SNOW PLOWS!!!

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! There were 2 snow plows on my street! Not just one but 2!!! Turkey and me had just got back from the store and pulled onto our street and there were snow plows. I was so excited!! Did they plow anything? NO! Well they plowed maybe 2o feet down the road. Then drove around and left. I was hoping they would plow the road so I wouldn't have to put the Jeep in 4-wheel anymore to get down my street. Not even joking! There are snow drifts knee deep in the road. One of my neighbors took his snow blower to it the other day. That is the section the plows actually plowed. GRR!!

I want to get a four-wheeler with a plow thing on the front and do it myself.

In the city policy book it talks about how they don't plow the roads because that means more snow will get on the roads! I don't think they realize that if you plow the roads and get majority of the snow gone it makes it easier on everyone. We have emergency roads that they are suppose to keep plowed. Majority of them I have seen aren't plowed all the way. It makes me wonder what happens in a real emergency? How are people going to get where they need to go? How are the emergency crews suppose to get where they are going if they can't get down the road? I think about that every so often. I worry on my street since it is so hard to get down what would we do. I guess we are lucky to have a good vehicle. I have neighbors that don't have trucks or four wheel drive vehicles. I think the emergency routes are a good thing but if you can't get to them then whats the point?

OK I will get off my soap box for now. I am going to go curl up with my book and read. I will post later about the adventures of the day.

Housework? Whats that?

So I have officially slacked on housework today! Yesterday I don't do any because it is Sunday and I really don't want to do housework every single day. I think I have mentioned this in prior posts. Well lately I have been waking up when James gets up for work and I shuffle around the house while he is getting ready, once he leaves I grab my cup of coffee or juice and head back to bed to read. Yesterday morning I finished a book I was reading. This morning I shuffled about and ended up on our pretend couch downstairs until I decided to get my printer hooked up. I had somethings that needed to be printed and I didn't feel like searching about town finding a copy center and paying money to print them. Well I got it all set up and got my things printed! I did it all by myself. Yay for me! I have been fighting with my computer lately because I am just not very computer smart. My brother got all the smarts in computers.

After getting everything set up Turkey woke up. We had some breakfast and went on adventure into town. It snowed all of last night and the wind blew hard. We have the most awesome snow drifts in our front yard. I kept running outside to measure them against my legs. I finally stood in one and made James take a picture. This morning it was even taller! I got Turkey in snow gear and let her just run amok through the snow drifts. She was having a blast until she got stuck in the drift and couldn't get out.

While Turkey was playing in the yard I sat down and finished up my Christmas cards! Yay! They are done. By the time I got them done Turkey came in for lunch. We goofed off for a while and she went down for a nap. Instead of getting stuff done I played on the computer and watched Grey's Anatomy trying to catch up on the episodes I have missed. I didn't get any housework down but I did make some dinner! After dinner I cleaned up a bit and did the dishes. James was sweet and put up our Christmas tree before Monday Night Football started.

So I have been trying to post pictures but my computer is being dumb. I am going to continue fighting with it and maybe I will post some tomorrow. I am off to bed, this 5 am thing is getting to me.

Its Sunday!

What a fun weekend! Friday night James took us to dinner since I cooked all day on Thursday. We have decided that if we do go out to eat we are getting take-out from now on. If you go to Applebee's plan on being there at least 2 hours. It takes forever! And with a three year old, its like pulling teeth. We survived dinner and Turkey did relatively well for it being a later in the evening dinner and it taking forever. She had cute hair bows in her hair and was swinging her head back and forth so the ponytails would hit her in the face. Remember as a child how much fun that was! Any who! While she was doing this her hair bows flew out of her hair and hit the guys sitting behind us. They found it very funny. I ended up wearing the hair bows the rest of the night so those guys wouldn't get nailed by flying hair bows again.

Today Turkey and I went to church like we have been. I think we have decided on a church! We really like the one we have been going to. The ladies there are very sweet and Turkey has just fell in love with them. I enjoy it was well. I just feel good there. Well today is the first day of Advent (which is the 4th Sunday before Christmas), Turkey was asked to light the first candle today. She was a little nervous but very excited to help with the church service. I went up with her and we lit the candle together. She was very proud of herself. I was very proud of her too. When I was little I remember going up with my dad to light the candles. It has been a long time since I have done that. I am excited to teach Turkey about the meanings of Advent and the meanings of Christmas. My Uncle Floyd gave me a book about all the meanings of Christmas. It is one of my favorite books to read this time of year.

