16 inches within 24hrs COME ON!!

So yesterday and today we have had 16 inches of snow. Some was really wet and heavy and some was light and fluffy and all of it was back breaking! Every year we say we want to invest in a snow blower and every year we never do. The last 24hrs I have thought non-stop of how this is the year for a snow blower.

Here are some pictures...








Maybe next year I need to ask Santa for a snow blower or a Christmas vacation to Hawaii.

The Watch Dogs

There is nothing these dogs don't WATCH OUT for! Today they did their usual looking out the gate and looking out the window. Wilson likes to sit on the very top of the chair to make sure he can see EVERYTHING every other creature is doing. Today the cat was bugging them and the kids riding their bikes down the street.

Love me some Moochies

Today I got my own Moochies Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich it was so delicious. This is a sandwich that I would never have found or even tried on my own. My good friend DJ let me steal a piece of his sandwich last week and since then Moochies has been on my mind. We work together so I would see him in the hall for the last week and yell out "Moochies give me my Moochies!" He also has been asking me if I will drive to get Moochies or if Ro will bring us Moochies. Mind you last week was the first I had heard of Moochies and both Ro and I have no idea were Moochies is located. So my good friend google came in handy tonight. I found Moochies, read Moochies history, and their entire menu..YUMMY. I would encourage anyone out there who is looking for a great samey and needs some flavor to try out Moochies. My Moochies is still keeping me full and satisfied I may not need to eat for days.

LOVE YOU MOOCHIES!!!!

VOTE

Oh my gosh I am so EXCITED about this election. We waited only 30 min in line this morning and many of my friends and family did the early voting so I am sure there is a good turn out. It feels so electric in the air the possibility of Change! I am so excited! Hope you had a chance to get out there and VOTE today.

MSNBC here I come....

How do you like me now?

As the days become considerably shorter and the light is changing I remember when fall use to be my favorite season. That was when I was in high school and I could start wearing more clothes. I did this not for fashion but to hide my own insecurities. We all do it some time in our life look in the mirror and criticize our bodies how this shirt, pants, skirt, socks make you look fat or show off some bulging fat role. I use to wait anxiously to wear my flannel and sweatshirts. These things were my security blanket to hide what I thought my body looked like.

A funny thing is although my body has changed considerably since those years I no longer like wearing over sized clothing. Sure I am like most people on certain days I will change an outfit 10 times because something is sagging, tight, loose, or just feels lopsided but I really don't care anymore.

I am sick of trying to look or be like someone society wants me to be. I am over hiding myself or feeling ashamed. I am who I am. I am Andrea. I remind myself of that everyday.

**The title of this post is an inside joke I am not asking if you like me***

The Adventures of the Borran Kids...

Jenny and I took the kids to Silver Lake yesterday with the intent of trying to take a family picture. However the kids really wanted to play and explore, which is better than a lame family photo.

Right after I took this picture Morgan was trying to climb down and fell and hit London on the head. Everyone was fine just a couple dirty looks between siblings.

Logan got this battle wound when a GIANT tree jumped him in the woods.

Climb Every Mountain..

Is Sayid the fish in there?

This is NOT a Lame family Picture...

Express Yourself...

As I am watching the last and final debate I ask you to take a look at what your candidate stands for. If you are on the right or left take the time to educate yourself on the issues that they will take into the white house. Think about what you want for yourself and your children for the next four years.

I think about the first year I voted, I will be honest I voted along a party line. I wasn't educated on all the issues. This year I am looking at all the issues trying to think about what is good for me and my future. Please take a look at all the issues that your candidate stands for. Do you agree with their tax policy, education policy, pro-choice or pro-life, marriage rights, energy policy?

It will be an exciting November. Get out and VOTE!

So it is...

Yesterday and today it snowed, Yuck!

Future Park Ranger...

Today Morgan found that she is a rock climber and would like to grow up to be a Park Ranger. These are some of the photos from our girls day out....

Notice how she is signing I Love You...

I would recommend clicking on the picture to enlarge them they are stunning!

Smarter than the Average Bear...

The mystery is solved! I have been wondering for weeks the cause of the tragic Toxic Banana Bread incident.

I saved a bunch of rotten bananas to try out the banana bread recipe again. I carefully measured out the dry ingredients and wet ingredients. As I was ready to add the flour I noticed that it looked really white and consistency was a little different. I licked my finger and placed it in the flour to get a taste. The ingredient I thought was flour was actually Powdered Sugar. This would explain the constant bubbling, smoking, and terrible burning smell, I was trying to make Candy Banana Bread.

Now you may be thinking how could I make this mistake but I will state that I have recently purchased new containers to hold all of my dry ingredients so nothing is labeled.

Powdered Sugar=BAD

Flour=Yummy Banana Bread

Early signs of Autumn

It is amazing how often I forget the beauty that lies just up the mountain. These are some pictures from Silver Lake taken today.

