New Furniture Again

I found this couch at a local thrift store and decided I needed it.

I didn't end up getting it since Timmy despises pretty much everything I love, but then some of our friends decided we needed a present yesterday.  So now it's home with me!  (Sucks to be Timmy.)

I absolutely love the detail on the sides, and the colors make me so happy.  I'm pretty satisfied right now.

New Furniture

In preparation for our move to Germany, Timmy and I had a huge yardsale where we sold...everything.  We still have our bed, a couch, and the entertainment stand, but that is it.  Our dresser is now the extra bedroom, the shelves can be found on the kitchen counter, and I can be found on the floor since Timmy and the dogs take up so much space.  But then I found this awesome chair on Craigslist for free!  

Now I have a place to sit and everyone else can crowd the couch.

Gorgeous old sewing table given to me by a friend.  Perfect for my new chair!

I'm in love.  Saving most of my shopping for the thrift stores and flea markets in Europe, but you really can't beat the lack of a price tag.  Perfect start for our new home in a new country.

Pay it Forward 2011

sublime stitching

New Challenge for 2011

Recently found this amazing idea on box full of hobbies, and think that it is fantastic.  


Copy this blog and post it to your page.  The first 5 people that comment on the post and agree to follow the rules, you send them something home/hand made.  It can be anything!  Everything counts as long as it is homemade with love!  If you participate, you must send those 5 people something.  This means, don't sign up for the challenge if you aren't going to follow through with sending anything to anyone.  To make it even better, you can send the person you got the idea from something, too.  (i.e., me!).  You have all of 2011 to complete the challenge, so there's no rush!

To sum it up:

Rules

1) You must send (at least) 5 people something home(or hand)made.

2) If you comment to receive something homemade, you are included in Rule 1.

3) You have until the end of 2011 to complete this challenge.

4) Of your five person requirement, send something back to the person who sends something to you.

If you don't have a blog you can use Facebook, Twitter, or whatever. Just as long as you participate in paying it forward. Just be sure to copy the link to this page so everyone understands the rules. ")

Apple Dump Cake

This is my all time favorite dessert.  Yummy apples, delicious cake topping, baked to perfection.  The name throws most people off, but don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

I made mine in an 8x8 baking dish, which is still more than enough for Timmy and I, but I'll give you the recipe for a 9x13 dish instead.  It is a very very easy cake to make, and pretty much just requires you to "dump" everything in the pan.  Hence the name!  This is adapted from my mom's way of making it, but I'm sure there are other recipes out there if you're looking for something different.

Ingredients:

2 (21 ounce) cans apple pie filling

1 box yellow cake mix

1-1.5 sticks (or cups) of butter

9x13 baking dish

Baking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if you're using a glass baking dish)

Dump apple pie filling into bottom of  baking dish.

Sprinkle top of apple filling evenly with the yellow cake mix.  Do not stir!!!

Evenly distribute butter onto the top of the cake mix.

(Easy way to do this?  Slice off little pats of butter and place them evenly on top.  OR take a squeeze bottle of butter and distribute evenly...make sure it's butter!  Margarine makes it taste different)

Place in oven and let bake for 40-45 minutes, or until top is bubbly and golden brown.

Let cool, and enjoy!  Use a spoon as a serving tool, this is not a firm cake by any means.  Tastes amazing with some vanilla ice cream on the side, and can be eaten hot or cold.  Seriously delicious.

Apple pie filling can be replaced with cherry, pineapple, peaches, or whatever else you think might taste good.  I love cherry dump cake as well!  I've also heard of people mixing cherry and pineapple together, then dumping it in the bottom.  Quite a few people sprinkle walnuts or pecans on top of the cake mix, but neither of us are a huge fan, so I left them out.

Hope you like!  Try it out and let me know how it goes.  The apple pie filling is considerably sweet, so take that into account before you decide what fruit to use.

The Ninja Handbook

My Husband and I are obsessed with Ninjas.  We named our dog Ninja (which is actually in part due to the fact that he can get out of anything...quite annoying), Timmy has a future Ninja tattoo planned, and we both love to read The Ninja Handbook by The International Order of Ninjas.

We make it a point to head to bed early, snuggle up with the dogs, and Timmy reads to us.  May sound overly cheesy, but this book is hilarious.  Here is the disclaimer.

"The writers and publishers of The Ninja Handbook are dead serious about the fact that this book will kill you.  Just put it down and walk away.

Oh, you don't scare so easy, huh?  Quick flip to a random page.  Are you back?  Do you still have control of your bowels?

Honestly, no one is going to think any worse of you than they already do.  Walk away.

Look, we get it.  Somebody's with you and you don't want to lose face by running screaming and crying from a book, but this is your life we're talking about.  You can't handle a book like this.  Seriously.  This is your last warning.  Walk away.

What part of "last warning" didn't you understand?  Do we have to send you a list of names and burial site?  'Cause, brother, we got one and it is Nile-long.  We're not trying to scare you, friend.  It ain't about fear, it's about survival. By continuing to read this, you're tearing off your logic suit and jumping into Lake Stupid.  Now, we want you to put down this book, and scurry your Beta-buying, trailer-rebuilding, crazy-ex-drunk-dialing, Yahoo-e-mail-using, "I can do that" saying, F.D.A.-believing, USA Today-reading butt outta here.

Still here?  Nice.  Let's do this!"

Already off to a fantastic start and the book hasn't even begun.  We lay in bed cracking up at some of the lessons and weapons, and have maybe tried practicing a few of the moves around the house.  We're not very good yet.

If you love Ninjas as much as we do and have ever considered becoming one, I suggest this read.  Of course, it's at your own risk.