Turkey is behaving better in church. When we first started going she didn't understand why we have to be quiet and why we can't run around. She has a church bag with fun stuff in it so she can sit relatively still during church. Today she was a rock star! She sat quiet and even offered a dino book to a kid who was having a hard time. After church we went down stairs for coffee and yummy treats! We sat down there and chatted and Turkey played! It was just so fun. I am enjoying the time we spend at church. We walked out with a group of ladies and we were talking about the pretty plants in the front entryway of the church. They offered me one, so now I have a very pretty house plant! James will be excited when he gets home from work, he has wanted a house plant since we moved here. Fingers crossed I don't kill it. Any ways I best be getting finished with my Christmas cards, they are almost done!!

Advent! Christmas Cards! Count downs! Decorations!

Tis the season! I have never been this excited to decorate for Christmas! Something is different this year. Maybe its because we are staying here for Christmas, maybe its all the snow, or maybe it is the smell of Christmas in every shop you go into. Whatever it is I am excited! My house now smells like the Holiday season. In years past we have always gone to my parents house and stayed over on Christmas Eve and did Christmas morning there. I have never missed Christmas at my folks. I am planning on filling my house full of boys once again for Christmas so I won't cry as much!

When I was growing up we had Advent calendars and counted the days until Christmas. Turkey is old enough now to do Advent! I am very excited about it. I have great memories of the Advent calendars my mom had when we were growing up. Every year they were different. I went to Wal-Mart today and got a variety pack of cute gift bags for our Advent calendar this year. I had Turkey with me so I had to be very sneaky about putting things in the cart. I covered the cart with our coats and when I would find something I would point at something on the shelf for her to look at and quickly put whatever I found under the coats. I had dropped James jeep off to get an oil change so we had plenty of time to wander and for me to be sneaky. We spent 2 1/2 hours in Wal-Mart. Its enough to make my head explode. I got all of the things for Advent and a few other things I needed. When we were checking out I bribed Turkey with my phone and told her if she turned around the phone was gone! The cashier gave me the oddest look until I informed him I was buying Christmas presents. He was very speedy and helpful on double bagging everything so Turkey couldn't see it. I hope I don't have to do this with Christmas presents too. I am going to ask a girl at church if she would mind watching Turkey for a few hours on a Saturday so I can get some shopping done. Otherwise I have to go late at night.

I am sending out Christmas cards! I love Christmas cards. I love getting them and sending them. I just think it is a great thing to do. I have already started mine. I forget how long it takes to address all of them. Next year I am buying labels that I can print off. I am not even half way through writing the return address and I am beat. It could be the forever and a day at Wal-Mart this morning. I really wanted to put a photo in our cards this year but we just haven't had the time to get photos done.

I am trying to get the house all decorated for Christmas. I found all my snowflakes that stick to the wall. I was so excited and stuck them up last night. Apparently they didn't survive well from last year. This morning when I got up they were all over the floor. It gave Turkey something to play with while I was getting things ready for breakfast. We went and looked at wreaths for the front door last night and they were all ugly. We decided to buy a plain wreath and some shiny ornaments and make our own wreath. James, Turkey and me all picked out things to go on our wreath. I was so excited about making it that after Turkey went to bed I got it all put together.

There is a shoe, a star, a cross, a bow, a tree, a key, and a snow flake flower thing. And at the top it says Merry Christmas. I thought it turned out pretty cute! It is already hanging on my front door.

Turkey and me had the conversation about Santa Claus and how if we are good then Santa will come visit at Christmas. It is a fantastic thing! She starts to be naughty and I remind her of Santa and she becomes the perfect angel. Now we just need to work on our letter for Santa.

The First Thanksgiving

Here is the photos taken from our first Thanksgiving in North Dakota

We woke up to snow drifts and wind and more snow!

I love snow drifts. They are very pretty and interesting. We have several foot snow drifts in the middle of our road which is on so fun! Since the don't plow roads here I am stuck in home unless I have James Jeep or he is home.

