Random

What I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Going to school- 7th grade, I think.
2. Doing homework
3. Hating school- 7th grade, I think.
4. Hating homework
5. Babysitting

Things on my to-do list:
1. Clean the house
2. Do a load of laundry, or 2
3. Return Annie's yucky food
4. Call Aunt Sue for a recipe
5. Get Christmas music for work

Snacks that I enjoy:
1. Fruit
2. Goldfish
3. Wheat Thins
4. Cheese, Tillamook
5. Ice Cream

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. ADOPT!
2. Get our food storage
3. Donate
4. Buy Cory a new truck
5. Invest

5 places I've lived:
1. Fremont, CA
2. Vancouver, WA
3. Provo, UT
4. Goodyear, AZ
5. Mesa, AZ

Jobs I've had:
1. #1 Nanny for the Fieldings
2. Regal Cinemas
3. Dr. Anderson's office
4. Barry Family Dental Group
5. AZ Pediatric Dental Care

5 People I Tag:
1. Karri
2. Jason
3. Kathrin
4. Katie
5. Lori

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
To participate, just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (hopefully some day soon!)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (does Scottsdale count?)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (only because we thought I couldn't)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (don't tell mom!)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

Another picture from the resident chef:

.. stop looking so confused,

it's mashed potatoes and gravy.

Soup-less Soup

Another picture from the resident chef:

Chicken.. check. Noodle.. check. Soup.. ?????

The case of the run-away soup has not yet been solved. Authorities report the soup was last seen in the pot with the noodles before the veggies and chicken were added. It is important to remain calm; the chicken and the noodles are not in any danger of loosing their delicious-ness, they are still edible, and even quite scrumptious, without the soup.

Little and BIG Greatfuls

I guess I've really felt like getting into the spirit of Thanksgiving this year because this last week I have been making an effort to appreciate the little things in life. My little things have ranged from coming home to a moldy-pumpkin-free porch, or a clean front yard as I like to call it, down to listening to the birds chirping while taking Annie for more walks. I know it sounds like a scene from Snow White; enjoying nature while listening to the enchanting song of birds. I promise there was no singing along with the birds, and there was absolutely no prancing through the woods, it just made me happy to hear their little chirps. I was also grateful for things such as ice cubes, commas, dishes in the dishwasher and not the sink, and my pillow, although I've always had a deep affection for my pillow. I could keep listing all my little things, but I'm sure it would become obnoxious by the time I started on my Tuesday gratefuls, and I don't even want to know what everyone would be thinking of me by the time I got to Saturday. So I'll just end my little thing gratefuls here.

This week we got new carpet in our 2nd bedroom. This was not mentioned on my little things gratefuls list because this is a B-I-G grateful. We needed this new carpet because of Sage; our first attempt at dog-parenting. You see, she would often confuse our 2nd bedroom with the bathroom, making it necessary for us to replace the carpet after only 1 year and 8 months. Such are the woe's of parenting, sigh.

A picture from the resident chef:

It was a lazy night.

Halloween

For some strange reason I've always loved Halloween, and it's not because of all the candy that's involved. I'd like to think that my fondness for a holiday runs deeper than just chocolate. It's probably because I love fall. I love walking outside and feeling the crispness in the air, watching the leaves fall, pulling out jackets, scarves, and long sleeved shirts. And even though I failed to get any decorations related to Halloween or Autumn up this year I did manage to carve a pumpkin. However, I refuse to post a picture of it. Not out of embarrassment of my lack of artistic abilities; I was able to overcome that problem by using a handy pumpkin carving template, and I think it's one of my best carvings every actually. I, once again, was not fast enough getting the camera out, and sadly my lone Halloween decoration began to mold and rot before I could document it's beauty. I will not force you to look at something so disgusting; I would only do such a thing to my neighbors who are still being subjected to it sitting on our porch. (I'm trying to think of a good way to convince Cory that he wants the privilege of throwing it away, because I don't even want to touch it.)

Despite having a decomposing pile of pumpkin on our porch, and some slightly unhappy neighbors, my Halloween spirit was not dampened, and we celebrated Halloween to it's fullest. I started off the evening by stopping by my parent's to see the nephews in their costumes, and helping Mom bake some cinnamon rolls. After that I drove out to go trick-or-treating with the nieces and nephew in Goodyear. I should add that this drive included me almost running out of gas, unable to find a civilized gas station during rush hour traffic, and ending up at a gas station in the heart of Phoenix that had some.. let's just say.. disreputable looking gentlemen around it. Fortunately nothing came of this adventure other than a full tank of gas, and a creepy Halloween story. After trick-or-treating with the kids I headed home, and got their right as Cory got off work. My Halloween enthusiasm was still going strong, and we decided to go to the corn maze at Schnepf Farms. It wasn't until we were surrounded by corn that I became aware we were in a "haunted" corn maze, and although it definitely added another frightening experience to my Halloween, I prefer "un-haunted" corn mazes. But now that I'm in the safety of my own home, with nothing but a rotten pumpkin to scare me, I have to admit it was pretty exciting to have such a scary night.

