Sparkly Cranberry Orange Muffins

This week at work we were getting observed by an accreditation committee making sure the school and teachers were doing what they said they were doing. It made for a pretty stressful couple of days, but we passed with flying colors. I thought the ladies deserved a treat so I made these yummy mini muffins. I have made them before and they were a hit, so I went with it again. This is just an easy version of some muffins from the PW.

Bake mini muffins according to box mix. I have been using the Cranberry Orange Flavor from Krusteaz, it's really good. I think because of the next step it's good to pick a mix that has a lot of flavor.

After they get out of the oven when they are still warm... Dunk them in a pool of melted butter. Yes Paula Deen would be proud of me. I used a whole stick for 24 mini muffins.

After they are dunked (not soaked) in butter , roll them in sugar. Yum. Look at that sparkly sugary deliciousness.

Ta Da... bring them to a crowd and from my experience they are gone by first recess ;).

p.s I think mini muffin is key, they are pretty rich plus they are cute and just pop in your mouth...which can be dangerous.

Wow Snow!

This past weekend we went to McCloud again lol. I had just made the drive on Thursday and we turned around and made it again for Friday. It was worth the drive though we got to spend the weekend with Greg's family , Uncles and all. It was Greg's moms Uncle and Aunts 60th wedding anniversary and they had a celebration for them. It was a fun weekend with a lot of snow.

Look at high the snow is! This is the front of the cabin. I guess that it was only a couple of inches from beating the record for all that snow from almost 125 years ago.

umm... yeah to see all this snow in person was amazing and beautiful...but glad we got home safe. Snowflakes all around.

Corned beef and cabbage ... and a few odds and ends

Thursday was of course the mighty St. Patricks Day. We celebrated with making corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot and if I say so myself it turned out pretty yummy.

Here were the steps: In a crock pot put 2 chopped up onions, carrots (if you want them we didn't), beef, seasoning mix (that comes with meat), a beer and 2 tbs. yellow mustard. In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 cup water (I used beef broth instead of water). Cook on low for 10-12 hrs. Remove corned beef , cover with foil and out in 200 degree oven to keep warm. To the crock pot & liquids add wedges of cabbage and then I added peeled cut up potatoes and added some butter. Turn crock pot to high and cook 40 minutes or until cabbage and potatoes are tender. YUM!

P.S I have my second interview on Thursday @ 1:30 so think of me at that time!

P.S.S Today is my "little" brothers 21st birthday!! Ahhh I feel old and reminiscent of my 21st birthday...all I am saying is thank you Heather for passing me the wine bucket ! lol

Trust in his plan

This weekend started in pure elated joy! I have been checking my phone every two seconds this whole week waiting for "THE CALL" on if I was moving to the next step from my job interview. Friday, I was pretty bummed on my way home from work because I still had not heard anything ...my mind went to the worse. When, I walked into the door I saw a usual scene our mail scattered on the floor (we have a mail slot) and as I was picking them up I saw one from the district. I automatically thought this was a bad sign... then I open it and saw the Little amount of writing...I thought another bad sign -you can reject someone in very little words lol. But I guess you can accept them in very little too! My heart sank and I had to re-read it a couple of times to make sure-but yeah I get another chance! They will let me know within two weeks when my interview is ... I will prepared with lots of prayers!

After that happy news the goodness continued. Tana and Jen came and visited while our men were on a fishing trip. It was some much needed girl time and they were lots of fun. We spent a lot of time eating, watching chick flicks and going antique shopping. We started our shopping adventures going to the convention center to that just between friends sale I was looking forward to. Jen got some cute gear for their little man Wyatt and Tana got some cute horse stuff for her niece. I got a couple of learning games for the classroom so a successful first stop.

Some other purchases were...

A mini domed cake plate...I decided that I am going to start collecting cake plates in all shapes, sizes and colors. I absolutely love them and you can use them to serve desserts, appetizers or to put decorations on top.

A cute hook to hang up my aprons.

...and of course kettle corn at the antique fair this morning lol.

Go Kings!

Earlier this week one of the fabulous kindergarten teachers asked me if we wanted free tickets to go see the kings (her husband works for them). We said yes, I mean I know nothing about basketball but they were free and wound up being really good seats. The arena is only like 10-15minutes away so it took no time to get there too. It was a really fun night and it's good to be able to say we saw the kings while we were here ...and when they were too(if your not in the know they might be going to Anaheim-not too good for sac).

Stress to relaxation

This week was very stressful for me, I mean I am one of those people who hold a lot in and expects perfection from myself and as Greg puts it has a lot of irons in the fire (I can't help it) so there is always stress in my life, but this was a different kind of stress.

Last, Friday I received a message from a school district I applied for in Redding. For those who don't know, we are moving to Redding at the middlish of summer for Gregs work. I am worried because Redding is a smaller city (there is a population of 90 thousand so it's not like it's tiny), but a lot less chances for a teaching job for a first year teacher. Well , I found a posting for a Redding school district hiring for their hiring pool for the upcoming school year. So, after I made my interview appointment for Friday it sunk in that I had a CAREER Interview!

In that second it's not just the stress of trying to get a job, but of seeing the possibility of your dreams coming true. Finally a chance to start practicing my skills on my own classroom instead of someone else's. The chance to actually be doing the job I went to school for and am paying school loans for. The chance to move closer to clearing my credential. The chance to move my life in the next step that I feel like I have been in limbo. The chance to make enough money to pay off bills and save for a house. The chance to be permanent somewhere doing what I LOVE. This is what I want and need for me to start feeling successful and whole in my adult career and in the "planned" direction I have for my life-the chance to get some control.

I know just by reading that your like wow Steph you can't put that much pressure on yourself-,but when you want something so bad and it's a huge puzzle piece missing in your life it's hard not to. I know that I can do this I just have to have them know it... fast forward the interview went OK-I think I let the nerves get to me and it wasn't my best, but the good news is they will let me know by the end of this week if I move onto the next interviews in front of the superintendent and the hiring principals.

I am excited for this chance and it looks like an amazing district, so fingers crossed and prayers. We got to drive around Redding a little, which either of us have been around he he. Good news is we both liked what we saw, it had a charming feel a little small town mixed with some character with all my needed amenities-target, taco bell, papa Murphy's :). lol

After the interview we decided to drive the extra hour to relax in McCloud and relax we did!

You can't help but to relax surrounded by such beauty.
On Saturday we went cross country skiing. It was my first time ever skiing and it was a lot of fun.


Cheese my camo man.



Off we go...

Lucky for me they had these little tracks on the sides of the trails to help the sliding.

Look at me almost a pro now!

oops maybe not ...(Greg did fall more than me though...shhhh)lol

This view makes me smile and De-stress...well at least for a second :)

Tortellini Soup

This was a really yummy warm up your bones soup and it was really quick to make, I think it took me a whopping 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

1tbs olive oil

2 cloved minced garlic

1/2 small oninon, minced

1/2tsp dried oregano (I used itallian seasoning too)

1 quart chicken or vegetable broth

15 oz canned whole tomatoes

salt and pepper

9oz package tortellini, frozen or fresh

3 cups fresh spinach, chopped and loosely packed

parmesan cheese, to serve (I used cheddar that's what we had)

In a large pot heat oil under medium heat. Cook garlic and onion unitil soft. Add the oregano, broth, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste (break up tomatoes with fingers or a spoon). Bring the soup to a boil and then add the tortellini (cook according to package time) one minute before they are done add the spinach and stir. When tortellini are done season with salt and pepper and serve into bowls and sprinkle with cheese.