My Anniversary

     Happy Earth Day!! But more importantly Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary to my husband and I! Woot! Woot! Yes, we've been married for 7 years and have an eight and a half year old.... NO JUDGING! I'm just super grateful to be married to a great guy who truly is my best friend. Even I'm a little shocked that I got such a great man.... I mean, I'm kind of a bitch. But he's a glutton for punishment and for that, I love him. Let's be honest, those who know me, know that I didn't make the best choices in guys in the past. No really, I think I spent a good part of my dating years drunk because I clearly didn't have ANY standards. So I thought instead of listing all the amazing qualities of my husband and making all my single readers gag, I would list my Top 10 Reasons I'm So Thankful I Am Happily Married aka Top 10 Guys To Never Date for my girls out there who are still on the prowl. 

So in my best Late Night host voice here we go:

10. The Cowboy Who Drove a Van covered in Confederate Flags

9. The Guy Who Constantly Sang Love Songs to Me.... IN PUBLIC

8. The Guy with the Mullet (And no it wasn't in the 80's it was 2001)

7. The Cowboy with super skinny, show your veins in your legs jeans

6. The guy who drove the BMW but made me pay for EVERYTHING.

5. The Goat Farmer who always smelled...... um, earthy?

4. The Civil War Reenactor with the odd growth on his neck

3. The guy that would bring flowers to my mother before each date and invite her to join us.

2.The Guy who only in retrospect am  I able to admit that yes, he did in fact look a little like Sloth from the Goonies.

And the #1 reason I am so thankful to be married and not still searching for Mr. Right:
 

1. The Guy who ran up my JC Penny's Card buying himself a new wardrobe and then left me the next day for a 40 year old woman he met online.

     So yes, I may be overly sappy about how great my husband is and while I won't say he is perfect, I will say he is a HELL of a lot better then those horrific choices I made in the past. Thank you for being the man of my dreams and for showing me not only how a man should treat a woman but that I deserve to be treated like a queen. My single ladies, do not give up because I am proof that sometimes you have to kiss a lot of toads before you find your prince. Even then your prince still won't know how to put a toilet seat down! 

Yours Truly,

Deja

I sure do love this guy!!

Happy Pi Day!

     Happy Pi Day! Or for all my brainy folks out there, Happy 3.141592653589793.... oh who gives a crap Day! Like most sweet toothed people out there I have turned Pi Day into Pie Day and thought it only fair that I share with you one of my favorite and easiest pie recipes. It is my Cherry Blueberry Pie! This pie became a family favorite at first bite and is now a Thanksgiving staple right next to my 1st prize winning (no seriously) Caramel Pecan Apple Pie and my Maple Walnut Pumpkin Pie. 
     Speaking of prize winning, let me tell you a little back story on this pie. This pie was the first pie I ever learned to make and even though I hadn't mastered a pie dough recipe, I considered this MY amazing pie. I was so proud of this pie that I decided to enter it into our local BBQ Blow-out Pie Contest. Needless to say, my store-bought pie dough, canned cherry pie filling, and minimal homemade efforts didn't get first place..... it didn't even place at all. But, after the judging they (local 4H families) slice up the pies and sell them by the slice and I will have you know that my pie was the 1st to be sold out. So while this pie isn't completely made from scratch; it is freakin' tasty. I won't even judge you if you use store bought pie crust. 
      It may have taken me 4 years and about 5 different recipes but I finally did win that pie contest. While I didn't get a fancy ribbon that I probably would have worn for the next month and a half, I did get myself a sweet set of measuring cups. Woot Woot! Anyways, back to the Cherry Blueberry Pie Recipe! 

 

Cherry-Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:
Pie crust for double-crust pie 
Filling:
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1 can (21 oz) Cherry Pie Filling or 2 cups homemade Cherry Pie Filling
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries 

Glaze:
1 egg white
1 tsp. water
2 tsp. coarse sugar

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place half of pie crust in 9-in glass pie plate.
2. In large bowl, mix ½ cup sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in cherry pie 

filling and blueberries. Spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second 

half of crust; seal edges and flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places

in top crust.
3. In small bowl, beat egg white and water with fork until blended. Brush 

over top of pie and sprinkle with 2 tsp. coarse sugar. Cover edges of pie 

with 2-3 inch wide strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Remove 

foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.
4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool on cooling 

rack at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!! 

