SimplyOasis

Found Alive Ten Years After Being Kidnapped

May 7, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

Amanda Berry; Help, I’ve been kidnapped and missing for ten years. Police, Fire, or Ambulance?

This call is seriously chilling and really dumbfounding when you consider the desperation in Amanda’s voice and the “matter of fact” attitude of the 911 operator. Seriously she’s desperately seeking rescue and he’s telling her to just talk to the police when he gets a free car he’ll send one.

Hero: Charles Ramsey said he was enjoying some food from McDonald’s in his home when he heard frantic screams for help from his neighbor’s house. ’I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl runs into a black man’s arms’.

Now 52 years old Ariel Castro is the monster who kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus between 2000 and 2004. Sadly they’ve been being held IN CHAINS only three miles from where they were taken all these years ago. Castro’s brothers Pedro, 54, and O’Neal, 50 have also been arrested.

Castro’s Facebook page depicts a man with a passion for motorcycles and the bass guitar. His last post to the social networking site on May 2 says: ‘Miracles really do happen, God is good ’

Remarkably, Castro’s son – also named Ariel who now goes by ‘Anthony’ – penned an article for the Cleveland Plain Press about the disappearance of Miss DeJesus back in 2004 when he was a journalism student. He even interviewed her mother for the piece, not knowing that the teen was tied up in a basement owned by his father.

He started the story with: ‘Neighborhood residents have been taken by an overwhelming need for caution. Parents are more strictly enforcing curfews, encouraging their children to walk in groups, or driving them to and from school when they had previously walked alone. ‘One thing is for certain, however. Almost everyone feels a connection with the family, and Gina’s disappearance has the whole area talking.’

Filed Under: In The News Tagged With: Amanda Berry, Ariel Castro, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight

Fage Greek Yogurt

May 6, 2013 by Pammi 1 Comment

My latest Bzzz kit has arrived and it’s Fage Greek Yogurt so now that I’ve got three lovely tubs of 0% and 2% I want to share with you what I’m planning to make using them:

Creame Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup FAGE Total Classic
1/4 Cup chopped onion
1/2 Cup chicken broth
1/8 Teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoon Wondra
3 Ounce cooked chicken breast
1/4 Cup shredded cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/4 Cup pico de gallo
2 Tablespoon chopped scallions
3 Large Corn Tortilla

Preparation Directions:
Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender. In medium bowl, stir broth, Wondra, and pepper with wire whisk until blended. Slowly add to hot mixture in skillet, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes, until mixture boils and thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Stir in Fage until well blended. In another medium bowl, mix chicken, 1/2 of the cheese, cilantro and 1/2 of the sauce. Place tortillas on microwavable plate; cover with paper towel. Microwave on High 10 to 15 seconds or until softened. Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center of each warm tortilla. Roll up tortillas; arrange, seam sides down, in baking dish. Top enchiladas with remaining sauce. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Just before serving, green onions.

Creamy Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:
1 lb Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
3-4 healthy spoonfuls of Pesto sauce – pre-made or homemade. A warning several pre-made brands actually use a bunch of spinach and try to pass it off as basil. Check the ingredient list for one made only with basil.
1 c Fat-free Half & Half
1 container Fage Fat Free Yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Pasta

Preparation Directions:
Heat a pan over medium heat and spray it lightly with cooking spray. Add your chicken and three or four large spoonfuls of pesto sauce per pound of chicken. – Cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through, somewhere between ten to fifteen minutes of cooking. – If your pan is really hot, let it cool before this next step. Reduce heat to medium-low and carefully add in the half & half. You want to keep anything made with dairy not hotter than a light simmer, or it’ll separate. Next, add in the Greek yogurt. This gives the sauce an amazing flavor! Take a sample and decide if you’d like more pesto, and salt and pepper to your preference. – Simmer the sauce for a few minutes. If you use real Half & Half, it’ll thicken as it cooks. Set the pan aside and you’ll find that the sauce will thicken as it stands. Serve alone or over pasta. It’s deliciousness either way!

