A cup of Joe.

Hi All, Hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Andy and I sure enjoyed spending some time with each other, and family. That's what I love most about the holidays. We spent this Thanksgiving at my cousin Stacey's house. Since Andy is currently at his BOLC training in Oklahoma, we actually met at Stacey's...since her house is about 1/2 way between our home in Missouri and where he is in Oklahoma. It worked out very nicely! Stacey's parents, my aunt Gaylene and Uncle Brook also came down to celebrate. It was so fun spending time with them. And the food was DELISH! They really spoiled us! Unfortunately, as we toured the town we soon realized that our camera is broken. Therefore I have NO pictures from this weekend. I was more than irritated to say the least. I haven't had much luck with digital cameras in the last year, but thankfully Costco is good at taking back merchandise! :) So I am hoping to get it exchanged before the holidays.

I do have one great story though...one that some country fans will be jealous of. On Saturday, Andy and I decided to take a little 'alone' time and go tour the town of Bentonville, AR. Although it may sound like its in the middle of nowhere, I can promise they have much more to offer than where we currently live. Aside from our wonderful lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (which happens to be Andy's favorite restaurant)..we decided to check out their new mall. I was pretty excited to get some ideas for Christmas (and give Andy some!) Much like us, we decided to get some Hot Cocoa from Starbucks. The weather had turned to a measly 41 degrees with wind, and we were freezing! While standing in line at Starbucks, a girl behind us shouted out the name "JOE"...Keeping my gaze forward I noticed a dark haired man look up and then look back. At that moment i caught a glimpse of his face...I whispered to Andy, "Is that Joe Nichols??" He seemed to agree that the 6 foot something man looked strikingly similar to the country star Joe Nicloles. Needless to say, Joe and his two guests proceeded to be approached by many adoring fans outside of Starbucks! Andy and I decided that we didn't want to be the star struck type, and left them alone (not to mention I think I only know one of his songs). So even though our camera wasn't working, and we couldn't snap a shot from afar...I still wanted to blog the experience. Who would have thought we would see a celebrity in Arkansas? Not I.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Joe and his music, check out his website http://www.joenichols.com/ You also may know his first hit song 'The Impossible' from his album Man with a Memory.

Jorgensen Family Tradition!

This year, Andy and I are spending Christmas with his Sister Larissa and her family in Ohio. We are both really looking forward to being able to visit them and share the holiday's with them. It would be a lot of fun to make it out west to visit family, but we feel blessed to have family within driving distance to visit. So THANKS to Larissa and Spencer, Cole and Jack in advance for letting us spend Christmas with your family.

The other day Larissa asked me what some of my family traditions for the holiday's were. One of my favorites is the Danish Aebelskiver. For those of you who may have heard of this delicious 'pastry' of sorts, know how great they are. So I though I would share the recipe for my Mom's Danish Aebelskiver...our Christmas Morning Family Tradition.

First you need a cast iron Aebelskiver pan...which look like this:

Danish Aebelskiver from Colette Jorgensen

4 Eggs separated

1 Tbs. Sugar

2 C. Flour

1/2 tea. Salt

1 tea. Baking Powder

1/4 c. melted butter

Scant 2 C. Milk (scant= not quite)

Beat egg yolks until light. Add sugar and beat until thickened. Sift together dry ingredients and add, alternating with butter and milk. Beat egg whites until soft (and fairly thick) and fold into batter. Fill each Aebelskiver cup in pan 2/3 full, cook over med heat until bubbly. Turn with fork and cook other side until brown. Serve with syrup, honey, jam.

*Note: I find it useful to spray each cup with nonstick spray each time you fill it. That way Aebelskiver's won't stick to pan.

Great Holiday Cookie!

Since Andy has been in Oklahoma, I enjoy sending him 'care packages' every once in a while. This time around I decided to send him some holiday cookies for him and his friends to share! I don't know about you, but one of the best times about the holiday's is the treats! So if you are looking for a good holiday cookie...you should try this one (PS. For those of you who are health conscious, this isn't a low fat recipe. However I did try just one cookie, and it was tasty)

Andies Candies Cookies

3/4 C. Butter or Margarine

1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar

2 Tbs. Water

2 C. Chocolate Chips

In a sauce pan over low heat, melt butter; add sugar and water. Then add chocolate chips. Stir until partially melted. Remove from heat; stir and cool for 5 minutes.

