just jill...

plus 1 makes a family...

No, not us... But I'm really enjoying reading about the Johnson family's journey all the way to China to meet their newest addition, Amelia. A nice detailed read on their adoption process and some great sights of various spots they visited in China.


Adoption Day...

gobble-gobble...

Happy Turkey Day!



I volunteered to make the Pecan Pie, because it is my all time favorite pie in the world. I've said it many times, but once more won't hurt... "If I were ever forced to have to have a "last meal," I would choose a whole Pecan Pie with a quart of Egg Nog to wash it down with..." Can you say, Fat grams much?

We are invited to my cousin, Amy's house for the day, and with us, it will make a party of 16. That's a lot of bird... There is a small part of me that wishes we were doing what we did last year... But there is a much bigger part (no, not my stomach) that is sooo glad we're here in EP, surrounded by family. Growing up we always had a feast on Thanksgiving, as my mom always made sure we were surrounded by good smells, warm atmosphere and the tradition of it all. So this will be a very nice afternoon spent together, drinking, eating and creating new traditions. And for all of that I am very thankful...

I may be eating Turkey today, but I'll still be rooting for "The Tuna"...

"gobble-gobble..."

welcome mat...

Last weekend we had our Housewarming and it was a lot of fun. TL and I both unveiled our home and enjoyed some good eats too. I felt really proud to show off our new house. Even though we have lots we can still do around here, I think we've accomplished quite a bit on a very small budget and it's at a place where I feel like I can finally relax and enjoy it some. Here's a small sampling of the afternoon and a look at our menue...



just a few snapshots of our family room~ post paint job!
I promise more pictures of the entire house very soon...


Grand Opening of the Shark Tank... And it's Creator...
(these pictures seriously don't do it justice)


Cousins having way too much fun...


Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Dill Potato Salad, and Crappy Coleslaw...
oh and don't forget "Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding..."

Even though my brand new oven was acting all funky by allowing me to cook that 10lb Boston Butt for longer than 11 hours, it still came out decent. (for my first time) We also enjoyed several different cheeses, dips and my all time favorite, "Meat Snacks." It is a recipe that has been handed down from my grandmer that I've recently been reintroduced to by Amy and my Aunt Pat.

already..?

"God Help Me...!"

I just received an email announcing that next summer will be my 25th High School Class Reunion...

"I'm way too young to be this damn old!!"

housewarming...

I've been so mega busy tidying up this place, that I feel like I have completely neglected my little journal here. It is funny to me how your priorities change so easily when you make major changes in your life. Sort of like a year ago right now, I was busy crafting and blogging away because I didn't have much else to do. But now, we have this house we are trying to fix up, and let me tell you a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 living room and a dining room along with a front yard and a back yard is a LOT more to handle than a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 living room with a small patio. A lot. But don't confuse all that chatter with complaining, because I am not complaining. I am reveling in it all. I love to fix things up. I love to think about fixing things up, and then I love to fix things up.

So just in the past 2 weeks, let me tell you some of what I've been up to... Here is a short list of some places I've been visiting on a regular basis... Lowe*s, Hobby*Lobby, Ros&, Marshall*s, Tar&et, Wal Ma*t, back to Lowe*s and Hobby*Lobby and oh, don't forget my all time favorite store of all time... BIG LOT*S. Okay, there it is... I'm a TRUE bargain shopper and I love it. I can't even tell you some of the great deals I have found there and some of the jewels I've purchased. Well, I can tell you, but not yet.

All of this is mostly in preperation for this coming Sunday we are finally having a sort of housewarming party. Just family, but that does add up to 13, including us. We're going unveil all of what we've done so far. TL is going to unveil his "Shark Tank..." What is a Shark Tank you ask...? Well, it is sort of hard to explain, but let's just say that it is the Ultimate Man Room. I've been busy working on the inside of the house making it a home and he's been busy out in the Garage making it his own. He's completely outdone himself and it is a sight to see for sure. And seeing as we're having a party this Sunday, you can trust there will be snapshots to come.

Yep, everyday in everyway I believe we made the right decision moving here...

baldies vs. dimples...

It's a NO Brainer people... Please vote for these two hunks to be in the finals! That other one (the slimy one with the dimples) as far as I'm concerned, can hit the road jack and take his Cheat'n Ass home to his mama. (Sorry Karina)


Emmitt Smith and Joey Lawrence...
FINALS baby!

halloweeeeen...