K2 as a baby enjoying Mama's Cherry Blueberry Pie

Yours Truly, 

Deja 

Cheesecake Cookies

We're having a snow day today and while I should be doing something productive like cleaning I've been spending most of the day looking up recipes on pinterest. The plus side of being a slacker on a snow day is that unlike most days when I don't clean my house, the odds of someone showing up unexpectedly at my front door is not very likely. Isn't there an ancient proverb that says, "If your house is a mess but no one is around to see it, is it really dirty?" Sounds legit to me!  

I don't know what it is about being snowed in with three wild kids that makes a person want to find an excuse to spend the day cooking in the kitchen but that's where I'm at. And since I know that's where a lot of my other local friends are at I thought I would bless you all with the best cookie recipe on Earth. No really, it seriously is amazing..... unless you don't like cheesecake and then well, this isn't your cookie, you cheesecake hating freak. 

Cheesecake cookies are just that, cookies that taste like a fruit topped cheesecake only in a mini guilt free cookie version. I got this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and what you will need is:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 cans (20-ounce) pie filling

Oh and don't forget some eager helpers.

Now, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Refrigerate dough for an hour or until firm. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place graham cracker crumbs in a bowl. Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, then roll the balls in graham cracker crumbs. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each ball. Place a Tbsp. of pie filling in the dimple. 

I know it looks like it will spill out but it shouldn't. (At least it didn't with mine) Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Cool for five minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled take a bite and then run to this page and comment on how amazing these cookies are. I wasn't lying!

Now about this picture.... as you'll notice I used two different kinds of pie filling. One was a store bought cherry pie filling and the other was a homemade mixed berry pie filling. In theory, both of these pie fillings would be acceptable. That is however if you're not a novice canner like myself. In that case you'll end up with some amazing cherry cheesecake cookies and some cheesecake cookies that taste like burnt raisins. Apparently I had the heat on the homemade pie filling a little too high and completely burnt it. At least only half of the cookies had to be scraped off and salvaged, I'd call that a win in my book. 

I guess I better go call my mom and let her know that jar of homemade pie filling I gave her may not be as good as I had hoped..... eh, let her find out for herself! :-) 

Yours Truly,

Deja

Winter Bucket List

    Guess who is still keeping up the seasonal Bucket List tradition? This girl!!! What What! While we have already checked a few of the items off, here is our Winter Bucket List. 

    What I like about this activity is that everyone in the family gets to suggest things to do (within reason) and at the end of the season the list becomes a keepsake for our memory boxes..... aka file folders that I throw keepsake junk in so I don't have to feel bad about my lack of ability to scrapbook. No seriously. I made a scrapbook once using Elmer's glue and markers then went to a scrapbooking party and got laughed out of the place. Never again! But anyways, enough about that, what's on your Winter Bucket List?

Yours Truly,

Deja

Elf on the Shelf Gone Wrong!

    I know, I know, I've been slacking on the ole' blog updates and while I would love to say there's some good reason for it like a trip to the Bahamas, the real reason is because my computer sucks. It is soooo slow and is constantly freezing up. I can barely get through a facebook status update let alone a blog post but there's hope on the horizon. Hopefully very soon I will have saved up enough for a new computer. That or there's some phantom millionaire reader that just can't handle the thought of being deprived of my witty blog updates and is going to buy me a new computer. Either way works for me.

    So I had all these really awesome blog update ideas throughout the Christmas break but never got around to typing them up. But trust me, they were really good. Did everyone have a good holiday? Ours was good, but of course the highlight for me was being able to say goodbye to that stupid elf! Yes I know my hate for that elf is unnatural but it's not without cause. 

