halloween is officially over.

every year sean's parents' street in highland rents a "cherry picker" to put up christmas tree lights on their houses. at the end of the day they raise watermelon, pumpkins, and this year hundreds of bouncy balls up...then, you guessed it, they let 'em drop! this was the grand finale of dropping.

before...

after...
and yes, in my excitement i taped the whole thing sidewards, but trust me, it's well worth the neck creek!!! or for those of you with fancy computers you can turn your monitor;-)

thanksgiving, here we come!

pinch me!

i think i'm dreaming...

note: bell peppers make great teethers.

of course i can't post only once per day, are you kidding? i have been very analytical this evening. you know those days, where you read into everything and everyone around you a little more than usual? this can be good or bad, and sometimes both. i will spare you the saga, but the lesson learned is "play nice."

things i did today:

doc apt for brennan, stats follow...

(22.3 lbs, 90th perc.; 27 1/2 in., 70th perc.; & one freaking huge head)

barnes & noble to pick up the books listed previously (plus two more i couldn't resist)

...click HERE and HERE to find out the two...

ate/made lunch, watched taped grey's from last night

made cheddar biscuits (recipe to follow)

met sean's fam for dinner at bajio

(i had the pineapple shrimp salad, TDF--to die for)

hung out with sean's fam

now it's time to go...

Sing it slowly with me folks!

"now's the time to say goodbye

To all our company

Through the years we'll all be friends

Wherever we may be

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse

Forever let us hold our banner high

M-I-C - See ya real soon!

K-E-Y - Why? Because we like you!

M-O-U-S-E!!"

awww...britney, what happened?!

cornmeal cheddar biscuits:

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. yellow cornmeal

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, room temp.

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

(i also added 1/2 c. mont. jack b/c jack i love you--the cheese folks)

1 c. milk

step 1: all dry ingredients into large bowl, then mix butter in with hands (i know, it gets in the nails and feels yucky, but it's worth it) until crumbly. stir in butter until moist, add cheese, stir together.

step 2: drop about 1/4 cupfuls on ungreased baking sheet. bake 425 F for about 14 minutes or until light golden brown. serve warm.

notes:

if you like red lobster's rolls, you'll die for these! took me 40 min. from start to finish, and i had to stop to help brennan a few times.

i'm just writing today

i am writing today. just writing. no pictures, just writing. AND i'm going to try to write ONLY ONCE. ha,

tune in later to see how well i do;-)

so

snuggle up and enjoy!

...

so i paid $33.36 for 17.6 gallons of gas yesterday at Costco. i still can't seem to get used to all of this extra cash! holla ya'll, "ya-hooooooooo" with me. i seriously had to look twice. i actually paid under $2 for gas, unBEliEVable. i just CAN'T get over it. i have been budgeting $70 for our gas. don't you LOVE when you budget for more and end up spending less?!

(well, most of do at least!)

...

the christmas season is upon us, no matter how hard i resist listening to christmas music before the day after thanksgiving i haven't been able to dodge a few jingles on commercials...target stores...sean's singing...etc. it's taking all of my will to not pull out my personally made christmas mix, a cd i created and decorated with red and green sharpie pens in college

(complete with a tree and presents underneath).

...

click HERE for my favorite thanksgiving book. B and i are going to barnes & noble to pick it up today, along with THIS if they have it. i used to have both in my classroom when i was teaching, but had to leave them behind...seeing as they were not mine and that would be stealing, ah yes, i'm OH so noble. ha!

...

so i'm watching the today show this morning and they put up the Rockefeller plaza christmas tree. the story behind the tree was fabulous. i can't remember the story exactly and there's nothing on todayshow.com, so i'll try my best to get it right. so, there was this cute old couple in this place somewhere. like my memory so far? this cute old couple had a christmas tree. imagine that! after christmas the cute old lady of the cute old couple planted her beautiful and "normal sized" christmas tree in their lawn. now, 80 years later (or some big number like that), the tree is all grown up and BIG. someone from the today show was flying over their cute old house and saw this massively beautiful christmas tree. yes, they scout the Rockefeller plaza christmas tree. it may not have been someone from the today show who scouted it, but i'm sure it was someone important like that. anyway, the cute old couple have both since past, and this cute story is now national b/c the important people from the today show (or something like that) paid some astronomical amount of money (they didn't say that, i'm just saying they probably did) to that cute old couple's family so they could cut down the all grown up and BIG christmas tree to prop up in Rockefeller plaza. sean was sad and said if he ever did that his grandma casper would kill him. i thought it was very romantic and a cute little legacy of a tree, now making two christmas's merry!

