all is right with the world

The cookie jar has been filled, the moon and stars have aligned and all is right with the world. A full cookie jar is a quick way to make Dreamy James a happy camper. And I figured that since he has gutted and is redoing our bathroom, he deserves some cookie goodness. According to Dreamy James there is only ONE type of cookie and that is the classic Chocolate Chip Cookies. In fact, he loves them so much that instead of cake at our wedding we had chocolate chip cookies. That's right folks....I made roughly 45 DOZEN chocolate chip cookies. The freezer was packed and Dreamy James had a very difficult time staying out of it. Little did he know I had planned on his weakness and made several extra dozen just for him....but shhhhh...don't tell him!



The recipe I always use comes from a book called, Alpha-Bakery Children's Cook Book, which is produced by Gold Medal flour. The inside cover of the book says "1988 Happy 5th Birthday Danae and Happy Cooking, with Love, Grandpa & Grandma Unruh" It makes my heart happy every time I pull this cookbook out and use it. It's filled with sweet memories of hours spent with my Grandma baking up a storm. So...in the spirit of cookie goodness, let me pass this recipe on!



Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup margarine or butter (but I always use butter flavored crisco - try it, trust me it makes all the difference)

1 egg

1- 1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I never put them in, but feel free if ya fancy that sort of thing!)

1 package (6 oz) chocolate chips (I always eyeball this, sometimes you just need more than 6 oz of chocolate in your life)



1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix the sugars, crisco and egg, next mix in the flour, baking soda and salt. Last mix in the chocolate chips.

3. The dough should be stiff enough that you can roll the dough into balls.

4. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown

5. One recipe will make about 24 cookies.

6. Scarf them down and enjoy! :)

nothing says Christmas like....

a table decked out in Christmas cheer! I love this time of year, everyone seems to be in a good mood and everyone seems to try and behave since Santa is watching. Another thing I love about this time of year are the decorations! This is the only time you can deck the house out in fun decorations and go over the top. The first thing I love to fix up is the dinning room table. I try to keep the table cleaned off and neatly decorated throughout the year while keeping it functional. Well, at Christmas time that theory flies out the window - I dress that table up good!

I'm a sucker for table linens and then on top of that I'm a sucker for anything vintage, so when something is vintage AND table linens, well....I'm a goner! I found this tablecloth in an antique store in Texas and I just decided my life could not go on if it didn't come home with me...ok well that's probably a little extreme but I did fall in love with it. It reminds me of something my Grandma would have had on her table and that makes me happy so I decided it needed to be in my life!

Enjoy the wonderful and beautiful season of Christmas and New Years- many blessings to you all!

oh my stars...where have I been?!

Well...let me tell you! I've embarked on my first year of teaching and it's be one heck of a ride. I've never been so tired, done something so rewarding and oh so entertaining. I'm teaching 3rd grade in a small town and I'm loving it. On one hand it's felt like years have passed since I started in August and in a lot of other ways it feels like I only blinked and it's already Christmas break! I'll be sure to start updating this on a regular basis, I promise. :) I've got some great kiddo stories from school, parties, puke, and a bunch of other stuff!

BUT...before I get into all of that, I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Years!

dreamy james....

This is Dreamy James....he's been gone....gone for awhile...and I'm ready for him to come home! This picture was taken on our honeymoon while driving through Yellowstone and let me tell ya, it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Anyways...back to Dreamy James...I like him and I think he's rather dreamy.

I wonder how many more times I can squeeze in the word dreamy into this dreamy post....ha!

a great thing about mom...

A few weeks ago I found myself with an abundance of zucchini, so I decided to make some zucchini bread! I had several loaves made and decided to share with my mom. Before I handed the loaf over I thought I'd better do a taste test...dang I just hate when I have to do a taste test! Anyways, I took a slice and it was pretty tasty. Here's the great thing about mom...even though there was a chunk of bread missing out of her loaf, she was still excited and happy and couldn't have cared less. It's just one of the things that I love about my mom...she is usually one of the most positive and happy people I know. She can put a positive spin on any situation, which can be annoying at times, but in the end I always appreciate it.

two peas in a pod...er...on a couch....

