Monday Madness!!

Happy Monday!!!! 

So this morning I wake up at D's to see that I have about 4-5 inches of snow covering my car!  I have a FABULOUS car starter, so I started my car with it and then let my dog Zoey outside for one last time before I head out to work.  I get my stuff all together - put my phone in my purse, put my Ipod in my purse, grab some food for dinner & head out to remove all the snow from my car!  I get to my car and sit in the passenger side door to put my boots on and put the key in the ignition so I can run the wipers & get my seat warmers warming!  I start by scrapping the passenger side windows, the hood, the drivers side and then onto the trunk.  I open the drivers side door and pop the trunk.  Then I had to grab 2 for sale signs out of D's garage.  I try to get one in the trunk but it was too long so I had to lay the back seat down.  So I then open up the drivers side back door & lay the back seat down.  I then proceed to get the 2nd sign from the garage and put that in my trunk.  FINALLY, I'm ready to go to work.  I grab my scraper & try to get in my car and what do I find - the doors, yes all 4 are locked!  AHHHH - How on earth did this happen?  I still now don't know and am still confused!   

So here is a picture of where my locks are located - as you can see they are on the side panel - so you would understand why I'm baffled by this incident.

So to make matters worse I now have no phone to call a locksmith because it's in my purse in my car!!!  So what do I do????  I go to D's computer and think I might be able to email a locksmith - or if I can find an address drive there - that is if I can find D's extra set of keys, because his truck was home, he carpooled with 2 other guys.  I look up Litchfield locksmiths and there's only 2 and one is way out in the middle of nowhere & the other is the guys home.  I decide to email my Mom as she should be at work & checks her email regularly.  I'm thinking she should be able to call a locksmith for me.  So i email her & sit & wait for a response back, after not getting one, I am starting to panic - ahh I have a full tank of gas, what am I going to do, how long can my car run without a problem!  It's just after 9:00 now - this all started about 8:30!  I think if I email Dave he'll be on his 9:00 break and get my message!   Nope - nothing!  I try to text him from my computer a ton of times in a row - hoping to get his attention and still nothing!  Email Mom again - nothing!  I finally decide I have no other option but try to see if I can find a pay phone in town.  I head to the library first - not even open yet.  Then I figure I better start checking gas stations.  Super America is the closest I go in & ask if they have a pay phone - nope!  However, the very nice clerk said that the HHS building right behind them had one in their entry! HALLELUJAH!   I head over there with a pocket full of quarters and start making calls. 

On a side note in case you are wondering - it costs 50 cents per phone call now!

So I call the 1st company, no answer.  Call the second company - no answer, but they have a cell phone number.  Call the cell phone - no answer.  Look in the phone book for someone else - nope, nobody unless I want to call someone from Willmar and I don't want to pay that bill.  For that price I was thinking I'd drive home to Raymond & get my extra set of keys!  So I try the first guy again and was going to leave him a message - thank goodness he answers!!!!!!!!!!  However, he is a long ways away he tells me - he was very nice and apologetic about it.  But did give me another guys name to call - Gary's Towing of Litchfield.  He answered & he could come over!  Thank you so much!  So he said he'd be right over!  He actually was so quick he beat me back to D's house!  5 minutes later my car was opened & my Monday morning madness was over!

Thank goodness for locksmiths!

Book Review: Save The Date

I just finished reviewing the book  Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones.  Thomas Nelson Publishing provided this book for me in exchange for my review!

When Alex and Lucy pick out wedding invitations, they wonder if they can be printed in vanishing ink.  Former NFL star Alex Sinclair is a man who has it all--except the votes he needs to win his bid for Congress. Despite their mutual dislike, Alex makes Lucy a proposition: pose as his fiancée in return for the money she desperately needs. Bound to a man who isn't quite what he seems, Lucy will find her heart on the line--and maybe even her life. When God asks Alex and Lucy to scrap their playbook and follow his rules, will they finally say, "I do"?