...

maybe you can find the story here and let me know what the real facts are?

note: don't you love watching those tall little rockettes dance?

baby brennan laughing will cheer up any gloomy day!

like my new dew?

call

Kim @ the Style Suite

to schedule your apt. today!

801.569.1288

baby meets broccoli

i just decided to let him get "real" messy. there was lemon on it, see it in his face?
it was entertaining him so well, until he remembered, "oh yeah, i flail my arms around and everything drops onto the floor." as you can see, the broccoli was not the first floor fatality...

so funny to watch. i love you brennan! you make us laugh all day.

wait a minute!

so i'm driving to meet ann marie for lunch on tuesday (you know, taco tuesdays?), and i had to look twice. i couldn't believe my eyes! i haven't bought gas for about a week and am just used to astronomical prices, so i don't look at prices until i buy (b/c you know, the price will go up 10 cents in one day, i KNOW you know). i was watching the man change the price on the unleaded fuel here and thought he had made a mistake when i saw him putting up the number zero. i mean, there's NO WAY gas is within cents of $2!!!

i remember listening to the radio two years ago and hearing the dj say, "in two years $2 a gallon will look like a bargain."

i laughed and thought, "no way! never."

i stand corrected.

you can bbq it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it...

"shrimp is the fruit of the sea. you can bbq it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. there's, um, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. there's pineapple shrimp and lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich...that's, that's about it."

-forest gump

when i got married my mom gave me

her favorite cookbook:

"60-Minute Gourmet."

i have slowly tried some of my favorites that she has made.
the idea is being able to cook a gourmet meal in 60 minutes or less
i give you...

"broiled butterflied shrimp"

i can't tell you how easy this was to make!!! and WAY under 60 minutes. the rice took the longest b/c i spent 30 minutes making my rice in a rice cooker...well, i didn't spend 30 minutes, i spent 5 minutes sticking the rice in the cooker, and then it cooked for 30 minutes all on it's own ;-).
i steamed some broccoli and serve with the rice and...
"vvvwwwaaaaallllaaaaahhh!"

you can do it too!

...

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 lbs. shrimp (the bigger, the better--think costco)

1/2 c. olive oil (evoo is best ya'll)

2 tsp. finely chopped garlic (i use pre-cut garlic from jar)

2 tbls. parsley (or whatever is in your spice rack)

1/8 tsp. crushed dried hot red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. crushed dried oregano (or whatever is in your spice rack)

2 tbls. fine soft bread crumbs

salt, pepper, and lemon to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. preheat broiler to high

2. peel shrimp and butterfly (cut down the back side, but not through)

3. throw shrimp in bowl with all ingredients

4. mix shrimp with hands to get "stuff" all over shrimp

5. foil on cookie sheet, spread shrimp on cookie sheet in one layer

6. place cookie sheet w/shrimp 3-4 inches under the source of heat

7. cook 5-6 minutes (yup, that's all!!!)

8. baste shrimp with oil mixture (if there's any left over) or serve as is (i forgot to baste and it still tasted awesome!)

*******

serves 3-4

(depending on how much you LOVE shrimp)

total cost: $14

(and the shrimp was $10 of that)

i can't figure out what's different today...

can you!?

a great pair of jeans

you know, the kind you just can't wait to put on. they form to you. they feel better at the end of the day than they did when you put them on

(some jeans get worse throughout the day, you know).
sometimes they have holes...great for grabbing. and getting your toe stuck in when you slip them on (making the hole even bigger).
i LOVE these jeans. they are a GREAT pair of jeans. i think i bought them at the buckle a few years ago. i might wear them again today.
we'll see...

tuesdays with marie

fish taco tuesdays

at rubios

are one of our favorite outings.

we meet my friend ann marie (we've been friends since elementary school) on her lunch break. she's one of those friends i can visit with about reality shows (yes, we are THOSE kind of girls) and vent about the lovely people that drive us crazy.
we LOVE fish taco
"tuesdays with marie."

what i learned during brennan's 1st nap today...

NEVER, and i mean NEVER leave the humidifier on turbo mode with the door closed.

that is all.
p.s. no, this is actually not a juke box. it really is a humidifier, thanks for the loan mom!

meet & greet monday update

this is cute jorjia

(from meet & greet monday)

out of her chicken costume,

for all of you that wanted to know;-)

with baby brennan around 3 months old

stephanie update

click HERE for an article written by

stephanie's sister (cjane/courtney) on her most recent visit to the burn center.

stephanie is talking now.

amazing.

fhe last night:

this is my current book and where i have been getting my fhe ideas lately.

peculiar

distinct, uncommon, rare, holy, set apart

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful queen with a magnificent queendom...One of her favorite things was to go to the Royal Park and play on the swings. One evening she had been pumping her plump little legs...and made herself very tired. When she returned home to her palace and took off her crown, she realized with horror that its huge, priceless jewel had fallen out...She sent out a proclamation to the entire queendom, notifying everyone that the jewel was missing. She offered a handsome reward to whoever...could return it to her within thirty days. She also proclaimed that if someone found the jewel and DIDN'T return it...within thirty days, she'd have them killed.