James ended up having Thanksgiving off, so he kept Turkey busy while I cooked in the morning. I made pie dough for her to play with while I cooked and when she got bored of daddy. She went back and forth all morning. My kitchen was trashed from the pie dough. But it is an easy clean up. She loved having James home to play with while I made everything and got things put together.

Here are my pumpkin pies!! I made two because I wasn't sure how many guests we had coming and I always love pumpkin pie the next day. Turkey wasn't so sure about having it for breakfast or a snack. She told me we have to eat dinner first! I believe pie is good anytime of day.

The aftermath of the mash potato accident. It still makes me sad. James was very sweet to clean up my mess. He scooped it up on the dustpan and I made him freeze so I could take a picture to share and remember :) He is looking down because potatoes were falling all over the floor. What a great man!

Here is my bowl. It looks like eggs! But it was a beautiful white bowl that was my grandmothers. It was the best bowl for cooking! My damn hands! Argh! Oh well, my mom's suggestion was that I stick to plastic bowls. I might have to buy some of those. All I have is glass. Hummm...maybe Santa will bring some.

James rushing to make new potatoes before our guests arrived. Do you notice to large potato with the giant knife? Yea, well I was trying to help and decided it wasn't probably the best idea and also I couldn't cut the potato!

My turkey!! It turned out so pretty! It was really good too! I was very proud of myself! It tasted good and wasn't dry and had yummy flavor! I don't have any left!

My Turkey holding her "wine" that we bought. She got to have Sparkling Grape Juice for the special occasion. Her shirt says:

I'm thankful for:

1- Mommy and Daddy

2- Yummy Turkey

3- Football

Turkey and me with our own bottles! I had received this bottle of wine for Easter last year and have saved it. It is called Happiness Wine. I felt that tonight was the perfect night for the wine. I needed a little happiness after the potatoes went flying. It wasn't bad wine, pretty sure there was no alcohol in it at all. Oh well.

Some of the guys eating and watching football. We didn't have enough places to seat so we all just kinda wandered about and stood around and ate. It was fun.

Sorry for the blurry photos! Camera Phones! Our nice camera ran out of battery power around 8 am.

Yummy food!! I dished up all the plates and made sure all the boys got plenty to eat.

The guy on the right was one of Turkey's favorite people! She had a blast playing with him and chasing him and being chased by him.

Turkey had the best seat in the house. Right by the veggies and the football game! She sat by James boss and just fell in love with him. If any of you know Turkey she doesn't give out hugs very often. And if she does its on her own terms. She gave Jimbo (James boss) hugs all night and just had a blast with him.

The night started off a little rough with the breaking of things and people running late. But all in all it was a fantastic evening. We had I think 10 people total. It was loud and crazy and so much fun. They are invited back for Christmas Eve dinner. Hopefully by then I will have enough chairs for everyone to sit! After James work friends left, two of our other friends stayed and we chatted until all hours of the night. They were all very sweet and helped clear tables and get things put away. I wish I had gotten a picture of my stuffing. It was the best stuffing ever! I had bought bread from the baker we like so much. It was the kind that was already sliced and ready for stuffing. I added some seasonings and celery and onions and chick stock and it turned out fantastic! I have some bread leftover, I might have to make more stuffing just to eat. :) Turkey was very worn out by the time she went to bed. James coworkers made sure she would sleep well. I am very thankful for family and friends and for having a fun day full of humor and a few tears.

Someone made the comment that I was too generous for making Thanksgiving for everyone and my response was that is how I was raised. I am alot like my father. I even had to talk a little before I gave them their food. Mark was kind enough to bless the food and we all dug in. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Today has been a great day. James ended up not having to work so he was very helpful with cleaning and keeping Turkey busy. I got up early and made my pies and homemade rolls. I started my stuffing last night so it could just be thrown in the oven today. I woke up around 3 am this morning in the realization that I have no silverware! Well not enough to serve the 11 people coming. Oh yea that's right the number has jumped to 11. The more the merrier! I had the perfect time schedule down! Everything was turning out great. That was until I thought it was a great idea to move the mashed potatoes with the rest of the food. Well me being me I dropped the bowl and the potatoes. The bowl crashed to the ground and mash potatoes flew everywhere. My kitchen was spotless. My father would have been proud of how clean my kitchen was. All the dishes were done, the floor was clean, and everything was looking great. Now everything is covered in potatoes. James came in and giggled, Turkey was in shock, and me, I cried. Every time James looked at me I cried. All he could do was giggle. Luckily no one was here yet. For once in my life thank goodness my house guests were late. James quick as he could cleaned up the mess and peeled more potatoes and started them all over again for me. What a great husband! Well my guests are arriving so I best quit blogging! I will post pictures later and the rest of the night.

