I remember when...

I am at the cafe waiting for my sweetie. Just finished a cup of soup and sipping on my water with lemon. I am thinking about sister in law Daisy who is on a date with someone special. I have been talking to her about it and can tell she is very excited and it makes me remember my first date with Buzzbee...

(this is where we fly to the dreamlike sequence of my remembering the date)

Buzzbee and I had been hanging out for about a week and half I believe but it was always with our friends hanging around. Now it was time we went out on our own. I walked over to Buzzbee's house on campus and thought about turning around. The ground was snow covered and I thought that I was already in the backyard of his house that I couldn't turn around now because he would see my footprints. You see... I had this habit of running from boys. Don't get me wrong, I liked lots of boys, but if they ever got close to liking me back I would avoid them at all costs. It was different with Buzzbee. It was like I was being pushed to the backdoor of his house where he greeted me with a nervous hello. I was super nervous but knew once I got in and my shoes off my nerves would subside. We sat on the couch and he showed me pictures on his computer of his family. It was really nice. He was SO sweet and gentle. We decided we would go to dinner and then a movie. We made a list of all the restaurants we could think of and decided on Panera bread since I had never been there. (We don't have Panera in Canada). Like a gentlemen, Buzzbee opened the car door for me. At Panera we both ordered panini's and Buzzbee reached in his pocket for his wallet and had a look of horror on his face when he realized he had changed his pants and left his wallet at home! Something he never does and has never done since. It was okay though since I had brought money just in case. He apologized profusely and I kept reassuring him I knew he didn't purposely forget his wallet. haha. (He did pay me back the next day even more than what the date cost.. he didnt have to but he insisted.) Buzzbee and I barely touched them we were both that nervous! Then from behind his shaggy long hair at the time he said that I probably could already tell but he really liked me! It kinda bubbled out of him.. it was adorable. I then said, I like you too and began to ramble about how he probably knew too blah blah blah.. haha.
We were both relieved. It was out in the open. We went to the movies where we saw Quantum of Solice. After the movie Buzzbee talked a bit about it and I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn't pay attention to the movie at all! The butterflies were too distracting and I was just enjoying sitting next to him sharing popcorn. He told me later he wanted to hold my hand but wasn't sure if I wanted him to. He ended up holding my hand the next night at 80's Rollerskating night at the rink. It was a school event. It was amazing. The hand holding, not the 80s rollerskating.

Here are a couple pictures of BuzzBee and I when we first started dating.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this guy!!

Early Morning Post : My Addiction

Whoah there! heavy post so early in the morning you might say...

well I have an addiction and I have realized this morning that it is interfering with things in my life and ruining things!
Yes, I am a tea addict. : )
(obviously this post is only in jest)

I like tea. alot. I drink probably 89 4 cups a day. at least. My favourite brand is Tetley and I also like Red Rose.

Tea relaxes and soothes me.

It doesn't have to be caffenated. But I need it in the morning to start my day.

My favourite places/times to drink tea

• In bed
• In bath
• On the way to work
• At work
• Car rides
• Sunday School
• Friend's house
• Watching movie
• Reading
• Doing crafts
• Cleaning
• doing anything

Being a heavy tea drinker I have to admit there have been accidents.

Me drinking tea on my wedding day :)

Ways tea has ruined things for me:

• sheets. multiple sheets and bedding. I tend to spill the tea when I set it on my bed for a second.
• earphones. dropped them in my cup of tea
• camera. dropped my tea which landed and spilled on my camera
• computer keyboard. yes I have spilled tea all over my computer. on two occcasions
• carpet. I have yet to do this at my new place.
• cell phone cord thingy. fell in my cup.
• mittens. actually this was hot chocolate now that I think about it

I'm sure there may be more but this isn't enough reason for me to stop drinking tea. I just need to get a ceramic thermos that has a sealed lid that doesn't spill when you tip it over. kinda like a sippy cup. speaking of sippy cup, Dew is still sleeping and that is why I decided to do an early morning post.

