Here we go again

We woke up to MORE SNOW again this morning. Now, I appreciated the white Christmas, and yes, it is beautiful, but enough is enough!

We got another 8.3" today which brought the December total to 59.8". That's a whole human!







Today is the first day of the first week of the New Year. Did you realize that? I'm really wanting to participate in this thing called Project 365. It's basically an easy, non-scrapbook way to record every single day for an entire year. Wouldn't it be really interesting to look at a year of your life 10 years from now? Maybe you'll consider joining me??????

Click on the link if you want more info!

Merry Christmas!

Today was extremely laid back for us. We didn't go anywhere, or do anything much more than eat and watch Christmas movies.

This Christmas we are so grateful to be safe and healthy and happy. There are so many people out there in bad circumstances right now with the economy being so stinky. We have much to be thankful for.

Here are just a few snapshots.








Hmmmm, betcha wonder who took that one?



Merry Christmas to you all. We miss and love you!

Happy Christmas Eve!

The Jims tried to clear the snow off of the roof earlier this week, but it was too deep and too slippery. Then this morning Big Jim saw a commercial for a "roof rake", so he made one out of a rake and some plywood. They could only get about this much done.

It's hard to tell from the picture just how deep this is, but if you'll look again, around 1/4 of the way from the left, you'll see one of my pink shoes that Jim tried to use yesterday (attached to a rope, which got caught on a shingle) to knock some snow off. Using the shoe for perspective, you can now see that the snow on our roof is about waist deep.

Big Jim surprised us this afternoon with our Christmas present. He presented Jim with a Christmas card, and inside there was a picture of a sweet BBQ grill with "Merry Christmas" written on it. He couldn't pick it up himself, so the Jims went to Lowes and came back with it.

We are supposed to get another 8-10" of snow tonight. It will be a veeeeeeery white Christmas here!

A big hit

Last night I decided to try my hand at the Onion Strings recipe I saw on The Pioneer Woman (which is now my favorite blog). You can find the recipe here.



My pictures are sucky but you get the idea.

Jim, my clever little loved one, created a scorpion with his...



Big Jim REALLY like these. He had FIVE HELPINGS. You read that right, FIVE. I found it so funny that I wanted to take a picture, which I don't think he liked!



My thoughts are that if he wants food in the future, I can take as many pictures as I want!

It's SNOW picnic out there!

After one flight delay, one flight turn-around, a failed attempt to rent a car, and a long taxi ride, I finally made it home around 1 am this morning.

As of this posting, it has snowed around 20" in the last 24 hours and it's snowing even a little harder right now. This is the biggest snowfall in one day since 1954.

Here's what our world looks like....

This is our neighbor, Neil. He is stuck on our street in his all-wheel drive Honda.

This is our neighbor boy, let's call him Mikey (cause I don't remember his name).

All this snow made me want to go play!

The ever protective Jim had to make sure I was going to be safe. So first I got suited up.

Then Jim had to clear a path for me.

Do these coveralls make me look fat?

Look Mom! A snow ANGELa!!!

I was only about half way down into the snow here!

Here's Big Jim creating a path to our house for some coffee.

I am SOOOOOO grateful that I made it home lastnight and that I didn't have to go ANYWHERE today!!!! We've had a lot of fun playing and watching crazy people try to get out.

My Favorite Place

My favorite thing in the whole world is to cuddle with Jim. Right in the crook of his arm is the perfect spot for my head to rest. It is warm and safe and perfect.

He's been sick the last few days so he's napping in this picture.

Today I made a copycat recipe of Applebee's Spinach Artichoke Dip. It was delicious.

Here's the Recipe:

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese

10 ounces canned Alfredo Sauce

2 teaspoon minced garlic

4 ounces softened cream cheese

pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine ingredients thoroughly in a bowl and spread into an 8 x 8 dish.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cheeses are bubbling.

4. Serve with tortilla chips.

I know

Yes, loved ones, it has been too long since I updated you.

Yes, I'm still alive. No, I don't want coal for Christmas.

We had a relatively quiet Thanksgiving here in the Janca house. Big Jim came over and we did the whole turkey thing. The best part of this day was listening to the Jim's hysterically laughing outloud as they watched Lampoon's Christmas while I was happily cooking in the next room.

I made them take this family photo with me....


I'm still struggling with getting into the Christmas spirit this year, BUT I DO HAVE A PRESENT UNDER THE TREE! That would be one present folks. I have NO idea what to get my Jim this year... I'm taking suggestions if you have one!!

Right now I'm waiting for the Jim's to get home from Kellogg, ID. Big Jim bought a new truck (again). We're going out for pizza when they get back. I don't know if there are Roundtable Pizza Restaurants back home, holy cow, they are the best pizzas ever.