I did struggle getting into this book the first few chapters.  It seemed it wasn't going to catch my attention.  But then - WOW - I got into it and couldn't put the book down!  The story was funny, entertaining, mysterious & captivating at the same time there was so much self-exploration and healing going on.  It was a very heart warming and moving story.  It made you look at your own life and what you could let go!  I liked that you never really knew which way the characters were going to go, it kept you interested & kept you reading the entire way through!  I am normally not a big Chick-Lit fan - but this book did it for me and would get me to pick up another Jenny B Jones book - she did a great job getting all the characters to come together and be entertwined while they all learned something about themselves!  

My Score for this book is 4 out of 5 because I felt it was slow getting into!

Tuscan Chicken Simmer Recipe

Check out this recipe - this looks REALLY good!

What You Need

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

4 oz.  (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup  pesto

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes

1 cup  KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend

Make It

HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cover. Cook 5 to 7 min. on each side or until done (165ºF). Remove chicken from skillet; cover to keep warm.
ADD cream cheese, water, pesto and tomatoes to skillet. Cook, uncovered, on medium heat 2 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
RETURN chicken to skillet. Cook and stir 1 min. or until chicken is coated and heated through. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Tuscan Chicken Simmer Recipe

Tuscan Chicken Simmer recipe

It's a Sunday Miracle!!

Alright I am the first to admit it - I can't cook without a recipe!  If I have a recipe I am good to go, ok so sometimes I don't slow down and take the time to read the whole thing before starting!  However, I can bake ANYTHING!  Recently, I have made a dragon cake and a fish bowl cake - seen below!  So I was very proud of myself when I made a meal this weekend with no help from anyone, no recipe, nobody to touch the meat - nothing.  Yup - raw meat also bothers me a bit!  However, I did it and I am proud of myself - it was a small thing to a lot of people but to me - WOO HOO! 

Some Me Time!

Because of my "Winter Widow" status I like to take some community ed classes.  They are a great way to get out of the house, have some me time and meet new people!  Tonight I am trying a Yoga, Tai-Chi, Meditation class that I am very excited about.  I've done a couple of different community ed yoga classes before and really enjoy those and am really looking forward to the Tai-Chi - Mediation part of this class!  The class is being offered through Willmar Community Ed http://www.willmarcer.com/ and they are offering 4 of these courses, I have signed up for one and if I enjoy it plan on taking the others!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited for this class!  Plus with it being -15 below on my way to work this morning and now snowing I need something relaxing to do!

I wish this beach is where I was doing my yoga!!!

Sisterly Love!

Can you tell who is who?!  This is my sister Jen on the left and me on the right.  A week or so before Christmas my sisters and I went shopping in St Cloud and all 3 of us bought this exact same out fit.  We joked we'd all wear it for Christmas - so Jen had her out fit on, I came home and put mine on - but Sarah decided she didn't want to be quite that matchy, matchy - so it was just the two of us.  Then wouldn't you know it mom thought she was funny and bought us the exact same slippers!!!!!!  Love it!!! 

So they came back!

So on Monday all the guys from the snowmobile trip came home and everyone was in piece.  The snowmobiles are a whole other story!  I still to this day don't understand the thrill of driving 19 hours to ride snowmobiles that you have to work on over and over again and that seem to break A LOT! 

So they got home on Monday afternoon and I went to Daves to see him.  We went to get some supper come back and the next thing I know is he's on the phone with one of the guys from the trip!  You would just think that after spending 20+ hours in a truck with someone that, that would be more than enough time with them.  Apparently not!  I hate to be "that girl" but I was!  I just stared at him like are you kidding me?!  He did get off the phone as quickly as he could which I did appreciate - but come on!

They tell me they are going on another trip - but Russ - the roommate isn't allowed with unfortunately because he doesn't want to listen when they try to help him.  We'll see if they all go on another trip - one down and everyone is home safe - but two trips means fixing snowmobiles, including 2 possibly that were totaled - one that needs a brand new track and other minor parts fixed!!!!

Snow in 49 out of the 50 States?!

