MOCHA MORNINGS

This week I am planning and organizing my Goals for 2012.  Instead of making one resolution that I would more than likely break, I am going to attempt several achievable goals.  In blogging them and making them public I hope to hold myself accountable in actually achieving them.  My husband and I are also setting our financial goals that we want to achieve as a family for the year.  I am looking forward to 2012.  I love beginnings and am ready to work towards becoming more productive, more organized and overall being a better mom and wife to my family.  Stay tuned...I will be posting them next week!

Just moving into our neighborhood in October, we haven't had a whole lot of time to get out and meet all our neighbors.  For Christmas I decided to put together a little package of Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies for the people on our street.  I purchased some very inexpensive plastic bowls at Wal-mart, some really cute Christmas napkins at The Dollar Tree and some fancy Green Ribbon (to compliment the green mint cookies) on sale at K-Mart to put gifts together.  I also included a copy of the recipe along with the batch of cookies in case they just totally loved them and wanted to make some more!  (If you have Microsoft Office on your computer you can create a recipe card and print out your recipe on plain 4 x 6 index cards to go along with your goodies).  Now, looking forward to everyone getting home this afternoon so we can give out our treats and finally meet all our neighbors!  Oh, and the Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe can be found here, at Ridiculously Delicious!  Now, on t

Even Santa needs to follow the "no texting while driving" rule.....

Kicking a chunk of ice down the sidewalk...my kids are easily entertained!

I hang on to all my past Christmas cards that we receive every year from our dear family and friends. Normally I display them in a Christmas basket and always enjoy looking back at them every year, comparing cards and seeing how much everyone's kiddos have grown, including my own. This year I decided to take all of the picture cards and groups them together, binding them with ring binders. A new fun way to display my picture cards so that both my family and our guests can enjoy them.

We woke up this morning to find that our elf Buddy had helped himself to some powdered donuts and some coffee! I guess it was a long night for him, as he probably had a lot to report to Santa. I wonder where he will land tonight? What has your elf been up to?

You never know what a new day is going to throw at ya. This week our 11 year old fell at school causing the ball of his femur to slip off the growth plate. After emergency surgery on Wedneaday and three screws later, he is beginning to learn to walk with a walker and will be coming home today. If you believe in prayer, we are asking for some. He has a long road ahead of him. Three screws through the femur to hold everything in place.

I have never seen the 6 year old look so scared/excited in his life! A real elf sent by Santa himself. Where will he land tomorrow? What will he report to Santa? I believe Buddy has just become my new best friend!

A fun and challenging, I might add, Thanksgiving Day tradition of mine has always been the hunt and possession of a Black Friday newspaper on Thursday morning. Thinking back to last year, when we were visiting back home in KY, I remember my siste-in-law and I going to several stores with no luck in finding one until finally stumbling upon the "last one" in a grocery store cart. This year since my family of six stayed here in Wyoming for Thanksgiving I decided to just have the paper delivered. Less work, same result! Happy Thanksgiving and be careful out there snatching up all those Black Friday Deals!

Moral of the picture....slow down and ENJOY Thanksgiving!  Christmas will be here soon enough! HAPPY THANKSGIVING FRIENDS!

I love the mail when it contains refund checks, magazines and samples!! Yesterday I was thrilled to find my K-cup samples from Target that I had totally forgot about signing up for! It was like Christmas in my mailbox! Thank you, Target!

Snuggled up all warm and cozy and waiting for Toy Story 3 to start. I love lazy Sundays and I love this kid!

My project for the day! Love capturing memories with my boys! And to all you Veterans out there; Thank you and God Bless! Happy Veteran's Day!

Finally, Starbucks K-cups.  My mornings just got that much more amazing!!  And just in time for Christmas... Christmas Wish List: Starbucks K-cups Cute bag for my laptop Gift card to Maurices A new car....(hey, it never hurts to throw a big item on there!) ;) Sure do hope the hubby reads my blog!

This weekend has been a bit of a winter wonderland here in Cody. A little snow storm on Saturday dropped enough snow that the boys were still able to enjoy it on Sunday. Snow angels, sledding on some moving boxes and feeding the deer apple peelings from the crock pot apple butter I canned (recipe coming soon over at Ridiculously Delicious) made for a great Sunday morning. After a snow-filled morning we enjoyed some Christmas Oreos and my special hot chocolate. Tonight, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I keep forgetting we haven't even made it to Thanksgiving yet....I might need to increase my Christmas Movie collection!

