2011: It's A Wrap

As I look ahead to 2012, I look forward to new challenges, new journeys for our family and new lives (Baby Bramlett in July!).  Before 2012 becomes a reality, I thought a quick look back at 2011 would be nice.  Here is a quick recap 2011. 

{JANUARY: (not a great month)}

• Hubby Had Surgery
• My nephew passed away
• We had the Dyson Debate

{FEBRUARY:}

• We had a doozy of a snow/ice storm
• Cooper decided he LOOOVES feeding the dog.
• We bought the Dyson.
• Ryan turned 22

{MARCH:}

• I was swamped and it contines to this day!!
• Cooper and I visited my family down south a lot this month.
• Steph and Ryan got engaged!
• We celebrated my Mom's birthday

{APRIL:}

• Cooper had some fun times in the bathtub.
• We bought a new steam mop!
• Cooper chipped his tooth.....
• Tim turned 45
• Andrew turned 19

{MAY:}

• Andrew finishes his freshman year of college!
• Our bedroom rennovation is complete!
• I shared an awesome recipe with you.
• I had my first "me" day (off work with no one home!)
• Engagement Party for Steph & Ryan
• Mom and I had our first "Saturday Shopping Day"

{JUNE:}

• I told you about my 20 month old...
• Cooper had eye surgery
• We visited the ZOO
• Cooper loves playing in his diaper
• Stephanie & Ryan got Married!!!

{JULY:}

• We had a VERY clean garage.
• We celebrated my Grandpa's 74th birthday
• Stephanie had her wedding shower
• I got highlights in my hair for the first time since college

{AUGUST:}

• We visited the Great Indiana State Fair.
• I told you all about my favorite iPhone Apps.
• My hubby got me some gorgeous flowers (he rarely does that, so it was special)
• We got Cooper his "Cozy Coupe" (he loves!!)

{SEPTEMBER:}

• We took Cooper to Monkey Joe's
• Stephanie turned 22
• Cooper got glasses
• We started going to our new church
• We went camping
• We bought a new hot tub!
• Erica and Mel got married in NYC!

{OCTOBER:}

• Cooper turned 2
• Tim moved in the new hot tub.
• We got family pictures taken & I was disappointed.
• I did a month of 1200 calories.
• Steph and Ryan are having a baby!!

{NOVEMBER:}

• I turned 31, eeks.
• Cooper showed his love for peanut butter.
• We celebrated my Dad's birthday.
• We got to see baby Bramlett from Steph's ultrasound.

{DECEMBER:}

• I told you all about my hubby's and my whirlwind romance.
• We decorated for Christmas.
• I discovered Spaghetti Pie!
• We went to a Pacer's game
• Took a couple of trips for Christmas
• Celebrated with family and some time off!
• Cooper got his picture taken with Santa

Here's to a very Happy New Year to you all!  Enjoy yourselves! 

Happy, Happy 2012!

Back to the Grind

I'm back at work, do I sound excited about it?  No.  And that's because I'm not.  Thankfully, it's for 2 days before another 3 day weekend.  Then there is a 3 day weekend for MLK day coming up, so I'll just go ahead and enjoy the fact that I have a job.

The time off was awesome, I'll recap more later, I cannot seem to get my pictures to work right now.  Christmas was good, Family is good, Life is good.  I slacked during my time off with not a single blog post written up.  I didn't even link up for the 4th week of the Show Me Your Christmas.  Like I said, SLACKER. 

I hope you are having a wonderful day, enjoy it and I hope to be back soon!

 from The Johnson Five to you and yours! :)

Thankful

Today I am linking up with Julia today for Thankful Thursdays.  Can you tell I'm in a linking up kind of mode this week?  At least I've returned to the blog world.

I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season.  I am most thankful today and everyday for our Savior, Jesus.

I am thankful for our ability to drive this journey to visit with our family:

 

and then this journey to visit with some more family:

I am thankful for my iPad, so that Cooper has something to play with during all of those long hours in the car.  He just loves the "Elmo Loves his ABCs" app.  I highly recommend it for your little ones, it's so interactive!

I am thankful for family, friends, co-workers, our awesome babysitters, and everyone else who contributes to this blessed life that I have.  I am far better than I deserve and I owe that all to our Lord above. 

