:: time for a little healthy competition ::

CONTEST STILL OPEN!!

I am extending the competition for another couple weeks!! Come on people ENTER!! This post has had 101 views and only 4 entries.. that is just not good enough!! This contest will now run until December 3rd 
You could be the winner of a scarf or baby blanket!!  
Enter as many times as you want!! 
(and share this contest with anybody you know!!)


Yes, I am still alive!!

And I Need HELP!
again!!


I have decided to turn my hobby into a small business.  
My Hobby: I crochet.
The business plan I will crochet scarves and blankets (toques too... if I can ever learn how to make one)
Here is the problem: I don't have a clue what to name my business. 
That is where I need your help. 


And Here enters the competition: Pick a name for my business.
How to enter: Leave your comments on THIS blog post.
You can enter as many times as you want.


The winner will receive either a Scarf or a Baby blanket (your choice)


Good Luck!! Let your creative juices flow! 


This competition will run until November 15th. 
Enter NOW and enter OFTEN! 


On November 15th I will pick the name that I like best, announce the winner. I look forward to the entries.

Rules and regulations: The name must somehow relate to crocheted items.
I won't choose a dirty name. (so don't bother to enter them. Well you can just to entertain me. Just know I won't pick it!)
This competition will be open world wide. But know that I will only mail a prize within Canada or the US.
(sorry guys, I'm not rich yet!)

::family camping trip::

we went home for the labor day game/long weekend. our family was going camping so we tagged along. let me tell you i am happy that we were just tag alongs! who the heck knew that you needed so dang much stuff to go camping! gosh. i sure am glad that my dad and les had everything!!

here are some photos of all the fun we had!!
and by all the fun we had. i mean we took some pictures of our nephew doing cute things! haha

enjoy.

this is why i am glad that my dad and les had all the camping stuff! could you imagine if we had to bring camping stuff. yikes.

we got to steal the little nugget!! i love me some ashton! that little face can make you happy no matter how bad you feel!!

this is ashton playing his favorite game of the entire weekend!! drive auntie's car! not just auntie's car. any car would do! you could just put him in the front seat of a car close the door and carry on with having fun!

(no we did not leave him alone in the car. for too long)

i did that once and came back and all the dirt that was on the floor ended up on my seat. hmmm thanks ashton! that kid is lucky i love him!

this picture just makes me laugh!

dad and les brought their cat, who decided it would be great to climb up the tree.

i didn't see any of this happen until les was about to jump off my dads back. here i come running and yelling. 'wait, wait! stay like that i need to take a picture!'

so this was the best shot i could get without my dad getting crushed to death! (not that les is big enough to crush him. cause shes not!) but he is 'old' and he did just have knee surgery a few months ago..

here he is playing his favorite game again!

this little nugget was cranky! he decided that he didn't want to have a nap. we were camping after all! scott(my brother) was laying down with him in the tent forever. i went in to have a nap too. ashton decided that nobody was sleeping. he was too busy being a cranky 19month old fighting sleep like he was going to die if he closed his eyes! well i had just about enough of that! so i asked if he wanted to go drive my car. he was all over that in seconds! so we (scott, alex, ashton and i) went for a car ride. it took him .7km to fall asleep. he slept in my car for almost 2 hours!

tina was 'tired' and 'cranky' too.

we may or may not have started drinking 'soda' at around 9-9:30am that day. tina was in a serious need of a 'nap' at around 4:12pm she 'fell asleep' for a couple hours. and let me tell you i love this girl to death. but i am pretty sure that anyone of us would have been almost willing to kill her! i love you tina... just not when you are that dru... 'tired'

oh yes. there was a football game! a football game that we won! let me tell you. the drive from calgary to regina and back again is long enough. never mind when we keep losing football games. that makes it worse! and frustrating! thank goodness we didn't have that problem this time! it was a good game indeed! i say we keep going like this!

look at my poor nose! it got so burnt. my face hurt for a couple days after this game! and I even had spf 45 on my face. i don't get it.

all in all we had a great weekend. filled with family fun. and a great football game! what more could a girl ask for??

Project #2 = DONE!!!

After a LONG month of doing nothing but crocheting granny squares. I finally finished my blanket! I was originally going to make a 10x10.
After 80 squares I was SICK of making squares.
So I quit!
Here is what I ended up with!!

This is what I was supposed to make when I was  a little girl. Well I am no longer a little girl!