Of course, tea has to be made in the correct way or it is just no good.
The Perfect Cup:
The water. Just as important as the tea itself. It is very important that the water is boiled. In order for the flavours to be released and proper steeping hot hot water is neccessary. I prefer to use a stainless steal kettle to boil the water. I like the kind that shut off automatically because I tend to make a lot of tea and sometimes forget I put the kettle on. This is like the one I have.

Next place the tea bag in the cup. I always think tea tastes best in porcelin tea cups for some reason. Let the tea steep for a couple minutes and remove bag.
I like to add about 1tsp of sugar and just enough 2% milk to make the tea a carmely colour. Drink it hot.
This in my opinion is how to make the perfect cup of tea. Or at least a cup that I would enjoy.

So what about you. Do you like tea? as much as me?

A Little of Everything.

As you may have read earlier today started off kinda crummy and both of us being sick made things look worse. It turns out our day ended rather nicely.

    BuzzBee hitched a ride to work with his sister Daisy. I decided to ride my bike over to his work and have a lil supper there to keep him company. Monday nights are VERY slow. It was rainy and wore the wrong kind of shoes for this weather but BuzzBee was happy to see me. I was the only one there and BuzzBee waited on me. I ordered cheesy potato soup, ham sandwhich and pop. It was a special and I also got the employee discount because Buzzbee ate some of it too. It was delicious! Buzzbee was allowed to leave early because it was so slow he only had to vacuum and then he could leave. He was on his way to vacuum and came back and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek while I ate my soup. It gave me butterflies. 

It was about 745 when he was allowed to leave and I just finished eating. We walked back together since we are car-less right now. We stopped at Hutch's on the way home to get some juice. Buzzbee is hoping that getting some fruit and vitamins in us will help with our colds. There was no orange juice under 5 dollars...which is ridiculous. We spotted some applejuice that was on sale for 1.97 regularly 2.97. I had a coupon for that apple juice for a dollar off! so the apple juice was 97cents! SCORE! I love saving money. 

So we walked back.. it took us about half hour. We both really enjoyed the walk and decided we should go for evening walks more often. I love Buzzbee soo much!

A Couple of Simple Recipes:

Popcorn: I know I know, but someone out there may not know how to do this.

Sure you can make microwave popcorn pretty easily, but I am not so sure its very healthy for you. I've heard some not so good things about the chemicals they use in the bag to keep it from leaking. They are supposed to have come up with something different by the year 2011 or it comes off the shelf.

I prefer homemade popcorn anyways. I received an air popper(?) for a shower gift but after one use it stopped working as efficiently so I now make it on the stove. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels (tip: be sure that you store kernels in airtight container or the fridge. kernels can become stale and do not pop as well)
• 1/4 vegetable oil (I don't like to use olive oil because I find it can catch on fire pretty easily.. and no one wants that!)
• 1/8 cup Melted butter or margarine (use as little or as much as you like) 
• dashes of salt

What To Do

• Firstly pour 1/4 cup vegetable oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or large pot that has a lid.
• Place pot on burner on med-high heat
• Drop a single kernel into the pot

• Put the lid on and wait
• While you are waiting, melt butter or margarine on the stove or microwave (this is to butter your popcorn if you so desire)

• When you hear or notice the kernel has popped pour 1/2 cup of kernels into the pot and replace the lid. (if you pot is smaller just use enough kernels to cover the bottom in a single layer, if you put too many in it will burn)
• The popcorn will start popping. Shake it around a bit on the burner. I shake it back and forth on the burner pretty vigorously so it doesn't burn. It pops pretty quickly so make sure you don't take the lid off or it would pop all out.
• Once the popping stops pour into a bowl immediately
• Pour melted butter over top and salt to taste. Shake it around.
• Enjoy!