Additional Notes:
For more recipes from Sisters-in-Long, check out their website at http://sistersinlong.com!

Caramelized Apple Brulee

Ingredients:
1 pink or red eating apple
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp raw sugar
Generous pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
3/4 cup FAGE Total Greek Yogurt

Preparation Directions:
Cut the apple, remove the core and divide into approximately 8 wedges. Toss in the lemon juice. Place the butter and 2 tbsp of sugar with the five-spice powder in a small pan. Heat gently until the butter melts. Add the apple pieces and cook for 4 – 5 minutes until the apple is coated and beginning to soften. Spoon into a heat-proof serving dish and top with FAGE Total Greek Yogurt. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and place under a very hot grill or broiler to melt the sugar. Chill for about 1 hour before serving.

Additional Notes:
This dessert can also be made with pears, or use soft fruit and omit the cooking stage – just add a few drops of your favorite liqueur instead.

Chinese Five Spice Recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons anise seed.
2 tablespoons fennel seed.
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon.
2 tablespoons whole cloves.
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns

Directions:
In a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle, combine all ingredients (in batches if necessary); grind until mixture becomes a fine powder. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Filed Under: Counting Down Tagged With: bz, bzzagent, Fage Greek Yogurt, recipe

No Upside Down Frowns Allowed Today

May 5, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

So I made myself weight-in again and knowing I wasn’t going to be happy it turned out I wasn’t totally bashed either. I’m still bouncing with-in a five pound range up/down very frustrating. But I was looking at my last weight loss post from the middle of March where I was down 25 pounds well now I’m down 30 and bouncing between 29-34 so hey it’s still a loss so no sad face here!

News on the homefront; We thought hubs was going to need to have his umbilical hernia removed. He’s been having a lot of pain these last couple months in his lower back & abdomen area so the doctor sent him to a surgeon. He said his hernia was to small to be the issue and put him straight in for a scope into the tummy. That came back looking good and left us for a loss – he told hubs to come back in two weeks but we canceled. Isn’t it the surgeons job to fix the issue not find it?

Right about the same time Sam had a terrible gall stone attack. She couldn’t even pick the baby up and just wasn’t able to think clearly or even really function for a day or two while it was at it’s worst. We tried to get her into the surgeon but with no insurance it was impossible. We got lucky and was able to get her emergency insurance and get her gall bladder removed all with-in a two week window — she’s doing great now.

I’m missing my grand babies, my boys haven’t been here since family dinner last month. I was hoping they would pop in for dinner over this weekend but it’s not going to happen. Jax has been super busy and can you believe she has still not received her income tax refund — it’s May for crap-sake like why the hell not!

Tom and Steph got a new car, a 2013 Dodge Avenger, sleek, pretty, black enough said! Jen & Sean got a new car in March a 2010 Toyota Carola and she dinged it within the first month! Of course what do you expect when you get your first drivers license at age twenty-five haha. Oh wait not even a license it’s a permit. What’s funny about that is she’s our only child who we paid to take drivers ed while in high school so she should have had her license first honestly.

Ally whose turning five this month (I Think) just lost her first tooth. Benjy whose gonna be three this month (I THINK) is finally on the cusp of being really potty trained — if his damn momma would quit making excuses and putting diapers on him!!

Hubs stupid new riding mower we got in March and has only been used Once won’t start. We’ve got to take it back and see about getting it fixed or ever better trading up for a new one.

I wrote my brother Ray a letter several weeks back and haven’t heard a word from him since .. I think he’s giving me a taste of my own medicine (as they say haha) since I’m really really BAD about writing letters. I found out he’s finally been moved from that county jail back to prison. He’s been sitting there for months waiting on court for more charges for stupid crap he, Lisa, and her dipchit brother all went in together and DID. Even after telling me he wasn’t guilt of it all and couldn’t be found guilty of it all since at least one of the dates coincided with when he was already in county jail – he was convicted of several new charges. The thing that strikes me though is all the sentences run concurrently.

