19. When I lose 100 pounds, I will get my navel pierced.
20. I am blessed!

My Dad, Thomas Neal McCracken, died in 1974

when I was 20. He missed out on so much of my life

that I hardly knew him.

But when he was around, I loved him with ache that still

burns in my heart. He always told me how pretty I was, and called me his little princess,

and just made me feel special.

I miss him, but will see him again one day.

I have a brother that was born in Texas that I have never met. I spoke with him

on the phone the day my grandma died. That was it. Don't even know his first name.

My Dad was married 5 times and had four children. One by each of 4 wives. I am the only girl.

I miss you Daddy.



Flag Day and Strawberry Shortcake

Happy Flag Day!

Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs

Ingredients:

1 pound cake (I used spongecake from the grocery, because I already had one)

2 boxes strawberries

White chocolate

Kabob sticks

I cut the cake into squares and cut the tops on the strawberries and placed them on the kabobs, alternating between cake and strawberries. I then melted the white chocolate. After the chocolate was melted it, I moved it into a plastic bag, cut of the corner, and squeezed the chocolate all over the kabobs. Put in the fridge for about 30 minutes and the chocolate will harden and be ready for serving!

hThis recipe turned out so delicious! And no kabob made it out alive! They were devoured! This was definitely a winning recipe, and ridiculously easy. Nearly impossible to mess up! If you make it, you will not be disappointed!

WW- My 2 oldest G's

My oldest two granddaughters, Kenzie and Kelsi.

Kenzie is almost 12 and Kelsi is now "16".



A Happy Day

There are four special days today. One is "Open Your Window" Day,"Red Rose day", "National Peanut Butter Day"and the other is "Diary Day".

Do you journal? I journaled for many years and had two boxes of journals full. My ex burned then while I was at work one day. I was devastated and even though that was 15 years ago, I find it hard to stick to journaling now, but I still love it. Journaling is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to accelerate your personal development.

Open up your windows today. Let some fresh air in. It will make you and your house feel better.

If you can't afford a red rose, go out and pick a flower or a bunch from your garden, or even the side of the road. Again, flowers always make me feel better.

To celebrate these days all in one, I am going to take an hour out of my day, and open my windows, write in my journal and smell the flowers I pick from the side of the road while eating a few peanut butter cookies I made last night.

HAVE A HAPPY DAY!!!!!!

Corn Week!

This is corn week at my house. Hubby purchased two bags of corn from one of the local farmers and he delivers it one day this week. These are not small bags. Each bag is over  3 ft tall and contains 200-250 ears of corn. We are sharing with my neighbor and good friend Janette. So one day this week, we will be up to our eyeballs in corn, from morning to night. This winter though, we will be so glad! My freezer will be half full of this beautiful yellow food that we love so much.

me and tea!

I have been sick the past week. Now my daughter-in-law has it, which means it will spread to the kids. Pray for my granddaughters that they do not catch this mess.

Today is National Ice Tea Day. Now being from the South, I am an avid ice tea drinker. As a matter of fact, it's about all I drink. But we drink ours sweetened. When you order it at a restaurant, they automatically bring it to you sweetened. The very first time I went out to eat as an adult in California, I asked for sweet tea and the lady looked at me like I was totally crazy and informed me there was sugar at the table. I got used to that, but now that I am back in the South, I love my sweet tea!!
And although I am not particular about brands in most foods. I Must have Kraft mayo and I Must have Lipton tea. None better in my opinion!

This is in my cabinet at all times. I only like the 100 bag box, and have my recipe down pat, just the way my mom made it, with less sugar.

So try it, make your family a pitcher of tea tonight! You won't be sorry.
Missed you guys last week. ~Sandy~

What did you do today?

I tend to forget this as I jump through the hoops of my day.
When I first married many many yrs ago, I knew nothing about handling money, so when hubby got paid, I paid the bills, and if any was left, I spent it. I read an article about a year later and all I remember about it is it told me to remember when I spend money, how many hours did my hubby have to work to pay for this item and was it worth it. I have lived by that ever since.
That article reminds me of what the picture is saying. Is what I do today worth giving away this day of my life for? I will try to always remember that now in my daily routine.
Do something special everyday, even if you have to jump through a hoop to do it. Smile at someone and you never know, it may be the only smile that person gets today.

Jump!

This is my Nablopomo 1st for June. This month's theme is Jump.

All my life, I have been bad about jumping into things and not finishing them. My goal for this month is to finish what I start. I have so many unfinished crafts, it's just ridiculous. I am going to finish my granddaughters quilt tops this month. They are real cute- Sunbonnet Sue.

What about you- do you jump right in without much thinking, or do you finish everything?