Hello there. Thought you would enjoy an updated pic of me. This is what I look like! Seems as time has flown by, now it's the day before New Year's Eve. Now it'll take me a couple of months to remember to write '08 on everything! :-) Today was a quiet day, we went and spent time eating dinner with our daughter, Angie and granddaughters Ashley and Allyson and went to Barnes & Noble to spend gift certificates. And of course, the trip would not be complete without some wonderful Starbuck's coffee. I did purchase a couple books.....Pretty Little Things by Sally Jean Alexander and the winter 2008 issue of Stamper's Sampler take ten. Pretty Little Things has some beautiful, fun projects in it I would like to try. It involves glass, soldering and vintage images. Some really nice bracelets and such.....just what I need, another project!! But I know certain people they would make very nice gifts for.
Moving closer to our time in Destin. Just about a month and a half. The temp today in Destin was 69. I think I could handle that. The way things have been here lately I could just use some sun!
We'll be spending time in Destin twice this year. Again, the first of May with family....my parents and sister and her boyfriend are going. May is a wonderful time to spend there. Not to extremely hot, just a wonderful comfortable temp. Great for swimming in the ocean, my fav!
I thought about taking down the tree today....but decided against it. Just not ready. Seems you just get it up and it's time to take it down. It's kinda sad after Christmas is over. You spend all that time building up to it and it's over in no time. I still have gifts set out to look over occasionally and working on learning how to work my new camera, a gift from my DH. It's a Canon digital with a 12 zoom. Had a digital that I love, but wanted more zoom than I had before. I'm excited about using it. Just have to take that first step. Electronics are always so intimidating to me. But I need to learn about it so I feel comfortable using it.
Hope you all have a happy and safe New Year's, Beth

Well, seems I "fell off the wagon" with posting this week. But I have gotten alot done shopping-wise! Going to do some wrapping tonight....one of my favorite things to do. Can't put bows on until the last minutes though....kitties! That says it all! LOL Enjoy this recipe below and make some wonderful little gifts for co-workers, friends or family!



Make the season merry and bright with homemade cookies from your kitchen! Layer these ingredients in pretty bow-tied jars to give as gifts; they looks as good as they taste! Include the prep instructions with your gift tag.
Oatmeal Pecan Cookie Mix
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 c. crisp rice cereal
Additional ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. In a 1 qt. glass jar, layer the flour mixture, brown sugar, oats, pecans and rice cereal, packing well between each layer. Cover and store in a cool dry place for up to six months. Yield: 1 batch (about 4 cups total)

To prepare, in a large mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add cookie mix. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: about three dozen.

Give us Lord, a bit o'sun,

a bit o'work

and a bit o' fun;

Give us all, in the struggle and sputter

Our daily bread and a bit o' butter.

-from an old inn in Lancaster, England

Today I'm off to do some very needed Christmas shopping. I wanted to post the wonderful Potato Casserole for everyone to have.

Hashbrown Casserole
1-2lb. pkg. thawed (from frozen) hashbrowns (I use the "chunks")
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 c. melted margarine
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. cream of mushroom soup
1 pint sour cream
2 c. grated cheddar cheese

Topping: 2 c. crushed corn flakes
1/4 c. melted margarine

Combine all ingredients except topping and pour into a buttered 9 X 13 casserole dish. Combine corn flakes and margarine and sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Very delicious!!



"It's Christmas in the mansion,
Yule-log fires and silken frocks;
It's Christmas in the cottage,
Mother's filling little socks;
It's Christmas on the highway,
in the thronging, busy mart,
But the dearest truest Christmas,
is the Christmas in the heart."

21 more shopping days left until Christmas. I'd better get busy!!

Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death and the ecstasy of the purchase.

Erma Bombeck

Caramel Apple Dip

8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. caramel ice cream topping

1/4 c. honey

1/4 t. cinnamon

3 to 4 green & red apples, cored & sliced

Garnish: Cinnamon

In a medium serving bowl, combine cream cheese, caramel topping, honey & 1/4 tsp cinnamon; beat until smooth. Store in refrigerator 'til

chilled. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve with apple slices.