Well, my love just walked in. Time for dinner!!!

Holiday Woes

31 days until Christmas.
I have nothing done.
No gifts. No gift ideas.
No Christmas Cards to send.
Jeez! What's up with me this year?
I do have the tree up and the stockings hung.
I've also been working on a Daily December scrapbook that details each day leading up to Christmas. (I'll post those pages in December as they're done)
Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock.
I gotta get myself together!
Maybe I'll brave Black Friday this year.
Notta chance.

He said, She said

Just for fun, I made a little list of our favorites:

Favorite Candy:
Angie: Whatchamacalit
Jim: Hershey's Bar

Favorite Smell:
Angie: Cinnamon
Jim: The Ocean

Favorite Holiday:
Angie: Christmas
Jim: President's Day

Favorite Color:
Angie: Black
Jim: Black

Favorite Magazine:
Angie: Creating Keepsakes
Jim: JP Jeep Magazine

Favorite Movie:
Angie: Elizabeth
Jim: Charley Varrick

Favorite Restaraunt:
Angie: Nakato
Jim: Olive Garden

Favorite Comfort Food:
Angie: Ham and Beans
Jim: French Dip Sandwich

Favorite Thing About The Ozarks:
Angie: Family
Jim: Ticks

Favorite Thing About The Northwest:
Angie: Great Weather
Jim: Ocean and Mountains

Favorite Hobby:
Angie: Bookmaking
Jim: Cars

Favorite Thing Today:
Angie: Didn't Have To Leave Home
Jim: Got The Apple Tree Done

Favorite Golden Girl:
Angie: Dorothy
Jim: Dorothy

Favorite Time of Day:
Angie: Late Morning
Jim: Late Afternoon

Favorite Random Dumb Thing:
Angie: Office Supplies
Jim: Family Guy

I'm Back!

My computer died and had to be shipped back to Denver this week for repairs. I just got it back and am ready to update you!

The Tree went up this week, and finally got decorated tonight.

We went to Olive Garden for lunch today then picked the one zillion apples that fell off the apple tree onto our yard. Then we watched Grumpy Old Men.
Now we're watching Wizard of Oz. Why does this movie always come on TV around Thanksgiving and Christmas? It's not exactly a "holiday" movie.

Trees and things

Happy Vote Day!

It's 6:00 pm here, we're starting to see some results trickle in, but it's still too early to know who our next President will be.

Last week the Jim's had our tree in the backyard trimmed way back. They actually wanted to cut it down, but I just couldn't agree to that ;0)

Also, I finished painting my new Craft Room (technically, it's just an empty room still, but I have grand ideas for it).

For months have been scouring websites to look at other people's scrapbook spaces (my absolute favorite is this one). I have poured over color schemes and paint samples, and finally decided on a delicious teal color. Here's a preview...

It is quite a bit bolder than it looked on a 3" sample, but I think once I get all my stuff in there, it will be just perfect. A room that is fun and fresh and inspiring. The perfect place to scrap. That reminds me of a quote I saw recently: I craft because it's cheaper than therapy. Funny.

Happy Halloween!

We're hiding from all the kiddos so we can selfishly eat all the Halloween candy we bought a few weeks ago. Who am I kidding? The candy is almost gone already.

Here's the promised picture of my Big Jim's boat.

Here's something else that makes me happy lately:

We had Big Jim over for dinner tonight (for fried fish) and he told me he put his Christmas tree up today!! I couldn't believe he beat me!! I'm thinking I'll tackle that in the next week or two.

catching up

Yes, I know it's been a while.
Not much new to post (plus I don't have my camera with me, so I can't add pics). We're in Missoula right now, just ate some hot fudge sundaes. Yummm.
Oh, Big Jim bought a boat last week! I'll take some pictures to post when I get home. He bought it with all the ski and tubing stuff. We are SOOOOOO looking forward to spending a ton of time on the lake this summer!!! (Crap, now I need to start losing weight).
Let's see, what else this week? We voted. I painted the downstairs family room (half way). We watched a scary movie (The Strangers, it was pretty good). I made some kick butt French Dip sandwiches. And, that's pretty much it.
The weather has been perfect lately. Crisp, cool, fresh. We're starting to notice a big difference in the sunlight though. The sun comes up around 7:40 and sets around 5:30. Once daylight savings time ends, it'll be dark around 4-4:30. It makes us want to sleep all the time!!

The Jims went on a trip

54 years ago Big Jim went on an Alaskan hunt with a friend named Charlie. They lost touch for many years then Jim looked him up and they reconnected a few years back. Charlie and his wife Lynn live in California. This week they were traveling through Washington on their way to Canada so Charlie and Jim decided to meet up in Olympia. This was only the 2nd time they had seen each other since this 1954 trip.