HoneyBee Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can chili beans
• 1-2 lbs ground beef
• 1 can of chili ready tomatoes
• dash of onion flakes
• sprinkle of chili powder

What to Do:

• Firstly brown the ground beef

• Put browned ground beef in crock pot set on low

• add both cans of beans and tomatoes

• add onion flakes and chili powder and whatever other spices you want
• Stir it up a bit
• Cover and let sit for hours...like 6-8 is best on low.

Very easy and Very tasty! I was happy with the outcome of this chili. 

I also made cornbread muffins and grated cheese to go with the chili. Yummm

Enjoy!

I am going to work on my flower clip for my hair that I am making from my dress to wear to the wedding on sat!

I will make a tutorial on that later!

Just One of Those Days...

For Buzzbee, not for me...although when he's having a rough day it doesn't make me feel good to see him down in the dumps.. but everyday can't be full of sunshine and roses. Nothing major happened (thanks goodness) but just a culmination of things to make ya feel like you want to go back to bed and start the day over.

Buzzbee went to bed feeling sick last night and woke up feeling worse. It seems everyone is sick these days. the weather perhaps? Anyways, I went to babysit while Blossom & Night-Owl  had their baby appointment (more on that later). I told Buzzbee he could sleep in and feel better because Blossom graciously offered to pick me up so Buzzbee didn't have to give me a ride. Buzzbee was coming to get me although I told him I would call him when I needed to be picked up but Blossom offered me a ride home and we saw Buzzbee on the way. We turned around and noticed his car on the side of the road. The brake line broke! He saw us and was putting on the brake to turn around and it broke. Thank the Lord it was when he was attempting to turn around and not at a light or stop sign. So he is safe and the car is broken...for now. One good thing is it provides another reason than just being sick for him to stay home from soccer practice today. He is still going to work tonight though. 

We have been thinking about getting a new (new to us) car lately and today proves that we need to seriously consider it. As much as I would prefer to keep the old one and save money, we have to be safe. 

So if any of you have ANY suggestions on what is a good quality car let me know! We aren't looking to buy new but something that will be safe and dependable. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. Just comment below!

In Other News:
As I mentioned above, Blossom and Night Owl had an appointment today to find out exactly what kind of baby they are having. Well....my predictions were right again!!! It's a GIRL!!!!! YAY!!!

I had a feeling it would be early on, but I didn't want to get all excited for it to be a girl only to find out it was a boy. haha.. I mean.. obviously we would all still be excited.. but its just that much more exciting to have a baby girl in the family. Now Dew will have a baby sister! 

Blossom, Dew and Night Owl

I am going to write another post this evening so check back!

Thanks for reading! :D

Dress Refashion

Happy Sunday!
It's been a relaxing one so far. Went to church at 8:25 to teach 3s&4s Sunday School. They are so cute. :)
One of the children insisted that her name was "a girl" and Buzzbee and I only found out her name through another helper. Kids are so funny at that age but they are also well behaved for the most part.
Buzzbee and I went home after church and had a much needed nap. It was nice.
After we were rested we went over to Buzzbee's parents for lunch. We had pork, scalloped cheesy potatoes, carrots and salad with strawberry shortcake for dessert. yumm.

Now I am working on refashioning a dress. I was inspired by 3 four and under's  post and decided that now would be the perfect time to work on one of my bridesmaids dresses. I looked through my closet and found this one.

I made this brown satin dress with organza overlay when I was in highschool. I only wore it once but it fits me so nicely and it's very comfy that I couldn't part with it. The thing is, it's too young looking for me and too formal. I am going to a wedding next weekend and thought a nice brown dress would be lovely for fall.

Here's the plan for the dress:

• shorten to the knee
• remove organza overlay
• remove pink bows
• make a collar or sleeve of some sort
• cover up pink ribbon with brown/goldish type ribbon.
• make cute flower from fabric for my hair

Check back Saturday night for the finished product! I can't wait! I have already started and shall be working on it everyday. Tomorrow I am making a trip to Joanne's to see what I can find. 

PS Don't forget to comment! : ) I am beginning to think no one reads my blog.

