I'm a Believer!

No, this post is not about religion or a song by The Monkees from the 60's (although I am a Christian and I do love that song.)  This post is again about Pinterest.  Seriously, if you haven't jumped on board with this phenomenon yet, you need to!  Pinterest is awesome, especially for an organizing nut like me.  I love pinning all these great ideas onto organized boards with comments for my forgetful brain so I can remember them and find them later.  It's just brilliant! 
Anyway, back to why I'm a believer.  One of my boards is called "household tips."  I love that people have somehow figured out all these shortcuts, miracle solutions, and easy fixes and then put them on the internet.  When I saw this pin about shredding chicken, I just knew I had to try it.  Guess what!?!  It totally worked!  This could be a life changer, folks.  I don't know how much time I've spent shredding chicken over the years, but those days are gone!  Here's what I did:

To cook the chicken:
1.  Cover the bottom of a 9x13" pan with water then add a little vegetable oil.
2.  Place 4 rinsed boneless skinless chicken breasts in the pan.
3.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.
4.  Bake at ~375 F for 30 minutes.
5.  Let cool about 10 minutes.

To shred the chicken (this is the fun part):
1.  Place 2-3 warm chicken breasts in your KitchenAid mixer with the normal mixing paddle
2.  Turn to speed 4 for about 5 seconds
3.  Turn to speed 6 for about 5 seconds
4.  DONE!!  Perfectly shredded chicken and perfectly clean hands!! 

I couldn't believe it actually worked and that it was so easy.  I will never shred chicken by hand again!

I Love You Because...

So I'm sure most of you have seen this idea on Pinterest, but I thought I'd share my version of it this morning.  I made this for Josh for our 10th anniversary last month.  I think the frame was $3 at Walmart, and I already had the paper and dry erase markers- so easy!  It has been fun writing things back and forth to each other.  It's funny how much I look forward to seeing what he writes.  This could make a great Valentine's gift!

Anniversary Trip to Ouray

December 29th was our 10th anniversary.  We made it to double digits!!  To celebrate and get away for a few days, we left Titus with my Mom in NM and headed to Ouray, CO.  If you've never been to Ouray, you should totally go.  Summer or winter, it's a great place to play and relax.  I think the brochure said the town is 9 blocks long and 5 blocks wide.  There is one main street where you'll find most of the hotels, restaurants and shops.  Some stuff is closed in the winter, but it's still fun.

We spent one entire day cross-country skiing.  This was my first time on skis (yes, I know, I grew up in NM) and Josh had a little experience from WA.  We went to a nordic trail area which turned out to be a little more technical than we expected.  We fell a lot, laughed a lot, and found a bunch of new muscles.   There was lots of grunting as we tried to get up and celebration when we made it through a tough spot without falling.  We had to climb hills, cross creeks, shimmy across narrow bridges and avoid ditches.  Hard, but tons of fun.  Oh, you can't beat the scenery either! 

Our second day in Ouray included some time on the sledding hill, watching ice climbers, hiking around Box Canyon Falls and swimming in the hot springs pool.

Again, more pictures and videos on our Flickr page.  We had a great trip!
Oh yeah, one last picture.  This one is for my brother- one of the shops in town had a leg lamp in the window.  I just had to get a picture!  It's hard to see because of the reflection, but it's there.

Christmas 2011

Before we left for NM, we had an early Christmas with Josh's family in Abilene.  I think we're a pretty good looking family!

 

We arrived in NM to find lots of snow at Mom's house.  There were even drifts as tall as Titus.  We had to dig a tunnel so he could get to the yard.  That's a frisbee in his mouth in case you were wondering.  It's our go-to snow toy since it doesn't get lost easily.

We made a tubing run in Mom's backyard and had lots of fun taking turns flying down the hill

My cousin Bryan brought his family to NM the day after Christmas for a few days

Some more family shots:

Josh looks really tall because he is closest to the camera.  Really, the rest of us are not that short!

There are lots more pictures on our Flickr site as well as a few videos- go check them out!
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your families!

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 4

Back when I made tie wreaths for myself and Mom, I knew I wanted to use a few ties and make something for my brother as well.  But what do you make for a guy?  Certainly not a wreath!  My brother has his house decorated in black, grays, and red.  Dad had 3 ties in this color scheme, so I just made this little shadow box display.  I'm not completely happy with how it turned out, but I was going more for sentimental value anyway.

One last little handmade item that makes a great stocking stuffer is a pair of handwarmers.  I saw this idea on Pinterest (of course).  You just make a little pouch of rice.  It is heated for about 45 seconds and can be used over and over.  I made little fleece covers for mine so they could washed.  Super easy and useful for anyone with cold hands!  They are also a great use for fabric scraps.