goats and chickens for angel tree!

alright, i go my second batch of Christmas cards sent out (obviously not the dog ones- the boxed set i got so i could get an early start)

you have to understand that i am NOTORIOUS for sending out 'be-lated' Christmas cards!

then i went through some gre practice yesterday and i did ok with the vocabulary, but i really must brush up on my math and the rules...hmm. i never was very good at math- i think i could have been, but i had a poor teacher in 9th grade (poor as in not very good...although he may have been poor as well), then i struggled at e.i.s. as well-thankfully i was able to get tutoring from my volleyball coach's wife-God bless mrs. smallwood! and then there were the study groups-thanks to my classmates for trying to explain things! my brain just didn't really function that way!

this morning when we got up, i had a craving for those pumpkin pancakes i had over thanksgiving! (i bought canned pumpkin yesterday, because that's when the craving actually began)

the only problem was that the store where i found it only had the huge cans, not the small one which i needed...so..it's a good thing the dogs like a little pumpkin

so i found a great little recipe on cooking.com i think...of course i had to add my own topping, but that's no biggie. it hit the spot even without the whipped cream.

you cannot tell, but they were delicious!

yesterday i also got a little package in the mail, which i have been waiting to receive for an awful long time. i didn't want to pay the extra fro shipping, so i chose the 'value shipping.' i didn't realize that when i ordered it back on october 25, it would take for-NEVER to get here! it literally got shoved into my box yesterday. oh well, it arrived. i cannot show you what i got until i send it off and it has been received because it would ruin the surprise. it's not even going to be that exciting for most of you. so don't get your hopes up.

note to self:plan ahead if i plan to get gifts for people or don't use value shipping.

i mentioned that we are participating in angel tree at school for families at our school. well, i just got a catalog in the mail and it made me rethink what i bought for our family. this is the kind of thing that really makes a difference..

this is the QR code if you have the ap, you can look into it a bit more. i thought it was a great opportunity- a way to really help those who know need.

we have a very skewed vision of 'need' here in the united states. we are fortunate and most people don't even realize it or appreciate it. i wonder what our angel tree family would do if we got them a goat and a couple of chickens...

ok, so breakfast was good, but guess what makes a delicious snack? pumpkin pancakes with nutella! don't knock it 'til you try it! 

it's been a relaxing, lazy sunday for me and the boys and we've loved it-they cannot wait for Christmas break!
julie

finally, i got my college shirt! as long as bruno doesn't treat it like he treated the comforter!

today, on the way out from branson, i decided to stop at college of the ozarks to get my shirt for our college days at school! i was worried they might not be open today, but then i remembered that thanksgiving is one of the options for a 40 hour work week on campus. woohoo!

hard work u..not me! (never gets old)

ready to decorate my door next year!

actually, i really am thankful that i had the amazing opportunity to attend college of the ozarks! i had some of the most incredible friends and we really did have a blast! there were so many aspects that i loved: drama (fiddler on the roof, and the one acts), french and greek classes, religion classes, art and architecture capstone, c.s. lewis and j.r.r. tolkien capstone....wow. i love that i had to work on campus to pay for the education-what a wonderful experience to get to know others and make a difference.

i stopped at the college on the way out of town and back home. but before we left, we went to ihop for breakfast and being black friday and all, it was very busy! the waitress said that her first table was 6 ladies at 4:30 a.m. who weren't very talkative. they had their receipts out and were on their phones looking for their next extravaganza...and they didn't tip her well. boo. i saw the picture of the pumpkin and praline pancake and thought it looked interesting.

i took a picture to see how close the real deal was to the staged picture.

someone needs to work on straight lines...

but the taste was phenomenal! i definitely recommend that everyone go out and try one this weekend!! my mouth is still watering!

then we went back to the hotel, and as we were getting things around, bruno proceeded to pee on one of the comforters. ugh. i know, we all KNOW bedspreads in hotels are not sanitary for obvious reasons, but now you can add that one to it. so i got out the special cleaning spray and cleaned it up and neutralized any odor. then went back to my room and i heard mom try to say, "no, no, oh, oh," but it was kinda' garbled because she was in the midst of brushing her teeth and watching bruno in the mirror. no sooner did i clean up and walk away, he started to poop on the same comforter...WHAT NOW DOG!  so, cleanup on aisle 2...we left a good tip in both rooms.

and once we got everything packed in and arranged and rearranged, i was able to get the stairs that dad built into the backseat for the boys (it's much better than the janky cardboard ones that i made!), we were on our way. it was a great drive, then chaco jumped up behind my neck and that didn't work for me,

this lasted for a full 10 seconds

 so i moved him, and he then chose this position for the next hour. it didn't look comfortable to me, but i don't know much about doggy comfort in cars.

wistfully looking out into the wide open ranges.

then we got down into the southern part of oklahoma, past atoka, and all of the cops were hanging out down there. there were 4 patrol cars within a 15 minute span. then i saw this self storage in a little bitty pass thru town:

it's the one on the right, but is it me, or am i just making it up? does it look more like a crack house or something? would anyone feel comfortable  storing anything here?

and we also stopped at the TEXAS welcome center because the sign said free maps. so i went in and he said he could only give me 5 because they were getting low-end of the year and all. but he gave me 25 texas magazines for my texas social studies class. (i didn't get 5 maps for myself, sillies! it's for my class!)

and now we're home-the boys were so happy to get home. they are home bodies. it is good to be home.
julie