What’s up with that TEXAS! I mean hell I love my bro but when your able to go do whatever you want and the only punishment is basically one sentence. Like he has four new convictions and all of them will play out during his largest sentence which is five years. So basically he got four convictions; the first one a five year sentence, second/third three year sentences for each, and the last got a two year sentence. But he’ll only do the largest sentence and the smaller ones will run concurrently inside that five years. It’s no wonder we have so meany repeat offenders. I mean what have they to fear when the state takes convictions totally 13 years and let’s someone sit it out in five years.

What’s playing on my DVR; Merlin is back and going going … is it true Syfy is ending this one? Grimm has had me on the edge of my seat with this story line of Julia reconnecting with her past. Then they come up with this lame story line to make Julia Save Nick by using her love for him. Seriously? She’s just finally remembering and coming to grips with the fact that she does love him and you add this monkey wrench in to what force it faster? And how about Once Upon a Time I just don’t know about that new story line — trying to find a ‘long lost father’ that I get but ‘magic people hunters’ really?

So who’s your favorites on The Voice so far this season? Adam’s Judith Hill is awesome of course. I really feel bad for those who we’re doomed to be pitted against her – I almost think it was an unfair. Blake’s team member Grace Askew was eliminated this last round by a bad song choice in my opinion. But she’s ummm interesting and UNIQUE. I really hope some smart record producer knocks on her “car door” soon. I dare say but I DO think he may just have the strongest final four this season. Shakira’s elimating of Shawna P. just broke my heart, I loved her! But I admit I didn’t want to see Karina Iglesias go either – I wish it had been a different pairing. Usher’s team member Michelle Chamuel definitely one of my fav’s – you go gurl!!!

What am I reading; I started re-reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlene Harris I’m on book three”Club Dead“. I just love this series it’s so grown-up compared to my other reads lately. Speaking of that … I picked up where I left off on The Morganville Vampires with book #13 “Bitter Blood“. I’ve started it but I’m not really feeling it, hopefully it gets better soon. And finally I got the last book in the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare “Clockwork Princess” I’m looking forward to finishing this one.

Filed Under: My So Called Life Tagged With: dysfunctional family, family, Grimm, Infernal Devices, Merlin, Morganville Vampires, Once Upon a Time, Sookie Stackhouse, The Voice, weight loss

Taking Water to a whole new FLAVOR!

May 3, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

To make up for the yummies yesterday I’m sharing this post I got off the kiddo’s blog!

water Here are 8 home made vitamin water recipes to help you keep the water flowing! As a rule, you should try to avoid as much as possible industrial food and beverages.

1) The classical : lemon/cucumber:

Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cucumber and a lemon, thinly sliced + 1/4 cup fresh finely chopped basil leaf + 1/3 of finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

2) The granite : Strawberry/Lime or Raspberry/Lime

Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 6 strawberries / 0r Raspberries and one thinly sliced lime + 12 finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

3) The digestive : Fennel/citrus

First: infuse 1 to 3 grams of dried and crushed fennel in 150 ml of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + lemon juice (put the leftover lemon in the mix) + a small thinly sliced orange + 12 fresh chopped mint leaves + the infusion of fennel seeds. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

4) The antiOX : Blackberry/Sage

Note that a part from the berries, sage leafs is the herb that has the highest antioxidant content.

Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of blackberries that have been very slightly crushed + 3-4 sage leaves. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

5) WATERmelon : watermelon/Rosemary

Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of watermelon cut into cubes + 2 rosemary stems. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

6) The exotic : Pineapple/Mint

Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of pineapple cut into cubes + 12 fresh mint leaves finely chopped. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

7) The traditional : Apple/cinnamon

Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of apple cut into cubes + 2 cinnamon sticks + 2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

8.) The zingibir : Ginger/tea

In advance: heat 1 teaspoon of ginger in two cups of tea, let it cool down.

Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water with two cups of the ginger tea + 4-5 pieces of fresh ginger cut into cubes. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving. Posted By Farmacology Organics

Filed Under: Counting Down Tagged With: recipe

Sharing Yummies!

