baby steps.

so the house stuff is coming along. waiting on an appraisal for this one before we really know what we are going to do... will nick's dad and girlfriend buy it? will we have to put it on the market? blech at that thought? will we get enough back that we can even afford to build? fun yet exciting and scary all at the same time.
stopped at a local design center today. pricing out cabinets, marble. have to go to the plumbing and flooring places yet. then we will have an even better picture of where we stand cost wise.
i'm having the darndest time on flooring colors and trim. we will only have wood in two rooms but seems like such a decision. should it match the trim/mouldings and doors? will i really clean the white trim? and all the dirt on the white doors? kinda thinking of cherry. but will that be too dark?
i'm such a visual person. kinda hard to picture from an ittybitty sample. so anyone have any must have tips for new homes? anything you would do differently? any design ideas?
so excited for this upcoming weekend. why? we have nothing planned! weee... that means wii, movies, and scrapping. yay!

birthdays, colts, and bears...

oh my!
busy, busy. i suck again at blogging. over a week. that was an 'unwritten' resolution. keep up with this stinking thing. sigh. already failing and it isn't even february!

first things first. bears and colts!!! yippeee!!!
so exciting. now i just have to figure out what superbowl party to attend and work on a way to slow the office down the monday after. could be a LONG day! but so worth it if the bears win. honestly, i would be okay with either. truly. i like peyton. and i'm a hoosier. but we are so close to chicago. gotta go for da bears!

nick's birthday was friday. had some craziness trying to schedule visiting hours with all the parents. stunk. he got called out to work friday at 7:30pm. didn't get home til after 10:30pm. what a way to spend your birthday. got some great gifts. and great gifts from my parents means great gifts for me next month. bonus!

k. sorry not longer. but i'm at work. should probably get back to it! ;o)

bear down...

Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down.

seriously. can't freaking believe it. da bears in the nfc championship game. a double i can't believe it... the colts in the afc championship game. nick said the odds that at least one of them makes it to the superbowl is 75% {don't know if that's right. i hate math so i'll believe him.} insane!! i cannot imagine them playing each other. way cool.

and if they did both make it to the superbowl, i would root for da bears. i mean we're 30 minutes away from them. yes, we live in indiana but this part of indiana is really more like illinois! it's kinda weird because all the businesses have 'go bears' on their billboards, no cheering for the colts to be seen. oy. nervous just thinking about it!

but negative nellie over here thinks that they will both lose. then i can be super excited when they win and not disappointed! and it might make it easier on my bubble gut! looked into getting tickets. a little pricey for our budget havin' selves. sigh. but sunday is football day at our house. invited some family and friends. everyone's invited. yes, if you want to make the trip here, you too can attend!

12 on the 12th... on the 13th...

k. so i'm gonna try and be an up to date girl. i also love heather and rita's posts. so i'm copying! ;o)
however, i need them to tell me how to compile them all. i suck. nick tried and this was the best we could do! if any techo-sauve readers would like to help! you know how to contact me!
here we go!
1. nick and the wii.
2. our drywall repair fiasco.
3. npr. my afternoon listening.
4. lids for lives. yoplait. we collected at work.
5. site of our future new home.
6. our christmas self portrait. only picture taken by us that day!
7. nibbies and her favorite spot under the tree.
8. my comfy, cozy, kick ass new slippers! great gift from my grandma!
9. nick's new favorite beer.
10. fireworks on nye! i <3 fireworks!
11. all toasting on nye. picture courtesy of christy the pregnant lady.
12. me, nick, jas, and christy on nye. our family of four... soon to grow.

now that i think about it. number one is from november. and the same may be true for number two. i suck. will be better next month! ;o)

my silly man.

nick: 'i threw out some yogurt today. it was expired.'
shan: 'no it's not. i just bought it.'
nick: 'but it said february 06'
shan: 'yes, february 06, 2007.'
nick: 'no. they wouldn't do that.'
shan: 'um, they do. today my yogurt said january 26. does that mean it's good for 19 more years?'
nick: 'shut up. i hate you. you're gonna tell everyone now, aren't you?'