Makes 2 cups

Remember, Peace begins with a Smile!

Mother Teresa

Every gift
thought it be small,
is in reality great
if given with
Affection.


Apple-Cranberry Sparkler
4 teabags
2 c. boiling water
1 c. cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
1 c. apple juice, chilled
2 t. sugar
Place teabags in boiling water and brew for 5 minutes; remove teabags. Combine tea, juices and sugar in a pitcher and chill. Makes one quart. Looks oh-so pretty when served in lovely holiday glasses.

"Have a holly jolly Christmas,
It's the best time of the year.
I don't know if there'll be snow,
But have a cup of cheer." --Johnny Marks


So remember while December brings the only Christmas Day, in the year let there be Christmas in the things you do and say."

Here's a little Christmas from the Warner's. A few pics from around the house. Of course decorating would be the same without my little fur babies helping. Taz decided the fencing I laid out would make a good kitty corral. If they can get in it, on it or otherwise get in the way...they will find a way! Enjoy and come back soon.....Beth

We have now entered into the second day of the last month of the year! I know, it sounds unbelievable. Where does the time go? Is everyone done with Christmas shopping? I'm have hardly started! I'm going to try and put a little inspiration on here everyday and also share a wonderful recipe to help us with "smooth sailing" right on through the holidays.

Christmas memories are some of the sweetest and fondest of those we carry through our lives. From our earliest childhood recollection, Christmas memories are stored in a special place in our hearts, to be recalled during quiet times of reminiscing. Make sure when you do your scrapping that you journal about those days and memories for later generations to enjoy reading about.

Good Memories, like good friends,
should be visited often.

Here's a wonderful Christmas-time recipe for Peppermint Candy Cheesecake:
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
3/4 c. sugar, divided
6 T. butter, melted and divided
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 eggs
1 T. all-purpose flour
2 t. vanilla extract
2 8-0z. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. peppermint candies, coarsely crushed
Garnish: frozen whipped topping, crushed peppermint candies

Blend crumbs, 1/4 c. sugar and 1/4 melted butter in bottom of ungreased 8" round springform pan; press evenly over bottom. Blend sour cream, remaining sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape sides. Add cream cheese and blend; stir in butter until completely smooth. Fold in crushed candy and pour over crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and run a knife around edge of pan. Cool, then refrigerate overnight. Loose pan sides and remove springform; serve garnished with whipped topping and crushed candy. Makes 12 servings.
This not only is very pretty, but tasty! Yum!!

Jingle........Jingle..........Jingle
Thread jingle bells on a cord or string, knot the ends together, and hang
on the knob of your front door. What a merry sound for arriving guests to hear! Kids love it too!! Come back soon.......Beth

YES FOLKS, THAT ENTERTAINMENT.....
Since I am at work right now reading all the "trashy" magazines my co-worker brings in and leaves here, I thought I would share some totally useless information on some of the "stars" around Hollywood with you. Well, here it goes:

Carrie Underwood unlucky in love? Yes, it seems! She states "but guys are guys, no matter what they do or what walk of life they come from." Well.....we could have told her that...duh!

Lindsay Lohan begins postprison life. Imagine, she's spent a total of 84 minutes in jail, how will she cope? She is now looking for a new place to stay in Los Angeles....away from the Chateau and her old life. We'll see.......

Britney (now you knew she had to be mentioned) Spears is banned from driving Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, per a court ruling on Nov. 16th. "Recent aggressive actions by individuals...have resulted in her decision to take certain security measures for the protection of her children." Huh, come again??

Oh, now here's something I'm really upset about. I just found out Mr. Whipple died. I'm sure anyone around my age remembers him...his famous line is "please, don't squeeze the Charmin." He was a household name back then making more than 500 commercials!

Woohoo, the Spice Girls debut reunion performance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show; won't want to miss that! I'm sorry, can't make it, I have to wash my car.

The agency that arranged the 2005 adoption of Angelina's Ethiopian-born daughter, Zahara, refuted the claims of a woman who identified herself as the child's biological mother. Their records show that Zahara's mother is deceased, and Jolie's adoption is therefore valid. I was losing sleep over that one!

