Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Fall Drive Continuation photos
So my computer was having issues last night and really over the last few days. It is my netbook.. my "Home" vs work computer. I finally got all issues resolved today with it.. (crossing fingers and making funny faces), and so can share some more photos. The other issue I really have is that my connection speed at the temporary "home" is really really horrible. This is why I mainly post during the week, when I can take advantage of better connections speeds.
Without further interruption from me..
Without further interruption from me..
Heading down the pass on the East Side of the Mountains
Walking through The back side of the town
This is just a cute bench outside one of the many cute shops
View towards the festival tents
Some of the buildings there.. EVERYthing is Bavarian Style
Next Post I will share some of the pics from the funny thing that happened while we were in the bar having a drink before heading home.. It was hilarious!!! I should have gotten more pictures of my husband, as he is always a little stunned by surprise things. This was pretty cool!
Ciao for Now!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Fall Leaf Festival Drive
We took the drive on Saturday afternoon because we had bad news on the appraisal. Basically, this one was worse. So... our only two options at this point.. do the work or walk away. We want this property, so we are going to have to do the work and hope that the Bank that is orchastrating this short sale will assist or compensate us with closing costs or something.. anything.
So to take our mind off of the crap.. Hubby and I took a drive over to the festival in Leavenworth. It is only about an hour or so drive from our property, so we thought we could just take a nice drive, go and have a bit of food and a beer and come back. I wanted to take pictures and boy did I! I have tons of them and will share a few of them with you today. I hope to go up to the falls tomorrow morning with Coco and Bella and take some more pictures as well.
So to take our mind off of the crap.. Hubby and I took a drive over to the festival in Leavenworth. It is only about an hour or so drive from our property, so we thought we could just take a nice drive, go and have a bit of food and a beer and come back. I wanted to take pictures and boy did I! I have tons of them and will share a few of them with you today. I hope to go up to the falls tomorrow morning with Coco and Bella and take some more pictures as well.
This is on the West Side of the Pass just past Index
I lurrrve these big Pine Cones... I should have brought some back with me!
At the Pass.. they are supposed to get snow tonight.. WOW
I am having trouble tonight uploading any more images, so I will have to finish this tomorrow.. I don't have a good connection out in the woods
Friday, September 25, 2009
TGIF?
I have been waiting alllllllll day for news that the second appraisal was done and that we have our status that we need to move forward and close. This is the very last thing we need to close on this house. It was supposed to be in this morning.
So far.. 3:09 Pacific Time (PM).. NOTHING yet.
I have to leave in about 40 minutes so I am really really praying that some miracle happens and we hear good news in the next half hour. (I am the eternal optimist)
Tomorrow we are going to head over to Leavenworth for the Fall Festival with Padewan. I think he is {insert sarcasm HERE} excited to go with us.
Below is an image of a street in Leavenworth during the festival.. I sooo cannot wait to capture some shots like this:
Leavenworth is a small Bavarian Themed Town in Eastern WA. We are about an hours drive away. You can check out more cool stuff about Leavenworth HERE.
Enjoy! Have a fabulous Weekend all!
So far.. 3:09 Pacific Time (PM).. NOTHING yet.
I have to leave in about 40 minutes so I am really really praying that some miracle happens and we hear good news in the next half hour. (I am the eternal optimist)
Tomorrow we are going to head over to Leavenworth for the Fall Festival with Padewan. I think he is {insert sarcasm HERE} excited to go with us.
Below is an image of a street in Leavenworth during the festival.. I sooo cannot wait to capture some shots like this:
Enjoy! Have a fabulous Weekend all!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Fall Festival Party
We usually would do Quite a bit to get into the Fall Season and Feather our nest...
Fall Cleaning and organizing, some canning, tons of baking, and I would usually wash and scrub all of my horses summer fly masks and sheets and pads. I also help McGyver get the property winterized and the house ready for winter and stock up on holiday items for baking and treats.
We also like to get in the mood by taking a fall drive. This Saturday, we are going to drive over to Leavenworth. I posted earlier today pictures of our last fall drive. I will post some more in this post.
Here is the first one.. which I modified with an all new signature using Photoshop Elements.
And Here is one from my Flikr page that I added a Signature using Picnik
Which one do you like better?
Be sure to see other ways to Feather your nest and get more ideas from Here and Here
I am off to see all the other great Fall inspirations out there!