    When we first got that Elf on the Shelf (from the in-laws) I had all intentions of being that fun mom that thinks up the cool spots for the kids to find the elf. I must have pinned a hundred different ideas but lack of supplies, motivation, and just plain remembering to move the dang thing played against me. All the while that stupid little elf sat there (in the same spot for three days) smiling at me and my failure at becoming one of "those" moms. 

   While my BFF Jess sympathized with me she still held out hope that I or better yet, we could set up one of those silly, cool elf scenes for the kids to wake up and find. The plan was that she would come visit and stay the night and we would set up the elf for the kids to find. Okay, I'm game. 

     So Jessica found the prefect Elf scenario and by prefect I of course mean, I had at least some of the supplies needed. And we waited for the kids to go to sleep. We decided to go with the ole' Elf making a snow angel out of flour. Sounds simple enough. 

Photo courtesy of  Real Life, Real Estate, Real Dana

    We got the kids in bed, set up the elf, and after a few more hours of girl talk, I went to bed knowing that thanks to my BFF Jess I was finally going to feel the reward of being one of "those" moms. Okay, I think you guys are getting to know me by now, do anyone of you think that really happened? No, this is what I woke up to. 

    Isn't that just wonderful? Not only did I wake up to that but I also got to hear two girls scream and cry because as any good elf owner knows, the most important rule is that you cannot touch the elf. Thanks Jess, this is so much better then the usual, "oh look he's on the bookshelf, AGAIN!" Apparently touching the elf caused him to lose his magic powers which then leads to your kids having a panic attack over magicless elves. 

    Using my own little creativity I made the elf a little bed to recover in and the girls wrote him a note to let him know just how sorry they were. I know, I know, it's a freaking toy elf but if you're this far in like I am you just gotta roll with it. 

    

   And I gotta say the bed actually turned out kind of cute. But the best part is that because K3 touched the elf, I didn't have to move him that night. Score! Okay, so maybe I forgot about him and left him there for four days but as I tell my kids, that's just because he lost a lot of magic and needed the extra recovery time.

Yours Truly,

Deja

Why I Love My Family

This is the email I received from my grandma:

hi everyone the world did not end. see you x-mas!

And with that, I would like to wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas!! 

Christmas Traditions

It's Christmas time again and while there are so many things about the holiday that I love there is one thing that I absolutely hate....... 

 This Guy.

Yup, the ole' Elf on a Shelf. If you don't know, the purpose of the Elf on the Shelf is to sit him out before Christmas (usually the day after Thanksgiving) and tell the kids that he's one of Santa's helper sent to watch over the kids and make sure they behave before Christmas. His box even says to, "Adopt a new Family Tradition this Holiday Season". Well that sounds like a good time doesn't it? No, it doesn't. Not at all. What the box doesn't tell you is that when you buy or as in my case, your mother-in-law buys this guy you are stuck trying to find new and exciting ways for the kids to find him each morning. Yes, that's right, he's supposed to move. There are even blog pages full of cute and unique ways to pose your Elf on the Shelf when your kids go to bed. Like so....

Photo courtesy of  Twirlie Whirlies

 

Which is all fine and dandy if you're one of "those" moms who has nothing better to do then think up imaginary adventures that your little elf can go on while you're all asleep. Hey, I'm not judging, more power to ya. But if you've learned anything from this blog then you've learned that I'm not one of "those" moms. 

Heck, if we're being honest I can't even remember to have my kids brush their teeth every night let alone find some special way for the elf (who my kids named Dasher) to surprise them each morning. I'm lucky if I can remember to move him from the book shelf to the desk each night. What has already happened more then once this year is that I wake up at 5 in the morning from a dead sleep suddenly remembering I need to move that frickin' elf. So then I get up, tip toe around the house, and place him in a new and unique spot for tomorrow, "hey on top of the microwave sounds adventurous!" 

Eh, good enough.

So while all of you count down the days to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever it is you celebrate, I will be counting down the days until I can shove that stupid elf back in the Christmas decorations tub where he belongs. 

Bah-Humbug I mean, Yours Truly,

Deja