What A Ride!!!!!

Oh my goodness!  Do I have a lot to share!!  What a ride I have been on this past week!!!  An experience I am THRILLED to have had in my lifetime!!  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I won a karaoke contest which sent me to Vegas for the finals.  I didn't get past the top 100, but that was OK!!  The talent I was up against was outstanding!!  There was no thinking, "How did 'so and so' make it this far??".  Every person that was there truly deserved to be there.  I met so many wonderful people from all over.  It was amazing!!!!  One of the competitors is getting ready to start her international tour this fall and another very nice gentleman is currently working on his CD with his wife.  Let me tell you...he has a golden voice!  Keep your eyes open for Tim Wilgers in the country music industry.  All of us know he's going to make it!  He's already opened for Mark Chestnut!  I know...I know...you want to see him...well of course you know I'll share photo's!

Oh yeah!  I'm proud!  And it was so nice to hear him talk so lovingly about his wife.  His wife is 7 months pregnant with their first baby.  But seriously, when he sings, everyone is quiet and you just want to listen and have his voice carry you away.

And on another lucky note, the Daytime Emmy's were  held the same day as the competition.  I got to walk the red carpet!!  (only because the plastic was still on!  LOL!!)

But again...lucky me!!  When I watched soaps (I had to cut myself off because I was going insane with all the drama! LOL) my favorite actress was Bobbie Eakes who played Macy on The Bold and the Beautiful.  Oh my goodness...the tragedies with she and Thorn.  :o)  Guess who I just happen to come across???

Let me tell you...she's as sweet as she is pretty.  I was in awe!!!  SHE even told ME I looked cute!  OMG!!  She's a size zero...and I'm..........not!  :o)

We went on a tour of Hoover Dam.  If you ever get a chance to be in Vegas, make sure to put this tour on your To Do list.  It's one of the wonders that will keep you in awe for probably the rest of you life.  Absolutely incredible!

We also ate at a fun restaurant.  Toby Keith's Bar & Grill.  It was great!  And they serve free 'freaky' shots.  LOL  And freaky it was!  If you ever see one of his restaurants on your travels, make sure to stop and say 'HI!' to Toby!

I have to tell you that it was great having my mom, aunts and friends travel with me to Vegas.  They made it even more special.  But you know the saying.....

So...I will tell you that we were all good girls that had a great time!!  :o)

What I can tell you is when I got back to work Thursday, my co-workers had this for me:

It just doesn't get any better than this!!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.  Whether they were with me in Vegas, or thoughts and prayers, I felt the love and it was GREAT!!!  I can only hope I give back to others in my life as much as they give me.  And I have to say, for as much glamor and glitz as I saw in Vegas, nothing beats coming home to my sweet hubby and handsome son's.  I got home and Skeet had a nice cup of coffee ready for me (cause God knows I couldn't drink that stuff in Vegas!  Yuck!) and we sat on the front porch and shared what  happened while we were apart.  Hands down, I am blessed!

Patrick Lose Contest

So...most of you know how much of a fan I am of the fabric designed by Patrick Lose.  Well, he's having a contest.  Of course, I entered...AND bought fabric....just cause  his stuff always makes me smile!  I was THRILLED when Quilts by the Oz in Moline, IL started carrying his stuff.  As a matter of fact, I was so excited I took a long lunch with my sister when they received his Satinesque line in and bought a half yard of each color.  I couldn't stop myself!  If you would like to enter his contest, just click here.  I hope you all have a great day!!

My Latest Accomplishments!

I hope this post finds all of you healthy and full of things to be grateful for.  Today we honor those who gave their lives in the service of our country.  I send a prayer to all their families. God bless America and those who continue to keep us safe.

So...it's been a busy couple weeks at the Smith house.  We have a new addition to our family.  She's an adorable little girl who has melted our hearts!  She's just a little bundle of energy.  I would like you to meet Sadie....she's a 3/4 lab and 1/4 coon hound.  A friend of mine found her on Craig's List for us.  She was from a litter of unexpected puppies that were being given away to good homes.  We are blessed!!

                                                     Here is Sadie and her duck Justin bought her:

 
                             
                                             And here is Jesse and Sadie.  Jesse is the one who picked her out:

 She is quickly becoming spoiled!  Her first vet visit was last Saturday.  I was so proud of her!  She got the first of her puppy shots and is in great health.  She was born April 1st and weighs 10 pounds already.  I think Sadie is going to be a big girl, so I'm going to enjoy this little size for the time being.  :o)

I also got 2 quilts done for my niece's high school graduations.  I thought I would share as I really enjoyed making them!  I also made each of them matching pillowcases, which I forgot to take pictures of!  Sarah helped me with Rachel's (the black/white/red one).  Rachel is a niece to both of us, so I made the quilt and Sarah had it quilted and put the binding on along with the quilt label.  (THANKS, Sarah!)  Of course, this is the quilt before it was quilted.  I totally forgot to get a picture of it completed.  I'll have to hook up with Rachel later to get that!

