Laura Vegas

so last night i got absolutely nothing done. i never touched any of my scrap stuff that i wanted to get started on. and i didn’t do anything today either. seriously … i’m kicking myself for not working on it. however i did get some other stuff done. the thing with weekends is that … that’s my time to get out and get stuff done. errands and stuff that i just can’t do during the week. i’m so trapped here during the week with all the kids … so i really feel like i have to take advantage of the weekend to get things done.

guess what the highlight of my day was? new knobs for the cabinets downstairs. i’ve been wanting to get new knobs for months now … i’ve even talked about this to my neighbor quite a few times. and about a month ago joe won some home depot gift cards at a golf tournament. normally i’d think "what do i possibly need at home depot". lol! but not this time … i knew i would use them for new knobs. amazing how something so simple can make such a huge difference in the look of your home. here’s the old knobs and the new knobs:

and just to clarify in case you’re wondering about my taste … the big, chunky, shiny gold knobs were the old ones. and the brushed silver knobs are the new ones. now if you have these same gold ones … i’m not trying to say they’re ugly. lol! they’re just not me. i hated those things. i did go with the cheapest silver ones i could find … since i needed 54 of them to do the downstairs (bathroom, entertainment center, laudry room, and kitchen). i would love to do the upstairs too … but that will need 19 more. i have them all changed out already and i just love them. so i only had to put out about $20 out of my own cash … the rest was on the gift cards. i told joe he needs to win some more so that i can change out all the gold shiny doorknobs now. lol!

in other exciting news (exciting for me anyways) … i wore one of my new pair of jeans today. and i love everything about them. they fit perfect, didn’t sag in the crotch area, didn’t need to be pulled up at all, were the perfect lowrise without being too low. usually i buy jeans that seem to fit good … but you know that after wearing them for a few hours they start to loosen up and then they just feel too big. these were great. and they were the ones i got that were the smaller size than i usually wear. i know … the size on womens clothes are never the same. i can wear a small in one item … and need an extra large in something similiar. but still nice to see a smaller number on my jeans. lol!

i also conned the girls into taking some pictures today. winkflash has all their poster prints on sale right now and i want to get some more printed to hang around the house. i just had this photo of sarah and this photo of alyssa both enlarged to 16×20 (before the sale of course) … and used them to change out the black and white photos i had in our archway in the downstairs. i still need to get a 18×24 photo of each of them to replace the ones above the couch in the family room. and then i want to get a few to hang on the one wall in the playroom that doesn’t have anything on it. so i need some new, good photos.

these are 2 of the photos i took today. but i had to give them the bad news that we may do a re-take tomorrow afternoon. i took these in the middle of the day … in full sun … and even used my external flash. that’s something i havn’t done in ages. so i think i was a little rusty … had a hard time trying to figure out the shadows and all. i’m all about the open shade nowdays … and i havn’t used my external flash outdoors in forever. so while these are good photos (as alyssa informed me) … they’re not technically good enough that i want to blow them up that big and hang on my walls. so i hope to try again tomorrow … late afternoon should give some cleaner results.

and lastly … i’m going to leave you with my most favorite recipe. i don’t cook much lately. between soccer 2 nights and the kids night at the church and just being to tired overall from working … i just don’t seem to have many good nights to cook anymore. but tonight i made "cowboy spaghetti" … love this stuff! this was my first "rachael ray 30 minute meal" that i ever made … first part of the year. this stuff is so good. and to think that i used to use spaghetti sauce from a jar all the time. i couldn’t find this recipe online … so i’m hoping it’s ok with rachael ray if i pass this along. lol! and i’m typing this up as i would make it … sorry no ingredient list or anything. and i don’t measure anymore … just eyeball it. i’m a terrible recipe writer … so bear with me.

• fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil … when ready add 1 pound of thin spaghetti and cook according to package (time this with the sauce)
• cut up 1/2 package of bacon into small strips and cook up in a skillet with some EVOO. after the bacon crisps up, put aside on a paper towel lined plate
• add 1 pound of ground beef to skillet with some EVOO and break up really good … allow to brown and get some really good color on it (just use the same skillet from the bacon that way you get the good flavors)
• add in 1 medium chopped onion and 4-5 cloves of chopped garlic to skillet along with the meat … and cook over medium heat
• add plenty of salt and pepper
• after onions and garlic cook up … add some worchester sauce (about 2-3 tablespoons) and allow the mixture to really brown up
• optional: add 1 can of beer for flavor (i got this recipe from her cookbook and that wasn’t on there … but then i saw the 30-minute meal show where she made it and she added the beer)
• add in a 14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes and an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
• when noodles are done, drain and add to the sauce mixture
• toss in crisped bacon and mix everything together
• optional: add some shredded cheddar cheese on top (we don’t do this … we just add some parmesan cheese)
• make sure to have some yummy breadsticks or bread of some sort … great for scooping up the extra sauce

this is seriously some good stuff. this is actually 2 whole meals for us. and everyone i have shared my leftovers with loves it. my neighbor, ruth, requested it from me once … so i made it that night and we both had full meals for our family. i think i even gave her bread for it. lol! and this can totally be done in 30 minutes once you have it down. so quick and easy. and my house smells so crazy good right now! enjoy!