New Moon

My brother-in-law called me last week to see if I wanted a ticket to the movie "New Moon". I had read the first book in the series and found it just OK. I did not have a desire to read any more of the books or really go to the movies.... not really my thing.... but hey, it was a free ticket and I love movies and being with my sister, so she picked me up and we went. We did have to stand in line for about 45 minutes (which is almost more than my tolerance level, but we got in and got our seats in the very back row right in the middle. That is my my favorite place to be.

I have to say, the movie was OK too. It wasn't worth sleeping out for or waiting in line for hours the night of the opening like many people did, but it was entertaining, and we did get to see some pretty buff werewolves.

My sister's dental office (Young Dental) had rented out the theatre for the night and as we exited they gave us all an apple in a cute little bag with a cuter little tag on it. This is a picture of it. Pretty clever I thought. And when was the last time you found a company that cared about it's customers enough to do such a thing?

A Great Concert

I am very thankful for music.  What would our lives be without it?  What if you didn't have a song that reminded you of your soul mate? What if there were no hymns in church meetings? What if there were no songs to lull your baby to sleep? What if there were no background songs to your favorite movies?

Wayne and I got tickets to see Collin Ray at the Desert Star theatre.  It is a 200 seat theatre so there were no bad seats, and the sound in the room was as good as it gets.  Collin also said it is his favorite place to perform because it is intimate and there are very few places like it anymore.  He put on an amazing show and has not lost a note in his 20 some years of performing.

This is the man who has topped the charts with such great songs as "On the Verge," "One Boy, One Girl," "What the Heart Wants," "Every Second" and "That Was a River"

"I believe in Providence," says Collin Raye. "I believe there"s a reason things happen the way they do. I also believe that if you"ve treated people right and you continue to work hard at your craft, things will happen. I want to keep going. I want hit records. I want to make music."

Five times nominated as country music"s Male Vocalist of the Year, Collin Raye has consistently used his stardom to advance social causes. Among the organizations he has supported are Boys Town, First Steps, Al-Anon, Special Olympics, Country Cares About AIDS, Catholic Relief Services, Parade of Pennies, Vanderbilt Children"s Hospital, The Tennessee Task Force Against Domestic Violence, The Emily Harrison Foundation, Childhelp USA, Silent Witness National Initiative, Easter Seals and Make a Difference Day. At the 2001 Country Radio Seminar, Clint Black presented Collin Raye with

the organization's Humanitarion of the Year award.

  

Scroll to the bottom of my page and click on my playlist to stop it and then

click here to listen to the song that I like the most.  For all my friends and family, this is about you.  I am thankful for you.

YouTube - In This Life

If the Shoe Fits

I remember when I was a kid and the converse sneaker was about all there was to wear.  We didn't have the $100 a pair shoes, or the sneakers for every sport; from walking to tennis to basketball to cross trainng. The Converse shoe is back in style, although not so much for the sport, but just for the cool image you project when you wear them.  I took a picture of my little grandson's shoes because they are so cute and then realized his Daddy was wearing the same shoes.  There is just something about this shot that I love.  I did say I have a thing for shoes a while back and this is just another reason. why.

So going along with the Thanksgiving theme, I am grateful that I can walk and that we have protective gear for our feet.  Shoes......a great invention.

Thankful for All the Moose Stuff?

I am going to blog about things I am thankful for during this month of Thanksgiving.

I took this photo of a moose at our campsite in the Big Horn Mountains in July.

What is it about a "moose" than inspires food creations, restaurants and yummy desserts?

Some of my favorite foods start with the name "moose". Take a look at some of them.

This is Harry and David's Moose Munch. It's very addictive and has caused a lot of copycat recipes to pop up, one of which I am going to try this Christmas. I would rather not pay
$15.00 to $20.00 a pound if I don't have to. Here is a copycat recipe.

Moose Munch
2 bags Poppycock with cashew,almonds and pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted with 1 tsp. Crisco
1 c. white chocolate melted with 1 tsp. Crisco
10 caramels, unwrapped and melted with a tiny drop of milk

1 c. mini marshmallows

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, add chocolate chips and Crisco.
3. Microwave until chips look shiny.... about 2 minutes.
4. Remove and stir until melted and add the mini marshmallows.

5. Quickly pour over popcorn and spread onto the prepared cookie sheet.

6. Melt white chocolate, stir and drizzle over the popcorn.

7. Melt the Caramels and drizzle over the popcorn

8.. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Moose Nuts

These are for sale at a lot of gift shops in Wyoming.

Moosetracks Ice Cream
Be still my heart.

It is vanilla ice cream with mini peanut butter cups, caramel and fudge all mixed together.

I also read where they are making a mint version combining my two favorite ice creams.

Here are some more moose ideas to look at:

Mooseville Moose Gifts :: HOT MOOSE!

The Mangy Moose Restaurant and Saloon Jackson Hole, WY Live Music- Bar - R

Moostachios

Was that really me?

I was making banana bread a couple of days ago. I usually make it into muffins instead of loaves and it's something I have done for a hundred years with no problems. It's Mom's recipe and they always turn out yummy, so I couldn't wait to taste test these delights. I had my wet ingredients and sugar mixed and threw in a little flour but I had to go downstairs to get more flour because I had run out of it in the pantry. The only thing I had downstairs was my food storage flour in a big bucket so brought it up to finish off the recipe. Now most of you who know me, know that I am a very laid back, calm person 99% of the time and if there is a way to make things better I can usually find a way, which makes me even more confident and happy. Men (and women) are that that might have joy, you know.

Wellllllll, I could not get the lid off that bucket. I tried everything I could think of. There wasn't one of those zip tabs around the lid, and the tabs on the bucket would not bend. I pried open the front with a screw driver and then tried to pry open the sides and back so it would pop off. Nada. I then got the knife sharpening tool out because it was long and I thought if I ran it around the inside of the rim it would come off but NOOOOO, it was stuck like glue. I tried so hard that I broke the knife sharpener. (I NEED TO FINISH THE BANANA BREAD! OK calm down now, what can I do next?) I kept trying for 30 MINUTES!!!! My hand was scraped up now and my biceps were hurting. I was able to keep the front pried up about 2 inches but the 1 cup measuring cup would not fit into the bucket.


Now, I have a little 2 year old grandson and I have seen him get frustrated at things he cannot do. He will just stop and scream out of frustration and then burst into tears. Guess what I did? Yes, I screamed and burst into tears. I could identify with little E exactly at that moment. When your desires don't meet your abilities, it results in so much frustration that your emotions just take over.

I took a deep breath, felt ridiculous, and used my smaller measuring cup to get as much flour out as I could from the crack in the front. I ended up not getting enough flour for the whole recipe and the muffins turned out a little too moist and flat. I might add that it was a super duper batch too, not just a one batch recipe and it ended up making enough muffins to put in the freezer. When Wayne came home he thought they were delicious, better than ever.

When I told Wayne of my trial he jumped right in to help. He did have a hard time too, but got the lid off in less than 5 minutes.

Now for the rest of the story. I have resolved to do more bicep curls, I am back to my jolly self, we have many muffins for later consumption, I can feel E's pain when he is frustrated, and the lid is off. Life is good again. Whew! But, stay away from me when I have that moment 1% of the time. It is not a pretty site and you will be scared, very scared.