This week. (Jim looks weird because he's trying not to blink)

This is where my Jim lived from 0-3 years of age in Port Townsend, WA. This was their house. They rented this house on 40 acres for $80 / month. Ahhh, the good old days.

And sadly, Olympia is also where Jim's older brother is buried. Joey was Jim and Sandy's first born. He tragically drowned when he was 4 1/2 years old. He would be 46 now.

House Update - 1 door down

We have resumed working on our house. As mentioned several blogs ago, we bought the moulding for our upstairs. Jim's been working on it for the last couple of weeks and I finally got around to painting a few doors.

Here's what the doors looked like when we bought the house (and still do downstairs).

And here's what they look like now, with Jim's primo trim work.

It looks so much better now. Crisp and clean. Jim has a lot more trim to nail up, and I have lots more painting to do, but it feels good to be making progress.

We have about 150 unfinished house projects going on, but I've been itching to start creating a craft room downstairs. I've got to get rid of my makeshift craft area before Christmas anyway since that's where the tree goes. That's a legitimate reason, right?

More Books

For me, Autumn is the perfect time to cuddle up with a blanket, something warm to drink, and a good book. The last few weeks have been in the 50's which I think is just about the perfect temperature. Here are the last few books I've enjoyed:

This book was super cute. It's written from a dog's point of view about his owner. The dog (Enzo) is old and thinks back on when his human was young and how they've grown up together. He's obsessed with thumbs and watching TV. Here's a little excerpt.

I admire the female sex. The life makers. It must be amazing to have a body that can carry an entire creature inside. I mean, other than a tapeworm, which I've had. That doesn't count as another life really. That's a parasite and never should have been there in the first place.

Very cute book. I highly recommend.



I'm partial to any book about the Tudors. I have many, many, MANY books about this intriguing family.

This book was based on Queen Elizabeth's life as a child and her relationship with her father (King Henry VIII) and her sister (Queen Mary) and several of her father's wives.

I realize not everyone is interested in this era, but I absolutely loved this book.

Two More Birthday Shout Outs

Last week was Jeremy's and Jacob's Birthday. This week is Brandilyn's. What's up with you guys growing up? Do you realize that if you keep getting older than so do we? We must stop this! You're supposed to be little forever!!

Like this...

OK, I guess I have to let you guys do your thing.

I wish we could be around you more as you grow up, but even though we don't get to see you very often, you are in our hearts always.

Happy Birthday Kiddos. We Love You.

Couldn't resist

Turn my music off then crank up the volume first!!!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!!

Jeremy Dale,

What happened to this little boy?

Where is this little guy who played with us in the park and got insanely dirty?

Today you are 16 years old. It seems amazing to us that you aren't this little boy anymore.

Nope, you're on your way to adulthood. Big responsibilities lie ahead but we hope you'll remember to have fun too.

You are such a wonderful person Jeremy. Our prayer is that you enjoy life to its fullest. That you stay true to who you are. That you live a life full of faith. That you lead other people by your example. That you find true love and happiness.

We love you buddy and miss you tons. We hope you know how much you mean to us. We are here for you always.

Love, Jim and G

Moulding, Haircuts, and Scrapbooks

This morning we got up and had coffee as usual, then headed to Home Depot to get some base and door moulding. Very exciting!!! Will update with pics as we start hanging it.

For no real reason I took this picture of our over abundant apple tree.



Then this afternoon we both got haircuts then ate dinner and watched the VP debate. I worked on my Vacation scrapbook from when Mom, Alan, and Brandilyn were here while watching. Jim even helped with some of the painting.

Random Bits

For future references, today's the day the Stock Market dropped 778 points (equivilant to $1.2 Trillion). Um, I don't know exactly how that affects me, but it sure doesn't sound good. I logged into my 401k account thinking I'd fix it before I lost all my retirement, but, well, I don't know anything about it, so I gave up and left it. I figure it's got about 30 years to correct itself before I can cash in anyway (30 years, OMG that's FOREVER away!).

Jim got one of these things that have been advertised on TV so he can continue bulking up his studly self. I tried to do just one pull up. Didn't happen. I could barely even lift my feet off the ground before I felt severe burning in my armpits. Sad, huh?




Lastly, I have to express to you how much I love these Otter Pops (I don't know why they're called that, we prefer to call them Icy Pops). First of all, they are SUPER delicious. Secondly, they only have 25 Calories and 0 Fat. Can't beat that. And third? They make me feel like a kid again!



You should get some of these!!!