A Look Back At 2008

As 2008, comes to a close I pondered writing my obligatory resolutions post for about 2.3 seconds but decided that since I won't keep them anyway it would be a waste of time. Instead, I thought it would be F-U-N to take a look back and revisit some of the biggest stories of 2008.

1. The United States had an historic presidential election with the Republicans presenting their first ever female vice president candidate and the overwhelming majority of US voters electing the first black president to office.

2. Governor Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested on corruptions charges for trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. This absurdly arrogant man is still thumbing his nose at every single American by refusing to relinquish his Governorship and going so far as to 'appoint' Roland Burris to fill the seat even as the Senate Dems vow to overturn his appointment. O'Reilly would call him a pinhead and I have to agree.(I can only imagine the 'mouth on the forehead' look this must cause Helen.)

3. New York's Elliot Spitzer's Governorship came to a screeching halt when it was brought to light that he was buying sex through an illegal prostitution ring. He 'got off' easy since no charges were filed against him. (Did I miss where prostitution was made legal in New York or something?)

4. China hosted the Summer Olympic Games and Michael Phelps became a record-setting swimming phenon winning a total of eight gold medals. That is awesomeness and he has a really cool mom.

5. Congress passed a $700 BILLION bailout for the financial world with no strings attached. Meaning the banks don't have to give an accounting of how they spend MY tax dollars. This ticks me off.

6. Oil hit $100/barrel then dropped to $40/barrel when the global recession hit.

7. An Iraqi reporter threw a shoe (at Bush). He should have thrown it at Blagojevich.

8. Plaxico Burress shot off his mouth in the off season about his football contract and then shot off his loaded gun while it was pointed at his foot.

9. The Duggar family welcomed their 18th bundle of joy.

10. Gas dropped from $4/gallon to $1.59/gallon (at least in Bend anyway).

11. I made some really cool friends and you can read their wickedly funny blogs by checking out my Blog Roll. (OK, maybe this wasn't Foxnews or CNN big, but it was to me.)

12. Paris is still Paris and now she has the Barbie Car she's always wanted, complete with monogrammed leather seats and pink wheels. Ridiculous.

13. Foreclosures are at an all-time high and unemployment is soaring.

14. Someone Googled 'Tom Cruise Carbonara Opera' and landed on Buzz By Annie's. Seriously. Maybe Tom Cruise makes a couch jumping amazing make-you-sing-like-Pavaroti carbonara but I'll take him on any day with my own recipe. I'm throwing down the challenge. Have his people call my people.

These are just a few of the highlights and lowlights of 2008. While it seems that there were more lows than highs this year, I like to dwell on the fact that I have my family, friends, health, home, happiness and a relationship with a really cool God that is bigger than any news going on in the world. I wish you all a very safe and blessed New Year and I hope you are filled much peace and happiness in 2009.

Some Of My Favorite Christmas Pics

This year, Christmas was quiet and relaxing and that is very ok with me. The one bummer was that my son was in another town with his dad, so I have no Christmas pictures with him in them(therefore I'm going to post a picture of him from last Christmas). It was just Jon, Kenzi and me and we spent Christmas eve and Christmas morning over at my parents. I'm going to post some of my favorite pictures from Christmas 2008. Enjoy!

Me and my kidz...!


Mmmmmmm...Kenz and Jon sharing a treat!


Enthusiasm for opening the gifts!


On our way to Grandma and Grandpa's house...


Teenagers...


The best parents in the world!


Me and my sweetie!


Me, ma and the beeg brother...


The girlz....


Boz loves Christmas at Grandpa's house!

Snow....Snowing....Snowing Some More....

So it's snowing like crazy here and I've been 'chatting' with Mare in Africa. If you can believe it, there's not a lick of snow in Nigeria. I know, hard to believe. So, I thought I'd share a little video I took this morning of Boz out in the snow. It's snowing twice as hard now and we're expecting up to 12". Madness. Here you go Mare - it's a virtual winter wonderland! Merry Christmas!

