Ok, Folks I have 2 days until our Halloween party! I have finished my costume so all I is to put it on!!! I am so excited for Friday! I have uploaded some photos to see how this costume will come together.

These are the "flames" I made. They aren't really flames but oh well.




The dress with the cape attached.

My sash didn't turn out 100% the way I wanted ..... it took me forever to get it to look the way I wanted. I took a close up of the fabric, because it is glittery!!

Jack's wig.



The hairspray and eyelashes for my costume



I need to paint the upper part of my body green. I bought blue and green to mix because the receptionist isn't really GREEN, she is Blue-green!



The reason she is the receptionist of the Afterlife is due to the fact she slit her wrists. I bought these to make it look like I slit my wrists too!

The Horse Whisperer

Everyone meet The Horse Whisperer!
a.k.a My Dad!!

I finally got to catpure some great photos of what he does best... fixing the horses feet!!!

Horse Sense

I haven't rode a horse in over 7 years. 2 weeks ago I got to ride again. It was so nice to be running around those barrels like I used to. I started riding when I was about 2 years old. Over the next 22 years I have done it all. From trail riding , to riding English, to riding Western Pleasure to gaming (running barrels) to showing at the MN State Fair. When I was 9 I showed in Oregon with my dad in English. I took high Point in the 10 and under classes. I won a horse blanket, ribbons, glasses, and a bucket full of grooming supplies (over the span of 3 months). I got into gaming (poles and barrels) when dad moved back to Minnesota and lived with his friend Brad. Brad was into gaming so Dad found a horse for me to ride, Shorty a 23 yr old gelding. He wasn't the fastest horse ever, but he knew what he was doing and had fun doing it! From there I got Casey, my crazy pony, she was a nut case. There were many of frantic entrances and exits from the arena while running games with her. One time instead of stopping after a run she decided to hop the fence.... now when Casey jumped it was always a 6 foot (if not more) jump, no MATTER how high the jump was, always 6 ft or more. I stayed on but we did break the fence!!! LOL! I out grew Casey and got SnoCap.. my pride and joy. He was the best horse EVER!! I loved him more than anything. I had him since he was a baby, my dad trained him for me so I knew how to ride him. We meshed WELL together! I loved going in and laying in the stall with him... he would never hurt me, unless I came in between feeding time and him.... big MISTAKE!!! When dad moved out to Colorado he sold SnoCap :( Since then I haven't been riding until 2 weeks ago. We went up to Sherry and Eric's, Riley's old babysitter, and she let me ride. My friend Rachael was with, we had a blast! I went back this past weekend and rode some more... I thought after not riding for 7 years I would forget how to do it.... nope, it's like I never stopped. Riding is one of my biggest passions, scrapping is the other!!! Below I have posted some pictures and a AWESOEME video of me reining Lena (Sherry's horse)

Abby and I with all of our winnings. I was 9.

Shorty and I, first gaming horse.

Casey and I. Crazy pony!

First place winners! Sir Gallahad and I (12). Won first place in the obstacle course.

Cody, Showing Western Pleasure (rare occasion)

My pride and joy... SnoCap! He is soo dirty in this pic!

SnoCap and I @ Isanti county fair running poles

Running KeyHole with SnoCap

Rachael and I riding at sherry's

Running barrels

Coming around my 2nd barrel

My reining video!!! So FUN!

A little late night snack

As most of you know I like to make things up as I go...... when it comes to food! Last night I got hungry around 9:00, probably because I didn't eat dinner. I decided to make some food. Unfortunately I have not made it to the grocery store in awhile so my fridge was PRETTY bare. I did find I had pepper jack cheese, onion, a jalapeno, Chipotle Tabasco, chicken, Mexican flavored instant rice, and tortillas. I decided to use those ingredients and make some food!




I started with sauteing my onions with my chopped jalapeno. I added my Chipotle Tabasco here, also with a snip of pepper.




While the onions and jalapeno cooked, I mixed the ingredients for my rice. I believe it is just water and vegetable oil. Brought that to a boil and poured in the mixture of rice and seasoning.





Before I started any of this I had taken 2 pieces of chicken out of the freezer and put them in HOT water. By the time I was done prepping the side dishes, the chicken was unthawed, so I threw them in a pan with approx. 1 cup water. FYI: I NEVER measure anything.... I just guess!!!