So this may be 20 years late. But I finally made a granny square blanket!!

Here it is on our bed. Who are we kidding though, It's never going to be that far onto Alex's side of the bed AGAIN!!

It IS mine though. Right?

If you make it does that mean that it's all yours?

Right?? Hwlp me out here!!

I LOVE IT!! I hope y'all do too!!

Look At ME!! I'm A Domestic!!

I've been baking again!!

Next weekend I am going camping back home (kind of) with my family. I asked what I could contribute to the camping trip. As my Brother is bringing the tent (we just need our sleeping bags) My Dad is bringing all the food (or so I was told anyway.)

I asked my Sister-in-Law what we should bring. She said munchies and chips and whatnot. You know the JUNK FOOD!

Shoot I can do junk food! I am GOOD at junk food!! I love junk food! lol

So I still have a big bag of pumpkin cookies that are coming with us.

Today I got busy making buns. (I know buns are not junk food. But my Dad asked me to make some.. well bring some. I decided to make them!) I also made some Chocolate No Bake Cookies (if any of y'all want the recipe comment and I will post it)

With the same recipe that I made all my 'buns' with last week. Today I just made plain ole buns! 2dozen each hotdog and hamburger buns. They are now placed in bags, in the freezer to maintain the delicious fresh taste!

Next week camping all the campers will be jealous of our fresh homemade buns!! That is if I remember to pack them! haha So here is to hoping that I remember to throw them in the car on Thursday when we leave!

Don't worry! I will still be picking up some 'proper' junk food later this week (so it doesn't all get eaten before we leave) Chips, chips and more chips, and cookies!! What more could you ask for??

:: No Internet at Home :: AGAIN!!

Once again we are stuck with no Internet at home. Or TV for that matter. Okay, so that's not ENTIRELY true! We do have a few channels. I have to admit that although I DO really like The Food Network and HGTV. When those are the only things that there are to watch I don't really want to!
So that being said. Here I sit. At Starbucks. Thanks for the free, WORKING Internet!

Now I get to start working on the REAL post of the day!!

See you soon Folks!

I Appreciate You!

ATTENTION: To my international readers.
I appreciate y'all!! I don't know you. (or maybe I do?) But Thanks for checking out my blog! Who knew a 'little girl' from Canada just blogging about her life and thoughts would reach out to people in Canada, United States, Germany, Malasia, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, and the Netherlands!! -WOW- Thanks guys!! Keep on checking back for all my random thoughts and new baking!!
I've got some ideas in the works for weekly/monthly ideas!!
Check back in early September for a GREAT fundraiser I am working on!!
Follow me on TWITTER. It can be very entertaining some days! (I am Amy6710)

So hey Thanks guys!!

Oh yeah... I appreciate all my 'local' readers too! Everybody make sure to tell your friends about my blog!!

<3 AmyD

Martha Stewart Ain't Got Nothin' On Me!!

As we all know the other day I made cookies. They were Delish BTW!

Alex made dinner 4 nights in a row so I was in a baking mood!!

SO I pulled out my trusty NO FAIL BREAD recipe and made 3 dozen cinnamon rolls, 20 pizza pops and 12 pizza pretzels!!

No big deal!!!

This looks like the 
BIGGEST
bowl of dough ever.. 
Nope! Its not! ha ha.. that is after I used almost half of it!

 Here are the cinnamon rolls ready to go into the oven..

And the pizza pops ready to go in!! My Mum used to make these when we were kids!! YUM!! I am pretty sure homemade pizza pops are my favorite!!!

 After >>>

That ladies and gentlemen what DELICIOUS looks like!  

Pizza pops out of the oven! (sorry I forgot to take a picture before I covered them in plastic.. I know they don't look like anything special.. but they sure taste good!

 And THIS^^

is a pizza pretzel.. It looks like a big cheesy blob.. and THAT is what makes it SO dang good!!

If anyone is interested in the bread recipe here it is.

(trust me when it says No Fail. that's what it means!!)

If any of y'all figure out how to mess this up, you are a special kind of stupid and maybe you should just go to the grocery store instead!!

No-Fail Bread:

6 cups warm water

2 tbsps salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup oil or melted margarine

3 beaten eggs

14+ cups flour

4 tbsps instant yeast (heaping) 

Mix ingredients until dough is easy to handle. On a flat surface, knead, adding flour until right consistency. Put in bowl and let rise 30-40 minutes. Beat down. Separate into 6 portions, shape and put into bread pans. Let rise 30-40 minutes. Bake at 325*F. for 30-45 minutes. Take out and smear with margarine for a soft crust.