Pre Thanksgiving

So today was the day to get everything ready for the undetermined amount of guests we are having for Thanksgiving. I kept getting messages all day from James saying add one more! I think our total is 6 guys and then our family of 3. I have requested that they all bring their own chairs so they have somewhere to sit since we only have 4. I started the stuffing, deviled eggs and pies tonight. Tomorrow I will make rolls, potatoes, turkey, gravy, green beans and finish cooking the pies. I just hope I have enough food to feed the herd of hungry boys.

I took a break from getting things prepped to go to a late Thanksgiving church service with Turkey. It was nice to have the little break. They talked about all that we are to be thankful for. Not just the big things but the little things too. I am very thankful to have a house to live in, warm food to eat, running water, a husband who freezes so we can be warm. I am also very thankful for my great family and amazing friends. I wouldn't be who I am today without all of them. I have been homesick all evening as I have made my preparations for the holiday. I think of my dad kicking my mom and me out of the kitchen so he could start cooking everything. I would wake up early with my mom to bake pies. She always made pumpkin and I always made pecan. It is my grandfathers favorite! When my great uncle was alive I would make him a pie as well. We always made 2 of each so we had enough and so we could send some home with my grandfather and great uncle. My dad made the comment the other day that he didn't know who was gonna cook the pies this year and in the back of my head I thought about who was gonna cook the turkey!

My dad always makes a great Thanksgiving. There is always plenty of food and room for everyone. I remember growing up if someone didn't have anywhere to go they came to our house. I remember older couples whose kids had grown up and gone would come. It was the same for Christmas. The more the merrier. That is probably why I am opening my home to those who have no where else to go. That and I feel if I have a house full of boys I won't cry as much. :)

Turkey made a paper turkey that other day and on the feathers we wrote what she was thankful for. She came up with them all on her own. I was very proud of her.

Here is what she is thankful for:

My Daddy

My Mommy

The color Green

Blankets

Turkey

Nana, Penny, her aunties and her uncles

Grandmary, Grandben, Sammy the cat, Uncle Ryan, Poppa

Books, Cd's, music, toys and her tent

Food to eat and recipes to cook

Shoes and Purses

She was so funny about all of them. She went on about them like she had said these things a million times before. I almost died when she said shoes and purses! She is my child for sure!

Well off to drink some wine and watch a movie before the craziness of tomorrow begins.

Oh so fun!

So today my hands have had a hard time holding things. I grabbed the eggs and broke one, made a mess everywhere. I grabbed the sugar down and dropped the whole thing all over the floor. James, Turkey and me went to the grocery store to finish getting everything for Thanksgiving and I dropped a whole 18 pack of eggs. Then I dropped a giant container of coffee all over the floor. I officially am not allowed to pick anything up. James wouldn't even let me hold the bottle of wine in fear of me dropping it on the floor! After coming home from the grocery store I got Turkey all bundled and her and James played in the snow. It was so fun to watch from the kitchen. They made a mountain of snow in the back yard and did flips into it. James covered her in snow and they had a ball. It gave me time to relax and finish dinner. We had a yummy dinner of BBQ pork sandwiches on homemade rolls. We had gotten some homemade BBQ sauce from a coworker and I put it in the crock pot all day. It turned out fantastic!

After I got Turkey in her thousands of layers and snow gear I had to help her off the floor to send her outdoors. I remember years back on Christmas Eve I watched a Christmas Story with some friends since I had never seen it before. Well Turkey was that little kid in the movie. The one that falls over and can't get back up because his mom has bundled him so tight. I wish I would have had my camera on me. It was super cute and funny. She just tells me I am not funny when I giggle to my self. One of these days I will have to get a picture so she can look back and understand why I giggled.

Internet!! Oh how I love having internet!

I finally have Internet. I broke down and ordered it and the guy came today to install it! Yay!! He was over an hour late but it was totally worth it. I was able to check my email, my facebook, get some recipes and write in my blog!

