Winter..... Will it Ever End??

I know that the sweet (or not so sweet) groundhog told us that we would have 6 more weeks of bad weather, but I am REALLY ready for some of this white stuff to go away! We got three more inches Sunday night.

The sound of the road crew going down the main road several feet in front of our house has become a common thing during the wee hours of the morning. Those guys have been working overtime to get the roads clear and safe.

This got my daughter and I thinking that maybe it would be nice to do a little something for them. Yesterday we dug out a new favorite recipe, "Lunch Lady Brownies" and decided to make some for these hard working guys.

After the brownies cooled and were iced, Kari and I headed out to the transportation garage with two pans of these luscious creations---

When we got there we tried the first door marked "office" but it was locked and seemed empty. We saw a truck running at the nearby building so we headed over there. We were greeted with a, "Hello, You bring me something?" from one of the guys. Once we explained that we actually did have something for them, the two gentlemen who were working seemed truly overwhelmed. They took the two pans of brownies and put them aside, promising that they would share with the road crew when they came in this morning.

As we left, one of them said, "Bless you." I don't think anyone had ever thought about THEM, their early hours, late hours, and the danger that they face on the icy roads. It truly made me feel wonderful inside to be able to do such a simple little thing that meant so much to someone else.

Just in case you are interested, I thought I would share this WONDERFUL recipe. They are so delicious AND easy to make! (A big thank you to whoever posted the original recipe on Pinterest! It is one of the BEST ones I have discovered there. The original recipe is posted on the Saltbox House Cookie Exchange blog.)

Lunch Lady Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter

1/2 cup of cocoa

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

4 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix. Pour into a greased and floured 9X13 baking pan. (I actually dusted my pan with cocoa instead of flour since I was making a chocolate sweet.)

Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Check them at 20 minutes- You don't want to overbake them. Allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes before frosting them.

Now make the luscious frosting:

Frosting Ingredients:

1/4 cup of softened butter

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa

3 cups of powdered sugar

dash of salt

Mix together and ice the cooled brownies.

A New Love

For years now I have been one of the many women who was busy scrapbooking and documenting family history, but lately I have been finding it very difficult. The kids are at the ages when I don't get a lot of photos, sweet hubby and I are far too busy with work to do much that was worth documenting, and the amount of time that it took to get out all of my supplies and actually create something was just something that did not exist in my personal calendar.

With all of that said..... I still found myself with a desire to create and a HUGE guilt about all of the supplies that I have stored away that were just gathering dust.

This week I discovered a new love......one that would still allow me to use my creative energy AND my supplies, but could be done with a smaller amount of time---- cardmaking!

I have seen many ladies posting pics and tutorials online for cards and I even jumped in and tried it a time or two, but I just didn't feel really good about the results. That changed this week when I created THIS card.....

Recently our women's church group met and asked me to create a special card that could be sent to a women's charity, along with a love offering. Given those facts, and the fact that Valentine's Day comes this month, I thought this design would be perfect.

I bought the Spellbinders at Christmas- one of those personal splurges that I allowed myself.  These are the Spellbinders Majestic Elements Opulent Ovals- I LOVE them!! (I think I may have to splurge on several more Spellbinders.)

I dug into my stash for the following items: cardstock: 2 different patterned papers, a border punch, a flourish stamp, a distressing ink, a pink dye ink, a heart stamp, 5 rhinestones, and pink Stickles. I even dragged my sewing machine out so I could stitch the panel to the paper below.

I definitely think that I will be making more cards- guess I better head over to Pinterest for some more creative inspiration! If you have some comments to share about my card.... or if you have some great cardmaking advice, I would really like to hear from you!

YUM!!!

 

Ice Cream for Breakfast Day!!!

 

Waffles with Waffle Chocolate Chip ice cream topped with caramel topping....... A girl could get used to this for breakfast!

I do have to share a conversation though.....

Last night when my daughter and I dropped off at the grocery store to pick up our ice cream we had the following conversation....

Me: Do you have any homework?

Kari: Just a quiz in my online psychology class, but I can do that tomorrow.

Me: Why don't you do it tonight so we can go shopping tomorrow?

Kari: I think there is something wrong with you.

Me: Why?

Kari: First, ice cream for breakfast...... Then, shopping...... There HAS to be something wrong with you.

Guess I will have to try to find more things to keep her guessing...... LOL!