For cinnamon rolls just cut off a hunk of dough roll it out to pretty thin. (maybe 1/4" a little more/less depending on what you want) brush on a thick layer of melted butter cover with brown sugar sprinkle with cinnamon, roll. Cut into 1-1.5" 'buns' place in a buttered pan. let rise 30-45minute and bake until done!!

For Pizza pops cut off little chunks of dough(enought to make a regular bun) Flatten to about the size of your hand. Smear with pizza sauce and add any fillings you want pinch the edges together place that side down on a buttered pan. Let rise 30-45 minutes. bake until golden bown ontop and bottom.

For pretzels cut little hunks of dough off rolls into a little snake, fold up like a pretzel. Smear with pizza sauce, add cheese. Let rise 30-40 minutes. Bake until done. (I bake them on parchment paper for easier removal) I check the bottom to see if they are done.

HAPPY BAKING Y'ALL!!

Also I would like to say Thanks to My Mum for being a great example and teaching me to do things like this when I was a little girl!!

THANKS MUM!!

I appreciate you!

Cookies, Cookies and MORE Cookies!!

today at work i decided i wanted to bake when i got home. so i did!

here is the recipe i found:

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

1 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups quick-cooking oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

now let me just tell you. don't dare make this recipe if you just want a few cookies!! i ended up with a few more than 11 dozen!! yikes! i feel like we will be eating cookies for a while!

There is SOOOO much batter!!

Finally!! An empty bowl! Happiest part of my day!

Before

After!

DELISH!! 134 cookies later. Now I haven't got a clue what to do with them all!!

Y'all should try this recipe out! Let me know how yours turn out...

OH YEAH.. I also added ground ginger and cloves.. about 1tsp of each. I could have added 2tsp of each..

Happy Baking y'all!!

Project #2 version 2.0

Okay so as y'all may be well aware I just posted a week or two ago that I had project #1 complete, and I was starting on project #2. Since then I have officially QUIT project #2. I can't make a zig zag blanket. No matter how hard I try! (I tried twice. That was enough for me! I got frustrated and wanted to cry.)

So I decided to try something that I know how to do! And considering that when Grandma taught me how to crochet, this was the project that I was supposed to do in the first place. Here I go. With the stupid impossible zig zags behind me!! I have a NEW project #2.

Here is my very small stack of squares that I have so far. (I think there are about 20)

Granny squares that is!! I am VERY excited for this blanket to be done! It will by far be the largest thing I have ever made.. and the prettiest!

I have 3 different designs that I will be making. Stripes(left) 3x3(middle) and plain(right)

It will look similar to this picture. Only MUCH much bigger! It is going to be a 10x10square blanket! So a little bit bigger than a queen size blanket!

(hopefully there will be enough of it that Alex and I won't have to fight over it. Hmm on second though. I doubt it!! But here's to hoping!!)

I will be sure to post a picture when I have it finished!

MIA

SO Friday night during the first football game it started raining and hailing.
There was thunder, and I'm sure there was lightning too.
(I couldn't see any though. I was in the dungeon watching the game!)

Well anyway I was in the middle of making a nice blog post about version 2.0
Of Project #2. And that's when the internet stopped working!!
Talk about being Frustrated!!
I had the entire post written. I previewed the post.
And I EVEN pushed the publish post button!! Then the internet blew up!!

The landlord said that it should be back up in 24-72 hours...
And that's what he was told on Saturday, and it still wasn't working this morning!!

So here is to hoping that the internet will be put back together by
The time I get home from work!! (Let me tell you, I sure am happy that I'm not actually
Paying the internet bill! If I was I would be on the phone every stinking day complaining!!)

What good is my computer to me if I have no internet!!
(Yes I know I can play solitaire) but that is an awfully expensive deck of cards!!

So until the internet is fixed!! Have a great week!!
Hopefully this will be my last blackberry post!!

Happy LONG Weekend Y'all

To everybody except for Alex and I!! We both work all weekend.
But I hope that y'all have a great long weekend!! (especially those of my family who are going camping)
As well as everybody going to the football game on Saturday!! (especially whoever will be sitting in OUR seats!!)