Turkey and me have been very busy lately. I am glad I can record it all here. Lets see.... last Thursday we went to the library to go to story time. It was tons of fun! Miss Tammi reads stories and they have a sharing time for the kids to share things that they bring, there is snack and projects. It was a lot of fun. We stayed after a little while to play with toys. While Turkey played I chatted with some moms. They were very nice and relatively new here too. One was from Idaho and the other from Colorado. They invited me to a crafty day at the LDS church. I said I would think about it. We got some books and then went adventuring around town. We went to the Salvation Army and found the coolest old sewing machine ever! We ended up going back Friday morning to buy it. I am holding it up here until my mom comes to visit.

Saturday James had to work all day so Turkey and me decided to go to that craft day. I consulted my good friend before going and decided why not. I didn't know if I should go or not since I am not LDS. I dressed the part and Turkey and me went. I figured if I laid low I could avoid any questions :) Well the first thing I got asked was if I was a member. I was honest and told them I wasn't and that I was new in town. All the ladies were very nice and I ended up sitting and chatting all afternoon. Turkey was playing with all the other kids in the nursery rooms and I made candy! It ended up being a lot of fun. I got some great candy recipes and made a few friends.

This Sunday we decided to try a different church then the one we went to last week. Well it was interesting. The church we went to had like a rock band playing, the congregation sat and drank coffee while the preacher preached. They talked about football. It was interesting. It was a church that I could see James loving. Coffee and football what else could you want in the world.

I need to make Turkey a church bag. I sewed a purse Sunday afternoon and now I just need to put some stuff in it. I am thinking a coloring book, crayons, sippy cup, snacks. I am not sure what else would be good to go in it.

I made the purse without a pattern and I think it turned out pretty good. I just remember my mom making bags and I was trying to remember how she made them.

Meow Meow and the purse I made

The inside of the purse.

On Monday Turkey and me did all of our Thanksgiving shopping, well we tried. We got the turkey, the gravy, and the beans. I realized after the fact that I need stuffing and cranberry sauce. While we were at the grocery store I made friends with the butcher who helped me pick the meat I needed for some BBQ. Then we went and visited the baker. Oh how we love that guy! He wasn't decorating any cakes but he did take us on a tour of the bakery and where they make stuff and cook things, and then we got a yummy treat at the end of the tour. It was a lot of fun. We came home from our errands and Turkey took hernap and I made peanut butter cups for James. His favorite thing in the whole entire world is Reese's peanut butter cups. I got a recipe for them on Saturday. They turned out fantastic! I made a whole tray full and James about peed his pants when he came home from work and found them! He took them with him to work today to share with his buddies. I wonder if he shared or just ate them all.

For Thanksgiving we originally had planned on a house full of people, well those people are working out of town so they can't come and James has to work. I was gonna cancel Thanksgiving but James was sad so it is back on! I got our stuff for Thanksgiving yesterday and was planning on the three of us so I didn't buy a whole turkey just the breast. When James came home last night he told me we might have more coming since a lot of the guys he works with don't have places to go. So I am starting to cook tomorrow and I am going to probably join forces with another wife to get all these boys fed. I am excited for it but a little nervous to be feeding a giant group of boys my first Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed it will work out. I have my mom a phone call away to help me. I think we will get it figured out. I have all day to cook.

Peanut Butter Cups

They turned out pretty too!

James in his Artic Wear. He looks like he is gonna rob us

The super cool Sewing Machine for my momma

Turkey with the cookies we made the other day

The cookies I made

Manners? Rules? Whatever!

I am shocked about how many people run red lights in this town. I was taught it drivers education that you stop when the light is red. I guess it is an option up here. For example Turkey and me were sitting at the stop light that crosses over the highway this morning and the truck next to me decided it was his turn and just ran the red light.I was shocked. We will be driving and the light will be red and people will just blow through them like it was green. I admit I sometimes speed up a little when the light turns yellow but not red. I maybe have ran a red light once in my life and it was in the middle of the night with no one around. The other night on our way to Walmart I heard a bang and crash and noticed the light pole wobbling. I looked over and a semi had hit the light pole and went over thehill into the ditch and ended up on top of a giant cement barrier thingy. After we picked up James we went and showed him. He took some pictures sinceit was completely random! The roads weren't wet it was just cold. Crazy drivers!Its like rules don't apply to everyone. Just the few who decide to follow them.

