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May 31, 2012

.so long, farewell.

We had a Beta style going away party tonight for Kelly & Melissa. Kelly is moving to Olympia and Melissa is moving to Puyallup. They’ve both promised to come back once in a while – and we’ll hold them to it!

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Alkie & Boo

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Momma Connie & Melissa

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Kamryn got to come enjoy the party too – she loved on Samson as usual! She likes to kiss him, have him kiss her, pet him, rub his belly, and brush his hair. :)

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And ride him?! AH!

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My Mom found these old Glamour Shot pictures of Melissa and I from about 1994 and Karlye thinks they’re SOOOOO funny! She has been posing “Glamour Shot” style ever since, so we had to have a photo shoot tonight after the party! 

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“Ok Karlye, you wierdo!”

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Oops – Melissa, still Glamour Shots, not gangsta style!

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Kate told me she had something in her car for me and it was this basket for my quilts! I have seen pictures online of quilts stored like this and I LOVE it! Karlye and I rolled mine up and they fit perfectly! I love love love it!

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Everyone brought appetizers to share tonight, so I used the opportunity to try out some more recipes from Pinterest!

Jessica had this hot corn dip at her Pampered Chef party & I thought it was delish! It’s really easy to make and wows the crowd!

Hot Corn Dip
From Gina Marie's Kitchen

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2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
2 tbs chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced small
1 small can (4oz) diced green chilies, undrained
1/2 cup Mayo
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 11oz can of corn, drained
1 small tomato
2 tbs cilantro, chopped
2 tbs green onions, sliced thin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  1. Mix the cheeses, chipotle and green peppers, mayo, garlic powder and corn together. Pour into an oven safe dish.
  2. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly
  3. Top with diced tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad
From Time for Supper

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12 oz. whipped topping
1 small package of cheesecake pudding (powder)
3 (6 oz) strawberry yogurts (I use Yoplait)
1 lb fresh strawberries, sliced
3 bananas, sliced (add just before serving or they brown)
miniature marshmallows (add just before serving)
Thaw whipped topping and in a large salad bowl stir together whipped topping, yogurts, and pudding powder. Let this set up in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Wash and slice strawberries. You can add strawberries to salad or wait to add them with sliced bananas and marshmallows just before serving. Keep refrigerated.

May 30, 2012

.EWU.

I went to Eastern Washington University today with Esther & 29 juniors from CHS! They had a presentation from an Admissions Counselor, a Q&A with a panel of students, and then a campus tour. I think their favorite part was the all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch, however!
Great day & a great opportunity for the students to be on a college campus-for some it was the first time!

May 29, 2012

.parade of champions.

No championship in Connell is complete without a parade to celebrate the champions!

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They went to OJH, Connell Elementary, & then to CHS!

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I love having the whole school stand on the sidewalk and cheer on their classmates!

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Congratulations again girls – way to make Connell proud!

May 27, 2012

.successful Sunday.

I saw this pattern on Fat Quarter Shop on Friday and knew immediately what fabric I’d use. I. had. to. make. it. NOW!

I cut the fabric on Friday night and then whipped this out today! I love how it turned out! I picked up some solid aqua fabric for the backing yesterday along with some coral fabric for the binding.

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I used the scraps to make this table runner. I made up the pattern and am super excited about it! I really love how it turned out!

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I also got started on another table runner…I counted up that I have six to make for wedding gifts this summer…Yikes! Today’s two are #2 and #3 out of 6. I’m well on my way!

.two time state champs!.

Yesterday, the Connell Eagles beat Colville in extra innings to become back-to-back state softball champs! Soooo exciting!
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I was bummed that I couldn’t go to the championship game – for the second year in a row – but glad that Jennifer could keep me updated all weekend!
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Paxton hit a grand slam in their 3rd game to help propel them to the championship! I love that!
Here she is with her proud mama - who also was a state softball champ!


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So proud of these girls! What an awesome accomplishment! We love having those state championship trophies in the office!

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It’s a great day to be an Eagle! 

.randomness from this last week.

I needed to jailbreak some photos from my phone!

Last weekend was the semi-annual International Quilt Market in Kansas City, MO. I loved seeing all the pictures of new fabric & patterns that were posted on Facebook and Twitter. I would absolutely love to go some year – but first must become a fabric or pattern designer or a vendor….hmm…will probably have to wait a LONG LONG time. :)

I can’t resist sharing photos of my favorite booth & fabric/pattern designers!

