Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year....a few days late! I have not posted this earlier because I have had a migraine for a couple of days. I was lucky enough to inherit some authentic Oriental items since my Great Aunt was a missionary. So Cas and I figured what better excuse to have friends over! I didn't attempt to cook Chinese food as I felt it would be a disaster! So thank you Zen House! You can check out the Orange Juice Cake we made in my food blog. The Chinese eat such things as glazed fruit for dessert.......that is not dessert oriental people, but I guess that is why ya'll are so skinny! So I opted for something orange since the orange has meaning of wealth! I am still waiting on that part....stay tuned!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cas and I were both born in the year of the goat/ram! Now this guy actually has meaning. He (Gram is his name) made his way to our yard this Christmas. Just don't ask!

Please Pray

Please say a prayer for my sweet friend Kelli Ketchum! I am not sure of all the details but know that she went in for a hysterectomy last week and had some major complications and I believe is being readmitted again for fever and infection. She has three little boys and a hubby to come home to so I know she is anxious to get well and be at home with them. She is the sister to my dear friend Leslie. Leslie and I have been friends since Kindergarten! Kelli has a wonderful faith in God and I know he is watching over her and hearing all the prayers. Get well Kelli!

Love Melissa

President, Phoenix and Past Few Days

I wanted to post on Tuesday night but was I was in Atlanta picking Cas us from Phoenix. Yes I had to pull my self away from the most actual and factual reality t.v. there is! I did not get to see Michelle come out in her beautiful Jason Wu gown with the rest of the world! Cas was sent away for a few days for work to Phoenix. He said it was much warmer there he enjoyed the hotel bed without 5 pets in it! He went this time last year and it snowed here while he was gone. He was very upset at the chance that it might have happened again while he was gone this time. Since it was just me and the kids (pets) we enjoyed watching all of the inaugural events starting on Monday. Three whole days of reality t.v. and important people. Ah heaven! It does not matter if you are Republican or Democrat it is history in the making. Not just for the fact that he is the 1st African-American president but for so many other reasons as well. It was also the second time in history that both Pres and Vice Pres were both coming from the Senate. Then there is of course sitting on the edge of your seat to see what everyone is wearing...ha! Everyone looked lovely even the little girls. But Aretha, don't wear that hat again! I do think it was rude though when everyone boo'd when they introduced President Bush. I do not care if you like someone or not especially of that power......you just don't Boo! You know in some countries if you did that you would be locked up or worse! Just gracefully smile and clap. Trust me I know this country has many problems right now but I am sure Fidel can find something for you to do there if you are that unhappy here!
Please do pray for our new President and his staff to have the power and the knowledge to make the right decisions for our country!

Love us!

Joelle Vs. Jerry Plus Tuesdays Tip

Starting last season Cas and I became really hooked on "The Biggest Loser." I have seen a couple episodes in years past but something turned us on last season and we watch it religiously every Tuesday night now! Tonight Jerry was sent home. He is 63 and really deserved to be there! We were sad that Joelle bought some time. She did not put in the work and had a really poor attitude! You know you are sorry when you actually make Bob mad! Anyways here is to Jerry and his wife Estella....Good Luck!


Also, I am going to try to start adding tips to my Tuesday blogs of helpful tips!

Last night I was watching t.v. and there is a lady who has a website www.thegrocerygame.com. With her website and coupons she saves over $200 dollars at the grocery store. You type in your zip code and they will give you your local grocery/drug stores to choose from. They have it coded for different things such as stock piling, things that really are a great buy, etc. You do have to pay a few dollars for it but it looks really worth it. She also has some other fabulous info on there.

Another one of my favorite sites is www.freebies4mom.blogspot.com This is another great site I have been using for a while and we have gotten a ton of samples and other fun things. It is another one I heard about on t.v. and love it!

Have fun----Melissa

Menu Plan Monday Anyone?