Saturday : Laundry Smaundry

BuzzBee left early this morning for a soccer tournament so today was the perfect day to get all the laundry done, go through all our clothes and get our bedroom in order. I planned on making a nice dinner and a cake for just because. I started the morning off a little late. It was more like afternoon.
I started on the laundry which is in the creepy basement. After lugging all the clothes downstairs and put the quarters in the dang machine was asking me for another quarter! It turns out they have adjusted the price of the washing machine from 75 cents to a dollar! I know that might not seem a big deal to you, but we are on a tight budget.. and my quarters are limited. So, I sighed and went upstairs to get another quarter and brought down the Borax. I decided to try some Borax this time because the water here is very hard. I was hoping it would increase the cleaning power as it claims. I started putting the clothes in and felt the water. It was cold! Very cold! I had set it to warm and the usual setting. The soap was not bubbling as usual either because the water was so cold.
Well.. I had most of the clothes in there already so I just let the machine run. When I came back down to get the laundry the clothes were not clean, as I suspected and worse the borax was all over the clothes since it didn't dissolve in the cold water. my fault, not the borax. Actually its the washing machine's fault.
I needed to rewash all the clothes so I put the wet clothes in a basket and am waiting for BuzzBee to return so we can go to his parents and use their washer for tonight. I was planning on having it all done by the time he got home. I have a few loads to do. Oh well. C'est la vie.

On a positive note. BuzzBee wanted me to plan something that I wanted to do tonight and said we would do it when he got home. We hadn't been to a movie this month (we do one a month) and thought that would be fun and maybe get some craft supplies at the store.
BuzzBee's mom invited us over for dinner and to work on favours for our wedding reception. (We are having a second reception in Michigan for those who couldn't come to our wedding in Canada-more on that later).
So, since the wedding reception is for us I felt that we do need to help tonight. I am getting excited though. It will be fun to work on the favours! I am not positive what they are. If you check back tonight I will post more about the favours and the reception. Maybe I will do a tutorial. I have to start doing one soon.

That's all for now!

It's a Friday Night Vlog!

I didn't want to post this because I am not very good singer or song comer upper or guitarist...but then I thought...no no, it is just for fun and someone might think its funny and be cheered up. I kinda think it's funny so I hope you do too! although the words of the song itself I mostly meant. What I really meant was.. " I love you more than the day before" not I loveD (past tense) you more the day before.. I would redo the video.. but then its not on the spot. AND I want to do other videos tonight if possible. yahh.

Babies, Babies and More Babies

Okay, so maybe not that many babies but it seems to be that time in my life when some of my closest friends are pregnant with a baby! (that was a wierd statement.. what else would they be pregnant with) Anyways, sister in law Blossom is having her second child due Feb. 18th! She finds out on monday if its a boy or girl! I'm not ready to guess yet, but if I HAD to guess right now.. I think girl. She let me hear the heart beat of the baby inside and it was so cool!



"Blossom" My pregnant sister in-law at my wedding!

It's such an incredible miracle.. I don't think I will ever get used to how a child is brought into this world. One of my former room mates is expecting in March! I am going to guess she is having a...boy, but that is not my final answer.



This is my former room mate and friend who was married this past June! The lil guy in the picture was an added bonus when she married her husband! They will have such a cute lil family!


And..one of my best friends from home is having her first child! She was the first out of our group of friends to get married and now the first to have her baby! She thinks it will be a boy.. but I think it will be a girl. She is due in April!


Mrs.O and her husband.


I am SO excited for all my friends! Its so excited that my friends who are my age are having babies! I plan to give each a special gift that is made by me! I am open to any suggestions Ideas. When I get my sewing machine I plan on to start sewing again. Here are some ideas of what i hope to sew:

My Grandma sewed many children's clothes like this and sold them in a store up north. Of course she added her own flair to her creations. I plan to do the same. I do like simplicity patterns.

Too cute! I like this pattern because it is simple yet Adorable! I love the lil sailboat and the strawberry one.