SO HAPPY SASKATCHEWAN DAY folks!!!

PS. don't expect a legit post from me this weekend.. I should hope that nobody will be around to enjoy it!! But I will be back next week with something more exciting than y'all can handle I'm sure!! HA HA

I just ask one favor from everybody who is NOT working this weekend.. Pretty PLEASE go out and enjoy some summer for me! Okay? And let me know how it is..

Thanks, AmyD

Breakfast For Dinner??

You Betcha!

This may look like a bowl of nasty. It's not. It is however a bowl of delicious banana pancake batter!

Banana Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions:

1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
2. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

However..
I am not really one for following rules. (I also made half the recipe.) But I made a few changes. I used brown sugar instead of white, I only put in a little splash of milk (because I had 2 frozen ripe bananas that were very gooey so I didn't figure I needed the extra liquid.) I also didn't put in the vegetable oil (but only because I completely forgot) Then I added some oatmeal (to soak up some liquid)... Oh yeah and a half a cap of vanilla.

They turned out pretty darn good if you ask me.

We had some extra ripe peaches in the fridge, and frozen strawberries in the freezer. My favorite thing to have on my pancakes is homemade fruit sauce.
All you have to do is take your favorite kinds of fruits, dice them up.
I threw them in a small sauce pan added maybe a tbsp of brown sugar, a tiny bit of vanilla, the juice from half an orange and a splash of lime juice. Bring to a boil, lower the temp to min.
Scoop over your pancakes and ENJOY!!





Here is the final product. With some orange slices, scrambled eggs and hash browns. It was delicious and VERY filling!!

Turns out it was a success!!

Happy Eating y'all!!

LOL. That is ALL that needs to be said!

OKAY.

So here we are sitting on the 'couch' and Alex finds a link to this video on his twitter posted by @mblairregina

Let me tell you right now that you PROBABLY shouldn't press play if you have children in the room.

(it is tagged as 'mature subject matter' on YouTube consider yourself warned)

BUT PLEASE don't let that stop you from watching this video.

I CRIED because I was laughing SO hard!! (mind you I watched it about 10 times in a row)

Without further ado!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvgYAwDORo4&feature=youtu.be

Click HERE to watch the video!

What's For Dinner??

it was Lime Chicken Tacos at our house!!

Let me just say YUM!!

Alex and I went to go visit his Mum a while back and every time we go back to see her she always has some kind of fun magazine for me to look through. This time she had a magazine FULL of recipes!

This made me happy!!

I went through said magazine and tore my little heart out.(Now that I look back at the situation I likely should have just taken the entire book!! haha)

Here is one of the recipes that I stole and it has since become one of our favorites. Not only because it is delicious but it is also wicked easy and fast!!

Lime Chicken Tacos

yield: 12 Tacos.

1-1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp chili powder

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup chunky salsa

1. Place chicken in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine lime juice and chili powder; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken in tender.

2. Remove chicken; cool slightly. Shred meat with two forks and return to slow cooker; heat through. Stir in corn and salsa.

3. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve in tortillas with sour cream, cheese and lettuce if desired

BEFORE:

lime juice and chili powder paste.

I have never cooked this in the slowcooker. (I think mainly because I never think about whats for dinner before I leave for work in the morning!! I am not that organized of a wife yet!! I am still new at this whole wife thing!! Give me some time!)

SO.. I always just cook the chicken breasts in the pan with a little bit of olive oil then shred it after it is all the way cooked. (wait 5minutes to let the juices set in. That is my Food Network lesson for the day!!)

Then I add the corn and the paste and the salsa...

stir...

AFTER:

Today we had our 'tacos' in a pita bread...

You can't really see, BUT there IS lettuce in the bottom of the pita, sour cream and cheese.

It was delightful! and Fast!

Y'all should cook this and let me know how you liked it!!

Project #2 is UNDERWAY

Okay so I know that I said I was going to post pictures yesterday...(remember how I said that I felt like I was being a dirty slacker?!! ha ha Looks like I wasn't kidding!!)

Here I go..

So Here is the TOP layer of my stash.. (there is an entire tub underneath that)

I found a pattern for a zig zag afgan so Off I went...

This is what I have so far... So wish me luck!!