On, On, U of K, we are right for the fight today... No wonder they're not playing Marist, I was looking at the wrong date...WEDNESDAY strikes again!! Ever have one of those days that starts off with wet hair in 18 degree weather, dealing with drug seekers all day and then come home to a burnt crockpot meal? And those were the highlights of my day. As my friend Pamela said this morning, "Wednesday, you are Monday's vicious little sister." So, in hopes to turning this day around at the last minute I am indulging in three of my favorite things...a good Grisham book, a good beer and a GREAT basketball game! Go Cats! Shock Top....one of my favs. Picked up a copy of  this, his latest, earlier today...

One of the Spookiest, Haunting and Thrilling nights of the entire year...All Hallows' Eve. I remember as a child the thrill of dressing up and going door to door with my cousins trick or treating until late in the night. As an adult it is still one of my most favorite holidays. I love seeing all the kids and even adults dressed up. It is just one of those holidays that brings out the kid in all of us. Tonight we joined the rest of the town trick or treating in Cody's historic downtown. The entire downtown is blocked off and all the business open their doors for trick or treaters. It was a great experience and is so much easier than going door to door. The restaurants even passed out treats for the adults consisting of free margarita coupons...woohoo! Now to put the kids to bed, turn on a horror film and drink a little Shocktop! Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween I put together these Mason jars full of homemade Chex mix for the little boys' teachers. I made a traditional party mix and added some candy corn for a Halloween flare, purchased 7 inches of Halloween themed material and covered the tops of the jars, secured the material with rubber bands around the lids and then finished them off with some orange ribbon tied into bows. I made the labels in Microsoft office and adhered them to the jars with some Scotch tape. Easy, CHEAP and cute! I'll post the Chex Mix recipe  tomorrow over at Ridiculously Delicious . It's our family's traditional football watching snack! Happy Halloween! Super cute fabric I found to cover the lids

"Becky's life is blooming!  She's working at London's newest big store, The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)...and she's pregnant!  She couldn't be more overjoyed - especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness.  Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery...to the latest, coolest pram...to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician.  But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be Luke's glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky's perfect world starts to crumble.  She's shopping for two...but are there three in her marriage?" - taken from the back cover of  Shopaholic & Baby . I absolutely love the author Sophie Kinsella and the Shopaholic series.  I have been reading these books for years and after the first one, Confessions of a Shopaholic , they do tend to be repetitive and pretty predictable, but they are still very fun books to read.  In Shopaholi

We woke up this morning to the first sign that Winter is upon us here in Cody. The mountains are beautifully blanketed with snow and the boys are super excited that winter and Christmas seem to be right around the corner. I wasn't too thrilled at the thought of the 36 degree high temps today, but as usually I forgot to grab my coat on my way to the office and surprisingly it doesn't feel "that" cold out....yet!

I am still in search of my social security card that is MIA, so I decided to search through my wallet one more time. Of course, it wasn't there. However, I came across some old gift cards that I have been toting around FOREVER. After tossing one in the trash I thought it might be a good idea to check the balances...just in case. I found on the back of the cards the website to check the balances on-line and HOT DOG I hit the jack pot with one having a balance of $1.48 and the other having a whopping $20 bucks on it! This is the one time I am hoping my significant other doesn't read my blog, otherwise I will be buying bathroom fixtures or a power tool with my newly acquired find! Now, what shall I go buy?!?!

On my way to work this morning I came upon this gal in downtown Cody. Just strolling across the street and not bothered one bit that she was holding up traffic. Luckily I had my phone handy so I could snap this picture. She just looked over at me like, "Whatchu lookin' at Willis?!?".

My office is pretty bare. I have a plant, that surprisingly is still alive, two computers, basic office equipment and beige walls. Oh, and a few skeletons, mainly of the spine. Yesterday school was out to celebrate Columbus Day and so E spent half the day at work with dad and half a day with me. Like most every Kindergartner he loves to cut, color and paste. After every worksheet he completed he would cut out the pictures. This one in particular he stapled to a post-it and tacked to my board. As he describes it, "the tooth is chasing the boy and girl and they are running away to watch the boy shoot the basketball." Now, who needs fancy artwork of Yellowstone hanging on the wall when you can have this? To me this is priceless stuff!