My Grandma had this pattern and used it a lot. The cute lil cross-over back one is pretty simple. But I love the lil duck one!



Hats! I LOVE hats for children. I bought a cute snowman hat for my nephew last winter! It probably will still fit him so we will see what kind of hat his new baby sibling will get from Aunt HoneyBee

Tomorrow night I am planning on knitting with a friend. I just taught myself to knit on our honeymoon. I know how to knit, pearl and cast on.. but that is all. Hopefully i can pick up a few more skills since I plan on knitting some dishcloths for a wedding gift in 2 weeks!
I am babysitting right now, lil nephew is down for a nap and I am waiting for BuzzBee to come and keep me company, bring me lunch and also my knitting supplies.
I plan to knit this afternoon while I wait for BuzzBee's soccer game at 5 oclock. He's coaching Jr. high soccer. Well I am excited to see them play becuase I haven't had the chance to do so yet and today is such a beautiful day!

well that's all for now!

Bubble Bath

I am back from babysitting and not feeling to hot. I felt sick last night, better this morning and now worse than last night. I figure I better put off cleaning the kitchen and have a nice relaxing hot bubble bath with a cup of tension tamer tea to help melt away my headache. Hopefully I will be feeling well enough to write a post that is on my mind after the bath.
check back later to get my chili recipe... i know i know, there are millions of chili recipes.. but mine was delicious if I do say so myself!

Whew!

Beautiful Roses from BuzzBee <3

Just finished dinner. it wasn't chili. I decided to save that for tomorrow. I did however manage to organize and clean the huge task of our craft/office room. It took hours to do since everything was strewn about and in boxes from when we moved in. I am very happy I got it done today.

The desk and shelves are made from boxes and bins for the time being until we get some sort of craft table and computer desk. I also need some shelving for our books and all my craft supplies. My mom is bringing some more of my craft supplies this week probably.

Oh and here is a picture of my pizza I made a couple of nights ago. When my mom comes to visit she is going to teach me how to make German pizza crust. I bet BuzzBee will really like that one because its a really thin crust. BuzzBee likes to taste more pizza than crust.

I put the cheese on last for some reason. Next time I will put it on first.

BuzzBee loved it though :) He's the one who told me to put the cheese on last.

Then we realized its usually first. haha.

That's all for now.

Surprise Hubby

Last night BuzzBee got home very late. He had a grand ol' time at his brothers and was happy to see me still awake when he got home. We talked a bit before going to bed and forgot about the alarm clock that was still in the living room where Daisy was sleeping. That being said, we slept in until noon and missed church. I know I know, shame on us. We had a devotion time and ate my banana bread before BuzzBee had to leave for work. I know today is the day of rest but it just so happens that I am very motivated and inspired to organize and decorate for fall!

so my to-do list today is as follows:

- mop and vacuum all floors

- do laundry

- put pictures in empty frames

-hang all frames

- hang up curtains some how

- make chili in crockpot for when BuzzBee gets home at 7

- make cornbread

-wash strawberries and freeze them

- have a bath and look all nice

-listen to sermon we missed at church today while in bath

-attempt a french braid

-find cord thing for camera and post pictures on this here blog

- big job of sorting through our craft/office room- we dont have a desk or table or shelves.. so it has been hard to know what to do with all my stuff! haha. and I want to get crafting soon!

- dust

- decorate for fall!! Im excited for that one!

All that being said we will see how much of it I can get done before BuzzBee gets home. I plan on posting later today so check back for pictures and more stories.

Side note: Does anyone have an idea of what I can do with the roses BuzzBee gave me. I have pink and red ones. Usually I take one of the petals and press them in a book just as a keepsake. I think I want to dry them and make something nice with them, but not have to buy anything to do it either. Any ideas??

Check back to see how Buzzbee liked his surprise! Chili is his main surprise. Maybe I will make a cake also to celebrate his final paper for school being done! yay! He has official graduated!

Sisters Weekend!

I've never had sisters, although I have very close friends that I would call sisters, but now that I am married I have gained two!

