Let it snow, let it snow...

...let it snow! I'm sure you're all enjoying the snow! I particularly dislike it when it snows. Why? Well, I lose my husband to weird hours and long shifts of pushing snow for one reason. The other reason is that it is not cool at my work...have to cancel and make-up, staff calls in and you're short-staffed but no matter what, like the postal carriers, I am at work come rain or snow or sleet or hail! So while I dislike it, I like taking pictures of it and wearing warm pajamas at home!

Last night, I made Buckeye Bars (see previous post) but they aren't complete without a cold glass of milk to wash them down. So I was pouring the milk and accidentally dropped the cap on the ground. I went to pick it up and it was gone then I hear little puppy feet running downstairs...EMMA!!! She runs halfway up the stairs to me and drops the cap on the stairs. Here is a picture of me fighting her to get it back.

She was not being cooperative in the least and Shadow was checking it out because if she got food, he wanted some too! Here is a picture of the snow coming down with the flag in our front yard!

Hope everyone stayed safe and warm the past couple of days!

The love of my life...

...next to Matt in a close second is peanut butter! I absolutely LOVE anything peanut butter related...especially if chocolate is with it! Cracker Barrel used to have a peanut butter pie that was to die for but sadly, its gone now. I found this recipe at Kraft (they even have a video to watch on how to make it) for Buckeye Bars and it comes pretty close to being as good as Cracker Barrel's peanut butter pie! So after my husband pushed snow since 4am, I decided to make him a nice meatloaf dinner (he loves my meatloaf!) and some Buckeye Bars. One of my biggest fears is that when we have kids, they're going to be allergic to peanuts!!!

WARNING: This may cause an extreme overload on sugar!!!

Back to school...

...is where Mattie is going! He is only four classes away from receiving in Associates Degree in Horticulture. So a couple weeks ago, we stopped by the local community college and got him enrolled. First class...Intro to Business! I tried to snag a pic of him on his first day of school and this is what I got:

I finally convenienced him to pose but first I had to promise to not post the picture of Facebook, which I did promise, but I never promised not the blog! Note he is in the process of showing me a finger that is NOT his ring finger!

So good luck to my Mattie who will be a college graduate soon enough! I think this means I'll be busy proofreading papers and helping with his math class when he takes it so maybe this should be good luck to me too!

Flushing it all away...

...is what Matt did to the bathroom in the master bedroom!!! We have officially started the bathroom renovation! I was so mad at myself because I've lived at my house for three years with CARPET in my bathroom thinking the people that lived here before me were crazy and they were!!! When Matt started demo-ing the bathroom, he pulled the carpet back to find this:

I mean its no trading spaces but it was WAY better than carpet!!! You can see the carpet a little bit in the lower right corner of this picture:

Anyways, the toilet is in the trash and the only thing still in there is the vanity so we can brush our teeth since the hall sink is broken (I swear if its not one thing, its another!). We hired a guy to do all the plumbing and then Matt is doing the rest. I challenged Matt to have this first entire bathroom finished by Valentine's Day so the race is on....

Tour de....

...Anheuser Busch! Today, a group of our friends took the ever traditional tour of Anheuser Busch.

Here is the dalamation that stays in the stables with the clydesdales. Sorry no pics of the clydes, they were only showing one side...their BEHIND!

Here is Matt with our friend Jeff in the mashing part of the tour.

I've been on the tour before and the only thing I remembered both times was that to drink an entire vat of beer, you'd have to drink a case of beer a day for 137 years!?! I was trying to recall this fact from when I went on the tour like 3 years ago and I told him it was like a case a day for 24 years...oops! I was only 110 years off!

Friday Night...

...IN! First off, I am an AWFUL blogger! I totally found this recipe for Dinner in a Foil Packet, printed it out like two weeks ago and finally made it tonight. So why am I awful? I can't remember where I got it from to give the cred to! So if you're reading this and its your recipe, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! So I made dinner tonight and even dessert! Here are a few pics:

Here is my cherry pie I made and the dinner before it was in the packet. Dinner consisted of pork tenderloin, red bell peppers and zucchinni in a lemon dill marinade.

Here it is halfway through...I didn't get a pic at the end-someone (elbow elbow my hubbie) couldn't wait!

On another note, I'm on to Eclipes in the Twilight series...thank goodness I'm done with New Moon! I'm loving Eclipse especially since there's more Edward. Have a great weekend everyone!