What are you thankful for today?  I will be travelling today and the rest of the weekend, so I'll be back after Christmas.  Remember the reason for the season!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Link up Here

This week, I'm loving......

{1}

That my stepdaughter Stephanie and her husband gave me "The Help" DVD as

 a belated birthday gift.  I looooooooooved the book and so they knew this

would be right up my alley.  Thanks again Steph & Ry.



Source



{2}

The Hubs and I had our 4 year dating anniversary on Monday.  (Yep, we still celebrate it,

I wrote up the story here if you care to read)  I got himthese berries as a gift. 

They were delivered to work, albiet a day late.  I was disappointed that they didn't

arrive on Monday, but at least they made it.  He loves them!

Source

{3}

All of our Christmas gifts are finally wrapped.  Steph wrapped the last few

for me last night while I was baking dozens of cookies for Cooper's babysitters!

She's such a sweetie for doing that for me!  I had just a few left but wasn't going

to be able to get to them until Christmas Eve so she saved me from having to do it then!

Thanks Steph!!

Source

{4}

I'm loving thess little boy and this man.  Also Santa, but mostly just these

two guys they are the center of my universe.  I LOVE them sooo very

much!


What are you loving this Wednesday before Christmas?
Link up with Jamie and tell us!

A Recipe: Spaghetti Pie

This week, my hubby asked me if we could have spaghetti pie for dinner one night.  In nearly 4 years, I cannot recall ever hearing this from him.  I’d never heard of it otherwise either.  So, we looked it up, and all of the ingredients sounded good, so we made it and ate it, and IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!  I decided right then and there, this would be inserted into our regular meal rotation.

Here’s the recipe for ya, via Better Homes & Gardens (I got it from the cookbook but it’s online here with a slight variation, the fennel was left out from online recipe)  I forgot to take pictures of ours, so here is one I borrowed, see the source for another variation of the recipe.

Spaghetti Pie

Source

Here’s the recipe for ya, via Better Homes & Gardens (I got it from the cookbook but it’s online here with a slight variation, the fennel was left out from online recipe)

Ingredients

• 4 ounces dried spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine (I’m pretty sure this could be eliminated)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 ounces ground beef or bulk Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
• 1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
• 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

• Nonstick cooking spray

• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese, drained
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I’d say we used a bit more than this, maybe 3/4 cup)

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.

2. Return spaghetti to warm saucepan. Stir butter into hot pasta until melted. Stir in egg and Parmesan cheese; set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet cook ground beef, onion, sweet pepper, fennel, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce and oregano; heat through.

4. Coat a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray. Press spaghetti mixture onto bottom and up sides of pie plate, forming a crust. Spread cottage cheese on the top and up the sides of pasta crust. Spread meat mixture over cottage cheese. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

5. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. To serve, cut into wedges.

This recipe is pretty low in fat and high in protein.  Give it a try, it’s delicious!  Everyone loved it, we had just enough left over to take for lunch the next day.  Yummy.

Show me Christmas: Holiday Traditions

Christmas decorations in our family start the weekend after Thanksgiving when we normally put up our Christmas decorations and tree.  This year we did it the weekend before Thanksgiving because it was my birthday weekend and that is what I wanted to do for my birthday.  We even decorated outside this year, but you read about my decorations last week. 

After that, we don’t really have any big traditions until right before Christmas.  I make lots of cookies.  Sugar Cookies mostly, but I’ve made Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Chip and all kinds of others in the past.  Since my son was born, though, I’ve basically cut it down to just one type.

This year, we’re going to make Jesus a birthday cake.  We’ve been talking to Cooper about Jesus’s birthday and we want him to celebrate the real reason for the season and not just Santa Claus.   

We go to church on Christmas Eve.  I think we’ll put cookies out for Santa this year, as Cooper does understand Santa as he’s been singing “Santa is coming to town” for the past couple of weeks.  The hubby and I put the gifts under the tree, and we work on getting everything else ready for Christmas morning. 

We open presents first thing with everyone on Christmas morning.  We eat breakfast and then get all dressed and drive south to my parent’s houses for Christmas celebrations with them. 

Christmas dinner is usually a repeat of Thanksgiving.  This year it will be a bit different, at least at my mom’s house. 

That’s really about all for our traditions.  What are yours?  Link up and tell us!