Toxin Free part II

Yesterday I found myself facing the fact that there were 2 rotten bananas hanging in the basket. This was not the first time I noticed them but the time I decided to do something about them. They were perfectly rotten for banana bread and my moms recipe is great so I decided to make the wonderful banana bread YUMMY!!!



I called my mom just to verify that I could use a glass baking dish, which was fine. The events which occurred after the phone call were not fine.


I went through all the steps poured this deliciousness into the dish, all the while thinking how thrifty I am not wasting those bananas. I placed the dish in the oven and set the timer and counted the minutes till the delicious goodness of hot banana bread. I was thinking how great it would be to offer this freshly baked goodness to friends. They would laugh and compliment me on my wonderful baking skills and I would graciously accept their mounds of praise.


Tasty goodness started wafting throughout the house but wait something was burning too. I opened the oven and the bread was bubbling all over?? What this hasn't happened before so I quickly got to ramekins too take the excess bread out of the dish. I placed a cookie sheet under them to catch any drippings. I had dodged a terrible thing, burnt banana bread..

That was the least of my worries as the house filled with smoke and all the dishes were then bubbling over and everything was burning. I changed the tinfoil on the cookie sheet 4 times, quickly running it out of the house through the garage and directly too the garbage cans. Through the hour and half the bread never set up it just kept bubbling over and burning. TOTAL PERMEATION of smell into every fiber in the house and neighborhood for that matter.



Here are the pictures of the end result.


Bread Anyone...Anyone????

There was a light smokiness to the bread..

Detoxing 1 Second

A lot of toxins in banana bread...

A game of Quarters...

I was looking at Adam and Tina's blog tonight and started thinking about the years I spent in Ann Arbor. A2 is such an awesome place to live, lots of food, cultural art, and crazies to keep you occupied. I was thinking about the year I struck it rich with a sad tale that took place in A2.

Every year Grandpa Ellert and Grandma rent several rooms at a local hotel. The whole family comes to spend a night of swimming, games and of course food. The year I struck it rich, I drove from A2 to the hotel to spend the night with the family. That year there were a few rules, you could not use any type of "Dutch word fillers" such as Ues, "What are ues up to?" and now I can't remember the rest of them. There was a list which was sent out prior to the hotel night. (I know those of you who are Michiganders will remember the rest of them) The penalty for using a Taboo word would be putting a quarter in a jar, then at the end of the night the person with the saddest story would win the loot.

There was a lot of money at the end of the night. Several people got up telling a sob story for the money. I was the last person to go so here is what I can remember of my story.

I was Deathly ill at work, a wrestling singlet company (sad in itself), and since I was sick a friend drove me to the Dr. I waited in the germ tank for at least 45min before they saw me and diagnosed me with bronchitis and a sinus infection. I was there for at least 1hr 1/2, then there was a problem with my insurance billing. I was ready to be picked up and my friend couldn't leave work because they were being lame and wouldn't let her leave.

I walked over 2 miles home sickly and near death coughing up a lung head splitting with pain, no tissues only leaves. Not only did I not have any quarters for my bus ride home, when I got to the pharmacy I my debit card didn't work. I was never the same after that walk.

At the conclusion of my story people were in tears riveted with this tale of struggle and despair.

This true story won the loot and as you can imagine many hugs and reassurance that I would be OK. Those quarters came in handy at the laundry mat for the next several months.

Thanks Family!!

Back to the old Grind

Last week I concluded my first week back to work after a vacation. This as many of you know is so hard and sometimes you just never want to work again, you want to stay on permanent vacation and get paid for it. Since that is a dream that will never come true I am enjoying showing off my pictures from Michigan here are a few of my favorites....

TRADIIIITION TRADITION!!!!!

As I would suspect I could not go another year without the yearly Corn Night. For those of you that don't have a clue what I am talking about I will try to explain but as expected when trying to describe tradition many things get lost in translation. Yearly, the Jager family, will gather to pick corn, husk corn, cook corn, remove cooked corn from cob, place removed corn into baggies which are distributed to all those who want. The purpose of this is to be able to have access to corn all times of year and it is the BEST corn ever.
It has been at least 11 years since I have been been involved with this process, I have however reaped the benefits since every year when I come home I am able to gobble up the yummy Jager corn. During my annual Russ' visit we received an SOS call to help with the process. This was the last thing I wanted to do, but I feared my relatives may withhold the corn since I have not participated for years. Yes they are a loving and kind group but they will revoke my corn rights.

As you can see Child Labor Laws don't apply. Sam and Lilly working hard..

Yes I did work... (very old CornGirl)

Autumn is the new CornGirl...

They let this crazy guy out to perform manual labor....

Don't worry Pudge you are not the only gee who loves the Jager Corn..