Mobile Post #2!!
Well I feel like I have been a dirty slacker lately on this little bloggy of mine!
So here I am making a 'mobile post' with my handy little blackberry!!
(Days like today kind of make me wonder what the heck we did with
Our lives before we had smart phones!! And would we survive without them?
I know I would be lost!! SAD but true!!)
SO anyway! Back to the point of this mobile post!!

I thought I would let y'all know that I have figured out what
Project #2 would be!!
Since WAY back when Grandma Brown taught me to crochet I was SUPPOSED
To make a blanket out of granny squares. I have decided to dive into something
That I have NEVER tried before!! YIKES!! Kind of scary!!
Well I'm not making a granny square blanket(that will maybe be project #3)
I am however making a 'Zig Zag' blanket!! I have never done a zig zag pattern
Before. And let me tell you it was kind of intimidating at first!!
But Alas! I have figured it out and I have about 3-4" made already!!
I have a HUGE bin of yarn that I need to use up in the next 10ish months
(I DON'T want to move it.. AGAIN!! Ha ha) On that note I feel like there will be
A lot of projects on the way!! SO.. When I return home I will add some pictures of what
I've got done so far!! :)
STAY TUNED!! Check back later today for photos...


(I promise also that I will edit this post and make it look like a human posted it!! Ha ha)

LOST

They weren't kidding when they named this show!!

I know that this show is long since over. However, Alex and I have been watching the series from start to finish. We just finished season 4 tonight.

It is one of those shows that you feel like you HAVE to watch an entire season at once, just to know what the heck is going on. Let me explain the rules of watching LOST for any of those who haven't seen an episode.

1. You must watch this series from the first episode. Or you won't have a clue what is happening.

2. You must NOT fall asleep during an episode. Or you won't have a clue what is happening.

3. It is suggested that you keep a pen and paper next to you to take notes. So that you might have a clue what is happening.

At the end of each episode that you watch there are close to 34 questions running through your brain about what the heck just happened. What would solve your confusion you might ask? One would think that watching the next episode would answer at least half of the questions??

NOPE

When you push start on the next episode you have 46 new questions!! By the time the episode is over only 12 of your original questions get answered. SO you started with 34 questions 13 were answered and you have 46 new ones!!

Now you have 67 questions!!

But ALAS... You must watch all the seasons so that maybe just MAYBE your qestions get answered!!

So here's to hoping that I am not so bloody confused during the next 2 seasons!!

Ha Ha Ha

Can anyone guess what rules I broke while watching this series??

To anybody brave enough to dive into this series. I wish you good luck!! It is best to nap BEFORE you enter into a LOST marathon!! Otherwise you will be SCREWED!!

Have a great rest of your day folks!!

xoxo Amy D

 

Project #1 is DONE!!!

I have completed Project #1 HOORAY!!!

I'm not going to lie it has been probably a couple years since I have started a project and completed it within a week or two!! Hooray!

Now what do I do with it? Hmmm Does anybody want a new scarf?

I kind of enjoy it!

Onto project #2... What should it be??

Any suggestions?

Leave any suggestions in the comments.

A Girl Can Dream Can't She??

Lately our new favorite thing is dressing up all fancy, pretending we have money and going to look at Show Homes!

DREAMING about one day living in a house so gorgeous and perfectly decorated!!

Really I would be happy in just about ANY house right now!

(we have been living in a basement suite for almost a full year while Alex is in school. It is not an ugly or tiny basement suite. It is just a dark basement with no natural light <<insert sad face here>> and no bathtub <<insert ultra sad face here>>)

But it is our home for now! And I love it! Because I live here with my most amazing husband (whom I love more than anything in the world)

But I also love dreaming!!! Our favorite houses so far are in Chestermere, Alberta.



Here are two that I dream about daily!!

This is the front of the first house. NORMALLY I don't like 2 storey homes. That many stairs really don't appeal to me at all. Usually in a 2 storey home the only thing that I like about them are the bonus rooms.. However the master bedroom, bathroom, closet combo in this home would make up for all the stairs that I would have to climb!! This is a 3218 sq ft home with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 3 car garage.

Here is the office right off the front door. ( I think what makes me like this specific 2 storey more than most is that there is more than just a tiny kitchen and tiny dinning room on the main floor. But then again I guess that is what 3218 sq ft will get you!) and the glorious laundry room/mud room right off the garage

And the wonderful kitchen that you could host ALL your family for every holiday, birthday, Sunday dinner. This would be the perfect kitchen to cook in. I want it! Just off the kitchen there is a small living room and a bathroom that tops off the mail level.