May 2, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

Today’s is my long lost sister Cathy’s Birthday .. Sis no matter where you are I hope you have a great day, luv ya!! Now don’t these recipes sound really good..

Southern Style Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:
1 (18.5 ounce) box white cake mix (without pudding)
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry Jell-O
1 Tablespoon self-rising flour
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup fresh strawberries, finely diced.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To make the cake, combine to cake mix, Jell-O, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the water and strawberries and mix well. Divide the batter evenly into three 8-inch round baking pans that have been oiled and floured. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the layers pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer the layers from the oven to wire racks. Let them cool, still in their pans, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the inside edge of each pan, then unmold each layer onto the racks to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 (1 pound) boxes powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
pink food coloring
4 sliced strawberries

To make the frosting, in a bowl combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat until soft and pliable and no lumps remain. Add one box of the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat until incorporated. Add the second box of sugar and mix until incorporated. If you would like a smoother consistency, and a slash of milk. If you would like a thicker consistency, and a bit more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is achieved. Put the coconut in a small bowl and sprinkle with two or three drops of pink die. Mix with hands to distribute the color and wash hands immediately. Once the cake is frosted, decorate the top of the cake with the shredded coconut and sliced strawberries.

Mexi-Quiche

“Refried beans are layered with chorizo sausage with eggs and Mexican cheese creating a Mexican-inspired quiche perfect for breakfast or brunch.”

Ingredients:
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust
10 ounces chorizo sausage
6 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with
green chile peppers (such as RO*TEL®), drained
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
1 (15 ounce) can refried beans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Press pie crust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chorizo in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 10 minutes; drain and discard grease.
3. Lightly beat eggs and milk together in a large bowl; stir in tomatoes with green chile peppers and half the Mexican cheese blend.
4. Spread refried beans evenly across the bottom of the pie crust; layer chorizo onto refried beans. Pour egg mixture over chorizo layer; top with remaining Mexican cheese blend.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted in the middle of the quiche comes out clean and cheese is lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Allspice Dessert Nachos

“Tortillas baked with a chocolaty allspice coating are layered with peanut butter and caramel dip for Mexican-inspired dessert nachos perfect for any party.”

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter, melted
1/2 cup caramel dip
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1/2 cup whipped topping (such as Cool Whip®), or more as needed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and allspice together in a bowl.
3. Coat both sides of flour tortillas with melted butter; cut tortillas into quarters. Coat 1 side of tortillas with sugar mixture. Arrange tortilla pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and crispy, 12 to 16 minutes.
5. Arrange baked tortilla pieces on a serving platter; drizzle with peanut butter, caramel dip, and chocolate syrup. Top with whipped topping.

Strawberry Margarita Sauce

“Strawberries are blended with tequila and lime juice delivering a margarita-inspired sauce perfect for desserts or over grilled chicken.”

Ingredients:
2 cups hulled strawberries
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon tequila

Directions:
1. Blend strawberries, lime juice, honey, and tequila in a blender until smooth.

Filed Under: Counting Down Tagged With: birthday, Chocolate Allspice Dessert Nachos, Cream Cheese Frosting, Mexi-Quiche, recipe, Southern Style Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Margarita Sauce

Two Steps Forward; Three Steps Back!!

April 27, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

First off OMFG Firefox @#$%#@ STOP crashing!!! It’s like every few minutes the flash plugin is crashing and flash is everywhere on nearly every website these days!!

Bang Head Here Now … I am soooo upset!! Most of my friends/family know but if you didn’t; I have a ton of websites I work on for profit. I have stores, blogs, databases, niche sites, ect.. Here lately I’ve really been working hard to broaden the niche sites and build my income even higher. This is why I’ve been having a lot of new articles written over at fiverr.com and today I discovered the last batch (which was huge) (and all previous batches by this same seller) are useless!! He’s been using content from article directories and encoding it some how to pass copyscape.com and claims pass the G**Gle radar too.