Okay, so much for all that. Now here's some information we can all use. First, fans of Shrek, of which I'm one, will be delighted to know there's a new animated Christmas special on Wed. at 8:00 called "Shrek the Halls". Shrek learns a lesson about generosity when he gets a little Claus-trophobic! Second, here's info I totally like.....100 calorie packs of M&M's, 3 Musketeers and Twix (my personal fav). Now there's some worthwhile information...get all the pleasure with none of the regret! Wish I would have said that! Enjoy, Beth

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to spend time with your family. Unfortunetly my DH had to work from 6am to 4pm and had to work the day after (Black Friday), so I left Thanksgiving day for Kentucky to my parents. My son, his fiance and our new granddaughter were coming. So we had a wonderful meal and spent time holding and spoiling Dakota. Below is the most precious picture....mommy and daddy adoring their little one. Is it not the sweetest picture you've ever seen? Dakota just loves her daddy; there's a special place in her heart for him. She has gotten so big since I've seen her last; she's now over 4 months old and reaching out and holding things. She is mostly sleeping through the night and is now eating some cereal in her bottle. The doctor has also said she can start eating veggies! She is doing great, growing well, thanks to her wonderful mommy and daddy's care.

Poor little Dakota, hardly any presents to open! Helping her is her Great-aunt Barbara. The same Aunt Barbara that was in the delivery room helping to deliver Dakota's daddy! Time stands still for no one.....!

Here's Great-grandpa and Great-grandma with Dakota. She had on her little pumpkin outfit on.

GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING BOYS CAN DO!! Dakota just bagged her first deer! Just kidding!! But we couldn't resist since she already had her camoflouge on!

Okay, really we got down my Dad's trophy from years ago above the first place and put the bow in front and had a little photo session. No animals were harmed in the filming of this photo shoot. Well, at least now now, can't speak for the past!!

Well, here I am twice in one day. Just finished my "chunky book" pages and getting them sent off tomorrow to Teri. She will bind them and get them sent out to all the participants, which I think is 11 people. We made two pages for each book, which is 22 pages. Each set of 11 pages was to be different and the theme was Leonardo Da Vinci. Each person will get back a book with everyone's pages in it. I can't wait to see the finished product. This is the first time I've participated in a swap on Chunky Books. It was fun! And thanks to Teri for organizing the swap, finishing the books and sending them back out to us! Here are the two pages I made, both sides.

Came home today from church feeling so thankful. Our sermon today was given by Dr. Preston Nix, Professor of Evangelism and Preaching at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He was a blessing to listen to...and has quite a testimony in that we should always be thankful to God. He is from Texas and moved to New Orleans three weeks before Katrina hit. All he had left was his wife, two daughters and his van with four changes of clothing. He lost everything else. Yet, he still found plenty to be thankful for. I think my prayer is to understand that sometimes things happen in our life that are not so good...and we don't always have as much as other people might seem to have...but we can be thankful for God and what he has given us; most importantly a Savior in Jesus Christ. As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, reflect in all that God has given you; reflect on those things and say "thank you, God"!

I just want to share with you Psalm 100, a psalm for giving thanks.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the
earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful
songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are
his;
we are his people, the sheep of his
pasture.
Enter his gates with Thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his
name
For the Lord is good and his love
endures forever ;
his faithfulness continues through
all generations.

So I would like to say thanks for all the blessings in my life. My family, my friends, co-workers, my home, my job, my wonderful husband of whom we grow closer to each other and to God each day, a wonderful Savior that insures that I will spend eternity in heaven with Him.....I could go on. We can just find all kinds of things when we think about it. What are you thankful for? Take a minute and reflect on it and thank God. And every one have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Well, it appears that fall has finally arrived in Illinois! Cooler temps and shorter days and the leaves are finally starting to turn and fall off. There is some color, but not like usual. We've not had enough rain this fall for lots of color. Our flowering dogwood has color, though. It's very red in contrast to the almost completely green leaves behind it on the oak tree. Hope you enjoy the following pics taken today in my backyard.

Our driveway and the "raker" himself!

All that's left of my Rudbeckia is seed pods and this one little lone flower still blooming.

