Author Archives: Manda

This afternoon, I brought my Mom over to my house to watch Paranormal Activity 2 (Raven and me had all ready watched it in the theaters last October). She liked the first one but had yet to see the second. I fixed some snacks for us to pig out on and we all (me, my Mom and Raven) had a good time. It was nice getting my Mom out of her house. She doesn’t drive (her doctor recommended that she stop driving several years ago because of her health problems) and doesn’t like to leave her house for too long so I think it was good for her to get out. She needs to stop being such a hermit sometimes.

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Our house does not have closets but if it did I would sleep with them closed.

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? Nope.

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? Tucked out.

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before? No.

5: Do you like to use post-it notes? I have no use for them but if I did, I would use them all the time.

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? Yes and I am trying to start using them more often.

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? Probably bees because I would have a greater chance of survival.

8: Do you have freckles? I have a freckle here and there but not an over abundance of them.

9: Do you always smile for pictures? No. I don’t really like my smile.

10: What is your biggest pet peeve? Rude people, cheaters and lairs.

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk? When I’m using my pedometer.

12: Have you ever peed in the woods? Yes.

13: What about pooped in the woods? Yes.

14: Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing? Yes cause its playing in my head.

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils? No.

16: How many people have you slept with this week? One

17: What size is your bed? Queen

18: What is your Song of the week? Scissor Sisters “Whole New Way”

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink? Yes.

20: Do you still watch cartoons? Yes.

21: Whats your least favorite movie? Titanic and Cabin Fever (I absolutely loathe Eli Roth).

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? Like I would tell you!

23: What do you drink with dinner? Diet Coke.

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Sweet and Sour or Ranch dressing.

25: What is your favorite food? Cheeseburger and chocolate covered pretzels.

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love? The Evil Dead Trilogy, Re-Animator, Battle Royale, The Labyrinth and The Prince Bride.

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you? Raven. I gave her a kiss before heading to school this morning.

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout? I was a brownie which is for girls too young for girl scouts.

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? If I was thinner and the pay was good, hell yes.

30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? The other day I wrote a letter to the lady we bought the house from. When I send her the mortgage every month, I included a letter.

31: Can you change the oil on a car? Technically I know how to but I have never actually done it.

32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket? No and *knocks on wood* I won’t be getting one anytime soon.

33: Ever ran out of gas? Yes I have and it is not something I want to do again.

34: Favorite kind of sandwich? It varies. I like everything from roast beef to chicken salad to cucumber sandwiches.

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast? Bacon and pancakes.

36: What is your usual bedtime? It varies from 11pm to 3am. Just depends what I am doing.

37: Are you lazy? Not really but some days I just feel like begin lazy.

38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? I have dressed up for most of the Halloweens in my life and my Mom use to make my costumes. Everything from a pregnant gypsy (when I was like 4 years old) to Minnie Mouse and a bunch of grapes.

39: What is your Chinese astrological sign? Monkey.

40: How many languages can you speak? One (English) and a few phrases in two others (Spanish and Japanese).

41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions? No

42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs? Legos!

43: Are you stubborn? Yes.

44: Who is better…Leno or Letterman? Leno but I don’t really watch either one.

45: Ever watch soap operas? No.

46: Are you afraid of heights? Extremely afraid of them.

47: Do you sing in the car? Yes.

48: Do you sing in the shower? Yes

49: Do you dance in the car? Yes.

50: Ever used a gun? Yes. I have 2 guns myself (handgun and riffle) and Raven has a riffle so right now we have a total of 3 guns in the house.

51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? 2007 at my sister-in-law’s wedding.

52: Do you think musicals are cheesy? No. One of my favorite movies (which I can recite verbatim) is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

53: Is Christmas stressful? Not really, though it can be a little hectic for me sometimes.

54: Ever eat a pierogi? Yes.

55: Favorite type of fruit pie? If you’re talking about those prepackaged single servings you buy at gas stations and checkout lines than none. But If you’re talking about actually homemade pies than I would have to say either Blackberry or raspberry.

56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? I don’t even remember.

57: Do you believe in ghosts? Yes, a million percent.

58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? Yes.

59: Take a vitamin daily? Yes, my iron pills every day. I also try to take a B12 and calcium pill and sometimes a ginseng for more energy.