This is Aiden and his Papa...Papa and his Aiden...they are thick as thieves, best friends, pals, amigos, partners in crime, buddies...well you get it they get along, they get into trouble and they have a great time doing it!

baking with a two year old....

This is Aiden, my nephew, who always keeps things interesting. Recently, we did a little baking together and I learned a few things....

1 - Even though he's only two, he's still gonna get hacked when you don't let him use the scissors to open the package of mix.

2 - All kids, no matter what the age, know exactly what to do when you hand them a spatula covered in batter.

3 - A batter covered spatula is one of the few things that he will take his pacifier out of his mouth for.

4 - He likes to move the lever on the mixer, don't try to help him, don't even think about trying to help him...he'll get hacked.

5 - Even when he gets hacked, throws a little bit of a fit because I tried to help him, gets covered in batter, drips batter all over the kitchen floor....he's still, hands down the best and cutest help I've had in the kitchen for a long time!

from the pond with love...

Well we spent another fun filled weekend at the pond for the 4th of July bash! It was great, it involved a ton of kids running and turning into prunes from all of their swimming, a large smoker full of meat, lots of talking and catching up. There was just one little drawback....it rained...not a sprinkle, not a mist, not a quick shower...no, it poured and poured and poured, then it poured some more. It was out of control, we all (the adults) took cover in the 50 year old hog shed and it did pretty well at keeping us dry...for awhile. After hours of raining, it began to drip and then even the hog shed didn't do so great at keeping us dry. The kids on the other hand didn't let a little rain stop them, they headed for the pond and only got out to jump off the diving board or for food! Now, I know what some might be thinking, it was not lightening at all, so the kiddos were safe in the water.

Every year at the pond we play a game of Pond Baseball. It's basically baseball but in the pond, the batter hits the ball at the shore then instead of running to the bases they swim to the bases. The ball must land in the water for it to be fair, and the team that is in the outfield can start on dry land before getting the ball. It's usually a pretty intense and entertaining game, the siblings in families have to be split up on different teams so there is no fighting and there is a lot of smack talk. This year, for the first time in about 25 years there was talk of no pond baseball game. BUT - have some debating about the proud tradition that has begun and how the next generation who has started playing needs a good example, everyone geared up in their old cutoffs and t-shirts and played the game in the rain! There would be NO rain delay for the Unruh 4th of July Pond Baseball game! (imagine emotional music building when you read that last sentence)

We all skipped out a day early from the festivities because everyone was soaked and sick of the damp. It was a ton of fun and I'm pretty sure everyone is already excited about next year! :)

vivacious....

The other day a customer of mine referred to me as "vivacious" and let me tell you - it sure made my skirt fly up! I decided it is a very UNDER-used word. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be called vivacious?! So...here is my challenge to you - try to use that word today or call someone vivacious...they will love ya forever! Enjoy the day all!

the pond...

This my friends...is "the pond." It's one of my most favorite places on God's green earth. When I was little, it was the place my sister and I would escape to when my mom wanted us to help her clean. We spent hours perfecting our swimming skills and frantically kicking our feet to make sure none of the fish would bite us. As I grew up it was the place I would go with friends to build a bon fire and roast marshmallows. Most recently it was the place my husband, Dreamy James, and I got engaged.

Once a year my entire family has a big ole shin-dig up at the pond. It's all centered around the 4th of July and we spend days camping and reconnecting at the pond. It has held countless special memories, and as the next generation of my cousin's kids begin to grow up, it's great to see those special memories being made again. We eat a lot of marshmallows, stay up way too late, play pond baseball (I'll explain that one later), eat way too much food, and talk each other's ears off. By the end of those three or four days we are all pretty smelly but closer than ever!

harvest time...

