My First Circle Journal... Is Home!!!

I have not done this before and I didn't set out to join this swap that i was in, I was kind of drafted into it. So one year ago i made an album and sent it on its way... I mailed it priority Mail... It took over one month to go from my house in Oregon to Los Angeles, Ca... so in the course of that month and a half i created a second journal and mailed it to the person i sent to for the swap (UPS) (Which almost takes a week but at least it arrives) and now its finally been returned to me. My theme was "flower gardens" and this is a link to the photo album that was started for my journal so the first few pages are ones i made for it then what follows is most of the other pages, (a few people did not put their pages into the album) but thats OK... http://groups.msn.com/SunroomLibrary/jbgreendawnscirclejournal.msnw I don't know for sure how long the photos will be in and there are 4 pages of them but i think the plan was for the site owner to delete these albums at the end of the swap to get the storage space back for the site... You should be able to see these photos as the site is not locked... It's pouring rain here today but started out last night as snow so most the day was a slushy mess, supposed to continue to dump precipitation all over southern Or for all the next 3 days... We are planning to go to Medford tomorrow, (I bought Tim a duplicate lure book and James has a thing for the game boy that may need to be exchanged) And I'm hoping to run into the rubber stamp art store... I've been giving some thought to my next project and i think i am going to make a small (like 9 x9) ish sized theme album that is made up of the photos we have received in our Christmas Cards over the years... So it would be fun to flip through and see peoples family's growing through the years kind of a thing. Of course not everyone sends photos but most the people who do, do it every year, so i Probably do have enough to fill an album already... I wish i was getting photos from the people who mater Most to me but... I'm greedy about photos and do love what i do have... yes that was a direct {bald} hint to some of you! ;) Have a Safe and Happy New Years!!

Thank-You's are in the Mail...

but photos are still in the film roll in my purse haha... yes gotta get digital one of these days... (haven't felt up to braving the film counter at walmart) (if i could even find a parking spot...) This card came about because there are sign ups going on for a "match book" swap at the moment and the idea interest me a great deal, but i cant imagine using 12 monthly matchbooks so i have not signed up for it, just played with some cardstock to create this type of a fold, yes it really does open backwards... (just so you know you need to bend it a little to pop the cover from the back of the card to open it.) Have tomorrow OFF and am hoping to spend some time scrapping, feel like i haven't touched anything of mine (photo wise) in a long long time. Alice Loved her album. (everyone she shows it to enjoys it too) that's a huge relief. J is in week two off now and seriously enjoying the break and his new toys... (gameboy advance) We are planning a trip over to Medford on next Saturday to let him spend a portion of the money he received for X-mas at toys-r-us. so he's looking forward to that, i need to get Tim a store credit at Barnes and Nobles one of the books i picked up for him he already owns... and the thing toys r us sold me for the game boy to plug into the wall and be played with the wrapper says its for a different Nintendo system and i had handed the store clerk the papers of exactly what system j was getting but... i don't know now if its correct or if its the wrong one so we may have to switch that too... (should be interesting as this was a Santa gift and mom has a receipt in her purse...) maybe i can get Tim to drag J around the store while i find out about the thing... ha ha... Thanks to MB because,Santa made it here while we were gone on Xmas eve... so J says to me IF Santa comes while we are gone and beats us home again (like last year) I do NOT want to stay up opening things can we just wait till morning?? (so of course we said yes) BUT his idea of Morning came real early at (5:15 am) YIKES! haha so thats part of why there is no hurry on the photos they are probably too dark to be real good... May try to take a few posed ones in front of the tree some time this week while its still up if we get a good day light day. (it's been Grey and raining most of the last week or so)

Something Yummy,

If you know that i am not a recipe collector this is a funny thing to find in my blog but, We had this for dinner recently and it is just so yummy i told a few people and then went back online to find the recipe... Bourbon Pecan Chicken Submitted by: PGraffRated: 5 out of 5 by 94 members Prep Time: 20 MinutesCook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 30 MinutesYields: 8 servings "Chicken breasts are coated in a pecan breading, and fried in a skillet. Then a rich bourbon sauce is poured over them before serving. This is a fabulous recipe that my Mother gave me from a upscale restaurant in New York. It is to die for. ENJOY!!" INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 cup clarified butter, melted 1/4 cup Dijon mustard 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 2 2/3 tablespoons bourbon whiskey 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 3/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes 1/2 cup sliced green onions DIRECTIONS: 1. Stir together the pecans, bread crumbs, and 2 tablespoons of clarified butter. Spread the mixture out on a plate. Press the chicken breasts into the mixture to coat on both sides. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of clarified butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the coated chicken breasts in the pan, and fry on both sides until nicely browned and chicken meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes per side. 2. In a small saucepan, whisk together the Dijon mustard, brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then remove from the burner, and whisk in the 3/4 cup of unsalted butter one piece at a time. Do not return to the heat. 3. Arrange the chicken breasts on a large serving plate. Pour the sauce over the chicken, and sprinkle with green onion. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2005 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 12/21/2005 We did make a few changes, (did not clairfy the butter, just melted it, used chicken thighs instead of breast meat, and light brown sugar instead of dark) The nuts in the coating keep the chicken slightly crunchy while you are eating it even with the sauce on top. This almost melts in your mouth... enjoy!

just something silly...