Ever dip your French fries into a Wendy's Frosty for that sweet/salty taste? Yeah, me either, but my oldest does and I always thought there was something wrong with him until I learned that there were lots of Frosty fry dippers out there. Anyway, this has nothing to do with Wendy's, fries or a delicious chocolate Frosty, but it has everything to do with that crunchy, salty/sweet combination of Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack. Yum! I have been wanting to try this for sometime and finally found it in stock at the grocery this weekend. It is as good as I imagined. The fudge covered potato chips mixed in ice cream, genius! Now I get the whole french fry/Frosty craze! So, the big question now is...which Ben & Jerry's flavor to try next? Suggestions?

c licking around on pinterest tonight i found this and got a good chuckle from it, mainly because at work today i got a message from a patient stating she injured herself ANTELOPE hunting, however google voice typed it out as CANTALOUPE hunting. For a moment I was questioning whether I was working for a Pain Management doctor or one specializing in behavioral health... Thanks, Courtney V. for pinning this.  I needed the laugh. 

Video taken from some folks in Washington..... Last night my husband and I were having casual  conversation after he arrived home from Colorado and that is when he starting spitting out the odds of the satellite that was falling from space actually hitting someone.  "Say what?"  I've been so wrapped up in my new job and getting the kids from here to there, I haven't seen the news in a few days and had no idea what he was talking about.  I think the odds were something like a 1:32000 you could get hit by a piece of the UARS satellite that was now plummeting to Earth. WOW.  Those odds were pretty good, (this meant like 3 people in our town could get hit) and a whole lot better than the odds of winning the lottery  Right then and there I decided that I wasn't stepping foot outside til this thing entered the atmosphere and landed and deep down I secretly hoped it would hit our house we have for sale in Texas so that we could be done with that whole process and just

I didn't get around to checking my email until late this afternoon, and as I was scrolling through all 32 new ones, there it was, the break-up letter from Netflix.  After years of getting that little red envelope in the mail with Netflix stamped across the front, it looks like our affair is coming to an end.  Instead of moving on to the new guy, Qwikster, I've decided I will work on my relationship with Redbox and I can only hope that Netflix streaming improves on what it is putting out.  Now, I suppose, because I am addicted to streaming and refuse to pay higher package prices, I am being forced to forever say goodbye to that square red envelope that has forever been loyal to me and my family. So, I am sending a special shout out (NOT!) to Reed Hastings for the late night email breakup and for screwing up a good product.  (I bet you fire your employees via email as well.)  As far as I'm concerned you're on the same level as Ken when he broke up with Barbie.  Just pla

No guesses on what I recently spied at Wal-Mart as I was checking out? Nutella...To Go! I scooped about five of these up and can't wait to have an excuse to take a snack somewhere!! They really know what their doing when they display all those goodies at the check out, don't they?

Something......new. Any guesses?

"Chocolate is the greatest gift to women ever created, next to the likes of Paul Newman and Gene Kelly.  It's something that should be had on a regular basis."  - Sandra Bullock I think that pretty much sums it up...

WTC site 11/2009 9/11/2001 ~ I was sitting at my desk in my office when I got a phone call informing me that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in NYC.  While on the phone, the person on the other end who was watching the news coverage, announced that a second plane crashed into the other tower. For the rest of the day the entire HIM department listened in horror as the Pentagon was attacked and then as a fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.  I frantically emailed one of my best friends who lived in NY and luckily heard back from him that he was okay and that the hospital he worked at was in lock down and waiting to treat survivors.  I remember the fear as I was driving home and seeing gas stations out of gas and the ones that did have gas had lines of cars miles long, waiting.  Stores were closed and people were in full panic mode.  The entire night and following day was spent glued to the television, it absolute shock.  It is a day I will never forget and

photo courtesy of USA today. Click here for the complete story. SWEDEN HEADLINE NEWS: A moose, which appeared to be drunk after eating fermented apples, was found stuck in a tree in Goteborg, Sweden on Tuesday. Really? These are large, yet beautiful animals and how strange that one would get trapped in a tree!  Glad to hear the creature was set free and hopefully has sobered up!