 

Miscellany Monday

I haven’t linked up with Carissa in a long time, so I decided it was time again.  Now that I’m taking time to get back to blogging, time to get back to some of my favorite days to post.

1) Friday night we went to a Indiana Pacer’s basketball game.  We were  in the nosebleed seats.  literally.  Here was the view from our seats, nosebleeds I tell you.

Here’s a picture of my cute boy and Ry-Ry and his niece Gracie.  Cooper LOVES Gracie.  Gracie LOVES Cooper.  They are so cute when they play.  She’s 4 and he’s 2.  He’s already flirting, they are sharing a seat.  It’s cute.

2) Saturday Mom and Shawn came up to visit for a couple of hours.  They got to see our Christmas tree and decorations.  I baked cookies and got groceries and cleaned.  It was a productive day.

3) Sunday was church then relaxation.  A day of rest.  Just the way God intended.  Amen.

4) 4  more work days (including today) until a break for celebration of our Savior’s birth.  I’ve been counting down for weeks. 

5) Tomorrow is our “Holiday” Christmas lunch at work.  Our group of Indianapolis Finance people gather together for a nice lunch right before Christmas.  This year we’re going to Sullivan’s.  The menu they’ve got planned for us sounds delicious.  I cannot wait.  I don’t frequent expensive steakhouses so this meal is always a treat.  We do a white elephant gift exchange.  I need to find a gag gift, any ideas?

6) 4 more work days (including today) until we hit the road for this trip.  Indianapolis to NE Ohio. Almost to Youngstown.  We’re headed to the hubby’s family’s Christmas celebration.  Approximately 5.5 hours in a car with Cooper and Tim.  Stephanie, Ryan, Andrew and Sami will be meeting us on the 23rd, but we’re going after work on Thursday.  Visiting with some more of his family during the daytime on the 23rd, then dinner with his siblings Friday night.  Hotel then home on Christmas Eve.

7) Christmas Eve service is at 4 Saturday.  Very excited to attend our first Christmas Eve service at College Park.  We are so blessed to have found a church were we feel at home.

As you can tell, I’ve got lots of “Christmas” on my mind today.  It’s such a special time for families to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  Blessings are all around, don’t forget to recognize them.  Now, what random things do you have to say?  Link up with Carissa and tell us!

Have a great day everyone!

12/19/2007 was the beginning

The day was a Wednesday.  I was a nervous wreck.  I had a BIG problem, I’m talking BIG.  I had a HUGE crush on this guy.  This guy who would be my future husband.  I was borderline crazy for him.  I think he knew it, but I wasn’t for sure.  We were going out for lunch alone and I was going to tell him.  We ended up having a date that night at his house, my house now too, and we’re living happily ever after.

Let’s take a step back………

It was a whirlwind romance.  To go back to the beginning quickly.  We work together at a really big office building and we have hallways that are really long (1/6 of a mile).  He started “stalking” me in August, we started talking on our company’s instant messaging system and walking together each afternoon.  I went to Italy for 2 weeks over Thanksgiving and while I was away, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.  I guess that’s how I knew.  I didn’t admit it to myself until a week or so before the 19th.  My mom helped me realize it.  THANKS MOM!!!

So I just had to tell him.  We went to lunch, I was a NERVOUS WRECK, but I told him and we started dating then and there.  I went home that weekend, and we decided it would be good to come and meet my parents.  We met them for a bit then went out to lunch, a movie and shopping.  That is the day we truly fell in love.  He told me he loved me over the phone in the middle of the night.  Christmas happened and the day I came back to work, he made me dinner and I met his kids.  That was fun.  I was sooooooooo nervous.  But they are good kids, so it wasn’t too bad.  Then went to visit his brother in Cincinnati the weekend before New Year’s, when we came home, I went to church with him on Sunday. 

After that, he took me ring shopping.  Yes, that’s right, 11 days after we started dating, I was helping pick out my engagement ring.  We knew we were going to get married, but he hadn’t asked yet.  I didn’t know when he was going to ask, but I knew he was. 

We spent lots of time together and on New Years morning, he asked me to marry him.  It was perfect.  We started the new year off together just before I had a weeklong trip in FL with my family.  So we spent that week apart, yet spent every spare moment on the phone with one another.  It’s been almost 4 years now, and I am so thankful for this man.  For our family.  He brings joy to my life and I am so blessed.  My love for him grows deeper every day. 