Bonnie & Camille!

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I can’t wait to make that spools quilt – and get my hands on some Marmalade fabric!

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I made this easy peasy bag for a special gal that is graduating from CHS this week and going to WSU next fall. This pattern was super easy – too bad the pattern reader had some serious problems! A quick project spread out to much longer than it should have!

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I love love love getting senior pictures from the graduating seniors and having them fill my bulletin board above my desk. I keep two years worth up at a time, so right now I have 2011 & 2012 pictures.

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It started filling up quickly this week and I was giving Noe, a student that comes to visit me everyday – or sometimes twice a day, a bad time that he hadn’t given me a picture yet and I was almost out of room! He came up with a solution:

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Haha – genius! :)

It’s hard to believe that the seniors have just 1 1/2 more days of school! I kinda got sad this last week when I thought about it! Every year I get sad thinking about some of my favorites not stopping by to say hi anymore…luckily, there are always new favorites to take their place!

.priest lake.

These last two weekends, Mom, Grandma, & I have made quick trips to Priest Lake. Grandma had the subfloor replaced this winter and needed to choose new flooring for the kitchen, bedrooms, & bathroom. While we were there, we helped her decide to change the carpet in the living room & hallway as well as paint the kitchen & bathroom. As Melissa said, “The spring of renovation!” Between our house & the lake house, we can’t get away from it!

Just driving down the lane to the lake & our house makes me relax and smile!

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Last weekend there were beautiful blue skies! When we were there yesterday, it was more windy, cloudy, and gray.

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Here’s what it looks like inside the house…everything is topsy turvy and not where it belongs.

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The aqua color that we’re going to paint in the bathroom to cover up the gorgeous blue flowered wallpaper!

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So, two weekends. Two QUICK trips. Zero relaxing on the deck.
I cannot wait to get up there to unwind and enjoy being there!

May 23, 2012

.freda.

Today we celebrated the life of a wonderful lady,

Freda Mead.

Freda is my Aunt Kim’s mom and she always supported Melissa & I like we were her own granddaughters. She was proud of us becoming educators like she was and was always interested to hear about school.

I love this picture of her – it’s from Amber’s birthday a few years ago when all Amber asked for was a family picture. So of course we did some crazy ones too!

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The service was so nice and really honored Freda and her life. I told Kim afterward that the only thing missing was Freda! She would’ve enjoyed it!

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She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia a few years ago and moved from her little house in Lind to the assisted living home in Ritzville. Whenever we’d stop to see her, she was always just as gracious as always – and so funny! She had decorations from her Norwegian heritage around her room because she wanted those “darn Germans” to know she was Norwegian. She let our German family adopt her Norwegian tradition of lefse on Christmas Eve. And we are so thankful she did!

Freda was so kind, gentle, and caring – and a wonderful example to us all. She will surely be missed!

May 21, 2012

.minute to win it.

A group of us got together at church this evening for a potluck and Minute to Win It games. Kate & Beth did a great job finding the games and everyone was really good sports!

We started with a puzzle game – which was harder than it sounds!!

Nick & Ben

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Jamie & Amber

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Karlye & Kate

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Maren & Beth

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Then there was a game where there was a quarter in each leg of a pair of pantyhose. You had to get the quarter out while only using your hand – and you couldn’t use your two hands together.

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Amber was having a little bit of trouble!

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The next game was blowing a cup off across the table using a straw. The little girls thought they could participate in that game!

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I was horrible at this game – couldn’t stop laughing!!!

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The next game was putting six nuts on a skewer then stacking nuts on top of each other. Karlye & Amber went head to head and Amber beat Kar by a long shot!!

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The next game was knocking over six water bottles with an orange inside pantyhose on your head.

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We were all pretty funny looking!

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Finally – the three winners had one last competition. They had to put an Oreo on their forehead and then scoot it down to their mouth without using their hands!

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Thanks for the fun evening everyone!

I forgot to take pictures of the food I made for the potluck – two recipes from Pinterest!

One was a Twice Baked Potato Casserole from here: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Twice-Baked-Potato-Casserole

and a berry cobbler, recipe here:
http://livingachangedlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/recipe-review-berry-cobbler.html .

They both turned out great – I’ll add them to my list of recipes to try again!