Survival Seeds

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Give some respect!!!!

I was working at NEO today and was helping with the tail gate party. When Lisa and I were through we went to watch the football game. At the first they oplayed the national anthem like they do everytime and I did what I do everytime, stand with my hand on my heart and think about the sacrifice that was made for us to live in this great country. Matt and I are patriotic and no matter what your political affiliation you should support those who have stood and been standing up for us.

As I amd standing there I hear something and glance to the left and see a woman talking on her cell phone in the middle of the national anthem. I was soooo irritated and absolutely ticked off at this woman. So doesn't repect our country or the men and women who have sacrificed their lives to let us be free.

I don't mean to go on a rant but no matter what your political affiliation or what your thoughts on the war you need to still give respect to the flag and respect to those who have given us the freedons they have. So the next time that you see the flag, hear the national anthem, or see one of our service men or women , give them the respect they deserve.

Friday, October 17, 2008

May 10th 2008 -- DARE Fishing Tournament

Okay, so most of you knew that Matt and I fish a lot. We had a tournament this weekend that benefitted DARE in Bartlesville! (Had fun Jon!!!!). So here is the story of our weekend...

Blast of was to be at 6 or safe light so our alarm was set for 3:30. This was a huge feat considering we didn't get to bed till after midnight 'cause we HAD to go to the monster trucks. (It was worth the late night though!!!) We got up, got everything in the boat, fed and took care of both of the girls and kenneled them and headed for the lake. We get there in plenty of time and I get out of the truck to go check in and get our number. I normally help him get the boat ready to unload but since I was getting the number he did it all by his self. I jump in the boat and we get it unloaded and I am waiting for Matt on the outside of one of the docks. We look in the floor board and there was water. It was wet with dew when we left but not with water in the floor boards!!!! so we trailer the boat back up and Matt takes the plug out and puts it in. We unload the boat for the second time and start out towards the mouth of Echo Bay. We hear the numbers called 24, 25, 26, 27, 28...We notice, yet once again that there is water in the floor board AGAIN... So....we hear our number called, number 30, and we drive back to Martin's and trailer the boat and have the bilge pump going. Matt looks and he had put the plug back into the same hole!!! So this time we take out to go and fish. All the other boats have blasted off already ( I missed another blast off this year, maybe next year!!) so we take off. We get to the other side of the lake and fish. Caught one first thing that measured and kept fishing. We kept moving around so the trolling motor was being pulled up and put back down. About 4 hours into it Matt was pulling the trolling motor up and busted the plastic prop off the trolling motor.... So we felt and heard vibrations for the next 5 hours. Then as we were leaving and coming back and the wind had picked up and the water was rough. About two minutes into the bouncing across the lake I felt a sharp pain in my right thigh. Well one of the lures that I was using was this gorgeous crank bait. 20 minutes later we pull into a cove that has the beautiful huge homes that are on Shangri-La's golf course. The types of houses that have windows that are as big as my house.... The people are rolling in the money and like everything just so. I look at Matt and ask him if we can pull the crank bait out of my leg. He starts freaking out, "why didn't you tell me?". Oh yeah, I can see us in the middle of the lake bobbing up and down trying to get that out.. I Don't Think So!!!! so we start looking. The only way that it can be looked at good is for me to pull my capri's down to my knees. so everyone by Shangri-La's golf course got to see that I was wearing pink underwear. So after looking we decided to push it on through since it was buried deep, past the barb. so each of the hooks had to be cut lose to get to the one single hook. So laying on the deck of the boat Matt took a pair of needle nose pliers and cut the hooks and the main part off them grabbed onto the single hook and pushed it through. Hurt like hell.... But it kinda felt like getting one of my tattoos....So we continued fishing and didn't catch anything but had one heck of a day!!! Maybe we will weigh in more that one fish next time....

June 25, 2008 -- OKC Redhawks Trip

Matt and I have been driving to work to save money on gas so yesterday morning (Tuesday) I started up the car and it sounded like a partial back fire so I turned the car off and looked at Matt and said "What was that?". He thought that maybe it had backfired, so we left. I pulled out of the driveway and my battery light comes on.... So when I get to the stop sign I turn the car off and back on, thinking it was a fluke thing.... It came back on. So we are thinking altenator or battery. After 2 1/2 hours Matt calls me and tells me that we broke the belt to the altenator, which was a better fix. So he fixed it no big deal... It was about $11.00... So we leave to go to the game and ten miles north of Stroud on the Turner turnpike my car start vibrating and is making just a loud noise. We pull over and my front passenger tire is bulging out, basically blown. So we pulled the front tire off, pulled the back tire off, put it on the front and put the donut on the back. So we drove on the OKC and watched the Redhawks play (they won 4-3 in the 12th!!!!) and had a blast. It was dollar hotdog night so we got hotdogs and a HUGE Budlight. After the day we had been having it was SOOOOOO good. So we left about 9, made it home by 1, got passed all the time. (The being passed was torture for me!!!!!!!) So we made it home and our wedding gift to each other is two tires a piece!!! Whooo Hoooo!!!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Potato Soup

So in Oklahoma it is getting cooler and I wanted to make potato soup. Here is my recipe.

2 lbs of potatoes
1 1/2 cup carrots
1 can chicken broth

Cook until these are tender.
Remove from heat and add.

2 cups sour cream
2 cans cream of celery soup
1/2 cup chopped onions
4-8 oz. chunked Velveeta cheese
2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste
1 quart milk

Return to low heat and simmer 20-30 minutes until cheese melts-for a thinner broth add more milk. Now I use evaporated milk most of the time to make it just a bit richer.