UPDATE!!! I found the owner of this recipe!!! It's over at http://happyforthismoment.blogspot.com/! Go check it out to make your own!

Cleaning out the house...

...is what we're doing here at the Groeteke household. We're trying to merge like 5 different houses into my little bitty starter house so Matt and I are hard core going through boxes and getting rid of stuff then going through the same boxes and getting rid of MORE stuff!

So I found this kit that has literally been sitting in my basement for about...3 years?!?!

Matt was like we're throwing it out and I begged him no so on the nice Friday afternoon that is was, we sat in the backyard and made this stepping stone in about 20 minutes. It's supposed to dry in the sun but, of course, there's no sun today, but it still looks good.


Okay, so for those of you that haven't read the Twilight series (which I think most of you have but I believe their are some friends of mine that don't comment on the blog...) do not read any further!!! I'm reading New Moon now which let me tell you page 60 was a rough time for me...I think I'm almost as depressed as Bella! But this morning, I just got to the part where she's run into Laurent...what a little traitor! He acts all nice, kind and proper in the first book but get the vampires away and well...anyways! So as I'm in the middle of reading the first exciting part of this book (aside from her birthday party), I look at the clock and realize...crappers! I gotta get to work! I can't wait to start reading again but, honestly, I'm going to be upset when I finish all of them so after I sped through Twilight, I'm trying to take my time and space out the last three books. OH! Two more Twilight related thing...so I was doing an interview at work and I looked at the application and I said, "OH...Jacob...like Jacob Black!" Then the other night at my PT job, this lady was telling me about how she was allergic to this lotion and when she puts it on, it makes her skin burn...what was the first thing that popped into my mind? That's what it feels like when you become a vampire! Honestly, these books ARE really taking over my life! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Edward Cullen...

...I'm in love! OMG! So back in November before I was aware of all the Twilight hype, my friend was telling me about this series and I was like oh maybe I'll check it out.

I am totally NOT into vampires, supernatural, anything like that but then it got all hyped up so I thought I'd try it out. I borrowed the books from my stepsister, read the first book in less than a week and fell in love with Edward Cullen. I went to see the movie (missed the first 20 minutes) and I was very disappointed. Bella was NOT at all what I expected but Edward...loved him! Maybe the acting was a little poor too because I did not feel all the emotion I got out of the book. Either way, I'm one to New Moon and around page 60 and very upset! I can't wait to finish the series!

2008...

...year in review-photographic style!

January: We gained a new member in our family named Shadow. I think he's put on some pounds since coming to our house. We love you Shadie!!!

February: A huge ice storm hits Cape and this enormous tree falls on my mom's house. Matt went down one weekend on his own to try to help out but she ended up having to get a CRANE to remove it from her house. Then Matt and I went down and helped clean up the debris.

March: My birthday! And Easter too! This Easter, we found out that Emma likes to hunt eggs. My dad...err the Easter Bunny hid eggs outside for us but we were missing one when we got inside then Emma came over and set one down at my feet!

April: Started getting ready for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, etc...and Matt put a flagpole up in our front yard! Happy birthday to Mattie this month too!

May: I got my Masters!!! Here I am getting hooded!

June: The big flood of '08 came and hit our friend's house...HARD! Matt helped them move everything out and we both went/rode in a boat to check on the house with him. Here Matt is in their backyard on the playset.

July: FAIR TIME! Matt's favorite time of the year! Haley came one night to the fair and here she is with her favorite uncle. She was afraid of the butterfly but excited Matt was holding it.

August: Wedding time! Here we are at our friends, Paula and Nathan's wedding.

September: Matt decided it was time to take down that gumball tree in the front yard!

Ta-da! Finished!

October: Married the man of my dreams!!! I love you Mattie!

After our fairytale wedding, he took me on a suprise honeymoon to Negril Jamaica mon! I absolutely LOVE this picture!

November: Hunting time!!! Mattie filled the freezer for us. Hopefully next year I'll get to help fill it too!

December: Christmas time and Mattie had the honors of carving the ham at my dad's house!

As I look through ALL the pictures I have of the year, I realize I was very lucky to spend so much time with my friends and family this year and my have I changed a lot in looks in just one year! I also look at things and think, whoa! that wasn't even a year ago!!! Happy New Year everyone!