early Thanksgiving 2006

We celebrated Thanksgiving a little early this year (the Saturday before), because Nathan came for a visit. I made the whole spread--9 lb turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce and applesauce and pumpkin cake for dessert.

It was fun to do, but I was a little pressed for time. Dinner was supposed to start at 5 p.m. (We'd invited the Elders over as well, and they had a baptism at 7 p.m., so timing was essential), but the turkey didn't cook quite as quickly as I'd calculated. We ended up eating around 5:45. :-( Everything tasted good, so I think I'd do it again--without any morning plans. (I'd spent the morning at a PartyLite regional meeting, and hadn't gotten home until 1:45 p.m.)

Here is a pic of our Thanksgiving dinner table. We even used the good dishes.

I would have liked to have gotten a few more pictures from the evening--with the missionaries, Nathan, Jeff and I, but we were too short on time, and I wanted the Elders to be able to eat.

I saved the turkey carcass after dinner to try my hand at making some homemade turkey soup. Here's a pic:

The soup turned out pretty good, but it could have definitely used more salt and more substance. I put in celery, carrots, turkey (of course), potatoes and orzo pasta. Next time, I'll definitely add more of everything and no orzo pasta. I thought that would be good, but it got too mushy and was a weird slimy texture. Next time, I'll think I'll use spirals. With only 3 of us at home, we'll be eating soup for quite awhile! :-)

I also made some baking soda biscuits--from scratch--to accompany the soup. I'd never made them before. They tasted pretty yummy, but they didn't rise all that much. Maybe that's the way they're supposed to be...

Brilliant Rainbows

Yesterday, driving home from the grocery store, I got to behold one of the most brilliant rainbows! After several days of one downpour after another, there was a break in the rains yesterday afternoon. It was so beautiful, I longed to have a camera as part of my phone--or a camera of some sort. Of course a digital pic probably wouldn't have done it the justice it deserved.

Since moved out to the rainy Pacific Northwest, I have seen several rainbows. I guess that is one of the perks of living in an area that rains 8 months out of the year! Growing up in MN, its not like I've never seen a rainbow before, but they're different out here. I can pick out every single color in the ROY G BIV spectrum. They are big and brilliant--and frequent!

Unfortunately, I usually see them while I'm driving. This could cause a problem because I am so drawn to them that I'm not paying as close attention to the road. :-(

Halloweens past

I got a little carried away when looking for old Halloween photos. These are the ones I found--spanning my entire life (practically).

2 yrs old (1979) Raggedy Ann

I don't have any kids yet, so I'm forced to show off pics of me as a little girl.

6th grade (1988) Gypsy

At one point in our lives, my mom, my older sister and I all wore this outfit.
8th Grade (1990) Banshee

I went trick or treating this year, and nearly lost an eye to a tree branch because I refused to wear my glasses (it would've ruined the effect of the make-up). I was only a few inches from the branch before it came into focus.

1999 Trinity (from the Matrix)
This is probably my favorite Halloween costume, so I put up a few pics from that year.


2000 Vampire

Halloween 2006

Being newly called to serve on the Activities Committee, Jeff and I were obligated to help out with the ward Halloween party.

Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays! In grade school, and junior and senior high, I would usually dress up in some fashion. Often putting a bit of time and effort into my costumes. As an adult, I rarely got into it as much, but a few years I did have some pretty memorable costumes. Maybe I'll scan in some of those pics as well.

This year, at the last possible moment, I decided to dress as a witch. Here are a couple of pics.

Costco

I went to Costco the other day all by myself. It really made me feel like an adult. I've been to Sam's lots of times with my parents, but something about buying in bulk made me feel like I'd ventured into a new realm of adulthood. :-)

I was really surprised at how that store can suck you in. I was only going to make a quick stop to check it out--see what was available. The 15 min trip ended up lasting 45 and costing me $100. Guess I'll be needing to limit my stops there. Thankfully, it's over 30 min away, so the temptation won't be too strong to swing on by.