The Bonus Room

And the BEST part of this house... The Master Suite!!!

The actual bedroom itself wasn't anything special until you walk in and to the right and you see ALL the way into the bathroom, and down to the GIANT closet!

The enormous bathroom!! There is more than enough space in here to host a dance party if you really wanted to!! Don't ask me why you would... But you could!!

A nice double sink. That means there would be no whiskers in MY sink if Alex ever decided to shave!

I would take out this shelf and put in a linen closet.

A HUGE shower! Double headed steam shower. I could lay down flat on the floor!

Ahhh The GLORIOUS bathtub! I am pretty sure that if I had this bathroom I would attach a TV on the wall above the tub and I would never have to leave!!

Walk in to the left of the closet.

And this is to the right.

This is looking out towards the bathroom!!

So basically I would LOVE to live in this house! I would make a few cosmetic changes. Other then that. I could absolutely make myself happy and grow a little family in there!

 

This next house is a 'simple' bungalow

aka: MY DREAM HOME!!

With an office right off the front door. (the best place for an office in my opinion.)

There was a spare bedroom and full bathroom at the front as well.

off to the left was the kitchen. I love, love, LOVE this kitchen! I think that everything about it is perfect! There is almost more cupboard space than anyone could ever use! (I hope I never have that much stuff in my kitchen that I would fill ALL of the cabinets!! We need to leave a few empty for hide and seek when the kids get older! ;) ) right off the kitchen was the ultimate storage room! It is a food storage area, butlers pantry, laundry room and mud room all in one. It was directly off of the garage which made it even better. (so when you bring in your groceries you can just dump everything right when you walk in!! That thought makes me happy! NEVER having to carry bags upon bags of groceries up or down several flights of stairs!! I am sure that makes Alex happy too!!)

A killer food storage/laundry room/closet/butlers pantry directly off the garage.

The Perfect Kitchen!!

There are cabinets everywhere, a HUGE island. I think maybe the only thing I would change about this kitchen would be the cabinet color. (I am not too crazy about all the dark wood.)

A dinning room right off the kitchen. Perfect for entertaining. (HA not that we do much entertaining. Perhaps with a house like this we would though?)
This would be the best kitchen for all the holiday dinners! It is so open and spacious! It makes me happy just thinking about it! The only bad thing about this place is that the deck out back was not nearly big enough! That could very easily be changed though.

Now the master bedroom/bathroom/closet in this house was not REALLY anything to write home about. Although it is nicer than any bedroom I have ever called home! By that logic, I love it!

The bathroom is open to the bedroom. I like that. It feels much more open and spacious. The tub is amazing! Again there is a double vanity! (Hooray for no whiskers in the sink!) The closet is just an average walk in closet. There IS a sperate toilet room though. I like that idea! Especially if you are waking up in the middle of the night for pee breaks! There will hopefully be no waking up of the husband! I suppose the only bad thing about a bathroom open to the bedroom would be if somebody needed to wake up early to get ready for work it would be rather difficult. But then again there are 2 other full bathrooms in this house.

The basement in this showhome was finished, and GORGEOUS!!!!
And by gorgeous I mean HOLY CRAP that bar is worth 20grand!! HA HA I told Alex if we ever had a house with a 20 thousand dollar bar in the basement we would either have to start drinking alot more, or we would have to find alot more friends!!
However, no matter how much I LOVE this bar I fear that if we were to build this house I would take out the bar and put in something more useful.. Im not sure what. maybe a hot tub? or a pool table? or a really big crafty room? Who knows.. But I fear (and my liver thanks me) That we would get no use out of such a bar! Although it really would be fun to have! Oh, who are we kidding! I would want to keep it just so I could have it! There is all kinds of room in the other side of the basement for boring things like craft rooms!

Here is the nice stair case down to the basement. (I see that being a very scary staircase once kids enter into the picture!)
All in all I think that this house a slightly more modest house at a mere 1743 sq ft. would be the perfect house for me! Okay, the perfect house for US! I could see Alex and I living in either one of the 2 houses for years and years to come!!!

These are the homes I dream about. When it all comes down to it though my true dream home is the one I live in with my husband!! Wherever life takes us I will be happy there! As long as I get to be with Alex!

Here's to hoping though! Better start buying lotto max tickets I think!

Leave me a comment what house you like better and why.