Wanted to share a little clip I just uploaded to YouTube from our most recent trip to Yellowstone National Park when we got to visit Old Faithful and watch her erupt.  It was an amazing experience to see in person.  It's pretty amazing living on 50 miles from this place.  There is no reason for us to be bored on the weekends from now on! ...and every time I think of Old Faithful, my thoughts go back to that movie Dennis the Menace and the scene where he squirts Mr. Wilson's nasal spray out and as it is shooting straight up into the air he says, "Old Faithful!"  Funny how things like that from our childhood stick with us, huh? (old faithful scene starting at 6:28) Such a great movie!

Really? It is 8:40 a.m. and I am ready to throw in the towel for the day. Getting up at 5:30 a.m. stinks, but the Freshman has to be at Zero Hour by 6:00 a.m. to lift weights and this gives me enough time to make a cup of coffee and get his lunch made. As I'm spreading the peanut butter on his sandwich I noticed the Keurig is done, so I grab the creamer, get my cup from the brewer and there are only a couple of tablespoons of coffee in my cup. WHAT THE CRAP!?!? I fool with it for a few minutes, could tell there was water in the dang thing, try and dump it out, it pours out on my arm, scolding my wrist which is now red and blistered! I finish making the kid's lunch, text him and tell him to 'GET UP' and proceed to make coffee in the regular coffee maker. Gross. It was way to strong and had coffee grinds in it! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? The teenager drags himself upstairs at five minutes til 6, says it is too late to go, (which translates into i'm tired and I don

Here's to the last day in 2011 that you can officially get away with wearing white! Time to switch the wardrobes over to Fall and to dust the cobwebs off the crock pot. Hope your day has been filled with some relaxation and the making of some final Summer memories.

Too funny. Couldn't resist, I had to share.

Could it get any better than this? Maybe, but not likely.  What are the odds that this small town in Wyoming, that we now proudly call home, has a Taco John's ?  Now, not everyone here has the same respect for the Potato Ole's, cheese dip, Pizza burger and Mexi Rolls that I do, mainly people that are from Texas and just don't understand the concept of Mexican fast food. However, all my Murray, Kentucky peeps who grew up with that six pack and a pound know where I'm coming from when I say Taco John's is on my "have to eat at list" every year when we travel back home.  And though we may not admit it, we all secretly get a little rage of jealousy when we read on Facebook about someone's trip home and they have 'checked in' at Taco John's. Or what about when somebody is on a road trip and they post that they have stumbled upon a Taco John's and they are now enjoying something out of that brown paper bag and then us folks that live in Taco

Ok, get your mind out of the gutter.  That's not what I meant!  I'm talking about ClusterFLUFF, a new Ben & Jerry's   flavor made with Peanut Butter ice cream loaded with Caramel Cluster pieces, Marshmallow swirls and Peanut Buttery swirls.  I think I love their labels almost as much as I love their ice cream.  So go on, run out and get you some...you know you want to!

t he smurf boat Buy the boy a piece of PVC pipe at Home Depot and it becomes a horse, a sword, a baton and a Cane...and that's while your walking through the store. Go to a restaurant and the jelly packets become a skyscraper or a train and the salt and pepper shakers are army men fighting each other or riding on the jelly packet train. After making homemade macaroni and cheese last night he asked for the Velveeta box, so I said, "sure!" Five minutes later he has a boat built with all the essentials that a smurf might need while riding in it. You know, a belt, couple of hot wheels, a Lego block and a tech deck.  Complete with plastic forks and knives for the sails and artillery.

When Yellowstone NP opened for the 2011 season there had not been a fatal Grizzly attack inside the park since 1986. So far in 2011, there have been two. This will be the first time in the park's history that there has been more than one fatal bear attack in the same year. The first victim was from California and was fatally mauled on July 6, 2011 while hiking with his wife. The second victim, a man from Michigan, was found on August 26, 2011 by two other bikers on a 21 mile trail. It has now been concluded that he was attacked by a grizzly sometime on the 24th or 25th. He was traveling alone, camping and hiking in an area of known grizzly activity and was NOT carrying bear spray! They don't know if the same bear is responsible for both attacks (the bear in the first attack was a mama beat with her cubs so no action was taken), but they are performing tests on fur samples taken from the scenes to determine if this was the same bear. My opinion, for what it's wort