He's Here!!!

I just want to share the beautiful new boy in our family with everyone!!
His name is Matthew Bennett, he was born on January 25th, 7lbs 10 oz...

Can't wait to get home and give him some hugs and kisses...

Bad Day, Bad Dog - Joe's first post

For my first post to our blog, I'd like to tell you that today was a crappy day.

I'm not usually one to just complain about my day to everybody - I usually limit my complaining to the public and save it for Shannon.

I'll just make a list so you don't have to spend all day reading this...
- Saab broke down...late for work
- Forgot to do a homework assignment
- Had to haggle with a notoriously evil professor to get my radio station's concert to happen, even though it was scheduled like two months ago
- Lab assistants at Michigan Tech don't speak English
- Got hassled for missing a meeting which conflicted with my schedule(and they knew it)
- Vern went retarded and ate the house...(OK not the whole thing)

RECIPES!!! and other stuff...

I am so excited, I happened to go to Taste of Home online and they have tons of recipes!! I had been thinking about getting the magazine, but than I happened upon this (which will work for now). They have all kinds of recipes you can browse through or search for. The only ones they don't let you see are the contest winners, for that you must subscribe :) Any way you must check it out... you can make an account and than you can save recipes to your own online recipe book... it's fun! I am not quiet sure why I get so excited by recipes, but I sure do like food!

Aside from that, we are doing great. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new niece or nephew... which could occur any day now! (Come on baby!!) I'll be sure to post a picture of the new darling when he/she arrives! It will be a bummer that I can't be home to hold them and give em kisses, but sooner than later I will get my hands on em!! It will be a wonderful addition to my already wonderful nieces/nephew's I am collecting :) Aubree Lynn and Ethan are such cutie pies and soo much fun to be with... on the Kirklin side we now have Marina Joule, and she is a sweet baby too! In fact I think I have some pictures I could share with you so everyone can see the little ones!

(This is Marina) She is the newest edition to the Kirklin family...


(This is Ethan and Aubree) Aren't they just adorable? YES, they are!

Now it feels like winter...

From a high in the 40's just the other day... we are now down to the teens and our five day forecast is looking pretty chilly!

Check out our forecast

We are in for some cold, cold temperatures the first of this winter, actually. Our little house we rent will be cold, especially our bedroom, needless to say the walls are not insulated so wonderfully! Good thing we have flannel sheets, and if it gets to be too cold we can always bring our big, cuddly, slobbery, portable heater into bed with us (last resort)!!

Will we ever have winter??

I had my hopes up for the last couple of days we have had pretty cold temperatures, around the teens to mid twenties, and we have even had some snow fall. In fact the ground had just become covered again... that is until today. The forecast for today claims that we are to get snow showers and a high of 35 degrees. No snow has come, and our temperature gauge says that it is 41 degrees outside. The little snow we had is melting again, and I am comfortable to go outside with only my vest to keep me warm. Soo sad.
It is especially sad for winter carnival. In case your not aware of what winter carnival is (it's pretty huge up here). It's a MTU holiday basically. The main attractions are the snow sculptures, which can be amazing. Various student organizations build these and compete with eachother for 1st place recognition. The fraternities are the ones that usually have tremendous statues. Everyone puts tons of work into these things... Normally they would be starting construction now and they have until February 9, I think, to complete it. On the week of carnival (always starts on Wed) that Wed is the all-nighter and is the final night to complete the statues. This is by far the best night to walk around and look at the statues. It is usually bitterly cold, but there are always tons of people out, radio stations, free food and drinks...etc... also can't leave out the drunk people (always an endless supply). Anyways I don't know what will happen this year if we don't get more snow!!


This picture is one that we took a few years ago on the all-nighter night. We thought it pretty much sums up the night for a lot of people!! Kinda gross... but humorous!

More pics of Bare Bluffs

Hike to Bare Bluffs

Joe and his friend Scott went last Saturday on a hike to Bare Bluffs Nature Sanctuary... they took some good pictures and I thought I would share a few!

The Yummy Recipe

Okay I said I post the recipe if it was good, and it was yummy!! So here goes -

TANGY CHERRY CHICKEN
3 Tbs olive oil
Chicken breast ( I used a package of breast tenderloins... regular breasts would work too, I would just cut them in half so they aren't so thick)
1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper
1 sm red onion chopped
2 celery ribs finely chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup dried cherries
3 Tbs cold unsalted butter

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 Tbs of the olive oil. Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper, and half of the thyme. Put into hot skillet. Cook the chicken for appox 5-6 min on each side until cooked through. Than remove chicken and place in foil so it stays warm.
Return the skillet to the burner over medium-high heat and add the remaining 1 Tbs of olive oil, add the onions, celery, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 min or until celery and onion are tender. Add the white wine and cook for about 1 min. Add the chicken broth, cherries, and remaining thyme and continue to cook for 4-5 min. Add the butter and whisk until completely melted.
Serve the chicken breasts with cherry sauce poured over them...

It's yummy I promise... ( I wish I would have taken a picture of the finished product, oops)

Lazy Saturday

The day has pretty much flown by today... sleeping in until 11am doesn't help the situation. Joe got up early and left with his friend Scott this morning to go for a hike. They were planning on going up toward Beta Grise I think?? He will have to post some pictures so everyone can see. So Vern and I have just been lounging around not doing much... though right now as I write this I am in the process of making a pretty killer dinner (mainly for the boys when they get home). It consists of a new recipe of Rachel Ray's, I will post later if it rocks, baked potatoes, salad, oven-toasted french bread, and homeade cherry cheesecake! I can't wait to eat it! On occassion I am known to cook up some pretty good food... and I am thinking tonight might be one of those nights (Thanks Rachel Ray).

I want to be cool like everbody else!!

I know Joe and I don't have any little ones yet, but we have Vern!! Besides I just wanna fit in... :) and everybodies doing it!! So here goes my attempt to become a fellow blogger, and perhaps I will be able to come up with interesting ramblings. This whole idea of internet journaling is really great when you don't get to see relatives or friends very often, helps to make it seem like your not so far away. I love that my sisters keep a blog and post pictures of my niece and nephew, I can watch them grow from afar!
We just got back up to school this week, and I start my classes on Monday. I have a feeling that it is going to be a difficult semester. I have classes I had to crame into my schedule so that I can graduate, and my nursing classes may be tough this semester too... but this is it soooo I will keep telling myself that.
Unfortunately I don't have any cute pictures to post... so I will post a picture of my dog doing what he does best (I think they're kinda cute!)
- Shannon


(Vern napping on the couch, though he was too big for this one)


(Vern looking for food on the table)