Today James had the afternoon off so we decided to go to lunch for fun. We haven't been out to eat in a while so today was a great day to go. We went to Grandma Sharon's which is just a yummy place! It is home cooked real food. They even advertise that they make real mashed potatoes. We went over the rules of going out to eat withTurkey because sometimes we just need to be reminded on how to act in public. Well she walks in and is doing really good.

We sit down in our booth and she is using manner words and is being awesome. Then the waitress comes to take our order. Turkey was drinking her water from a straw and sucked up water and then blew it all over the waitress. OH MY GOSH!! I wanted to die. James wanted to die. We apologized and the women said its OK she has kids too. I was probably red as red could be from being embarrassed. We promptly took away her straw and said she had lost that privilege. The waitress came back and gave Turkey a new straw. Turkey was very well behaved that rest of the time in the restaurant. I left the women a very nice tip and we might not ever go back. I have been working on manners with her for quite awhile now. There are good days and bad. When we went to breakfast the first weekend we lived here Turkey shook hands with James co-workers and told them to have a nice day and it was nice to meet them. Then today she explodes water on a waitress. We will keep working at it.

I finally made my minestrone soup! I had it all prepped this morning so I could just put it together and cook it when it become dinner time. I started it and it smelled so yummy. I did a few things different then what the recipe said and it came out super yummy! I added more liquid then it called for and I probably could of have added more broth. James ate a huge bowl, Turkey ate the pasta out of it because she is odd and doesn't eat carrots or beans or anything else. She was smashing crackers to put in her soup and James asked her why and her response was "I am putting crackers in my soup so it will taste like crackers daddy!" She said it so matter of factly! Like seriously doesn't everyone do that. :) I am going to try it again another day and add more veggies and try some different stuff with it.

Turkey and James making funny faces after dinner

Kissy face!

Turkey's silly face

What was left after a huge pot of soup! It will be even better tomorrow

Car Problems!

So James Jeep has some issues with the starter or what we thought was the starter. We haven't been to get it into a shop because it is parked in my garage and no one will tow it for us. Well I called around this morning and got recommended to this local mechanic! Fantastic person! I love small towns for this reason. The man came and towed the Jeep to his shop and figured out the problem and it was done within a few hours. The problem was with the starter but not because it had gone bad. The plug that goes in the starter had fallen out. They got it to go back in and stay in! Yay for easy fixes!

Now on to my car! I have a cute little Mazda that I love dearly. Well my headlight burned out, once again you would think simple fix. Ha Ha not so much. I had one burn out this summer and my father tried to fix it and couldn't do it so I took it to the dealership. They spent 45 minutes trying to fix it, they finally got it and were kind enough not to charge me. Well my other headlight burned out. Since there is no Mazda dealer up here I have had to call around. One dealership offered to fix it but it would cost a min. of $100! That's right $100 to change a light bulb! I honestly about had a heart attack. I finally got a hold of another dealership who will do it for half that. Argh! When I had my explorer I fixed my headlights in less then 10 minutes or less. In my Mazda you have to take the whole thing apart to get to the headlight. So on my list of things to do tomorrow is to take my car in to get the light bulb changed.

On a positive happy note, I finally got a bank account! I have struggled getting one since I have changed my name in the last 60 days and I live here now. Apparently I look suspicious. Since all of our mail comes in James name I couldn't get an account cause I didn't have proof that I existed. I was all frustrated by it then yesterday when I got the mail I received a package that I forgot I ordered and guess what? It was in my name!!! I went straight in the bank this morning and got my account! Finally!

I haven't baked anything fun lately. I am making homemade soup tonight so hopefully that turns out good. I have made hair bows and fun sewing projects :) Last night James was going to work late since he was on call so Turkey and me decided to have a girls night. We rented a movie, got some pizza and soda. We had planned a picnic on the floor while watching Monsters vs. Aliens. On our way home from getting pizza James called and he was off early. We totally got busted and James had to make his own dinner. Sad day for him. We would have shared our pizza but we only got a kids size. Turkey and me can share that and both get plenty to eat. Next time I will think ahead and get James pizza too! OK off to finish dinner.

Church and Lazy days!