Diggin' The Apple Cake

For Christmas we are having a brunch instead of the traditional turkey, ham or prime rib feast (although I'm second guessing not having prime rib now that I mention it). Anyway, this past weekend I decided to try out a new recipe to see if it would be included in the brunch and it most definitely will. I'm not a big sweets eater but this apple cake was awesome. The recipe is very basic so even Katdish can bake with success. There are fresh chunks of apple in all that goodness and it's topped with brown sugar, cinnamon and a warm vanilla sauce. Yeah, you'll be smiling down to your toes.

APPLE CAKE













Cake:
1 cup Oil
2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (use the real stuff - not imitation)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups apples, chopped (gala or granny smith)

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash allspice

Vanilla Sauce:
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoon vanilla (the REAL stuff)

For cake, beat oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Stir together dry ingredients and add to oil mixture. Blend. (it will be very stiff - almost like cookie dough). Stir in apples. Press into a lightly oiled 13"x9" pan.

For topping, combine all ingredients and sprinkle over cake. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes.

For vanilla sauce, blend sugar and flour together in a saucepan. Whisk in whipping cream. Add butter and cook over medium heat, whisking often until thickened. Add vanilla and stir. Serve cake warm with vanilla sauce.

No Fair Wear: Still Time To Vote For Your Favorite Saying

Yes, it's true. The polls haven't closed yet and there is still time to vote for your favorite No Fair Wear saying. I'm sure Sherri will be clicking like a mad woman tonight to stack the vote in her favor. I'm allowing you to vote as often as you'd like, so start clicking and give Sherri a run for her money. (By the way, the poll is located on my sidebar. Shouldn't be too hard to find.)

Cleaning House for Christmas

I've been in my pre-Christmas funk the past few weeks and had some pretty serious conversations with the only one patient enough to listen to my ramblings and rants. That would be God. He knows that Christmas is hard for me because I feel guilty that my children have to spend their Christmas apart because of divorce and broken relationships. He knows that I wish we could be one big happy step family with everyone accepting each other, but we're not. He knows that I want my children to have fond memories of holidays spent together but there is too much animosity and unease between certain members in our house. He knows I wish my kid's dad and I could get along for their sake, but we don't. He knows..it all and I want him to fix these things.

As I pondered all this stuff, I realized that I really want a lot from God for Christmas. But what am I giving Him? He doesn't ask for much, just my love, trust and faith that He knows what he's doing and to let go and give Him control over it all. Have I done my part to make sure I'm giving everything I have to God no matter what my circumstances may be? Am I only focusing on what I don't have(yes) instead of what I do have(no)?

I think every now and then I have to stop and take an inventory of what's on my heart and put it all back into perspective. As I came to this realization, this song came on the radio. I love God's irony and how he likes to use unconventional ways of speaking to me.



Sure, my life isn't perfect and our family is a little more water and oil than peanut butter and jelly. But here's what I know for sure:

-God loves EVERYONE in this blended family of ours.
-My children know without a doubt that I love them unconditionally.
-Jon has been like a father to my daughter and loved her when she needed it most.
-God has always provided for and taken care of us.
-I have family and friends that are very precious and dear to me.
-Jon and I love each other and are committed to our marriage.
-God's plan is big and mysterious and I'm not always 'in the know', but that's how God works and He knows what He's doing.

Yep, it's time for a good house cleaning...just in time for Christmas.

Merry Christmas From Me And The Hee Haw Gang

It is beginning to look a heckuva lot like Christmas here (as seen from my office window today) and as we are all endlessly scraping our cars, slipping and sliding on the ice covered roads and revelling in our sub-zero temperatures, I hope you are staying warm and enjoying the reason for the season.

Because Christmas is a time of spreading cheer, I wanted to share a little ditty that I created with you in mind and hope that you enjoy it as much as I have. (Sherri and Helen, this is especially for you.) So turn up the volume and here's to it putting a smile to your face and a sparkle in your eyes.

Merry Christmas from the whole Hee-Haw gang!