This is a Test
I just visited a blog and got a little tutorial (Thanks Alisa) HERE on how to make my photos bigger in Blogger without using the picture icon. I am going to attempt this with a couple of photos from last years fall drive. We are planning a fall drive this Saturday to Leavenworth, WA.. it is the Fall Leaf Festival, so it should be good. Last year we took a drive through the Mountain loop Highway, but it was late when we started, so I didn't get the amount of "Fall Leaf" photos I wanted. I did get some fun shots though, so I will share those. I ended up getting home really late last night so did not get to take the quad out for a spin.. and I was so tired, that I ended up just heading to bed early. I will try and get some photos in the next couple of days though. For now.. here are some last years Fall Drive photos edited in HTML instead of uploaded through Blogger.
Let me know what you think!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Stress relief
I have decided that since I am so tired and burned out from the heavy work stuff and Real Estate stuff.. When I get "home" to the GBNT, I am going to grab my Lumix and head out for some early early fall shots up in the woods on my quad. I haven't ridden in awhile.. but it sure sounds like a good way to spend some time with my camera.
Hubby said he will cook, and I think I will take the Paco boy on a little ride.. I will post some pics tomorrow if I get anything worth sharing.
Ciao'
Hubby said he will cook, and I think I will take the Paco boy on a little ride.. I will post some pics tomorrow if I get anything worth sharing.
Ciao'
Wordless Wednesday
Almost Wordless.. We have a Jack Russell.. Here are a few photos of her going from Tiny Jack to our Peanut Butter Cup
For more great Wordless Wednesday posts.. click HERE!
For more great Wordless Wednesday posts.. click HERE!
Peanut Butter Cup
We have a second Chance
Last night, I helped my Mcgyver husband lay down a new Vinyl floor, and finish up the wall trim in a bedroom. I also cleaned along side our Realtor.
The one bright spot in this crazy journey... our Realtor. She is the mother of a horse trainer I know and she is lovely. I picked her to list our house but more importantly to find us the perfect horse property, as she is the equine property specialist up here. This lady knows where every dry piece of land is in Northern Snohomish County. She is professional, keeps her cool and calm even when I have trouble with mine, and is always in our corner. One of the most impressive things about her, which has endeared her to my DH, who is NOT a fan of most Realtors (he has been burned a couple times in the past by less than competent agents and brokers), is that when you tour a house with her.. she doesn't point out how you can make things work. She waits for your comments and then is non committal. I asked her about this, and she explained that she doesn't want to sway someone either way, that it should be their decision and if they love a house, she won't have to over sell it anyway. I like that. It is something I would do.. let it sell itself.
Her Broker has been wonderful too. If any one in the vicinity of this blog is looking to sell or buy in North Western Washington, I will hook you up. After all we have been through, I am sure glad we have had her!
On to the title of this post. A second Appraiser is coming out today and I am sending many prayers to God to let this turn out in our favor. We worked very hard yesterday and last night to get a floor in, the plumbing repaired, the entire place cleaned (Our Realtor ran errands for us, got us pizza and did all the windows.. like I said.. she is a Rock Star!) Our Youngest handled the touch up painting and some of the extra hands my DH needed. I put in 3/4 of a floor by myself.. Yeah ME! I wish I had the time to take photos.. but if this goes our way.. there will be Tons of before and after photo's to come.
My sister came by and helped me put up the couple of gutters that were off, and when we left last night I had a much better sense of it all working out. The house looked much better, the plumbing is fixed and everything looked much cleaner and had lost the musty vacant-for-over-a-year smell.
McGyver Hubby is going back this am to finish the last of the flooring in the second bedroom and trim and install one more shower head. The appraiser is scheduled to come today in the afternoon, so I really hope that this time it is listed as "average" and we can go and sign papers. Everyone is just waiting on this ONE person to do their appraisal today.. and then we can go and sign.. what a relief that would be. Absolute Joy and Relief.
I have tried very hard to be patient and be positive. I am just running out of both of these things as September comes to a close.
The funny thing is.. as borrowers.. we couldn't be lower risk right now. Both have very good full time jobs, we have a years salary in the bank that is separate from the 10% down and closing costs of this house, we only have one car payment and no credit card debt, no student loans.. no real debt. We pay for our son's college classes out of pocket and we own all of our toys outright. They are not brand new or shiny or fancy.. but they are all paid for. It is just how we live... if we can afford it.. fine.. if we can't we don't. Hubby is a saver and I have slowly been coming around to his way of thinking.. so we save and are careful.. even more so now.
