Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 26th birthday--I am getting old here, people! I told Ben last night that I was now in my upper 20s....that's just weird, but I guess I better get used to it. Ben can now tease me about being older than him for 17 days until he, too, turns 26. Ben came home from Moberly last night so that he could be here for my birthday. Luckily, he is on an ER rotation and can set his own schedule. He was up early this morning baking me a German chocolate cake--from scratch. And tonight, he is going to cook a nice dinner! What a good guy. I have already been spoiled, too. I got money and a cute Jim Shore Easter Tree in the mail, plus some really nice cards and my parents sent me flowers at work! They are absolutely beautiful and they smell wonderful. Thanks to everyone! You make my day really special, even if we are far away.

Ben let me order something I have been wanting for my birthday present, too. As I have said before, I have started to make my own cards. Well, I decided that I wanted a Cuttlebug, and since I got it last week, I have been making so many cards! In case you don't know, a Cuttlebug is a machine that does dry embossing and die cutting. I love it! I attached an example of an embossed card. The picture isn't the best, but maybe you can see the raised flowers in the background on the card. It's so much fun to use and I think it really dresses up a simple card.

Happy Kansas Day!

Today is the day Kansas became a state in 1861. In elementary school, we usually devoted a whole week to learning about Kansas history and facts. So, in honor of our day (and because some of our friends want to know why Kansas is just so cool---Erick) here are a few fun facts for you...

The hide and head of the first MGM Lion, Leo, is at the McPherson Museum

Kansas was the first state to ratify the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gave African-American men the right to vote.

There were no Indian attacks reported on the Oregon Trail as the travelers passed through the state.

The world famous fast-food chain of Pizza Hut restaurants opened its first store in Wichita.
Helium was discovered in 1905 at the University of Kansas and Kansas is one of the two sources of helium in the U.S.

The Arkansas River may be the only river whose pronunciation changes as it crosses state lines. In Kansas, it is called the Arkansas (ahr-KAN-zuhs). On both sides of Kansas (Colorado and Oklahoma ), it is called the Arkansaw.

A hailstone weighing more than one and a half pounds once fell on Coffeyville.

Cawker City, Kansas lays claims to the world’s largest ball of twine with a 38 foot circumference, weighing almost 17,000 pounds, and still growing.

In 1990 Kansas wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 33 billion loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on earth with 6 loaves.

The Geodetic Center of North America is about 40 miles south of Lebanon at Meade's Ranch. It is the beginning point of reference for land surveying in North America meaning when a surveyor checks a property line, he or she is checking the position of property in relation to Meade's Ranch in northwest Kansas.

Kansas has the largest population of prairie chickens wild grouse in North America
Wyatt Earp, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and William B. "Bat" Masterson were three of the legendary lawmen who kept the peace in rowdy frontier towns like Abilene, Dodge City, Ellsworth, Hays, and Wichita.

Established in 1827, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is the oldest military post in continuous operation west of the Mississippi.

William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland, Kansas invented the helicopter in 1909
Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States, with an average wind speed of 14 miles per hour.

Goodland, Kansas proudly boasts the world's largest easel. Sitting atop the 80 foot, 40,000 pound steel easel, is a giant replica of Vincent Van Gough's Sunflower painting.

Amelia Earhart, the first woman granted a pilot's license by the National Aeronautics Associate and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was from Atchison.

The three largest herds of buffalo in Kansas are located on public lands at the Maxwell Game Preserve in McPherson, the Big Basin in Ashland, and the Buffalo Game Preserve in Garden City.

I don't know if other states celebrate their state-hood like Kansas does, but I always loved it! So, I hope you have a wonderful Kansas Day where ever you are from!

Monday Funny

I was on the phone with my parents yesterday just chatting about the weekend and told them that we were going over to a friend's house to have smoked meat. There was complete silence for a second and my Dad said, "You're going to go smoke weed?" I, of course, starting laughing and told him, "No, Dad, MEAT, not weed." And really, if I was going to go smoke weed, I certainly wouldn't be chatting about it with you, Dad.

The BBQ was really great last night--Thanks, Melinda! Everyone brought something so wonderful. Benj and I made Carmel Apple Crisp and we thought it was really yummy, so I thought that I would share the recipe. We doubled it, and it filled a 9x13 pan to the brim! It fed a lot of people and we still have some left.

4 large Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
25 KRAFT Caramels (1/2 of 14-oz. bag)
2 Tbsp. milk
25 NILLA Wafers, crushed (about 1 cup crumbs)
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold margarine or butter, cut up

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Place half of the apple slices in 1-1/2-qt. baking dish; top with half of the caramels. Repeat layers. Pour milk over caramel layer; set aside.
MIX wafer crumbs, oats and sugar in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over carmel layer.
BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until apples are tender. Serve warm.

Wife Points...

I haven’t written for awhile, not because I’m particularly busy or anything, but more because I haven’t had much interesting to say. These past few weeks not too much has been going on. We are just getting back into the same old routine after the holidays.

I did make a purchase for Ben’s birthday (a little early), though, and I think that it has earned me quite a few "good wife points." Benj looks and looks at things before he will buy it. For example, he wanted an iPod so badly a couple of years ago, but would not purchase one for himself, and I ended up doing it for him. So, now he has been drooling over a play station for a loooong time. I know he wants one and I have told him to get one several times; but, of course, he just thinks about it and looks at them and wishes he could have one. Well, I finally just did it for him. I bought him a play station on Ebay along with lots of games and it should be arriving any day now. I should probably be enjoying my husband while I can, because I know that he will be playing that thing a lot—probably too much. But, Benj has worked hard the past four years and he has given me more than I could ever ask for, so I think you deserve it, honey! I hope you enjoy it!

I have also been earning some extra wife points by cooking up some meat from Ben’s hunting trips. Last week we had pheasant several times and this week it’s wild turkey. We had pecan crusted pheasant salad, turkey noodle soup, turkey pot pie, etc…
Anyone hungry??
Seriously, I still have more pheasant and turkey and dove, plus we have elk sticks in the freezer and deer jerky that we need to pick up at Western’s. So, if anyone needs some meat or just wants to try out some new recipes….give me a call.

Anyway, I think I have got enough points stockpiled for a couple of months, so maybe I can slack off for awhile!

Name Change?

I get lots of catalogs and other promotional material here at work and it's not that uncommon for my name to be misspelled. But, the catalog that I got yesterday takes the cake. I apologize for the poor picture quality. I took the picture with my cell phone camera.
It's addressed to: Laci San Juana.....
Really?? San Juana? Where did that come from? That is not even a little bit close...it was good for a laugh, though. Hey, I guess I shouldn't complain too much, they got my first name right!