Our Week of Dinners, A Missionary, and A One of A Kind Birthday Celebration

So it has taken me a few weeks to post it, but here it comes.. our week of dinners!

Sunday was family dinner with my family- Roast Beef, Potaotes, Carrots, Homemade Bread, and of course.. KoolAid. (delicious.. and easy because I didn't have to make it!) Sorry.. no pictures.

Monday was family dinner with Cory's family (at Cafe Rio.. yum) to celebrate Casey coming home from the W-A (my home state)- I had their bean burrito, and Cory had their stake quesadilla. (Once again.. delicious, and easy because I didn't have to make it!)

Some pictures of Casey coming home.. just for fun..

Cory.. the baloon man!

Tuesday's dinner was sort of a flop. I was going to make salad with crispy chicken. (healthy and delicious) Well.. I made the chicken, and was letting it cool. I was going to cut up the chicken and throw it on the salad right before Cory got home. Well, somebody who has a slight sleeping problem, and is probably borderline narcaleptic, fell asleep on the couch. When they finally came back to reality the chicken (that had not been cut or put with the salad) had disappeared.. into Cory's stomach.. he didn't know I had planned on making a salad. He says the chicken was delicious though, and I didn't mind that he was satisfied with 1/2 a meal. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture early enough.. but here's the proof that I made it.

Wednesday was Salsa Chicken Burrtios (thank you Kimberly.. this is one of my favorites!) Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this meal.. but I swear I made it!

Thursday we had the left over Salsa Chicken. I honestly made it, just forgot to take pictures. Cory and Casey are my witnesses because they both ate it.. and they even lived to tell about it.. that must say something about my cooking!

Friday was home-made Pizza night.. and I actually took a picture before it was gone!

Cory also turned the big 2-4 last week. We had both families over for cake and ice cream.. our house has never had so many people in it! We had so much fun.. and the lemon cake and snickerdoodle ice cream made it uniquely Cory!

Wanted: A More Domestic Wife

We are going to have another moment of truth (.. we've been having alot of these lately.) I will be the first to admit that I am not the most domestic of wives. I do pretty well at keeping up on the laundry (.. mostly because we only have so many clothes), I keep the house pretty clean (.. it can only get so dirty with 2 people living in it), but the area where I struggle the most is making dinner. So, I decided to set a goal for myself. (.. drum roll please..) I am going to make dinner Tue-Fri this next week. (Sun/Mon are excluded due to family dinners both nights.) Now, to all you domesticated wives.. I know this hardly sounds like anything special (.. 4 whole meals.. big whoop), but in this McDowell household.. when this particular goal has been met.. there will be cause for celebration! So, to make acomplishing this goal easier for myself (.. the resident chef) I took a trip to the grocery store today, and bought all the ingredients I will need for our 4 meals. To be honest, this isn't the first time, I've tried this before. I've even made it 2-3 days, and then (for some reason or other) I just stopped. This time is going to be different though. Why you ask? Because of you! I am posting my goal on our blog so there is no backing out, I will post pictures of every meal every day.. so you will know that I'm not cheating, or giving up. By the end of next week.. we will have our more domestic wife! Wish me luck.

- The Resident Chef

Thinking of Others

We have had a few accidents happen to friends and family within the last month. A few weeks ago Cory's cousin's 20 month old baby got hit by a car. She is still in the hospital, but seems to be recovering well. Her family has made a blog for anyone who is interested in donating or just keeping up on her progress. The blog is www.kissesforcallie.blogspot.com. (I have a link to it on the right side of the page.)

Last month my boss's wife's cousin and his wife (I know that's a confusing connection) were in a plane accident. It was a small plane, and they were both seriously burned. They are still in the hospital trying to recover. She has an amazing blog that will cheer anyone up when they're having a bad day. Her blog is www.nieniedialogs.blogspot.com, if you ever need a pick-me-up this is the place to go! Her sister has a blog as well, and puts updates on the Nielson's recovery if anyone is interested keeping up with them. Her blog is blog.cjanerun.com. (I have links to these blogs on the right side of the page as well.) I know this is kind of a depressing post, but these circumstances have made me stop thinking about myself and start thinking about what I can do for others, especially for those in need.