Wordless Wednesday

Here's a view from my office!  I get to look at this everyday (there's a lake over there - can you see it?!)! 
However it's -4 today - doesn't this just look cold!

Life is like Coffee Movie

Life is like Coffee Movie: "Do you know people that just seem to be happier in general? Do you say to yourself, "I want to be more like them"? Often, the happiest people in the world don’t have the best of everything...they just make the best of everything!"

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - Paris (Ooh La La)

How it all began!

I thought I'd give you the background on how this whole idea came about! 

So I've been dating Dave a LONG time!  When I first started dating him he played softball ALL summer long, he'd drive an hour one way just to go home & play with some high school friends (I once was a summer single).  Then as time went on and gas got expensive ( he drives a 3/4 ton truck) he realized he could play in the town he lives in!  So he started to play ball there but at least it wasn't every night of the week and the games were in the area!

At some point in time he decided he wanted to snowmobile - who knew what an obsession that would become!  He bought a brand new snowmobile - and has to Mod it out! I know way TOO much snowmobile terminology.  So he had this snowmobile and every year since then he goes on 1-3 trips a winter to snowmobile.  Now they don't just drive an hour or two north - they drive for  HOURS to get to the mountains!  Now this year they went to Idaho.  Each year seems like I see him less and less in the winter and am lucky to get to spend an hour of uninterrupted time with him on the weekends.  (We live about 45 minutes apart so I usually go there on Friday-Sunday).  During the week I am used to not seeing him but on the weekends it has started to drive me a bit crazy, I'll admit it!  So this year I bought a new/used car and the same day Dave bought another snowmobile - aghhhhh!  That's a lot of money in one day!  So needless to say this new snowmobile needed all kinds of work done to it to make it mountain worthy.  He not only works on his snowmobile, but his friends as well - I do love that about him, but at the same time it frustrates me.

So over Christmas I figured we could have one day without snowmobile talk or phone calls - nope not even on Christmas were we able to go without him making calls about snowmobiles.  On the way back to his house after Christmas Dinner at my Grandma's house we were driving back and he was texting and discussing snowmobiling when I finally said we only have about 20 minutes before we get home can we go the rest of the time talking about anything but snowmobiling.  Yes, this does bother him at first but then he realizes it's going to be ok!  However, about 5 minutes after I said that I then commented on how great the snow in the ditch would be for riding!  Now I am used to New Years being taken up by this hobby but not Christmas.  Then on New Years he was on the phone with Derek his friend that goes with on the trips when in the background his wife says "I thought we were going to go one day without those phone calls."   Then the weekend they were getting ready to go Dave went to help Jared do some work on his snowmobile and some other guys stuff and apparently his girlfriend said she was in desperate need of some girl time and that's sort of how this "Winter Widow" idea all came about. 

I know there are several ladies out there that are in the same/similar situation I am in and realized we can be there for each other! 

P!NK - F***in' Perfect (Clean Version)

I just had to share this song!  Dave renewed my XM subscription for my car as my Christmas present and I love that I can finally listen to new music again! 

They left yesterday!

So Dave & all of his snowmobile buddies left yesterday to drive from Minnesota all the way to Island Park, Idaho just to snowmobile.  I don't understand this passion for snowmobiling!  It seems crazy to me to drive over 18 hours to ride a snowmobile all day long to then go back to the house they are renting only to be so sore you can barely move. Then they get up and do this all over again for the next 5 days in a row!  I guess if they enjoy it, that's all that matters, right?!

What is a Winter Widow???

First off I'd like to say this is my first attempt at blogging - YEAH ME!  I have been reading some amazing blogs out there and was inspired to give it a try when I realized I was a Winter Widow!

Does your husband, boyfriend, or significant other have a winter hobby or job that leaves you wondering if you two are actually a couple or if he is just a nice guy you have a meal with once in a while? Then you are a "Winter Widow."

For you ladies who  are saying - "Wait I have a man that leaves me alone all summer" don't worry I haven't forgotten about you!  You are known as "Summer Singles"!