60: Wear slippers? Yes.

61: Wear a bath robe? No.

62: What do you wear to bed? Nightshirt, bra and underwear. Sometimes socks if its cold.

63: First concert? Megadeath and Motley Crue in the summer of 1999.

64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? Walmart and then Target.

65: Nike or Adidas? Neither. Converse

66: Cheetos Or Fritos? Cheetos

67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? I like them both.

68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien? No.

69: Ever take dance lessons? I took tap dancing lessons when I was little.

70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? I all ready have a spouse and he is a carpenter.

71: Can you curl your tongue? No.

72: Ever won a spelling bee? No.

73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy? No.

74: Own any record albums? Yes.

75: Own a record player? No.

76: Regularly burn incense? No. But I do burn candles regularly.

77: Ever been in love? Yes.

78: Who would you like to see in concert? Zach Galifianakis (comedian)

79: What was the last concert you saw? DecembeRadio (my brother-in-law’s band).

80: Hot tea or cold tea? Hot tea.

81: Tea or coffee? Coffee.

82: Sugar or snickerdoodles? Chocolate chip cookies.

83: Can you swim well? Yes.

84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? Yes.

85: Are you patient? Sometimes.

86: DJ or band, at a wedding? DJ.

87: Ever won a contest? Yes.

88: Ever have plastic surgery? No.

89: Which are better black or green olives? Green.

90: Can you knit or crochet? I can crochet.

91: Best room for a fireplace? Livingroom or bedroom.

92: Do you want to get married? I’m all ready married.

93: If married, how long have you been married? Since December 2001 so it will be 10 years this December.

94: Who was your HS crush? My husband.

95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? No.

96: Do you have kids? Yes. I have a 14 year old daughter.

97: Do you want kids? I am happy with having just my daughter and as many cats as I can handle.

98: Whats your favorite color? Purple.

99: Do you miss anyone right now? My Nan.

So, this is day three of NaBloPoMo and so far so good. We will see just how long I can keep this up. I give myself until this weekend when I will forget to blog and blow the whole damn thing.

Next weekend is my sister-in-law’s baby shower. I need to make about 30 cupcakes but I don’t want to go the traditional route with just chocolate or white cake. So I have been thinking about what other flavors to make. I tested a pumpkin spice cupcake with cream cheese icing I made the other day and everyone (Mike and Raven) liked them so I am defiantly making that for some of the cupcakes. I have thought about lemon flavored cake but I don’t know how well people actually like lemon. What do you guys think? Any ideas of additional flavors of cupcakes I could make?

Halloween was successfully even if it was cold, windy and rainy. Raven had a good time and got a pretty good amount of candy. Even though trick or treating was from 6 to 7:30, we were finished by 7 and headed home to warm up. Raven spent the night gorging herself on her loot until it was time for bed. Raven dressed as the Nine-Tailed Fox demon trapped in Naruto from the anime/manga series Naruto. I was a creepy doll. She wore a pair of Mike’s thermal pants and thermal shirt under her costume to keep warm. You can see the shirt and pants bunched up around her stomach. It looks like she has a little pouch in the front of her belly. LOL And yes, the costume fits fine. Naruto’s jumper does not reach his ankles or his wrists so its suppose to look like that.

I have taken the Halloween decorations down and am gearing up for the “putting up the Christmas decorations” along with the inevitable “why are they up so early?” and “it’s not even Thanksgiving!” But if I have to put the damn decorations up than they are going up for more than a month. Anyway, I am making most of our decorations this year and need to get a jump on it.

Halloween is fast approaching and my original idea of going as a zombie Alice in wonderland is not going to happen. Even though I originally thought it was not going to cost too much money to make, I was wrong. The blue dress I planned on wearing is not going to work and after searching for over a week for a cheap dress that would, I gave up. Fortunately, I came up with another costume idea and it only cost me a total of $7 because I had everything but one item on hand.

Raven is going as Nine Tailed Fox/Naruto from the manga/anime Naruto. Since she is 14 this will probably be her last year trick or treating. She wasn’t originally going to go but I talked her into it and she in return talked a group of her friends into going.