Turkey and me made it to church yesterday. I picked one that I was slightly familiar with. The church we chose was one my grandfather and great uncle grew up in. And it started at 11 which gives us plenty of time to have breakfast and get ready. We left the house around 10:45 so that we could be a few minutes early to find a seat. When we got to the church no one was there! Slowly a few ladies showed up so Turkey and me went in. A very nice women greeted us at the door, she knew we were new in town and when she asked if I was from Utah I was a little shocked. She said she had seen us pull in. She was very nice and gave us information about the church and invited us to sit anywhere we wanted. Turkey wanted to sit in the very front and I wanted to sit in the back so we made a compromise and sat in the middle of the church. We ended up sitting right behind the nice women who greeted us at the door. When church started there was maybe 20 there. I was shocked with how few people came. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. We had coffee and brownies after church with the nice ladies and they tried to recruit me to make cookies and goodies for their bake sale. I said I would try since I am still figuring out baking in the lack of altitude. I really liked it there I think the women were very nice and welcoming. I think we are going to try another church next week.

I usually spend my mornings getting the house all cleaned up so I have the afternoons to play and sew and shop. Since yesterday was Sunday and we went to church in the morning I got nothing done! We went to Wal-mart and got the batting I needed for some things I am making. I put Turkey down for her nap and I sewed the afternoon away. I enjoy the random days of nothingness! I feel Sundays are a great day to not do house work. I sat down last night and wrote out some recipes that I have found and want to try. I am going to make Minestrone Soup tonight for dinner. I best be getting that ready!

Sunrise

This morning we all woke up to take James to work so I can have the car this morning. Normally this wouldn't have to happen but James starter went out in the Jeep so we are down to one vehicle for the moment. Lately he just comes home for lunch then we take him back to work and have the car in the afternoons. Turkey and me have decided that today would be a great day to go to church. We feel like this will be a great way to meet people and make friends. Turkey loves church so why not! I think it will be a good thing to start doing. I always went to church and Sunday school with my grandparents. I have great memories of church as a child. We always sat in the back pew, no matter what we sat in the back pew. After church got done we would go down stairs and have cookies and coffee. All the adults would chat and catch up with each other and the kids would play and run around and try and get more cookies. I want Turkey to have good memories like that.

OK back to my morning adventure! When I went out to start the car this morning everything was frost covered like back home. There was frost sticking to everything. I was just talking to my cousin Christina about that yesterday. It make me happy and excited for the day. We all loaded up in the car to take James to work. It is a beautiful morning with everything frost covered. As we were driving back from James work the sun started to rise. OH MY GOSH!! The sunrise was amazing! It was pink and orange and purple. It stretched out across the whole sky. Sunrises are completely different with out mountains. Without mountains the sunrise goes on forever. I pulled off the highway and searched for my phone to take a picture, after pretty much dumping out my purse I remembered my phone was on my dresser. You all are just gonna have to imagine how pretty it was. I am sure there are going to be plenty of sunrises that I can get a photo of. One of these days I will get some photos to post on here.

Cookies!

I decided today was a great day to make cookies. I have made cookies millions of times and they turn out fantastic, but not today. There is a slight difference between cooking in high altitude and cooking here. Normally that would not be an issue at all. I would just eat the cookies how they came out of the oven. They are very ugly cookies. But after we ran to the store to get some ingredients for our cookies Turkey announced to the neighbors that we were making them cookies and she would bring them some after they were cooked. Bless her little heart. She is sleeping and I am making cookies that are ugly and that cannot go to the neighbors! They taste perfectly fine. I am the girl who only gives away the pretty ones! Maybe the last few will turn out right.....a girl can hope right.

In making my cookies I thought about just using my kitchen aid mixer, but I have my grandmother in the back of my head lately. So instead I used my hand mixer that was my great aunts. It is very retro and old and does a fabulous job! It works better then most. I have fond memories making cookies with Nana and Grandmum. Nana was the master of making chocolate chip cookies. Grandmum made the most amazing chocolate cake and apple pie. At Grandmum's funeral all the stories that were said about her had to do with her famous apple pie. Hummm..... that sounds like a good Sunday treat, don't you think? Maybe that will be my adventure for tomorrow.

Both of my grandmothers have taught me what I know about baking. I am very grateful for that. They always took the time to teach me how to do things and why we use certain things in cooking. When Turkey and me lived with my folks I would come home and mom and Turkey would be cooking and my mom would be showing her the things my grandmothers showed me. It makes me smily and slightly teary thinking about it.