"A few days after the loss of the jewel, a young man...discovered the queen's priceless jewel...He took the jewel home...and waited until thirty-one days had gone by. The next morning he took the jewel...to the castle...The queen couldn't believe it, "You realize, then, that had you returned the jewel yesterday I would have rewarded you handsomely." "Yes, I realize that." "Then WHY did you wait until today?"..."I'm returning this jewel to you today not because I'm hoping for a reward, and not because I'm afraid not to, but because it's the right thing to do. It belongs to you."

i loved this story b/c it made me think about my own motivations. i realized that if i would have found the jewel i would have run it to the queen immediately to get my glorious reward. i would have been too scared to keep it.

what would you have done?

what did you do today?

we played...and played...and played in this mess.

also, while brennan was napping i did this:

1. cleaned bathroom, yuck

2. vacuumed house

3. did two loads of laundry, including the sheets and a mattress cover

(the mattress cover b/c for the first time in 8 months brennan peed on our bed after his bath. seriously, kid you are supposed to take care of your peeing IN the tub. this is an unspoken rule you have followed your whole entire life.)

4. put away odds and ends that have been piling up on top of things in the front closet (you know, the things that get smooshed in between the more organized things)

5. swept the bathroom floor (yuckiest thing i've done ALL week, i can't stand hair off the head, fyi)

6. made bed, folded laundry, hung up clothes that hang dry (b/c seriously, most shirts and jeans CANNOT be dried due to the 1/2 size shrinkage that ruins the piece forever)

7. picked sean's mom up from airport

8. used "sucky thing" to get boogers out of brennan's nose (this was done on multiple occasions throughout the day)

9. put one of my homemade frozen dinners into the oven (note: get "dinner is ready" book and make the 30 meals in one day if you haven't already)

10. gave fhe lesson on "the beautiful queen with the magnificent queendom" (tune in tomorrow to see what it was about!)

things i forgot to do today:

1. go to store to get brennan oatmeal (dang it!)

meet & greet monday!

welcome to the 2nd installment of my newest genre of our blog:

meet & greet monday!

last week we met my most charming husband,

sean d. gibson.

today you are in for another treat!

this aussie from down unda'

has flair and exuberance! ladies and gentlemen,

meet & greet jorjia!!!

full name: Jorjia Renee Wolfgramm
age: 25
birth place: melbourne, australia
australia or america & why: that's really hard. ohhhh, probably australia. my family is there, the beach, warm weather, fish & chips, i could go on.
greatest accomplishment: uhhhh, how geeky do i want to sound...let's see, moving to a foreign country or getting married in the temple.
why physical therapy: i love to help people and make them feel better. help them accomplish more in their life.
who is your physical therapy idol & why: that's hilarious. ummm, the physical therapist that helped me when i was little doing respiratory physical therapy on me. that girl, she's the one that introduced me to the whole profession. kind of weird cause i don't know who she is, just a memory.
what scares you: spiders. huntsman spiders, but i don't think they have them over here. they are big and harry and disgusting, ooohhhh they are so gross, they always come in your room when it rains. they are pretty harmless, but they're ugly.
your life would be more simple if: i wasn't such an overachiever. that kind of just sums it all up.
happiest childhood memory: holidays to the beach with my family. we used to go up to queensland, north of where i live. it's really warm up there, we would stay in hotels right on the beach, spend two weeks, and i loved it. we'd always go right in the middle of our winter, but up in queensland it is tropical and always warm.
describe yourself in one word: determined

who could this person be??!!

tune in tomorrow for "meet & greet monday" to find out

especially for sean

have i told you lately, that i love you!?

(both of you!)
thank you for playing with our little kiddo, my love. he loves you so much. it's so cute when you come home and he cries if you leave the room. i am listening to the cutie pie make the most adorable high pitched cooing sounds. you know the ones? i know you do. the ones that he does and we both look at each other smiling b/c we are so in love with each other and this beautiful miracle we created together. i must now go change the martian's...well, YOU know what. i've put it off far too long and now my nose is unhappy with me. see you soon my love!