So.. I am going to be patient today and going to remain positive that this appraisal will come back in our favor and by next weekend we will be moving things and playing with a U-Haul.
Then.. I can start working on all of the projects that will make that "average" house into AWESOME!
The one bright spot in this crazy journey... our Realtor. She is the mother of a horse trainer I know and she is lovely. I picked her to list our house but more importantly to find us the perfect horse property, as she is the equine property specialist up here. This lady knows where every dry piece of land is in Northern Snohomish County. She is professional, keeps her cool and calm even when I have trouble with mine, and is always in our corner. One of the most impressive things about her, which has endeared her to my DH, who is NOT a fan of most Realtors (he has been burned a couple times in the past by less than competent agents and brokers), is that when you tour a house with her.. she doesn't point out how you can make things work. She waits for your comments and then is non committal. I asked her about this, and she explained that she doesn't want to sway someone either way, that it should be their decision and if they love a house, she won't have to over sell it anyway. I like that. It is something I would do.. let it sell itself.
Her Broker has been wonderful too. If any one in the vicinity of this blog is looking to sell or buy in North Western Washington, I will hook you up. After all we have been through, I am sure glad we have had her!
On to the title of this post. A second Appraiser is coming out today and I am sending many prayers to God to let this turn out in our favor. We worked very hard yesterday and last night to get a floor in, the plumbing repaired, the entire place cleaned (Our Realtor ran errands for us, got us pizza and did all the windows.. like I said.. she is a Rock Star!) Our Youngest handled the touch up painting and some of the extra hands my DH needed. I put in 3/4 of a floor by myself.. Yeah ME! I wish I had the time to take photos.. but if this goes our way.. there will be Tons of before and after photo's to come.
My sister came by and helped me put up the couple of gutters that were off, and when we left last night I had a much better sense of it all working out. The house looked much better, the plumbing is fixed and everything looked much cleaner and had lost the musty vacant-for-over-a-year smell.
McGyver Hubby is going back this am to finish the last of the flooring in the second bedroom and trim and install one more shower head. The appraiser is scheduled to come today in the afternoon, so I really hope that this time it is listed as "average" and we can go and sign papers. Everyone is just waiting on this ONE person to do their appraisal today.. and then we can go and sign.. what a relief that would be. Absolute Joy and Relief.
I have tried very hard to be patient and be positive. I am just running out of both of these things as September comes to a close.
The funny thing is.. as borrowers.. we couldn't be lower risk right now. Both have very good full time jobs, we have a years salary in the bank that is separate from the 10% down and closing costs of this house, we only have one car payment and no credit card debt, no student loans.. no real debt. We pay for our son's college classes out of pocket and we own all of our toys outright. They are not brand new or shiny or fancy.. but they are all paid for. It is just how we live... if we can afford it.. fine.. if we can't we don't. Hubby is a saver and I have slowly been coming around to his way of thinking.. so we save and are careful.. even more so now.
So.. I am going to be patient today and going to remain positive that this appraisal will come back in our favor and by next weekend we will be moving things and playing with a U-Haul.
Then.. I can start working on all of the projects that will make that "average" house into AWESOME!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
"Fair Condition"
Okay.. so I can't write the really the mean and nasty things I want to say about home mortgage people and real estate and especially appraisers.
How is that for an opening line?
We are in the middle of a house deal.. well.. this is the original house deal that we have now come full circle on.
Let me give you the not so quick and very dirty version.
Last May.. I decided that I wanted to have my horse at home, and that I wanted some room to stretch out. My Darling Husband agreed with the stretching out part.. he wasn't sure he wanted the horse where he would have to gaze upon him on a daily basis, but the financial savings over boarding won him over (not that there really is a substantial savings.. but shhhhhhh). So we decided we would have to sell our house in the burbs across from the Lake to make our dreams of a shop, a house, acreage, and a barn come true.
Everyone told us that it would take awhile for our house to sell and that we would be in a much better position to buy if we sold first. Wow.. was that WRONG (most of the time, that advice is sound).. in our case.. we should have hiked up our price and put in an offer on the house we are trying to close on and waited.. because our house would have sold in a normal amount of time... (3 months) and we would have been still in our house getting ready to move out for only a few weeks.. NOT months..but.. I digress....
So on the market our house went.. we put in an offer on a Short Sale.. and our house sold in 16 days.. we closed on it in the first week of June and moved out to our Recreational property, thinking.. how cool, we can camp out for the 6 weeks this is going to take and relax, enjoy the summer at the property and Paco can swim everyday.. Nice.......