It was soooooo good. we had people in and out of the house eating tonight. I always cook more than it calls for. I think this time I cooked 6 lbs of potatoes and I always cook for an army so we will have some for lunch tomorrow!!!

For some absolutely AMAZING recipes look here at my friend Sara's blog. I just wish I could cook like her!!! She also keeps teaching me stuff about blogging!!! Thank you so much Sara!!!!

Squeeze your boobies!!!!

I changed my layout to pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. So I don't know how many of you know some of my past but at 32 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was just 2 at that time. She fought for four years and lost her battle Feb '88. Since then I have lost my grandmother and my aunt, both on my mom's side. When Matt and I got married (the first time LOL) my aunt was fighting breast cancer and doing some experimental treatments. Almost one month to the date after my wedding she passed away. My mother and aunt were both nurses. They knew what to look for. There had been no family history before my mother of having breast cancer. I always knew that it was something that I would have to deal with but had kinda put it on a back burner. At 21 I basically had to face the fact that I needed to think somewhat about my own mortality. I had just lost my aunt to the same thing that I lost my mother to and decided to not be another statistic. So I do mammograms every year now as a part of my yearly check up. even though it would be cheaper for the insurance to pay for all this and find it early, they refuse to but the cost is worth it.

Last month I went to tulsa to Dr. Lanette Smith and got checked out even better. Lanette Smith is a breast doctor and all the nurses and office help was girls!!! I loved it. I had the consult, they did ultrasound on my right breast and told me to go over to the mammography clinic and to get an ultrasound done NOW. So I did as I was told and got a digital mammogram and then they did ultrasounds. This whole visit took about 5 hours 'cause they were working me in at the clinic for the mammogram. The whole time Matt was back at home, working and about to go crazy. After everything was over they decided to watch everything and that I was to come back and se Dr. Smith in 6 months.



So I guess the moral of this is I know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month but it is that way every month for me. I also don't want to lose someone close to me from this. I want to be able to see my babies (when we have them) grow up, play ball, get married and have their own babies. I don't want to leave Matt to try and get through everything all on his own. And I don't want my little girl to break down while trying on wedding dresses like I did, just 'cause my mom wasn't there to help me.



Every year I get closer to 32 I am made more aware that I have to take the inicitive and take care of myself. I just want all my friends to realize the same thing. I do self exams every month around the 16th and if I need to remind everyone I will, just let me know!!! This is the link to cards that show you how to do a BSE.



So Squeeze Those Boobies!!!!

Monday, October 13, 2008

White Sasha, Ebony Stain

Well first you should read the previous post.

Okay, now that you have done that!!! Matt went to pick up the boxsprings on Friday night and I ran to Joplin to get a set of sheets and the stain that we would need for the bed. I bought two quarts of stain and set it, still in the plastic bag, on the kitchen table. Didn't think a second thing about it. I got up and went to work Saturday morning and Matt was out hunting so Roxy was in our room in her kennel and Sasha had the run of the kitchen/dining and living room. I call Matt at a little before 11:00 to make sure he had gotten home to watch the OU game and he had. I asked him what he was doing and his exact words were "Cleaning up your dogs mess". Now I should say that Sasha is a nosy dog and loves to know everything that is going on. She also loves food. So if a bowl or bag is left in reach or to where she can jump up to (like the kitchen table or the kitchen counter) she will have it on the kitchen tile floor. So I am trying to figure out what she has knocked off. -----She knocked the stain off---- Ebony stain on my cream tile floor. Only one quart opened and luckily it wasn't shook up so Matt was able to clean it up except for the grout, which looks like I have black mold growing in it!!! I was so glad that she didn't get into and spread it all around. I would have cried then. The only thing we can figure is that she had just done it. She knew she was in trouble and ran outside and stayed out there until Matt was done!!!!! So I will be scrubbing the grout on my kitchen floor one night this week. So If anyone knows any solutions besides bleach... Help!!!!

A new bed!!!

So Matt and I have been sleeping on a full size bed that has been mine for 20 years. It was bought for me after my mom passed away. The mattress was the original as was the boxsprings. It has been passed around and abused but I finally had it. After waking up with both of our backs killing us one of us would sleep on the couch and the other was on the bed. I was the one who had the couch since I was coming in late from school and then having the pneumonia and bronchitis I had to sleep upright.

When we bought the house a year ago we bought a brand new washer, dryer and dishwasher. We got them at Lowe's when they had a rebate going on and had $100 on a gift card. I found a basically brand new mattress, we were given a set of box springs and with the gift card we bought the wood for the bed. The only thing we were out was the stain!!! So we picked everything out, got it cut, stained it on Saturday, clear-coated it on Sunday morning and put it all together on Sunday evening. And we have a wonderful new king size bed!!!! Sasha is scared to jump up since it is higher but Roxy has no issue getting up. They both just laid up there with us this morning. It is remarkable how much better you feel when you have slept all night on a wonderful bed!!! The next things are two end tables and a headboard sometime..... but I am quite content with the bed right now. I get to sleep in the same room as my husband and listen to Roxy snore!!! Sasha even rested better, at 5:30 she was awake and trying to get us up to play with her but the three of us laid and ignored her until she decided to come back to bed with us!!!


On the left is the bottom board and on the right Matt is staining the top boards.
Close up of the top boards
Checking the size...
The girls helping us!!!!
It is done!!!!