Tim, if you read this, I want you to know how much I respect you, appreciate you and love you.  I found this quote the other day and I immediately thought of you.  You are the best babe. 

---

You are the cheese to my macaroni, you are the horizon to my sky, you are the bacon to my eggs, you are the laces to my sneakers, you are the jelly to my peanut butter, you are the smile to my face, you are the gravy to my mashed potatoes, you are the bubbles to my bath, you are the milk to my cookie, you are the ink to my pen, you are the ketchup to my French fries, you are the water to my ocean, you are the icing on my cupcake. 

---

Changes, ME time, prayer, and some BIG news.

I needed a change on this blog.  I often find myself searching for blog templates on the web somewhere, but alas, I NEVER find what I want, and I am never impressed for very long and I want to change the blog quickly.  This is the reason I hesitate in purchasing a professionally created blog template.  I am constantly changing my mind (just ask the husband, it is a sore spot between the two of us sometimes). 

Anyway, tonight, out of no where, I started messing with the templates and layouts available through blogger and found this background, layout and made my own header quickly.  Voila.  I love it.  Now, don’t expect it to stay this way for long, if you read above, you’ll see I like to change this thing up a bit. 

ME time.  I don’t get much of it lately (hence the lack of blogging), and I needed some.  So tonight, while I was having my ME time and looking around for new templates for the blog I realized how nice this is.  The house is quiet.  Hubs and toddler are in bed, and it’s just little ol me with some peace and quiet.  I miss this.  I’m not sure when life got so hectic, but it sure doesn’t seem to calm down much around here.

I pray.  A lot.  I pray that God can change my heart and let me let go.  It is working, but still a major work in progress.  I have really been through quite a bit with the PCOS news and it has been both good and bad for me.  The Good:  I have realized that no matter how much I want to be in control of this life, I am not.  I realize that HE has all of the control and letting go of the want for the control is really the best thing.  The Bad: I may never have another child.  This is devastating to me, and this is where I really have to just let go and Let God.  (this is where the work in progress comes into play)  I logically know that whatever God’s plans are for our family they are the BEST thing for us, the ONLY thing for us.  It is difficult sometimes to follow logic and not be engulfed in emotion.  I know the crazy negative emotions are from Satan, and I must learn to push them aside. 

I am so thankful for everything that I have, and more thankful for everyone that I have in my life.  My husband, child, parents, step kids, siblings, friends, and all of you out there in blog land.  I have a great job with awesome co-workers.  I have nothing to be but happy, I wish that this logic was what I could always see.  I’m learning, little by little.

And now the big news…..

I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!  The baby will call me Mimi I think…..

My Stephanie is PREGNANT!!!  Here is a picture of her first ultrasound.  She’s due around the second week of July.  We are so excited to welcome this new little one into our lives!

Well, I think that’s all of the updates for tonight, It’s really time for me to hit the hay as it is wayyyy past my bed time.  Happy Friday to you all and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Please remember the reason for the season and remember to PRAISE JESUS.

Next weekend, we’ll be baking Jesus a birthday cake.  Is this something that you do in your house?  We are hoping to make it a tradition.  Cookies for Santa and a birthday cake for our Savior.

 

Show me your Christmas: Decorations!

Today we’re showing your our Christmas Decorations!  I do about the same thing each year, but this year I mixed things up just a tad bit…..

Mantle:  I added the Christmas subway art that I found on Pinterest.  I took down the picture that normally hangs there.  This year we have six stockings on that mantle, since Stephanie got married, we now have Ryan’s to add!  I love the Christmas card displays and still gotta love those Yankee candles, yum Macintosh!

 

The bannister.  We have painted it since last year, it was wood and covered in silver tinsel.  If you go here you can see my decorations from last year.  Like I said, mixed it up a bit.  This year, it’s decorated with ornaments my mom made for our family when I was little.  She gave them to me this year, and I knew they weren’t going on the tree, but I found another spot for them!

Tree.  Now, if you look, you’ll notice that we have a row of lights missing.  This is a tragedy.  This tree is going out the door this year and we’re buying a new one before next Christmas.  I just cannot stand all the hassling I have to do to get this one lit, and as you can see, EPIC fail on at least one row of lights.  One keeps going in and out too, so that makes two sometimes off.  ugh.  We got new bulb ornaments this year, and I’m loving them, makes the tree look much better.  Plus they are shatterproof, so that is helpful with the 2 year old.  I highly recommend.