And here is my niece, Hannah's, quilt.  She is the daughter of my husbands brother.  I am proud to say that I quilted this one myself on my sewing machine.  I'm not a big fan of that, only because it's hard to do!  LOL  But as I was telling my sister this morning about a quote I like..."Impossible is only an opinion...not a fact"...with that said, it really wasn't impossible to quilt it myself!  :o)

My husband is holding it for me.  Isn't he cute?  LOL  I just love him to death.

One another note...I'm going to Vegas the end of June!!  I was talked in to entering a karaoke contest.  After 3 weeks of finals...I WON!!!!  Can you believe it?????????  So...my prize was a free trip to Vegas to compete in the Nationals.  Skeet can't go with me, which bums me out, but my mom and two of my friends are going along.  My goal is to make it to the top 3.  How exciting is that??  I was so shocked.  But I have to tell you that the support of my family and friends was absolutely amazing.  I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.  To sing and look out into the audience and have half of them be my family and friends....I will never, ever forget what that looked like. And when they announced my name as the winner and I saw all of them cheering and jumping up and down...my heart is swelling right now as I remember that night!!

Well, it's time for me to sign off.  I need to get my house cleaned.  After all this sewing, and graduation parties (we had four last weekend and 5 this past weekend), it's been feeling a little neglected.  Skeet has started putting up his new building...The Man Shed....so I will be cooking a lot in the next couple weeks for all that come to help.  I'll be trying some new recipes, which I will definitely share!  Be on the look out!  Until next time....keep looking up and laugh as much as you can! xoxo

YAY!! My Lasagna Roll-Ups Are a Tutorial!!!

Check it out!!!



I'm so excited!  You will actually love this blog if you haven't already checked out the link I had posted to the right a little while ago.  There's a ton of neat ideas out there from other bloggers.  It's awesome!

I have lots to blog about, but just haven't had the time.  I will update later this weekend.  I know you've all missed me! :o)  xoxoxo to all!!

Delish! My Spin on Lasagna Roll Ups!

Happy Saturday!  The other day I was in a pinch for something to cook.  I hadn't cooked for 2 days, so my family was on their own.  I was held prisoner in my sewing room by a quilt that had kept me captive.  :o)  But it's done and off to be quilted, so my family has me back.  They missed me!

So....I wanted to make something really yummy to show them I appreciated the time in my sewing room.  I've always wanted to make a lasagna roll-up.  As I was sewing the border around the quilt, I was thinking about how I could make it.  This is what I came up with:

Boil water and cook 11 lasagna noodles.

Cook 1 lb of sausage until brown.

• Add an 8 oz pkg of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 cups cheddar cheese
• 5 slices (more or less, depending on taste) of jalapenos, finely chopped
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• A little salt and pepper to taste. 

Cook until cheese is melted and everything is blended together.  (it will be a little stringy from the cheese)  Take mixture and spread 3 - 4 tablespoons of the mixture onto the lasagna noodle.  Roll up and place into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Saute an onion and 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil (okay...I'm married, so 2 cloves are OK for me, but for you single gals, you may only want to use one!  LOL).  Cook until onions are translucent.

 When onions and garlic are done, add 1 large can of tomato puree, 1 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer about 5 to 10 minutes until flavors are well blended.

Pour over noodles.

Sprinkle with cheese (I used a 2-cup bag of shredded pizza cheese, because that's all I had left) and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.  Wa la!  Here's what you have:

And it was DELISH!  Enjoy!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

We are one lucky family.  We have an amazing mom who, for some reason, loves us all to death.  :o)  This picture shows my brother, the tall handsome redhead, my sister, the hot sexy brunette, my mom, the beauty in teal, and me, the cute chubby one.  LOL  Today I just feel blessed to have these amazing people in my life, so I wanted to pay tribute to the one who started it all...my mom.

I can't say enough about my mom.  She taught me how to be a strong woman.  It took me a while to learn the lesson, but eventually, I did and I am so grateful for that.  I've learned how to stand up for myself in a respectful manner (okay...most of the time!  LOL).  I've learned how to have an open mind and to see things through another's eyes.  Though, sometimes I am a little closed-minded, I am aware of that fact and try to open it up more...because of my mom.

The other day when the stock market was going crazy because of someone's mistype, mom and I were talking and she was telling me how glued she was to the TV when all that was going one.  I was poking fun, telling her that most retired women are watching their soap opera's, but no my mom!  She's glued to Wall Street.  But you know what?  In all that poking, I was proud.  I was proud of the fact that she continually shares her intelligence with her children.  It's those types of things that help me grow and become more aware of the world I live in.  It's those types of things that make her an awesome mother. It's those types of things I want to pass on to my sons, so they continue to grow and become strong, successful men.

So...on this Mother's Day, I pay tribute to the woman who raised me to be the pretty cool woman I turned out to be.  :o)  Thank you for being you, Mom.  I love you more than words could ever say and I'm so lucky to have you be my role model.  Okay...time for the hankie!  May you all be as blessed as I have been!

Great Weekend!

Another busy weekend has come to an end.  I did get quite a bit done.  Below are a couple of the flower beds I worked on.

I still have to put my mulch down (have to purchase it first!), but I got a good start.  I really need to invest in the time of painting my little kissing couple.  The poor things!  :o)

I hope this weekend brought you all lots of good things and the week is full of blessings!  More gardening pictures to come as I get them together! XOXO