Except that we didn't hear from the Bank.. and we didn't hear from the Bank.. just that it was in Stage III.. whatever that meant... July Came.. we started to get nervous because we wanted to make sure we were in a house by School Starting for young Padewan to start High School. We found another house.. NOT a short sale.. Nice big house, acreage, no shop, no barn, but cheap and we could build the other things. We went through the inspection, the appraisal, we signed papers to close at the escrow/title office on a Wednesday morning.. and Wednesday night.. we got a phone call.. The sellers had changed their mind. It was unthinkable.. how could someone change their mind after we signed papers? They had until Friday at 5pm to get their tushies to the closing office... they never did.. this is an ongoing dilemma we are still having and have retained an attorney to recoup our hard costs. YUCK.
So... onward to another house.. this one a tiny house, but great property, no shop, no fence, no barn.. we were getting a little desperate, but it was even cheaper than the one before.. was not a short sale.. the house was owned outright.. everything seemed in order.. we got 1 week from closing and it turns out there is a boundary line adjustment issue with a family member that will take a minimum of two months to fix and early occupancy is fine but we have to pay rent and can't touch a thing or even put up a temporary fence for the dogs.. We walked from that deal...
Not to mention that we had found our dream house.. and I am not kidding.. Big Shop, Beautiful Big Tri Level house, 3 miles from my little sister, with gorgeous pastures, a barn, a huge garden, big beautiful shade trees and an orchard that was unbelievable.. and.. it was totally in our price range. We put an offer in.. but there was already a signed around Contingent offer.. and they only had 48 hours to sell their house and remove the contingency.. NO PROBLEM we thought.. NO one sells their house in 2 days.. Ummm.. you must not have met us with our Horrible Real Estate Luck... They sold their house and STOLE our dream house.. It SUCKS.
So while I was sobbing and screaming and throwing things.. our Agent wanted to show us the "cutest place" with room for The Horse Beast. OKAY.. here we go again.. Chin up and all...
The place.. ummmm not even going to go there.. It was a bust.. and while we were there our Agent mentioned that we did have the acceptance letter now from the bank on the FIRST house we put an offer in. We talked about it and said.. What the hell.. that place has a house, almost 5 acres, a HUGE shop (like almost bigger than the house big shop), a 4 stall barn with tack room and a covered.. yep.. I said Covered Arena.
It also needs a fair amount of work to make it into the fabulous place we envision.. but it can be done. The rambler needs mostly cosmetic fixes and it does have a new roof.
So we get everything done on this house as far as paperwork.. and we get to the end.. again... and The appraiser only calls it "Fair".. It has to be at least "average" for the bank to loan on it.
Really? I have prayed and prayed for things to work out. I don't know why this appraiser has to be the pickiest and craziest appraiser around and why we have to draw this particular one. So as I get ready to head over to said house with my Hubby's saws and cords and garbage bags and cleaning supplies and paint.. I am hoping that God really is in my corner and will see this through with us.
I am crossing my fingers that the new appraisal we ordered comes with a new appraiser... and we can get that "average" that we are looking for.
I will keep this updated as we go along this week.. and if you made it to here.. WOW.. THANK YOU and here is a nice picture for your reward
This is a moon shot from my old backyard..
How is that for an opening line?
We are in the middle of a house deal.. well.. this is the original house deal that we have now come full circle on.
Let me give you the not so quick and very dirty version.
Last May.. I decided that I wanted to have my horse at home, and that I wanted some room to stretch out. My Darling Husband agreed with the stretching out part.. he wasn't sure he wanted the horse where he would have to gaze upon him on a daily basis, but the financial savings over boarding won him over (not that there really is a substantial savings.. but shhhhhhh). So we decided we would have to sell our house in the burbs across from the Lake to make our dreams of a shop, a house, acreage, and a barn come true.
Everyone told us that it would take awhile for our house to sell and that we would be in a much better position to buy if we sold first. Wow.. was that WRONG (most of the time, that advice is sound).. in our case.. we should have hiked up our price and put in an offer on the house we are trying to close on and waited.. because our house would have sold in a normal amount of time... (3 months) and we would have been still in our house getting ready to move out for only a few weeks.. NOT months..but.. I digress....
So on the market our house went.. we put in an offer on a Short Sale.. and our house sold in 16 days.. we closed on it in the first week of June and moved out to our Recreational property, thinking.. how cool, we can camp out for the 6 weeks this is going to take and relax, enjoy the summer at the property and Paco can swim everyday.. Nice.......