For one thing when I buy a gig that says 100% UNIQUE I expect original content! I guess our definitions of unique differ. I can’t even complain to fiverr because his gig says: This is done by Altering/encoding the stop words from Art.Directories/PLR packs and then making them unique in eyes of G**Gle. I don’t remember this gig having that statement when I started ordering it months ago but who knows.

Honestly I didn’t even fully understand what he meant by that description because call it tunnel vision but all I saw was 100% unique & copyscape passable – 15 articles for $5 I thought I had hit the jackpot! Of course I have ordered this gig multiple times since then and at this point I may have sites that are built 100% on these articles. I really don’t know and I’m so upset now that I just don’t have the energy to even start sorting this out. And now that I’ve seen what the encoding looks like (found this accidentally actually) I have to wonder if this is why my last four sites just aren’t ranking!?!

Filed Under: Work at Home Tagged With: Copyscape, firefox, Fiverr

BBQ Ribs … Yum!!

April 26, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

It was a good night for firing up the grill and plopping down some burgers & hotdogs for the fam. We had Steph/Tom & Jon/Ben and the kiddos out to have dinner. Of course when I say firing up the grill I didn’t mean literally .. no one cleaned the grease tray before lighting the gas grill so next thing you know hub’s after the water hose to douse three foot flames!! Luckily no harm was done and they got back to cooking sooner rather than later. We had almost all the trimmings for burgers, dogs, and bbq ribs – someone didn’t do there part and make the potato salad but I won’t mention names haha.

Hubs new mower he got last month (and hasn’t used but once) wouldn’t fire so they didn’t get to mow and setup the volleyball net .. aweeeee tooooo baaaad. LOL. Seriously though the damn new mower won’t start go figure!!

Ooh I got two new invites for bzzagent.com #1 AMDRO® PowerFlex® Pest & Weed System #2 Fage Total. I accepted the second one and passed on the first one. I haven’t tried Fage Total yet but I’m looking forward to it!

On April 17th FAGE kicks off their Fill the Fridge Challenge with world class chef Bobby Flay. FAGE Total can be paired with an endless variety of ingredients to create some amazingly unique dishes and this is your chance to influence the recipes that Bobby Flay will generate for the FAGE Plain Kitchen. To enter the contest simply visit the site and pick an ingredient that will be placed into a virtual refrigerator. Based on the most popular ingredients, Bobby Flay will take the challenge to create new and unique FAGE Total recipes for the Plain Kitchen.

Have you been watching Survivor Caramoan? Me either so I’m spending the next day catching up on this season on cbs.com yaa!

Filed Under: My So Called Life Tagged With: bbq, bzzagent, Caramoan, family, Survivor

Do You Miss It?

April 16, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

I was just reading an article where author Stephenie Meyer stated;

“I felt nothing but relief. Analyzing that since then, I feel like it was because I was ready to walk from that world. I don’t miss the characters,” she explained. “I may someday feel like, ‘Oh, I miss Bella. I want to hang out with Alice’ or something. But right now, I’m happy it was what it was, I’m happy to be done with it, and I don’t feel any depression about it, which is nice. And it is nice to have another world to be excited about.”

For some reason I heard the sarcastic voice that lives in my head say: I bet you miss it now that “The Host” isn’t as well liked! Ha!

Of course I smile and think how lame I must be to still be thinking about “The Twilight Saga” Gaaaaaa!!! Then again apparently I’m not alone;

The U.K. “Twilight Saga” distributor Entertainment One made a crisis hotline for “Twilight” fans in mourning.

So now I’m wondering what books and/or movies just got under your skin – seriously?

The Hillywood Show has released its much-anticipated musical parody of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” and in keeping with their tradition and style, the group drew upon a very familiar pop song to incorporate. Read the full article or have a look at previous Twilight Saga parody videos by The Hollywood Show here.

Filed Under: Quick Reviews Tagged With: Stephenie Meyer, The Host, The Twilight Saga

Cauldron Cakes are YUMMY!!