While the chicken, onions and jalapeno and the rice cooked, I shredded some pepper Jack cheese I found in the back of my fridge. Now you could probably use any type of cheese you wish, I had pepper jack!



Once the chicken was cooked, I copped it into little squares.




Now all my ingredients are cooked. I thought it would be a good idea (learned from Rachael) to use my George Forman grill to grill my tortillas. Then I figured I will make quesadillas. So I took one tortilla and placed a bit of each ingredient on it and sandwiched it with another tortilla and placed it in the George Forman for approx 3 minutes.

And out comes a yummy Crispy Chicken and Jack Cheese Quesadilla!!

Best served with a side of sour cream and a tall glass of milk! Yum!

The start of the costume....

I have collected most of the supplies needed for my costume. I borrowed my mom's old sewing machine to help me out. I haven't had time to start making anything but I will this weekend... hopefully!

The Dress I got from my friend Sarah, she wore it in her sisters wedding.

It is a little too formal for what I was wanting but it was FREE so I will/can work with it!

I have pinned the top middle part so it scrunches in the middle.

I found this cheap cape at a "thrift" store for only $1.00!! It is not the best of quality but it works...hopefully!

Here is the fabric I am using for the flames. I will probably embellish my cape with the extra pieces I have. I am excited cause it is super fun fabric... glittery bright red mesh!

A co-worker is also into crafting and she had some left over wire from a previous costume she had made, so she let me borrow what is needed to make the flames. This wire is way easier to use than a wire coat hanger (attempt #1=FAIL!)

This is my mom's sewing machine..... this thing is ANCIENT!!! I do believe it was one of my Aunt Peg's first sewing machines!

Trick or Treat Land

On Sunday I went with dad to drop Riley Jo off at her mom's. On the way we thought we would stop and get some pumpkins! We stopped at a place in Wyoming, MN off of Highway 61 and I believe 225th St, "Lendt's Pumpkin Patch". They had everything from pumpkins to squash to corn filled playlands to hayrides to big wooden Halloween cutouts. It was so cute! Riley thought it was a pretty cool place, she didn't really want to leave. Unfortunately it was 6:00pm and very cold outside or else we may have stayed all night! Riley picked out her pumpkins pretty fast, she got 2 little ones for painting and one bigger one for carving. I got some great pictures of her playing in "Trick or Treat Land"!

Can you find Riley Jo in the Graveyard?

Riley was bad, so we locked her up in the Phantom County Jail.

Riley as a CAT!

Riley playing in the Corn Playland

Riley is 4feet and 3inches tall

Hanging out with the farm crew

More of Trick or Treat Land

Pumpkin Village

Roppe-Herr Wedding

On Saturday I attending my 2nd cousin's (on my dad's side) wedding. I got to see my aunt Jean that I don't see very much. Jean is my dad's sister, she lives up in Thief River Falls, MN which is about 5 hours away, so I only get to see her when I attend family events like weddings and Christmas.

The wedding was Great! Kim looked fabulous in her wedding gown and happy with her new husband.

I unfortunately did not get a photo of the bride and groom but I have one of Aunt Jean and I.

Aunt Jean and I 10-10-2009

On the other side of the fence.

On Friday we went to the Roseville High School Homecoming game.

As most of you know I graduated from Roseville.

Well this time I was on the "Other side of the fence". Jack's nephew Tin was playing for Woodbury and we joined to watch the game. I will have to say in my 4 years at Roseville I had never sat on the other side of the field overlooking the Roseville side. It was a little strange, I felt like a trader. I did wear my old Roseville Football hooded Sweatshirt I got from an old friend in 9th grade and I also got to meet up with my old high school counselor, Mrs. Edwards (Mitch). It is always nice to catch up with her. I only graduated in 2003 but man did I feel OLD when I saw all the letter jackets that read "12" or "13"! WOW time flys! I also noticed that Woodbury had like 35 cheerleaders cheering for their team.... Roseville has always only had maybe 16. The cheerleaders kept repeating the same cheer every maybe half hour..... it got SUPER annoying but in the long run Woodbury ended up defeating Roseville (which according to my memory they always do!) so depending on which side of the fence you are on... it is a good/bad thing!