Except that we didn't hear from the Bank.. and we didn't hear from the Bank.. just that it was in Stage III.. whatever that meant... July Came.. we started to get nervous because we wanted to make sure we were in a house by School Starting for young Padewan to start High School. We found another house.. NOT a short sale.. Nice big house, acreage, no shop, no barn, but cheap and we could build the other things. We went through the inspection, the appraisal, we signed papers to close at the escrow/title office on a Wednesday morning.. and Wednesday night.. we got a phone call.. The sellers had changed their mind. It was unthinkable.. how could someone change their mind after we signed papers? They had until Friday at 5pm to get their tushies to the closing office... they never did.. this is an ongoing dilemma we are still having and have retained an attorney to recoup our hard costs. YUCK.
So... onward to another house.. this one a tiny house, but great property, no shop, no fence, no barn.. we were getting a little desperate, but it was even cheaper than the one before.. was not a short sale.. the house was owned outright.. everything seemed in order.. we got 1 week from closing and it turns out there is a boundary line adjustment issue with a family member that will take a minimum of two months to fix and early occupancy is fine but we have to pay rent and can't touch a thing or even put up a temporary fence for the dogs.. We walked from that deal...
Not to mention that we had found our dream house.. and I am not kidding.. Big Shop, Beautiful Big Tri Level house, 3 miles from my little sister, with gorgeous pastures, a barn, a huge garden, big beautiful shade trees and an orchard that was unbelievable.. and.. it was totally in our price range. We put an offer in.. but there was already a signed around Contingent offer.. and they only had 48 hours to sell their house and remove the contingency.. NO PROBLEM we thought.. NO one sells their house in 2 days.. Ummm.. you must not have met us with our Horrible Real Estate Luck... They sold their house and STOLE our dream house.. It SUCKS.
So while I was sobbing and screaming and throwing things.. our Agent wanted to show us the "cutest place" with room for The Horse Beast. OKAY.. here we go again.. Chin up and all...
The place.. ummmm not even going to go there.. It was a bust.. and while we were there our Agent mentioned that we did have the acceptance letter now from the bank on the FIRST house we put an offer in. We talked about it and said.. What the hell.. that place has a house, almost 5 acres, a HUGE shop (like almost bigger than the house big shop), a 4 stall barn with tack room and a covered.. yep.. I said Covered Arena.
It also needs a fair amount of work to make it into the fabulous place we envision.. but it can be done. The rambler needs mostly cosmetic fixes and it does have a new roof.
So we get everything done on this house as far as paperwork.. and we get to the end.. again... and The appraiser only calls it "Fair".. It has to be at least "average" for the bank to loan on it.
Really? I have prayed and prayed for things to work out. I don't know why this appraiser has to be the pickiest and craziest appraiser around and why we have to draw this particular one. So as I get ready to head over to said house with my Hubby's saws and cords and garbage bags and cleaning supplies and paint.. I am hoping that God really is in my corner and will see this through with us.
I am crossing my fingers that the new appraisal we ordered comes with a new appraiser... and we can get that "average" that we are looking for.
I will keep this updated as we go along this week.. and if you made it to here.. WOW.. THANK YOU and here is a nice picture for your reward
Monday, September 21, 2009
Menu Plan Monday.. First time for everything
I love Menu Plans. Most of the time though, something happens and I don't complete what I plan for the week. I am going to see if we can execute a menu plan.. and to keep me on track I have decided to link up with I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday
We are still in the Trailer.. We are very close to being able to close on the first house we bid on back in May. I will post on that in the next couple of days as I am still fearful of jinxing this..
Okay.. so on to Menu Plan Monday
Monday: (Tonight)
Cheeseburger Macaroni
Cooked Corn
Leftover Biscuits
Tuesday:
Baked Chicken Tenders with BBQ sauce
Macaroni and Cheese
Cooked Carrots
Wednesday:
Beef Burritos
Rice
Thursday:
Tuna Casserole
Garlic Bread
Green Beans
Friday:
Leftovers and hopefully starting to move out
Saturday:
Pizza (Take out) since I am still hoping to be moving
Sunday:
Rotisserie Chicken
Roasted Potatos
Salad
Rolls
Corn on the cob
This is my plan... and I really really hope that I stick to it.. for more reasons that wanting to follow the plan.
