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!

10...9...8...

...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! As 2008 comes to an end, I thought it was only right to do a year in review! So here goes, 2008 in review...

You win some and you lose some and sometimes you call it a draw. For 2008, I think it would be called a draw. This year, I married the man of my dreams on October 11 and we had the fairytale picture perfect wedding. Our wedding was everything that we had imagined and so much more. I want to thank my parents, my family and those friends out there that stood by my side, supported me and helped me keep things in perspective. Matt and I are very excited about this new chapter in our life and sharing the rest of our lives together. After our wedding, we went on an amazing honeymoon in Jamaica and things couldn’t be better-him, me, the beach, romance…life with him gets better and better every day!

So while we began our lives together, we also said good-bye to Matt’s grandfather this past summer along with two other friends of his family. My dad had full shoulder reconstruction, Sally’s mom found out she had cancer and Matt hurt his back. All three are working on getting better but it’s a long road for all of them.

In January, we gained a new member to our family. His name is Shadow and he’s a black lab. He had some bad habits when we got him (like eating anything on the counter) but he’s learned and is a very good dog. He and Emma get along very well although Shadow likes to shred her bandana! In August, we found out that he had heartworms but we got him treated and so far so good. We take him back around March for a final all clear and then he should be good to go!

In June, I finished my Masters in Business Administration from Lindenwood University. Luckily, the program was quick and painless and definitely well worth it! Work this year has been a learning and growing experience. Never do we stop learning-if we do then we stop growing.

So 2008 has definitely been a year of ups and downs but, overall, it was a year of understanding…understanding that the good comes with the bad, that true friends stick by your side and what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. Here’s to 2009!!! Happy New Year!

(Here's a picture of Matt and I at our rehearsal dinner-never before seen!)

Merry Christmas to all...

...and to all a good night! The holiday season FLEW by!!! Here are just a couple of memories captured on our camera from Christmas 2008.

My neice and Emma!
Emma got bored watching us open presents so she fell asleep in my lap.

The infamous trio tried to get a picture together...this was the aftermath of Emma giving us crazy kisses!

Here's our reindeer...eh...dog Shadow! Don't you just love the ears?

Here is Mattie and I in front of our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve (the only couple of hours we actually had to ourselves) before we exchanged presents. Being the good husband that he is, he got me everything I wanted!!! I got a Carthart jacket and bibs for hunting, a past/present/future necklace in aquamarine stone which matches my wedding ring and ponytail holders!!! He's so funny on what he picks up on!

Here we are on Christmas day at his parents house where they got me a 22 rifle for hunting!!! I swear to you not 10 minutes after this picture, Matt and I walked outside to put our gifts in the truck and a deer ran across the field! It's a sign!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and, after all my gifts, hopefully I'll have better hunting stories for you next year!

Mr. and Mrs. Claus...

...kissing!!! Here are Emma and Shadow donning their holiday attire and Emma is giving Shadow a kiss!


Here's Emma sticking her tongue out at me saying Ha! Ha!

Happy Holidays everyone from the human Mr. and Mrs. Claus and the doggie Mr. and Mrs. Claus at our house!