This came to me in an e-Mail a while back... just makes me smile... enjoy!

More pages from A's album

this top photo is actually a crop from a regular photo that was enlarged to panorama. I didn't know this before this but you can take a regular negative to the camera shop and have then crop and print it as an panorama (which is 4X12) pretty neat hmmm? My scanner is giving me issues. (or rather my eyes are feeling too blind to see I'm putting the pages on crooked so this will be it for today. maybe more in a few days...)

scraping again...

Been working on getting A's Christmas gift album done... not done yet but, have 12 new pages to scan... (this is a few from the first few batches of pages) all of these photos were taken by Tim or I at her oldest daughters wedding last august...

I took that photo my self... yeah yeah don't break my arm patting my self on the back right?!?! hee hee does it make a difference if i tell you this is the first wedding that I personally shot photos at? Usually i just line people up and stand next to Tim and go get that one get that one...

This was actually a misprint photo... in real life it does not cut off her dress so the framed shots are all either 4x6 5x7 or 8x12... (this one is 8x10) and i decided to scrap it instead of tossing it...

Last Night was J's school Christmas sing-along program... (only all the fourth grade classes prefomed) we figured out when when we seen the gym for the first time coffee cups in hand with big huge signs every where proclaiming no food or drink allowed in the gym! Can you believe i did NOT take the camera?? (me either then I did not regret it until I found they actually turn the lights on at this school so it would have been much easier to get some good shots than it was at the old school) Oh well, maybe next time. Have no idea what they sang, we were not handed a program as we came in the guy was too busy glaring at our coffee mugs... J's class dressed up like cowboys though and they had a small what almost looked like squre dancing to me going on during one of the songs... all the way up until yesterday he kept saying I do not want to go they are going to make us dance really weird... then last night he almost panicked when Tim and I were groaning about having to go back out for it... "I have to go, I'm in the play"... (he had speaking parts infront of the microphone several times.)

Friday we will do our Company Christmas party and so tonight and tomorrow we get to just stay home. YAY. :) All Santa has left to get is a big dog bone or toy and a cat toy and Tims stocking stuffers... (and wrap J's things which we will have free time alone to do on sunday) Then the baking can start... So far Tim has made an angel food cake that he turned into rum balls. But i have not really thought about what i want to do but, i think i will pick out somethings to do with J when he's home from school and i can plan time off next week...

Faster and Faster...

Is it just me or are the days getting faster and faster instead of shorter and shorter? (my Christmas cards are still not done, but this is the photo we may be inserting into them...) It was shot with color film though and color film skin tone filters so it looks a little fuzzy to me in B&W. We are probably going to try shooting another roll maybe saturday... I wish i knew how to use the photo shop program i think it would be really cool to shoot this shot in b&w and then make the hats red and white like they are in real life. The tree is UP! so far we have re-inserted about 3 of the bottom branches about 4 or 5 times now after work but so far so good the cat has left the tree standing and so far all the ornaments have survived his tree climbing attempts... Tonight is the last ASL class for the first batch of classes, I'm not going to be taking the second class during the winter term as they are doing them at the unemployment office (in a very very bad neighborhood) at night during that term and will wait to see if they are holding the second classes in the spring back at the school. (cross your fingers) Plus we are now about to start all the busy busy paper work that goes along with the year ending and the tax paper gathering that goes along with it. Yvonne got me set up to start taking an online class on how to digital scrapbook so i have spent the better part of the last few days in my free time downloading elements and such to play with. Haven't done a thing with them yet, in my mind they are just scrapbook clip art. kind of a thing, I'm wondering if i can insert them into the blog and play with them that away. (because if i do succeed in making a digital layout, I'm gonna want it on paper) J has a pen pal! he's so excited about that, we are thinking his first response letter should be on its way to him and arrive next week some time... He's become very interested in mail lately and notices that most of what comes in is either for me or his dad. so if you get a chance and you think of it, sending him a note in the snail mail would be really cool for him... *Ü* He only has next week for school then is off till Jan 3rd. (and i thought the turkey day break was long hee!) I have gotten requests about the what to get him thing, and the thing is he's deeply madly crazily in love with Pokemon and Yugioh at the moment... the whole trading card thing is a fairly new thing for him and its been really hard to keep him and his wallet out of the stores as we've got a few packs stashed for the 25th... (I think his chore allowance is burning a hole in his wallet) I hear the "can we go to walmart?" on a daily basis... his friends all told him exactly where in the store to find the cards... (help full little critters) I still have a few odds and ends to pick up such as the required X-mas eve new PJ's but, i am mainly done shopping now and just trying to squeeze in time to get things wrapped. Tim is more of a challenge to shop for, he won't give me any clues this year as to what he wants at all (besides a weather thingy) but i think one of his favorite things he got last year was from Gma&Gpa and it was a home depot card so if all else fails at least i know if i did get him one he could find something there that he needs... a while back there was this "perfect woman" type quiz thing on netscape or something like that and one of the answers to one of the questions was something along the lines of the perfect woman tells you exactly what she wants for a gift and where to get it and Tim said no no no the perfect wife goes out and buys exactly what she wants with her own card... so he's off the hook Santa was very good to me this year ;) told him he has to pick up his own card though he does a better job of it than i do so he says yeah because i read the cards.... ;) So pretty much life just goes on as usual.