Last, but not least, our outside decorations.  This is the first year since we got married that we did decorations outside.  I climbed my butt up that skinny tall ladder to put those lights atop those peaks of our house.  It was a bit scary, I admit.  Totally worth it to see my Cooper’s face every time we come home.  “pretty lights mommy, pretty lights”  That’s what he says.  Love it!  I dislike our cars being outside, but Tim’s working on a big Christmas gift for Cooper, so outside they must stay until it’s all finished up……

Well, those are my decorations, link up and show us yours!   Enjoy your Tuesday ladies!

The Johnson Five Lately

Wow, we’re busy, busy, busy.  There is always something going on, and just when I think things might slow down a bit, it just doesn’t. 

Since Thanksgiving it’s been one thing after another, and I am hoping that things will slow down after this week at least until we’re off on our multiple Christmas trips. 

What I want to know is, how am I going to keep up with more activities in the future?  Cooper is only 2 and we are so busy already.  What happens when/if we are lucky enough to get pregnant with another one?  What happens when he gets old enough to get involved in sports?  Goodness.

Before I keep rambling with all of the what ifs, lets talk about The Johnson Five lately.  Tim and I found out why we haven’t been successful in getting pregnant this year.  I have been diagnosed with something called polycystic ovarian syndrome.  I’m really not sure of all of the implications of this, but one of them seems to be that I don’t ovulate on a normal schedule so that we’re not having any luck right now.  We have to go through a few hurdles before we’ll have an opportunity to get pregnant, so keep us in your prayers for that.  We are hoping God has another little one in our future, but we will leave it in His hands, He knows what is best and we trust in HIS plans for us.

Stephanie is almost done with her classes, she’ll get an internship for the spring then graduate college in the Spring, YAY Steph! Ryan is attending school and working full time.  The two of them are enjoying being newlyweds.  I’m proud of the two of them.

Andrew is away at school, he’s enjoying his sophomore year and hardly ever coming home.  He’s doing great with his classes and his grades.  We miss him, but are so glad that’s he’s happy and having a good time.

Cooper, he’s just beyond cute, he’s wonderful and growing and learning new things everyday.  It really is amazing how much kids learn at this age.  It’s great.  I just cannot get enough of him.

Tim is playing in a kickball league and I’ve been working on doing all kinds of Christmas shopping. 

Those are the crazy things that we’re into right now, there is so much, on a daily basis, but that’s the overall scoop.

Since this post is all filled with words and no pictures, I’m including a couple of pictures we quickly took at Thanksgiving.

My brother (Craig), dad, brother’s two kids Layne (on my brother’s lap), Larissa (on my dad’s lap) and Cooper and me.

 

My brother, dad and me.

Have a great day and wonderful weekend.  I’m off to Louisville, KY to go shopping shopping shopping for the weekend with my Mama!   Yay!!

Show me your Christmas list

I’m a geek, and by geek, I mean I’m one of those people who wants things for their house/kitchen for Christmas. Sure, I have other items on my list, actually more of the other things, but I actually really want these things:

Cuisinart 4-Piece Color Coded Flex Mats:  I’m always running out of cutting boards.  These guys are thin and dishwasher safe.  Love the idea.

Kids Healthy Lunch Set 25 pieces:  These are really for me, not for Cooper.  This set has the perfect serving sizes for people who are trying to watch how much they are eating.  This set was recommended to me by a girl at work who is the size of a toothpick.  She told me she uses this set to watch how much she eats and I said, sign me up.  So it is now on my Christmas list.This bread cookbook.  I found it on one of the cooking blogs that I read and I just must have it. 

 

A new camera strap.  This one is made just for girls.  It is the Black Rapid RS-W1 Women's Strap.

That’s my list.  I’m late linking up but at least I’m doing it.  Hope I make it on time next week!

iT’S mY bIRTHDAY!

Oh My.  I’m 31 today.  Craziness I tell ya.  I am thankful for another year to spend with my family and friends, to serve our Lord, to learn more about him and to love.

A Peanut Butter Mess

There are no words for the pictures you are about to experience.  Enjoy.