So, Monday night (trick or treating is from 6 to 7:30) we will brave the cold in search of treats while wearing our awesome costumes. Speaking of cold, the weather turned nasty rather quickly and we are supposed to have snow tonight/early Saturday morning. Even though I love Thanksgiving/Christmas, I am not a fan of the cold. Burrrr!

Jenn, Andrea and Rachel!

Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone who entered!

Last year, I used Shutterfly to order our photo Christmas cards (see the post here) and I am glad I did. They came out wonderfully and I could not have been happier … that is until this year. Shutterfly has generously given me the opportunity to host a giveaway on my blog. The giveaway is for 25 free photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly. All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post with which card you will choose if you win. On Monday October 24, I will announce the three winners on my blog as well as contact the winners via email.

If you have never used Shutterfly for your photo needs, you really are missing out. I have used Shutterfly for more than holiday cards and have always been more than satisfied with their products. I have order a photo book from them (for a family member’s birthday present) as well as many, many prints. I know my Shutterfly order will feature nothing but the highest quality materials and will always reach me in a timely manner.

As for our holiday cards, I have it narrowed down to three designs. Charming and Lovely, Merry Little Moments or Deck Your Walls. Those are the three that I am drawn to. I think I will let Raven and Mike make the final decision since there is no way I can choose from those three!

One more thing before I end this post. Shutterfly wants to know if you blog? If so and you want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season, register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

I always decorate for Halloween (expect for the 3 years living with my MIL) but I don’t want to spend a whole lot of money of expensive decorations. So, I decided to makes some DIY Halloween decorations. The milk jug lanterns ended up costing me nothing since I had all the items on hand. Thanks to my mom and aunt who saved their milk jugs for me, I didn’t even have to make my family drink more milk than they normally would.

Things Needed:

• Milk Jugs
• Black Marker
• Knife or Scissors
• Christmas Lights

To start, clean the milk jugs thoroughly with warm, soapy water. If you don’t, the lingering milk will curdle and stink to high heaven. Once cleaned, rinse with water and let the jugs air dry for several hours. I turned my milk jugs upside down on top of a towel to dry. This way, you don’t have any water drops hiding at the bottom of the jug.

After the jugs are dry, cut a small opening in back of the jug. Make sure you are cutting the opposite side you will be drawing the face on. It is best to start with a small opening since you can always make the hole bigger if needed. Now comes the part where you get to be creative by drawing the face on the milk jug with a black marker. Draw whatever floats your boat, tickles your fancy, whatever!

Once you are happy with the way your jugs turned out, set them in place and stuff some Christmas lights inside the jug via the hole you previously cut out. I opted to pour birdseed in the bottom of the jugs to keep the wind from blowing them off the porch.

Here is how ours turned out.

My favorite is the mustache lantern.

Since my main client is a little dry at the moment, I know money might end up being tight for awhile and since Christmas will be coming up soon I need to start cutting back a little just in case my main client stays dry. So this year I am going to forgo purchasing a Halloween costume for myself and instead try to make one from things I already have on hand. I want to be zombie Alice in Wonderland and I already have a plain blue dress that might work. Actually the dress looks more like the dress worn by the Alice character in SyFy’s original movie Alice starring the oh so hot Andrew-Lee Potts. I have the black and white striped knee-highs, hair bow and makeup to turn myself into a zombie. Now all I have to do is add blood to the tights and maybe to the dress and I should be good. I also gotta go through my shoes and see if I have something that would work. What are you going to be for Halloween?

One of the things we love about our new home is the amount of deer that we get in our back yard. Even when London is outside using the bathroom, the deer are not too afraid to make themselves known. They seem to know how far London’s leash can go and stay out of his reach. Not that London would do anything but lick them if they would get close enough. Heck, I would wager that if the deer decided to rush London, he would turn tail and come running back inside as fast as he can. Throughout the day, it is not an uncommon sight to see 10 or more deer in our back yard eating apples and chestnuts from the trees.

Anyway, tonight is the homecoming dance and Raven is going. Actually, we are forcing her to go. She doesn’t like wearing dresses or dancing because it’s too girly but we tried to tell her that she will regret not going to school dances when she gets old. She has more than a few friends going so she will have some people to hang out with. When I took her dress shopping a few weeks ago, she actually enjoyed it more than I thought she would. This will be her first dance and I think I am more excited about it then she is!