White Chicken Chili & Urijah Faber

The weather has continued to have me craving soups!!

I had heard about White Chicken Chili and modified it for the crockpot. Nothing beats a Sunday holed up inside, watching football and smelling your dinner cooking all afternoon!!! The Fireguy was feeling a bit under the weather so we laid pretty low this weekend.

While I was learning HTML codes I had the Cardinals/Packers game on. What a game that turned out to be! I was really hoping that GB could pull off the win, but it was not meant to be. Next weekend I will be watching with undivided attention as the Vikings take on the Cowboys. I SO want Brett to get to the Super Bowl this year...

In my haste to serve up dinner (complete with corn muffins!) I neglected to take a picture ~ The photo below was taken from the internet at allrecipes.com. This recipe was super simple and very hearty!! For a cost of approx $12 we are going to get several meals out of it!!

I had dinner prepared to serve up in time for us to watch the WEC fights from Sacramento! We are not huge fight fans, but a local boy "The California Kid" Urijah Faber was set to compete. Urijah is really fun to watch and he ended up winning! The fight was set for three rounds and he won by submission with little over a minute left in round three. Good job Urijah~~
I hope you all had a great weekend too!

What Color is Your Mood Ring Right Now?

I was watching some old skool music videos today and took a little trip down memory lane. I thought about some of the 'hip' clothing and jewelry back then and how many are back in style now. One of the things that I suppose really never went "out' were mood rings ~ Funny little item... to think that you could possibly control your emotions by what color your mood jewelry turned! I had a good snicker, but thought I'd ask you this question ~ So what color are you right now?

Use the chart below to help you~

Black - Stressed, Cold, Uptight, Tense
Brown - Nervous, Anxious, Puzzled
Red - Energized, Restless, Distracted
Amber - Hopeful, Mixed Emotions, Unpredictable
Green - Amused, Upbeat, Cheerful
Blue - Relaxed, Calm, Love, Tranquil
Dark Blue / Purple - Passionate, Hot, Excited

P.S. Almost forgot to report that my mood ring is GREEN

Favorite Things - December

Yes indeed it is that time when I get to share some of my favorite things found in December!!

Since I have been wearing more makeup I wanted to be sure that I get my face REALLY clean and I got tired of leaving my face towel all dirty after one use. Thanks to my daughter (the knower of all things makeup!) I have found Neutrogena to produce a great product. One towelette nightly and my face is free of the days makeup.

These little babies are ONION GOGGLES and I simply cannot say enough about them. I love using onions while cooking, but can't stand cutting/chopping them as they get me all teary (usually pass that chore off to my Fireguy..) Trust me they are the best thing since sliced bread ~

Next up is a great wine... Beaujolais Nouveau!! This wine is sold but once a year at one of our local specialty stores. Usually brought out the week before Thanksgiving ~ The wine was recommended to me by a dear friend, and of course she did not dissapoint. Probably too late for this year, but you should check it out next holiday season.

And of course one needs a way to open their special wine, right? I received this amazing addition for Christmas; an Automatic Wine Bottle Opener!! Once charged this doll will open 30 bottles before needing a recharge. Simply hold the unit over the wine bottle and press a button; WAH LAH, wine is open! Simply perfect cork removal ~

pictures from:

amazon

jericowines

brookstone

A goal for 2010 !!!

I hope this posts comes across as positive and not negative!
(P.S. Remember to pause my player at the bottom of the blog to enjoy the video clip)

It is with such excitement that I share with you my desire to follow through with 'letting go' of things from the past. I'm not going to air my dirty laundry here, but I want to share that I will stop letting history run my life. For too long I have let things that people have said and done affect me personally. I try to make other people happy ALL THE TIME, sometimes by not being myself. I need to be true to myself and be me.. Let's face it nobody is perfect, we all have 'ghosts and skeletons' in our closets! I say so what!!! I have accepted my faults, changed what I needed to and have moved on.

I like me!! I love seeing the fruits of my labor in my children! I am walking forward, holding my head high and leaving it all behind!! NO MORE PAIN!!! I'm gonna let it go!!! Nobody sings it better than Tim McGraw, either...

The Unveiling...

I have decided to do Project 365!!! Basically the goal is to take and post a photo everyday for 365 days.

I want to commemorate my 50th birthday year by keeping a daily picture log of my life this year. Yes indeed, I am embracing my 50th year walking this earth (half of a century!!) and will forever be able to return to it on "Lollygaggin'". I am also hoping that this will give me the opportunity to learn more about picture taking and seeing the world around me!!

Please hop over to Lollygaggin and follow along, won't you?!?!?

~ Thanks to Nicolasa who inspired me to do this ~

Ending the year RANDOMLY!!

I've been trying to think of a fitting post to end the year; thanks to Teresa over at
Grammy Girlfriend , I think I have the perfect one!


Let's end the year with a random post and a RANDOM DOZEN.... Should be fun; leave a comment and let me know if you post, I love reading others' answers.


1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? I'll share drinks with my husband, but will not with others! YUCK-O!! A slight germ-a-phob, I am!!!

2. What have you learned this year? (Didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.) I've learned alot about myself; my inner strength and I have a better understanding of my purpose on earth.

3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? I take the decorations quickly. I do not like to see the tree sitting without packages beneath it.

4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is: I am hoping to complete our list of goals for 2010!

5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)? I enjoy the winter! I am hoping that the weather continues and we increase our winter snow pack to alleviate the possibility of the threat of drought!!

6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? I do not! Cannot stand the crowds!!

7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? We will ring in the New Year while sitting in the spa; kind of a tradition.... I am making cioppino, another NYE tradition!!!

8. Is there anything special awaiting you in January? I am hoping that the Doc will release me to return to work.

9. If your life this year was a movie, what category or genre would it be? (Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Suspense, Farcical, etc.) A grand mix of all!!

10. How much time per day do you spend blogging? Please be honest!! As much as I can, but fear returning to work and not being able to spend the time that I wish I could HA! I have met some very amazing friends here...

11. Who runs your household? It is most definatley a joint effort! My Fireguy and I have a really wonderful relationship that has seen us through 31 years. Everyday it just gets better!!

12. Share one hope/dream for 2010! I hope to improve my overall health and run a 10k!

I wish you all a very Happy New Year...

It was a quiet night... and then a birthday!

This Christmas was a first... The first Christmas that our little family was not together ~

We made the best of it; fortunate that we recently spent 10 days in Hawaii together, fortunate that The Fireguy and I spent a couple days in WA to visit our son and his girlfriend and fortunate that we spent Christmas Eve with our daughter and son-in-law.

The kids' ginormous Christmas tree

The kids and their beautiful tree

Lovely illuminated Lincoln home...

The ever popular deep fried turkey!

My bestest daughter and I (love love, love her!)

Our dear son-in-law celebrates his birthday two days after Christmas!! This year he left his twenties behind and joined the dirty thirty club!! Happy Birthday PC ~

~ My Fireguy, the Princess and Prince Charming ~

Yummy birthday cake!!

And now... a little bit of relaxation while we await the arrival of the new year -

Merry Christmas to You All!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is kind of corny, but thanks to Tracy reminding me of this site, I am able to send you Christmas Greetings!!

I wish you all a day filled with Love, Warmth and Good Cheer ~