Lunches will be made each day this week as well and some of the things we will be having:
Ham and cheese wraps (today and Wednesday) My son's Favorite lunch item
Roast Beef and Chedder Hoagies (Tuesday)
Tuna Sandwiches on Hoagies
I hope you check out more of the menu plans out there, I know that I did and WOW I am impressed with the creativity and planning skills that some of you have!
Here is my Monday photo :
This is a picture of my Son Rowing.. it was his first season this last year and he fell in love with the sport. As soon as we are moved and settled he will be joining up again with his team in Lake Stevens. It is awesome to watch these boys glide across the water.. and it improved his fitness and also really helped his dirtbike riding for endurance and upper body strength!
Enjoy!
We are still in the Trailer.. We are very close to being able to close on the first house we bid on back in May. I will post on that in the next couple of days as I am still fearful of jinxing this..
Okay.. so on to Menu Plan Monday
Monday: (Tonight)
Cheeseburger Macaroni
Cooked Corn
Leftover Biscuits
Tuesday:
Baked Chicken Tenders with BBQ sauce
Macaroni and Cheese
Cooked Carrots
Wednesday:
Beef Burritos
Rice
Thursday:
Tuna Casserole
Garlic Bread
Green Beans
Friday:
Leftovers and hopefully starting to move out
Saturday:
Pizza (Take out) since I am still hoping to be moving
Sunday:
Rotisserie Chicken
Roasted Potatos
Salad
Rolls
Corn on the cob
This is my plan... and I really really hope that I stick to it.. for more reasons that wanting to follow the plan.
Lunches will be made each day this week as well and some of the things we will be having:
Ham and cheese wraps (today and Wednesday) My son's Favorite lunch item
Roast Beef and Chedder Hoagies (Tuesday)
Tuna Sandwiches on Hoagies
I hope you check out more of the menu plans out there, I know that I did and WOW I am impressed with the creativity and planning skills that some of you have!
Here is my Monday photo :
This is a picture of my Son Rowing.. it was his first season this last year and he fell in love with the sport. As soon as we are moved and settled he will be joining up again with his team in Lake Stevens. It is awesome to watch these boys glide across the water.. and it improved his fitness and also really helped his dirtbike riding for endurance and upper body strength!
Enjoy!
Happy Monday all!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Foodie Friday
I am participating in
Foodie Friday Hosted by the Great Designs by Gollum. Be sure to check out all of the fabulous participants!
I grew up eating Braunschweiger. Some call it liverwurst. I was always told it was Braunschweiger and we ate it on crackers or just cut us a slab and ate it. Liverwurst just never sounded as appealing to me. Many years ago, a really great guy and a great friend introduced me to a sandwich. This is a sandwich that would change my opinion of things.. it rocked my world.. It made me salivate and for Liverwurst??? Really? Yes. I make this sandwich when I want something to eat that is filling, and fabulous and makes me happy.. sooo happy. It takes a little preparation and the recipe below is for two sandwiches.. so you can increase or cut in half if you are the only eater. I always make two even for myself.. it is that good.
This recipe is one that is definatly different and it is something that I absolutely love. My family doesn't care for it as much as I do and some of my friends, but try it and you just might find that you love it too!
You will need:
4 Large Slices of Good Sourdough Bread
1 small package of Liverwurst or Braunschweiger
1 Small head of Romaine Lettuce
1/2 Yellow Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4 oz Cream Cheese ( I use a little bit more.. like about 5-6oz for two sandwiches) room temp
1/2 stick Butter or Margerine... ( I use Butter)
Now for the directions:
I roughly chop the onion... Not Huge.. but not a dice either. I also mince the garlic at this time. Next you want to mix the garlic with the cream cheese in a small bowl and set it aside. Next I chop some Romaine.. I like a bit of Romaine on mine.. and I like mine Sliced.. if you like chopped, then chop, if you like sliced, then slice. Whole leaves just don't have the same texture for this sandwich.... so Slice and or Chop. Set this aside. Melt the Butter in a nice skillet or saute pan. Throw the onions in and let them cook a bit. I like them soft and a little browned.. Not caramelized completely, just a little browned and soft and yummy! While those are cooking away, Slice up some of the Braunschweiger. I use about 4 slices for each sandwich. I lay all eight slices on a cookie sheet and place in the oven to Broil. You have to watch these puppies.. I broil for about 3 minutes on each side.. enough to get them sizzling and enough to crisp them up.. it may take 3-5 minutes per side.. just watch them so they don't burn. I also Broil my Sourdough Bread. Doesn't matter if you Broil the bread to toast it before or after the Braunschweiger, just make sure it gets toasty on both sides.