This past week was harvest time around home, which means that everyone is out in the fields cutting wheat. Personally, it is my favorite time in Kansas for many reasons. The wheat is golden and dances in the wind, it not only looks beautiful it sounds amazing too. Another thing I love about harvest is watching my Grandpa watch my dad and brother harvest his wheat. For as long as I can remember he's grown wheat and it's been his pride and joy. He has gotten on the tractor, worked his ground, worried about it all winter long and then worried some more in the spring until it gets cut during the summer. This year he watched his last harvest, at the ripe age of 95 he decided he would no longer be able to help on the farm. It was bittersweet this year to watch him.

revelation...

Dreamy James had an interesting observation....the hand that I had to stick in pee water is the hand that all my fake nails came off of already. So, maybe pee is the magic solvent of fake nails! Who needs acetone, just use pee - it's much more natural and "green" this way. Anyone willing to try it out and get back to me on how it works?! ...anyone? ....anyone??

pee earring....

Like I said in my previous post, I recently got married, to Dreamy James. After our fun-filled wedding we headed to Jackson Hole, WY for our honeymoon. It was great, we relaxed, enjoyed the scenery and stared lovingly into one another eyes for hours and hours. Ok, well maybe not hours but there were some glances at least.

On the last night of our honeymoon we decided to treat ourselves to a "fancy" dinner. We are from a small town in Kansas, so a fancy dinner is a big deal to us. We did some looking and found just the place, we could tell it was fancy because when we walked it you could hardly see anything because of the fancy mood lighting. We looked over the menu and Dreamy James decided on a buffalo steak and I picked salmon. It was great, there was the appetizer, main course and we splurged and shared a yummy gooey chocolate dessert.

As we were waiting for our check to come I decided I'd run to the little cowgirl's room. As I entered I noticed there were two stall, one was occupied so I entered the handicap stall. Now, I'm no expert but this was one strange handicap stall. The lever to flush was on the far side against a wall, so to push the lever, you had to reach across the toilet. This might not seem like important information, but just trust me, it is. So I used the restroom, stood up and then reached to flush. As I'm in mid-reach and about to pull the lever, I hear the *splash plink* of my earring hitting the water and floating to the bottom of the porcelain.

I stood there for a moment staring at the toilet, and wondering what am I supposed to do?! CRUD! Then I started to wish that my Grandma could come back from the grave just for a minute to reach her hand into the toilet and get my earring back. Once when my sister and I were little, my Grandma had been over for her weekly hair appointment with my mom. We had been playing with a bouncy ball and one of us had bounced it in the dinning room and somehow that bouncy ball had gone into the bathroom and landed in the toilet. We were both so grossed out that my Grandma, bless her heart, had done what any wonderful grandma would do, she reached into the toilet for our ball.

Once I realized Grandma probably wasn't going to make an appearance I decided I better weigh my options. I could just flush it, but then I thought this is a NEW pair of earrings and I love them, I can't leave one behind! Then I thought maybe my new husband would come to rescue as my knight in shinning armor, but I thought it might be hard to explain why a guy was in the woman's bathroom. So, I thought, "Danae, someday you want to be a mom, and mom's have to do WAY grosser things than touch their own pee, so just suck it up and do it!" Without thinking I pulled the ring of my hand and plunged it into the dreaded pee water. I shook my hand off, decided that the earring WAS worth it and then went and washed my hands at least 10 times.

As I walked to the table I thought about whether or not to tell Dreamy James about the little pee earring situation. I decided that there was no time like the honeymoon to figure out if he was really serious about those vows we had said a few days earlier. Lucky for me he just laughed, shook his head, rolled his eyes and said "oh my gosh....." But for some reason he wouldn't hold hands with me the rest of the evening.

nails....

So....I recently got married and in preparation I got my nails done, always fun! Anywho...that was almost four weeks ago and now the nails aren't lookin' so hot. Today I managed to peel off one hand of fake nails, which means that now one hand looks like I'm some kind of freak that grows super long huge red nails and another hand that growns thin short crappy non-colored nails. In an effort to look "normal" I took the polish off and have painted them all the same color. Lucky for me I talk with my hands and as long as I keep them moving...maybe no one will notice....except now everyone who has read this will know to look at my hands!