2 eggs

2 1/2 C. Flour

1 1/4 tea. Baking Soda

1/2 tea. Salt

Andies Mint Candies

Mix egg in with cooled chocolate mixture. Add in dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Chill for 1 hour. Make into little balls and bake on un-greased cookie sheet at 350 for 10-13 minutes. While still hot, put Andies candy mint on each cookie, let it soften and swirl mint with toothpick. Cool on baking rack.

Hope you all enjoy. You can find other great holiday recipes like this at http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/

Salute!

For those of you who don't know...Andy is a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army. We took these pictures a while ago, and I think they are great! Do you think I could pull off being a military girl? (Lets be honest, probably not!) But we sure look good in his beret!

I Finished!

If you note in my previous blog "I'm here to save people money, So they an live better" I mentioned my obsession with the Twilight series. Well this past weekend, as I visited Andy in Oklahoma, I decided to pick up Eclipse at Wal-mart and get a start on it (Andy will have to figure out something else to get me for Christmas). Anyway, I finished the book in a little over 24 hours (taking breaks of course). It still takes a few days for me to get the story out of my mind, I can admit...without reservation, that I thought about the book for at least 1/2 of my 7 hour drive back to Fort Leonard wood.

For those of you who have started the series, it only gets better. Hopefully the next book doesn't take too long to hit the shelf!

6 Things You Never Knew, and Wish you Still Didn't Know...About Me!

Brittany tagged me to fill out this survey, and since everyone knows how much I love surveys...and how often I fill them out, I hope I can find 6 things you don't already know. Here goes!

6 things people don't know about me.......

1. I have always been a little over obsessive about my eyelashes. I even use this serum that makes them grow, so they can be long. No joke.

2. I love the board game SORRY. I use to play it with my grandma all the time!! Over all I really love board games.

3. I really dislike the nick name Missy. There are a handful of people that call me Missy that are exceptions, my father-in-law being one of them. But on most occasions I really dislike it.

4. My birth was an accident. If you ask my father the story, he will note that when my mom found out she was pregnant with me...she sobbed. If you ask them now, I was the best accident that ever happened to them. ha.

5. I have a fear of drowning. I won't swim or dive into deep water without a life jacket. I am deathly afraid of it.

6. I got knocked over by a seagull at Sea World once, while carrying fish to feed the seals. He hit me in the back of the head, I fell to the ground and he proceeded to eat all of my fish. All the while my dad stood laughing in the background as strangers came to my aid. I was probably 15.

People I tag...... Chelsea, Anyone of the Stockhoff Family, Sara, Jessica, Dusty and Monica, Whitney, Kara.

The rules: Don't write about things you have already blogged about, and tag 6 people when you're done.

Free Rice!

I think we should all take the time to do something for the well being of others...with that...there is an awesome website called Free Rice (www.freerice.com)

All you have to do is define each word listed. For every word you define correctly they will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations to help with world hunger! Check it out!

I'm Here to Save people Money so they can Live Better.

Many of you know that Andy is currently spending all of his time at Fort Sill Oklahoma....So, this last weekend I went and visited my cousin Stacey and her dog Brisco! We had a great time and even went on a tour of the Wal-Mart headquarters (don't be jealous). I even had the honor of wearing a rad tag that said "GUEST. Hi I'm Here to Help People Save Money so They Can Live Better" Yes...that's exactly why I was there. HA. It was fun, and I always enjoy spending time with Stacey, isn't she so cute??



I even got my hair did, don't worry...it wasn't anything too exciting. Just a little shorter (4 inches to be exact) eek! I still have to get use to doing my shorter doo. I always feel ambitious when I get my hair done, and then realize I never really change it much. But its fun to at least cut it now an then.

Also, since Andy has been gone (or in the past 5 days at least) I have finished two books. With encouragement from my BFF Allice, I decided to tackle what many of you know as the Twilight Zone haha (I just made that up!). Anyway, if you like Novels, I can assure you that you wouldn't be disappointed by diving into Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. I am so addicted I have to remind myself that its not reality. Sad, I know. I have only read the first two...Twilight and New Moon and am anxious to start Eclipse. IF you have read them too, give me a shout out!