Once you have the Braunschweiger cooked, the bread toasted and the onions are cooked and softened.. it is time for assembly. Oh the Assembly.. Oh by now I can hardly contain myself.. it is soooo good!
Take your Sourdough Toast.. and slather the Cream Cheese garlic mixture on each piece.. then add some of those onions on one side.. then the Braunschweiger on top of the onion, then the Romain on top of that.. stick those two pieces of bread together, slice and DEVOUR! Oh Lord these are good.. and I am going to make this this weekend.. then I can post some pictures.. Hmmmmmm NUMMY.
Enjoy! and be sure to check out the other great links and recipes!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Comments Restored
Sharon over at Good True and Beautiful, alerted me that my comments were not working.. THANK YOU! I have now fixed them.. so hopefully people can now comment.
That is all.. Back to regularly scheduled programming.. coming later of course.. because now I have to get back to work.. the one that pays me.. and I am under serious deadline right now..
Ta ta... and here is another Barn Picture.. One of the ones I really like.
I called it Sunshine on my Shoulder.. this is one of the Rescue horses that was adopted out this year.. he is wonderful.. and if you want to ever support a Horse Rescue.. we have two of the best here.. SAFE
and People Helping Horses.. This picture was taken at PHH.. which is where we were boarding this last year until I got the notion to bring Beau home.
Here you go.. let me know what you think!
That is all.. Back to regularly scheduled programming.. coming later of course.. because now I have to get back to work.. the one that pays me.. and I am under serious deadline right now..
Ta ta... and here is another Barn Picture.. One of the ones I really like.
I called it Sunshine on my Shoulder.. this is one of the Rescue horses that was adopted out this year.. he is wonderful.. and if you want to ever support a Horse Rescue.. we have two of the best here.. SAFE
and People Helping Horses.. This picture was taken at PHH.. which is where we were boarding this last year until I got the notion to bring Beau home.
Here you go.. let me know what you think!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Yeah I finally won an award! Thanks to Southern Queen Bee over at http://southernqueenbee.blogspot.com/, she has awarded with me an award...the Honest Scrap Award. Make sure to drop by and check out her blog! She is one of my favorites!
Here are the rules..
1.) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2.) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.
3.) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4.) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.
The 10 honest things about myself.. I know this will be the hardest part.
1. I read even when I should be doing other things. Reading is my biggest pleasure and my biggest time waster.
2. I have not ridden my horse in two months and I am feeling really guilty about it.
3. I was allergic to anything that tasted good until I was 17. My first taste of chocolate was at my Dad's place of work.. the dairy.
4. I am an orphan now, and miss my parents horribly.
5. I was a widow at 30 and only remarried two years ago but still miss my late husband.
6. I love the smell of coffee even more than I like the taste
7. I cheated on my confirmation test with three other girls and got caught by my grandmother in the bathroom of the church.. How humiliating.. we were 14 at the time.
8. I wanted to go to boarding school in Kentucky with my horse but my parents said no.. so I was heartbroken.
9. I love to write, but I am not very skilled at it.
10. I read other peoples blogs much more than I ever post on mine and wish I had half the talent of the 7 I have chosen..
Enjoy and Please remember to visit Missy at Southern Queen Bee and these FABULOUS others I have listed below!
http://www.vanderbiltwife.com/
http://thepottingshed-anythinggoeshere.blogspot.com/
http://dressagerider.wordpress.com/
http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/
http://www.goodtrueandbeautiful.com/
http://happynester.blogspot.com/
http://ablogintherough.blogspot.com/
I finally finished this post.. I was very busy with work the last couple of days.. and will be for the rest of the week.. and then.. stay tuned.. the real estate drama is almost over.. and I shall have a covered arena when we are all finished!
Thank you again to Missy for giving me the award.. now I am off to let the wonderful seven above know about the award I have passed on to them!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Bubba Started High School
No real news on the Real Estate Front.. Well there is actually but I am trying not to jinx things by talking about it.. sooo.. since we are ever all consumed with that topic these days.. and I am really trying to focus on something other than the fact that three months later, summer is over and my youngest has gone back to school while living in the trailer.. NOT what we had imagined!
Back to school.... he is in 9th Grade. This is where things start to count. Really count. The fact that my baby is now in high school is really kind of freaking me out. I have a grown child and one in high school.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?????? I swear I have been paying attention. I don't feel old enough to have these boys who are now almost men... How can I reconcile that I still feel like I am playing at being a grown up sometimes and the fact that one of my babies is now a "grown up".. only in the legal sense.. otherwise he is still a clueless teenager.