Daisy (left) Me and Blossom(right) :::nicknames I am giving them in my blog.

Daisy and I had a sleepover last night. We had homemade pizza which I talked about the other day and popcorn while we watch Prince of Persia.

Today the three of us went out to eat at the Olive Garden where we all had the unlimited soup,salad and breadsticks. I loved the soup! It was Chicken Gnocci. mmm yummm.

We went shopping afterwards and I bought some much needed shoes! I have been wearing BuzzBee's sneakers for quite a while.. and they are not cute to say the least. Daisy found cute and yet ultra comfy moccasins. I will post pics once BuzzBee is home and can show me where the usb for the cam is.

Where is BuzzBee my wonderful husband you ask? He is at his bachelor party! I know I know, its a little late, but its better a little late than never right?

So BuzzBee picked his fav. restaurant, Red Lobster and his brother and friends took him there for supper. After supper BuzzBee and friends went back to night-owl's house to play their much anticipated video game Halo Reach. Night-owl is BuzzBee's brother and is married to Blossom in case you were wondering. I know it's a bit confusing with the nicknames if you already know these people.

Daisy is now doing her homework and I am waiting for the banana bread to cool so I can take it out of the pan. I have another one to make but only one pan. Actually, the pan isn't even mine I borrowed it from BuzzBee's mother.

I made this recipe pretty much myself. Looked at other recipes and combined what I thought would be good. So here's the recipe:

HoneyBee's Banana Bread

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup ish white sugar

2 eggs

3 medium very ripe bananas (mashed)

1/2 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup of chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans or one 9x5 inch pan.

2. In medium bowl, blend together with a whisk the flour,baking soda, and salt. In a separate, larger bowl, mix together mashed bananas, oil, applesauce, vanilla, eggs and sugars. (mixer on medium or use whisk) Keep mixing until all ingredients are combined.

3. Now add the flour and such from the smaller bowl to the larger bowl and keep on mixing. Just mix enough so that all the ingredients are combined. Stir in walnuts. Divide batter and pour into pan(s)

4. Bake 8 inch loaves about 1 hour, 9 inch loaf 1 hour 15 mins. Cool for 10 minutes

5. Loosen sides from pans; remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool. Let cool completely for two hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and either store at room temp. for up to 4 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Pictures to come soon.

Resources: Browneyed Baker, All Recipes, Betty Crocker

A New Beginning

Hey folks!
I was having trouble with my old blog letting me change the layout, design and such and so I have created a new one. I didn't want to, but if I wanted to start blogging again I had to do it.

So. Here it goes.

I attempted to make pizza tonight. it was...not quite a success and certainly not a failure but it was not as awesome as I was hoping.a

The trouble was all in the crust, the rest of the pizza was tasty. The recipe book told me nothing about putting the dough in a warm place. All the recipe said was to loosely cover the dough in plastic wrap and so I followed the directions. I later found out from Mel and Karen that the dough needed to be set in a warm place. I shall make a note of that. By the time I had found out this bit of helpful information it was too late. I topped off the topping and put the mishapen pizza in the oven. It turns out that Jake loves the pizza. I complained about the crust, but he thought it was perfect.. silly boy.

Speaking of Jake, it has been 4 weeks tomorrow since we were married!!! All I can say is that it has been full of suprises, joy, and a great learning experience. If you want to really learn about yourself, get married..haha, you learn a lot about the kind of person you are. Jake and I still have yet to have a "fight". We do have disagreements sometimes, miscommunications and sometimes moodiness on my part, but we have never let things turn ugly and I am hoping for the majority of our marriage we can keep our tempers at bay. ( I have no idea if that is the right kind of bay that I use in this sentence, is it bay, beigh, bae? Im thinking bay, as a body of water.)

Well, we have just finished eating the pizza and are now watching Prince of Persia. Abbey is staying the night at our place. Our first overnight guest!

I will post more later, but now is the time to make some yummy popcorn!! mmm yess.