It's all about the pie

I am preparing for the holidays by practicing my pie making skills. One time i made this buttery flaky deliciousness of a crust and it was so yummy, ever since i just cant get the same effect. I may just have to stick with store bought pie crust.

Mom always taught me to gather all of the ingredients you will need to make something before you start. As you use each ingredient you put it away. That way you know which ingredients you have already used and you clean up as you go! I use Libby's pie filling because it is all that i know. I am not ambitious enough to make one out of fresh pumpkin like my sister. which is why she will be in charge of the pumpkin pie for thanksgiving.

Then i make the crust all pretty around the edges. Sometimes if i have left over dough i will make pretty leaves. Like mom.

yum yum yum. I have yet to taste it. It is in the fridge cooling. I love pie.

Oranges roses in a blue bell jar?

Not quite. But its as close as I could get. I love flowers especially ones straight form the garden because I love to make pretty arrangements and put them in fun vases. I only have a small collection of vases but it will grow over time.

My new favorite blog, www.rockybella.blogspot.com or the one I have been visiting for quite some time, posted a simple blog about some orange roses she got from her husband and put them in her blue bell jar. It was so cute, so i got a dozen red roses from the garden and put them in a clear mason jar...which worked, but its not a cute blue bell jar. The roses are so pretty i just had to post a picture.

Anyways back to www.rockybella.blogspot.com she bought a little fixer upper and basically blogs about her furniture revamps and other cute ideas. you must check it out. there are too many posts to repost on here but if you take a gander, check out her back splash in the kitchen. what she did to her odd wall in her bed room LOVE IT. All of her furniture revamps are pretty dang cute as well. There is one I would like to repost because it is a masterpiece and I love it http://rockybella.blogspot.com/2009/10/antique-cabinet-revamp.html#links I want it so bad. I would revisit her blog many times a week just to look at it. Then I started to look at everything else, and its all cute! I want to do furniture revamps all day long. Its hard and takes sooo long (I attempted my table but its not done yet) Anyways that is my dream. Once I get a house there will be a lot of re-vamping to be done i am sure. She is giving me a lot of good ideas. So if you find any pretty pieces at garage sales that you don't want pick them up for me! I love the distressed look. rockybella's china cabinet will be mine someday.

I'm gonna be a Trucker's Wife

Well, this is her, my husbands mistress. I found this in his picture file on the desktop (not a very sneaky place to hide it)

I thought i would give everyone the details on whats going on in the McGinnis house as of late. Brad was fired from his job at the Auto shop (huge blessing in disguise) where he was quite miserable. For a long time him and his brother have wanted to drive truck and have a fantasy of starting a small trucking business. With high hopes for this adventure a little distraction came along, (insert beautiful girl here) who crushed their plans. With their dreams fading fast and opportunities presenting themselves the two boys finally decided to test out their dream. This is where brad decides to go to trucking school. He decided on swift, a great company with a great program (plus financial aid!) It is a year long program for him. First things first, getting your CDL is no easy feat. Months of studying went into this process, and the result? He passed all of his tests and endorsements with flying colors. I am very proud of him for how serious he is taking this and he is finally doing what he wants to do for himself. After obtaining all of the correct licensing they ship him off to Lewiston Idaho...?... for a 19 day training program. 12 hour days 6 days a week in a class room and out practicing in the trucks. After that they bring him home for about a week and then off with a local truck driver for a few days to practice and take his final driving test. After he passes his test he goes out on the road with a trainer for 4 to 6 weeks for more practice and then after the 6 weeks swift gives him his very own truck! he will be driving with them for a year at least ( thats the deal ) and after that he can do whatever he pleases. He could continue working for swift with their awesome benefits and the free truck. Or he could work locally which will probably be the case. He cant be away from home for that long! he could work for UPS or FedEx or a company that just does short trips, like to Seattle and back would be ideal. A quick trip and then hes home for the night. Having his CDL and all of that experience will open up a lot of jobs for him and he is very excited. Yes it will be a lonely year with very little time together but i think it will all be for the best. They say beginners make about 40-45,000 in their first year alone, and it just keeps going up with experience. If you are on a driving team which is what him and Jake are going to do, you make much much more. If there are two drivers they don't have to stop at every rest stop and sleep. They can get to the destination twice as fast and thats where people pay the big bucks. So that is the plan. Im going to be a truckers wife. With all of the worrying and the time apart. I will probably tag along a time or two if he is going somewhere interesting and for all the truck stops and rinky dink diners. Cant wait to see everyone at Christmas and for that new nephew of mine! If he ever comes out :(