1....I love things that make life easier. I was blog browsing today and came across this website! Every Monday a large list of their readers post their menus for the week. So if you are in a rut cooking the same things all the time you can look through and get some new ideas! A lot even have the recipes! Awesome! Maybe one day I will link our weekly menu on there. I am not that advanced yet! Her website also had great organizing ideas on there as well....check it out.
2....We had our telephone installed today through Charter. (really the only reason we had it hooked up was because it was free.....neither one of us are big phone talkers...Cas says he talks on the phone all day at work so he does not want to talk when he gets home!) It looks crappy. There are wires running all around the office that look hideous and then I went outside after he left and that looks horrible too. The box that all of our cable is in will not shut now and if anyone knows anything about security a trained robber knows how to unhook your phone lines so that when you have a security system it will not reach the security company because they run through the lines they cut! Wow! He also drilled through our wall too. Cas was not impressed when he got home.
3.....On a side note....I am tired of seeing Ann Coulter on t.v. promoting her new book. Yes everyone is entitled to their opinion and has the right to share it. Sharing and pushing your views on others as if they are the only way to think for it to be the right way is a different story! The ladies on the view ate her up this morning. Their wasn't one lady she didn't offend...even poor Elizabeth the conservative one!
4.......Last, but certainly not least. Cas and I met 8 years ago today. Although, we officially celebrate our anniversary on Halloween. It was official then! Love you Cas!

I wish I may.....I wish I might!

I wish I may......I wish I might not seeing anything related to Christmas in our house after tonight! Cas has been working on the attic today so that we can actually use it for storage. It is not large but any extra space will help! Our guest bedroom and office are both full with Christmas items waiting to be put away! Jason and Renea gave us some wood that they didn't need (Thanks.....ya'll are the best!) and the Cas sent me out to pick up one more piece of wood and some nails. As soon as he is done as much as we can fit in the attic is going! Then the rest to the shed. I picked up a few things while I was out that we needed. I bought Maggie some pig ears (yuck...but they are her new favorite) for a treat at Wal-Mart. When I got home and got the bags out I found a nice chunk taken out of the box of butter! She ate half of two sticks. Coincidentally they were in the bag next to the pig ears! What do you do? Well I am off to cook something and vacuum up the insulation for the third time today!


Melissa

We didn't help the starving!

Cas and I have been wanting to go to a starving artist event for a while. My Dad and Mary have found some great stuff at them. I saw a commercial the other day for one in Columbus that was from 11-4 today. We decided we would go. We have a big open area on one of our walls that is open and very noticeable. My dad also pointed that out, too! Anyways we slept in and and then got up, made breakfast, did dishes, cleaned the house some then showered. It was 2:00 before we got to the event. We were excited because we saw some people coming out with art. They had advertised that nothing was over $59! We went in and it was a big event, but much to our dismay they had sold a lot and what was left was not really what we wanted. Although I did see a couple of Cafe ones that I liked. One of the guys said that there was a ton of paintings this morning, but they had sold most of what they had. Wow imagine that...."the early bird gets the worm!" We miss a lot of worms around here! Ha! And by the way...the artists I saw had not missed a meal in quit a while....much less starving! But we had fun going anyways. We wanted to support the starving as we have greatly supported Thomas Kinkade and we are pretty sure he is set for a while! When we left there I suggested that we walk across the street to the Columbus visitors center to see if they had any information on local things to do that maybe we didn't know about. We are suckers for festivals, fairs, and food events! I even drug us to a festival one time that involved us driving through a trailer park with camels to get to it!!! But that is a story for a much later date! Anyways we went in and Cas and I collected every bit of info on anything you can imagine doing in Georgia! By the way people will make a museum around anything, won't they? This is what all I brought home to start looking through to plan some fun weekend things.

While in there I found an add for a cute little General Store right down the road so we stopped in, of course looking for bottled sodas! We browsed and came out with some of our favorites. Boylan Soda Pop! Black Cherry today!
Hey we got out and had fun. On a side note Cas cooked dinner tonight. I have cooked all week and didn't have any food inspirations tonight (I did make some goood Italian Chicken the other night though). He made some yummy pork chops that he marinated with Pinot Grigio, real lemon and real oranges. It was very good! Hats off to the chef! Now off to enjoy the sound of the rain!

Good Night
Cas and Melissa

We're in! Everyone else does it!

We're into the blogging world! Everyone else does it! We are way behind the other millions who do it. Our families and alot of our friends live out of town so this way you all can keep up with what is going on with us! I am still trying to figure out how all of this works as far as adding different things to my post. So bare with me. Hope all of you are doing well and I will post shortly on what we have been up to!

Happy New Year!
Have a Divine 2009!

Love Melissa and Cas