April 14, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

Sometimes I just miss my kiddos and need a family night so I picked out a few recipes and summoned Jax & Sam and all their tag-alongs to have dinner Friday night. It was a mad-house with all the kids running around but I didn’t freak-out and made it through the evening. It ended up being us Jax/Cam and my boys but no Levi this trip and Sam/Jimmy and Colby. The boys stayed the night so Devin and I played Warcraft for a bit on Saturday while Nicky played Wii wrestling with Papa. Then Sam/Jax picked them up along with Jons three about noon Sat and kept them all out all day. I’m not sure what all that excitement was about but it did involve a birthday party somewhere. You would think that it being nearly 9:30PM by the time they got back that they would have been exhausted but nope when Jon/Ben got off work at 10PM the kids we’re still going 90MPH haha. Anyway I made a salad and we had:

http://www.thecountrycook.net/2011/03/spanish-style-rice.html (with-out the beef)
http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/05/taco-bake.html
http://www.thecountrycook.net/2011/02/eclair-cake.html

Yum!

Stef did dump Jon’s kiddos off on us Friday evening so she and Tom could goto the carnival but that’s ok since I could clearly see she needed the break. Actually I think from now on we’ll just keep the kids on Saturdays. Since Stef has to get up for work at 5AM Sat & Sun she shouldn’t be waiting for them to be picked up come midnight the nights before.

Hedwig Speaking of birthdays; Devin’s birthday was April 3rd and he turned 11 years old. Now being a HP fan that’s a special birthday which I felt it just could not be ignored! I ordered a plush white owl from Amazon the week before. Then I printed out a Hogwarts acceptance letter rolled it and tied it with a bow then hung it around the owls neck who we named Hedwig of course. Hubs and I spent a couple hours making cauldron cakes: cookie dough topped with a reeses cup, topped with brownie mix and baked in a cupcake pan. I took an ice ream bucket and printed/taped a label for it so he had snacks for the trip on the Hogwarts Express.

==> He didn’t even get what it was go figure!! LOL However he sure fought for his cauldron cakes, those we’re the highlight food of the night lol.

Next week we’ll be having a cook-out with Jons brood and Stef/Tom .. While I want them here for dinner I have to admit I’m not looking forward to it totally but only because they will want me to go outside especially since already bought a badminton set. The thing is I know how hard it is for me to get up/down those damn steps. When I went out to take hubs up to the store a few days ago I was in so much pain by the time I got down and then back up, my knees just can not handle the hard incline. I swear if we don’t get a new porch soon … grrrrr.

In other news .. I’ve lost a few more pounds!! Well actually it went up and then down again which is why I haven’t posted an update lately. I’m not surprised it’s gonna be a struggle just to lose 4-5 pounds a month – which I would be totally happy with. So as of yesterday I’m down 32 pounds since Nov, nope it’s not a lot but hey I’ll TAKE IT!!

Again all I’m doing is watching my calorie intake. Since I got this new scale and can clearly see the daily intake numbers as long as I watch “how much” I’m eating I’m losing weight without much effort. And once I reach a point that my knees can handle it I’ll start walking again. In the mean time I’m still not taking supplements like I should be. My last bottle of vit/mins I gave hubs because he’d run out of his. You would think with as many pills he takes a day that he takes, he would remind me to take a vitamin .. but nope. Mine should of been gone by the end of March yet I still had nearly a full bottle when he ran out of his.

Filed Under: Counting Down, My So Called Life Tagged With: birthday, family, weight loss

FB Header Challenge #1 – Matrix

March 28, 2013 by Pammi Leave a Comment

So it’s been awhile since Arista and I did a PSP challenge so I think maybe we need to shake-it-up just a little bit. With that in mind I thought why not something a little different like a facebook header!

So here’s the tutorial “Matric Text Effect” I chose however you’ll notice it’s written for photoshop not paintshop pro so I also found a video to help us along the way — between these two sources I was able to come up with this. I like it, I think I maybe do a few more quotes in more colors!

Filed Under: Fun Stuff Tagged With: challenge