There have been some days I've found myself wondering why we moved to El Paso... it all happened so fast. I won't go into any details about why the big change came on and came on so quickly, (I swear we're not running from any type of the Law) it just seemed like such a good idea at the time, but I can tell you that there have been some days when I find myself just shaking my head back and forth in wonderment, all the while saying things like, "wtf?" and "WTF?" (on days I'm really in question of it all)...

A week or so after we got here I happened to be on the phone one day with my cousin Amy. We were chatting away, I can't quite remember what we were chatting about but I can guess it was probably one of these subjects; Red Wine, Joey Lawrence's ass or White Wine. Anyway as we were going at it, in the background I overheard her youngest daughter, Piper (age 6) saying to Amy, "Mama, will you dress up for Halloween with me, can we be twins?" Amy's resonse went something like this... "Well, honey I don't usually dress up for Halloween, but Jill does, why don't you ask her." "Great..." Later that same night I went over to their house so Amy and I could settle in for a night of lots of wine and (hopefully lots of) Joey's ass (what else is High Def good for?) and that is when the TWINS idea was born. Little Piper came right up to me with the catalogue of costumes in hand and said, "Jill will you be twins with me?" while pointing to this picture...



Of course my first reaction was, "How cute..." But then quickly my reaction turned to horror at the shortness of the woman's skirt... I mean a 6 year old can get away with that shit, but my 42 year old oversized thighs weren't going no where near that. (Can I get an Amen..?) But, the more I thought about it and after seeing the excitement on Piper's face I had to go for it, right? I decided that instead of paying all that money to the costume company though, I was going to attempt to make these myself. I could just adjust the so called skirt a bit and save us all some money and save the neighborhood from Thunder-Thigh Hell all at the same time. How hard could it be?

So off to the fabric store Piper and I went. We made a date on a Saturday morning, our first big outing together. I showed her how to look up the pattern books, how to find the patterns, then we finally picked out the fabrics and trims. She was very into it and it was so fun "teaching" her the way... A week later we made another date to meet up at my house to start the sewing.



She was a very good little student and learned all the cool techniques of sewing...

I think both of us thought the day would NEVER get here, but finally it did, and here we are...


"May we get you a Soda...?"



Just a couple of Happy Car Hoppers...


"Who invited Dame Edna...?"

I'm telling you we were the hit of the neighborhood... But we weren't alone in our adventure, check out this Pirate Wench who came along and kept us entertained throughout the night...


"Arrrgh Maitey..."


Hadley the Pirate Wench...

The 3 of us hit the streets for Trick or Treating and had the best time... It occurred to me that I hadn't been Trick or Treating since I was 11 years old. I was quickly brought right back to the joy and excitement of the night and I just got the feeling of what an awesome tradition it all is. I had a blast.

The best part of the night besides hearing all the compliments on our costumes and on how adorable we all were, was visiting one particular house at the end of a cul-de-sac. As we approached the walkway that wasn't lit up very well, we unsuspectingly marched right up to the front door, but before we could get there I happened to notice that a "Scarecrow" was sitting quietly on a bench right outside the door. I saw him, looked right at him, (knew he was real and not one of those stuffed fake things) but when he grabbed his mask, ripped it off, jumped up off the bench and loudly Growled at the 3 of us, who do you think screamed the loudest and ran for the hills....? Uhhh, that would be me. Oh, but don't think the 2 young'ns didn't get scared too, all 3 of us could probably be heard screaming for our lives as far as Phoenix. Within seconds of realizing how foolish the whole thing seemed, I could not stop laughing, all 3 of us standing there huddled up, laughing and laughing and laughing... Even the homeowner said we were their best Scare-ee's she'd seen so far. Man, I only wish we had been videotaped, you know, so I could send it in to America's Funniest Home Videos and we could win the big prize. Here is a snapshot immediately after all the laughing stopped. I had to BEG the girls to go and stand near the Scarecrow again so I could get the shot. This was as close as they would get...


This really doesn't do their fear any justice...

Once I got home and undressed, makeup off and ready for bed, it occurred to me, "Nights like this is why we moved here." Events like this, making memories with family, creating something special with the children in your life, and laughing so hard you almost pee your Poodle Skirt, I'm telling you, that's what it's all about!!
"Can I get an Amen?"

You can see all the rest of the pictures right here...