For Evan "Dorito King" Dellon

Check it out, Bro...

That's right -- smokin' cheddar BBQ. Who thinks of these genious flavor combos? What a sweet job.

Tanner is thinking of you. Wish you were here.

We're all a little Irish today!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
Have you read your favorite Irish blessing yet today? I love reading Irish Blessings. I think I need an Irish Blessing book or something so I have them all at my fingertips. Any recommendations from you Irish folk?!

I found out that my Irish name is Michaela Quinn. Well, that's what some goofy website tells me anyway. Tanner will be known as Eoin (yes, Eoin) O'Kelly today.
We're heading over to Rochester to explore the city. In particular, we will be visiting the way cool Barnes & Noble downtown -- the one that used to be the Chateau Theatre -- as well as some furniture stores. Tanner plans on going to the indoor golf center. I think I'll just drink some green beer...
And what would St. Patrick's Day be like without eating some Irish burritos at O'Chipotle? MMMMM! We can hardly wait!

Will James Grimmius

This blog posting is dedicated to my awesome bro-in-law, Will (no hard feelings Evan, you're pretty rad yourself!).

Will turned 18 on Monday, March 5th. I suppose one of his first activities of adulthood (?!) was signing his own pass to leave school so he could partake in adult activity number two: cashing in the winning lotto scratch-off tickets that he got for his birthday. And I suppose the third activity of adulthood could have involved spending some of his $7 worth of prize money on a pack of cigarettes...although I doubt it. Rather, I bet Will headed straight for a local government center to register himself as a voter. Much better choice than smoking, Willy!

Note to the birthday boy: Thanks for being born, Will! We had a great time celebrating your birthday last weekend, and we also enjoyed watching you play your last high school basketball game in Blue Earth. It has been fun following you the past several years.... We will miss watching you play. No really, we will! It has been a lot of fun going to your games -- thanks for the good times!

And now it's time to get ready for life at St. Thomas. Pull out the purple everyone. Will is going to be a Tommy! Wooooo hoooooooooo!

Waaaaaaah

Just got back from trip #2 to the dentist. My face is numb. Especially my right nostril. My left eyelid can't control itself, so it just keeps watering and fluttering. Tanner thinks it's all very very funny. Wait 'til he gets the bill!

My new favorite hobbies (aside from blogging of course) are flossing and swishing mouthwash.

I've learned my lesson Dr. Wiese! Please put your drill away.

Cookies

DISCLAIMER: This post contains suggestions for baking. Please remember these are simply suggestions. You should consult your baker before making any extreme changes to your usual baking behaviors.

In addition to blogging, I've been working on my baking skills lately. I just realized that a recipe book came with my KitchenAid mixer -- the mixer I got almost two years ago (thanks Doreen!).

Last weekend I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and (insert gasp noise here) they were edible!!! In fact, we ate them all within a few short days. I even took a risk and used half regular flour and half whole wheat flour. A little extra fiber in the diet is good for the soul...among other things. What better way to get an extra dose of fiber than in a cookie?!


Tanner even requested MORE cookies, so I made some oatmeal raisin and another batch of chocolate chip. The oatmeal raisin cookie recipe came from a book about cookies. They turned out to be quite spongy and kind of weird - a cross between a muffin and a cookie, really. Tanner refers to them as muffkies.


Here's the chocolate chip cookie recipe straight from the KitchenAid book:
I highly recommend trying the whole wheat flour. Don't use too much though, or your cookies will be really dense. Dense cookies are not very yummy. Start with 1.5 cups of regular flour and 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour like I did and see where it gets you.

I also used mini-chocolate chips and regular eggs (some people like to use egg beaters...but I'm tellin' ya, they just don't work the same when it comes to baking). I admit the eggs were organic -- i.e. the chickens that provided us with the eggs roam freely on the farm, enjoy delicious grains, and are generally happy about life. This means they lay very nice eggs.

Sorry I was too lazy to type out the recipe. I think the picture turned out pretty well, though.

Oh Baby!

In case you haven't heard the exciting news, Elisabeth is having a BABY!!!

Beese, you look great! I love your little tummy.

Of course, Elisabeth's pregnancy means my parents are on the verge of grandparenthood....and while we're all busy helping Elisabeth and Evan think of baby names (I'm sure they really appreciate the help), we also need to be thinking of names for Grandma Jill and Grandpa Larry -- because just "grandma" and "grandpa" don't suffice.

Fortunately Grandma Marge (Evan's mom) has offered help by providing them with a book called The World's Only Grandparent Nickname Book. Rumor has it Marge is leaning toward "Grandmarge" as her nickname. I like it!

Here are some other ideas...

GRANDPA

FaFa
Paw Paw
Pee Paw
Big Daddy
Poppi Bear
Papa Bee
Grandpoos
Grampog
Pooki
Pooda
Mr. G
Papoo
Pepere
Popsie
Guppa
YeYe
Pompa

Grandma

MaMa
MawMaw
MeeMaw
Big Mama
Mamie
Moggee
Nanoo
Nonny
YaYa
Oma
Oggy
Ninna
Lola
NiNi
Tutu Wahine
Babushka
Bamma

So...which ones do you like? Do you have any other suggestions? We've got a few months to decide.

Back to blogging

Sorry for leaving you hanging the past few days. It's been busy -- no doubt you'll hear (read) all about it in a bit.

First things first:
I am getting multiple requests for blog topics, generally in the form of "Hey Annie, you should write about ____ on your blog", or "Annie, I want to see a picture of _____. Post it on your blog!" This is wonderful, and I appreciate your interest. Please be patient to see the postings you have requested; I promise to follow through as soon as possible. Of course 24-hour turn-around time is ideal, but sometimes I get caught up with other activities of daily life.
Such as shoveling....

These piles lining the sidewalk to our front stoop might not appear very big, but they are...oh yes, they are HUGE!

Here's a picture of the fire hydrant in front of our house -- do you see it?? Don't be confused with the house that is in the picture. That is the house across the street. This picture was taken standing inside our house. Just wanted to clarify. And isn't that a cute little tree next to the fire hydrant?? I'm glad Mr. Tree is surviving the winter.

I'm thinking maybe we should get outside to shovel around the hydrant. That would be helpful to the brave men and women who make up the Owatonna Fire Department.

In closing, I would like to say THANK YOU to the friendly neighbor who cleared out the end of our driveway yesterday. We love you!

Tanner and I got home at 11pm after a trip to St. Peter (see future blog post), and were SURE that we'd pull up to a large pile of snow left by the city plow. One of our kind neighbors took care of the dirty work for us! What a nice, nice person. If only he/she left us a note that revealed his/her identity - - we would have gladly paid for the service. Oh well.

HELP!

I can't get the ugly mug shot to shrink on this page.
Please help.

All of this blogging has pooped me out.
Hasta luego mis amigos.

It's time...

I've decided to try my hand at blogging. Please don't expect this to be a quality blog like others that are out there (i.e. Charlie's, Angie's, or Klund's - I mean Kevin's).

I will start with a topic I know best -- my husband. His name is Tanner.
Here is a funny picture of Tanner. Please don't feel bad about laughing. He understands.





Tanner is supposed to be refereeing (or is it "officiating"??) basketball tonight in Mankato, but the snowy weather has forced him to stay home on the couch in front of the tv. I think he's wondering what I'm doing....
I'm becoming a BLOGGER, honey!!!!