Another Public Service Announcment

It's my new motto for life on those days when I feel too tired or want to wing it.
Phoning it in, as they say.
I want to be ambitious in everything; as a wife, as a mother, as a friend, as the creative director of my surroundings, as the manager of my household, as my own boss and now my own motivational speaker.
This is my new pep talk.

Live... Learn... Pass it on

These are things I want my children to know. Some may seem like not such a big deal. One day maybe this advice will help someone in our family. Live Learn Pass it on

Doing a good job is important, always try to do your best.

Your parents love you no matter what!

Telling the truth really will set you free,

Always listen to your parents...they tell you this because they LOVE you.

When you serve others it will make you feel better.

Be the friend you wish you had.

There may be days you don’t want to work or serve or do anything. Just do it...just go it is only 8 hours or just one lesson...you can do it and you will feel so much better when you have done it.

I am trying to follow the commandments not only for blessings to be with our family now but for all future generations.

Family comes first over your friends.

It is more important to be nice than to be someone important.

Be loyal and true to your spouse.

Get outside, go for a walk, garden, enjoy nature it recharges you in so many ways.

Your never to old to play like a kid.

I wish I had never let a day pass without hugging each of my kids.

Cleaning helps me feel in control. You don’t need lots of money to do it and when your home is clean you will feel so much better about everything.

Be thankful for all the blessings in your life.

Debt is a burden, you can live without it. You don’t have to have all the fancy things like everyone else...most of the people with the nice homes & cars probably make less money than you. They just have lots of debt.

Be proud of your country and thankful for your freedom.

You have a birthright, Your Father in Heaven Loves YOU and wants the best for you.

Pray for your children to choose the right.

Call your mom, dad, & grandparents. They love you and a simple hello means SO SO much.

Time is so precious, live is short. Always tell let your loved ones know how special they are to you.

Custom Blog Signature

Today I have an easy tutorial. And guess what!? You don't have to use Photoshop for this one {unless you want to}!

Okay, let's get started.

Click on this link before we move on. You there?

At the very top of the page, there will be a tab that says, Start Now. Click it. You will then click the very first button you see that says, Create Signature. There are several easy steps to follow to create your signature:

1. Enter your Name
2. Choose a font
3. Select the size
4. Choose a color {if you want}
5. Set the slope of your signature

Go ahead and go through each of those steps. I'll wait for ya.

Okay, now you should be at a page where it says at the top, Finished! The signature is ready. There will be three options for you to choose. Click the last one that says, Want to use this signature. Then you want to choose the Generate an HTML code option. Next you will see, Generate a code for my handwritten signature. Click it.


Copy the code.

Now, let's head on over to blogger so we can put your pretty little signature into your posts.

Click the tab Settings; then click formatting.

Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and you will see Post Template.

Paste the code you created in the box next to Post Template. Click Save Settings. Don't forget that step!

Now you have a pretty new blog signature that will appear each time you write a new post.

Pretty easy, huh?

Yummy Pasta Dish

I have been trying to find new meals that my family loves. I LOVE “The Food Nanny’s Rescues Dinner”. Her recipes are very practical and easy to make which I love. I have been trying to follow her 2 week plan. I made the plan, it was great to get two weeks of groceries but I there were two nights where I had to much going on and we ate leftovers. Then I never got back on track…just me living la vida loco

RED-AND-WHITE MOSTACCIOLI
by: Liz Edmonds- The Food Nanny
• 1 pound uncooked mostaccioli or other tubular pasta
• Alfredo Sauce (p. 71)
• 1 (26-ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
• or 3 cups homemade sauce, divided (see Note)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• RED-AND-WHITE MOSTACCIOLI (“little mustaches”)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain.
3. Meanwhile, prepare sauce of Fettuccine Alfredo (omit the pasta).
4. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Layer
half the pasta, half the Alfredo sauce, half the spaghetti sauce, and
11/2 cups of the cheese. Repeat the layering with the remaining pasta,
Alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, and cheese.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake about 30 minutes or until it is hot and
bubbly.

Serve with a tossed green salad and Italian or French bread.

Note: You may use meat sauce or meatless; I prefer meatless. When I make my
own spaghetti sauce (p. 62 made meatless), I often double the recipe so I can
freeze half of it to have on hand for this recipe. But purchased sauce is almost
as good.

ALFREDO SAUCE:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 pound uncooked fettuccine
FETTUCCINE ALFREDO
1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Mix in the cream
cheese. Stir in the cream and garlic powder. Increase the heat and bring
to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer, stirring often, while you cook the
pasta. If the sauce needs additional thickening (for example if you're serving
it as a dipping sauce without pasta), you may sprinkle in flour, 1 teaspoon at
a time. Cook and stir for desired consistency.
2. Cook the fettuccine according to package directions; drain.
3. Stir the Parmesan cheese into the sauce and season with salt and pepper
to taste.
4. Toss the sauce and the pasta in a large bowl and serve immediately.
Serve with a tossed green salad and hot French bread or bread sticks.
Variations:

For Chicken Alfredo, stir-fry bite-size chunks of chicken in 1 tablespoon olive
oil until cooked and add to the sauce.

If you’re a seafood lover, toss the sauce with cooked medium shrimp or
chunks of crab.


Try it is SO SO FABULOUS!

Paper Flowers

My friend Michelle asked me to tell her how I make my paper flowers. They are my new favorite thing to make with scraps of paper. I went to a crop ( I did not have time to plan what to do at the crop and knew I also would only be there for a little while) so I grabbed a bunch of my scraps, my succors, brads and made flowers while we cropped.

Supplies you will need: scissors, spray bottle, brad or button for the center.

Step one cut the circles I usually do 3 or 4 in a flower.



Step two cut the edges into petals (not perfect the more random the better)



Step three spray with water and crinkle (by crinkle I mean wad up)



Shape as desired and place a brad in center.



These are easy and fun to make giving your page some texture and a great way to use up scraps. I hope this is clear...sorry for such bad photos.

Happy Scrapping!

Kim’s Knee Surgery

Kim is having right knee surgery today. A soccer ingury. Not even one year from Carson’s first surgery…that make’s a total of three surgeries in the past year, thank goodness they were all with the amazing Dr. Cooley. It was tightening her patella and then when the doctor got into her knee he found that there was damage to her ACL (her acl was not even in place they took part of her hamstring and made a new acl for her) making her ingury worse that Carsons and her recovery time will be longer. John the friend who went to homecoming with her group also had his surgery today. She was nervous at first and it was a good thing I been through this with Carson, I much more relaxed. This goes to show what a strong girl she is! The doctor said she is way tough to be going around with a injury like that and still walking without crutches. No wonder it killed her to wear her high heals to homecoming.
Her biggest stress is making it a week without going to school, learning her subjects and staying caught up. We have skpye so she can get online tutoring, we will take her to a tutor and hopefully she does not get to far behind.
I actually get two full days off!! Wishing they were paid days…oh how I miss paid vacation. BUT I am very thankful that we have health insurance and can make my little girl all better.