Beautiful boys.. How I wish they were still little. I will have to post my favorite pictures of them soon.. but alas.. everything that is not digital is still in storage.. so for now.. I will have to post a couple of pictures of them that I like..
Back to school.... he is in 9th Grade. This is where things start to count. Really count. The fact that my baby is now in high school is really kind of freaking me out. I have a grown child and one in high school.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?????? I swear I have been paying attention. I don't feel old enough to have these boys who are now almost men... How can I reconcile that I still feel like I am playing at being a grown up sometimes and the fact that one of my babies is now a "grown up".. only in the legal sense.. otherwise he is still a clueless teenager.
Beautiful boys.. How I wish they were still little. I will have to post my favorite pictures of them soon.. but alas.. everything that is not digital is still in storage.. so for now.. I will have to post a couple of pictures of them that I like..
Paco pillow fighting with the camera
Cody playing the guitar at my wedding a couple of years ago
Handsome man!
I really miss them being little, but I love the people they are becoming.. dumb teenage stuff and all.
High School will be interesting with the youngest.. he is VERY different from his brother.. and when I need to snuggle a little one.. I still have the bug:
Happy Thursday.. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good news today.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Back to square one
We lost out on the dream house. I should have seen this coming from a mile away, but dang it.. I really thought that this was the house and that it was put in our path because we have been so patient and good and we would be rewarded with our dream house...
It is not happening. I am so close to tears this morning.. I am tired of living in a trailer, and I am really tired of looking at houses and imaging my things there and making a life with that house and it is yanked away.
Today is a crap day.. no other words to describe it.. It is just CRAP.
Hopefully it will get better.
It is not happening. I am so close to tears this morning.. I am tired of living in a trailer, and I am really tired of looking at houses and imaging my things there and making a life with that house and it is yanked away.
Today is a crap day.. no other words to describe it.. It is just CRAP.
Hopefully it will get better.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Tuesday.. Today is the day
Today I am on pins and needles.
Today we find out if we "bumped" a contingent offer on a house
Today I will find out if I can move into as near of our dream house as possible on our budget.
Today I am going to be a little bit busy with work, which will help to keep me off of those pins and needles as much as possible.
I don't want to talk too much about this house.. I am being very very cautious with my optimism this time. We have had too many dissapointments with real estate to be overly excited.
I will say this though.. this house has everything on my list that is important...
1. Acerage for the horse
2. Fenced completely around
3. Beautiful HUGE Garden
4. Beautiful HUGE Orchard
5. NO work to be done on the house to make it livable
6. Big Comfortable living Spaces
7. Location, Location, Location
8. McGyver doesn't have to lift a finger if he doesn't want to
9. It has stuff for EVERYONE
10. Two Pantries.. TWO! And Cupboards Everywhere.. Ohhhh the storage in this house is so plentiful..
So.. that is all I am going to say on this subject for now.. I am off to pray, Cross my fingers, hop on one foot while turning in a circle, throw some salt over my shoulder, find a four leaf clover, and visit the local spellcaster to see what I can bury or chant to improve our chances here.
Until tomorrow.. when I will post to wordless Wednesday the outcome of today.
Today we find out if we "bumped" a contingent offer on a house
Today I will find out if I can move into as near of our dream house as possible on our budget.
Today I am going to be a little bit busy with work, which will help to keep me off of those pins and needles as much as possible.
I don't want to talk too much about this house.. I am being very very cautious with my optimism this time. We have had too many dissapointments with real estate to be overly excited.
I will say this though.. this house has everything on my list that is important...
1. Acerage for the horse
2. Fenced completely around
3. Beautiful HUGE Garden
4. Beautiful HUGE Orchard
5. NO work to be done on the house to make it livable
6. Big Comfortable living Spaces
7. Location, Location, Location
8. McGyver doesn't have to lift a finger if he doesn't want to
9. It has stuff for EVERYONE
10. Two Pantries.. TWO! And Cupboards Everywhere.. Ohhhh the storage in this house is so plentiful..
So.. that is all I am going to say on this subject for now.. I am off to pray, Cross my fingers, hop on one foot while turning in a circle, throw some salt over my shoulder, find a four leaf clover, and visit the local spellcaster to see what I can bury or chant to improve our chances here.
Until tomorrow.. when I will post to wordless Wednesday the outcome of today.
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