These large oak trees run across the whole back of our property. There a little acorns all over the ground and the squirrels are loving it! They've been very active lately getting ready for winter.

This is our backyard. Now you know why we are raking, mulching and vaccuming leaves like crazy. We have almost 1 acre and it's filled with trees.

The sun through a maple tree on the side of our yard. They are just starting to turn yellow.

Check out the first Monroe County Medical Building pumpkin decorating contest. All of us could make a pumpkin and have our patients vote on their favorite. There were many votes.....you 'll see the winner at the end. I was going to make one, but time got away. I had a great idea, but maybe I'll save that for the second annual M.C.M.B. pumpkin contest. Thanks everyone for taking part and congratulations to the winner!!

Frankenstein is the first "contestent"! He was brought to life by Stephanie. See the little bolts on the side of him? It's not easy being green!!

#2, decorated by Marge and Kathy. The nose is a ping pong ball painted red, and the pumpkin was spraypainted red. How devilish!!

Almost forgot to put in #6, by Becky. She is being very patriotic and she did this freehand. Wow, love her talent.

#3 created by JoAnn and Karen in Radiology. Scary! The hat is made out of leftover film.

And here is #4, Robyn's pumpkin's, how cute is this? She came in 2nd place with 30 votes!

And the winner is, #5, Teri's pumpkin. She won at 50 votes, 20 more than any other pumpkin. Isn't this one so creative? She put alot of work into it, congratulations, Teri.

Here is one of my first fall pictures and so far my only fall pic. Where is the color at? Maybe some of this rain will help. This pic was taken near Lincoln's Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. That one little tree really stood out in contrast to the "still" green trees around it.

Last Friday we went to Springfield to visit with my brother, Brian, my sister-in-law, Judy and their friends son, John who came along with them for the trip. They came down from Northfield, Minnesota. John visited Lincoln's Museum and we met him downtown and ate at the Livery. Then we went out to Lincoln's Tomb so he could see that. Everyone always rubs Lincoln's nose on the statue outside the tomb, as you can see by how shiny-bright it is. And by the way, if you've never visited Lincoln's Museum, you really need to make a special effort to do so. It is more than well worth the trip!

Here is a full-view of Lincoln's Tomb.

We had lunch here!

Here is my brother, Brian, getting read to tackle his "ponyshoe". He and I cheated and didn't get the full version!

This is a "ponyshoe" a small version of the "horseshoe". What you ask is a "horseshoe", other than the obvious, of course? Well, you won't find a "horseshoe" anywhere but Springfield, Il. It was founded in 1930 and originated at the Red Lion Room at the Leland Hotel in downtown Springfield. It consists of two slices of Toast (that's the pad on the shoe), Meat of your choice (that's the shoe itself), topped by a generous portion of French Fries (they are the nails of course), all topped with genuine, Leland Hotel recipe Cheese Sauce! The Cheese Sauce is the finish on the shoe and makes THE HORSESHOE a Springfield delicacy. Yum! Now that's artery clogging stuff right there!

Here is John's own version of the horseshoe.....he added some more chili cheese fries on top! Did he manage to eat it all? No!! But he gave it a good try.

Here is my sister-in-law, Judy, standing in from the The Livery where was had lunch in downtown Springfield.

Another interesting fact about me is that The Donner Party (Donner Pass) is part of my past. The Donners were my ancestors. They departed from Springfield, Illinois. This plaque is across from the old court house in Springfield, my birthplace.

Well, finally, here it is. My first altered cabinet card. It measures approximately 4 X 6 in size and I altered it with alcohol inks, stamping, gold leaf pen and various embellishments. The bottons, eyelet and snap are very old from an antique sewing kit I bought as well as the part of the needle package and the needle came from that package. There are two definitions on the card. One is - Domestic, belonging to the house or home; tame; not foreign--A household servant. The other is - Queenhood, The rank, quality, or character of a queen. She is a domestic queen! She feels very important in her household; she ranks #1.
These are really fun to create, although there are many hours invested in this one. They are time consuming, but the end result is really fun.

Here is another pic with the top where I attached beads with wire. You are able to hang it to show it off.