Hopefully I can teach Turkey to cook and bake yummy things. She is a great help in the kitchen and loves to wash dishes. It is almost the time of year to start making yummy Christmas cookies. I better figure out my baking issue before then.

I am going to do a test run of Thanksgiving this week. That will be an adventure that I will share. Maybe even photos!

Cold Days!

Today we woke up to a cloud covered sky, it looks like snow clouds. I am excited for the snow to fall, kind of. Turkey loves to play in the snow. When it snowed the other day Turkey was up at 7:30 ready to go play in it. I have set the house rule of you have to eat breakfast before playing in the snow. She didn't even want to get dressed. We went out in pajamas and snow suits. I shoveled the neighbors walks and driveways and Turkey played in all of their snow. The there bonus of snow is that it covers all the mud! I have never in my life been to a place with so much dirt. Everything is covered in dirt. Since majority of the town works out on rigs and all the rigs are in the middle of nowhere they get covered in dirt and then track it all through the town. When we get home shoes are off at the front door and James has to take off his work clothes before going anywhere in the house. We have a basket for is clothes since I refuse to wash them in my washing machine! We take his work clothes to the laundry mat since they are covered in dirt, oil, grease and whatever else he gets into. :)

Turkey and me have made friends with the baker at Economart. When we came up here to visit in September we went to the market and Turkey watched the baker make a cake and he gave up samples of the frosting and the cake. Well Turkey and me were wondering about the grocery store yesterday afternoon and decided to watch the baker. We started chatting with the baker as usual and he gave us samples of Boston Creme Pie he was making. The pies are very fancy and they have this yummy chocolate fan piece on top. Any who the nice baker gave both Turkey and me one to munch on while we watched him make the pies. Turkey asked what he was going to do with them and he said he was putting new ones in the case and throwing away the other ones since they had been there for a day or so. We were both shocked that he would throw away such pretty pies! Turkey was kind of sad that he said he was throwing away the pie, so the baker was super sweet and gave her a whole one for free! It was very nice of him and it was very yummy! We saved it until after dinner so we could share with James. I think I have found a new best friend!!

James has decided that the reason men get fat after they get married is because their wives cook dinner every night and yummy treats! As I have been cooking meals and baking yummy things this week I have thought alot about my grandmother. I wish I could remember all the recipes she taught me as a little girl. She cooked every meal for her family and dessert every night. I miss her alot and thinking of her often. On that note I am going to go cook something yummy and warm.

Welcome to North Dakota!

Williston, North Dakota! What an adventure! It took us two days to get here, 825 miles, 12 1/2 hours. Luckily for me Turkey is a great traveler. She sings opera and all the songs we learned from school. You put in a cd of kid songs give her some milk and its smooth sailing from there! I was very lucky to have my parents and my grandfather drive up with me. My dad and Poppa drove my dads truck and pulled the trailer while my mom, Turkey, and me drove my car. I enjoyed spending the time with my family and driving up here. We got to our house and within an hour or so the trailer was unpacked and all in my house. Mom, Turkey and me went to Wal-mart to buy groceries and get the essentials. Wal-mart up here is crazy! There is always a billion people and nothing on the shelves. As we were checking out the guy who was ringing us up tried to recruit me. They are so short handed. They are probably one of the lower paying places in town. They start out at $10 an hour.

Its amazing how many jobs there are here. In Utah they are slim pickings, here you can be picky! I have decided for right now I am going to go the stay at home mom route. James is working for an oil company and is really enjoying it. Other then the occasional long hours we have adjusted very well to his work schedule.

I have been searching for preschool for Turkey since we have gotten here. Wow! What a shock! Since she is 3 she can only attend school one day a week for 2 hours. I feel like that is a waste of money! I can teach her at home for free. She can attend public school once she turns 4. So next September she will be starting school and going 4 days a week. I have found tons of private preschools but they have weird rules about 3 year olds. Oh well, I am enjoying my time with her.

It took me a little over a week to get my house put together and everything unpacked. I feel better having everything in its place. I have a sewing area in the living room and Turkey has her little tent in the corner for all of her toys and her dress up.

I will post some pictures hopefully soon. It depends on the internet if it will let me post photos. Ok I need to get some things done before James comes home from lunch!