he's so cute tho. gotta love him!

and in more food news... cooked a tasty dinner last night. fettuccine alfredo courtesy of my cooking light magazine. thought i might share the recipe with everyone. i used skim milk because it was all i had and it came out a bit watery. otherwise, yum-o. got nick's okay too. even if it was healthier!

so here ya go!

fettuccine alfredo. cooking light january 2007
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups hot cooked fettuccine (8 ounces uncooked pasta)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Cracked black pepper

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 399(30% from fat); FAT 13.5g (sat 8g,mono 3.4g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 21.3g; CHOLESTEROL 34mg; CALCIUM 451mg; SODIUM 822mg; FIBER 2g; IRON 2.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.9g

the new year...

to make resolutions? to not make resolutions? why not? if i don't do them it just means i'm a failure, right? ;oP
so i made them last year. actually wrote them down. did a whole page about them. wondered if it was worth it. did i actually do any of them? here's the page i did about them...


so yes, we totally cooked in more. housework and bills... hmm that started out great, sputtered and then picked up steam again. so i'll say yes. sewing machine. ahem, no. under a pile of crap in the scraproom closet. exercising... not so much. decluttering. guess not since there's that pile on the sewing machine. time with family and friends... yes. procrastinate less... yes. step out of my comfort zone.. sorta.

so what's that. shannon 5. resolutions 4. i win! guess i'll do them again.
off the top of my head.

• take more pictures. gasp! of myself and the little things. {and upload and print in a timely manner. hmm. maybe that negated my resolution to procrasitinate less....}
  
• learn to use the effing sewing machine.
• heffalump should exercise and eat better. to be less restrictive i'll say 'be healthier.'
• laugh more.
• remember to breathe. {thanks ali...}
• save more, spend less.
  
• be true to myself.
• scrap more, spend less.
  
• continue to spend more time with family and friends.
• not freak out in 2008 when i haven't stuck with my resolutions!

the porn star cat....

is bulemic. eats and vomits and yet she's still quite voluptuous. so she's left us surprises in some not nice places. shoes, slippers, boxes. would love her more if she did it on the wood floors. makes for much easier clean up.
today nick gets home and is laughing. telling me i need to see what nibbies did. i know it's vomit. just not where. that's just what she does...
walk downstairs and am searching the floors. then i see it. not on the ground. but on our end table. are you kidding me? she's never on our tables or countertops. so great that she planned it out. hmmm. where haven't i left mommy and daddy a present? oh i know. the glass end tables! seriously what the heck is wrong with her?

pop, pop, fizz, fizz...

oh what a relief it is. so glad that the holidays are over. gosh, i'm a grinch. totally didn't want them to come along and now they are gone i couldn't be happier. the tree is coming down today. nick is currently tangled in the lights. he couldn't find the end of the strand. it's a giant one. i think 5 lights all hooked together. kinda funny watching him be so flustered!

have had a little respite at work too. one of my docs is on vacation. makes for slower days. ahhh. all around slow down.

my big news.. we bought a lot. pretty hefty christmas gift to ourselves but it is ours! dont' have to have it paid off for three years. so we can hem and haw for a bit if we choose. have a crummy picture. will share when i finally get my lazy self to upload photos! might actually break ground before march. depends on a lot. so still have a lot to do but i feel better owning that chunk of land.. even if things don't work out.

so now that b word is back in my vocabulary. well, not really. i swear sometimes i think it's worse than the f bomb. but seriously. trying to behave. so far so good. even made so unnecessary cutbacks here and there. every little bit will help and i'm gonna try my darndest!

finally scrapping again. after a two month hiatus. nice to have a deadline looming over your head to get your bootay in gear. oh and in scrapping news. check out your local j's. they have the cutest rhonna farrar stamps by autumn leaves. clear, acrylic. one dollar. kid you not. totally made me want one of each. but alas, the budget. i only bought four sets and some herma tabs with my 40% off coupon. so less than $10 for the lot. ;o) dude, did i just sound like i was in harry potter. and did i just type dude? seirously.