June 3, 2007

It has certainly been exciting times since I last posted news about our family. Christmas is long gone, and I have now graduated from college with my nursing degree. I take my national exam on June 7th, and then I will be an R.N.! It has been one of the great journeys of my life. I feel that it is something that I have done for myself, but really feel that it will benefit our family and others, too. AND ~ I made my personal goal - to graduate from college before I reached my 50th birthday! Yippee!
We have welcomed the newest addition to the list of our grandchildren. Sophia Annabelle Ulm arrived right on schedule in March. Dave and I were both on Spring break from college and we had almost a full week to be with Sophia and Missy before school started again. It was also great timing because Pete had brought Vanessa to Arizona to see some Spring Training games and they were still in town when Sophia was born! We have seen a lot of Stacy & Danny and our other 4 grandchildren, Jessica (almost 16, tomorrow!), Alexis, Joshua, and Caleb.
So many other things have happened since December! We have attended three weddings, many wedding and baby showers, have had good friends or family give birth, helped after Dad had two cataract surgeries, Dan & I celebrated our 16th anniversary, and my brother and Sister-in-law came from New York for Easter. In one week Dan & I will be going on our first cruise, along the inner passage of Alaska. It has been an exciting six months.
We have traveled quite a bit since I last wrote. We took my Dad, Bob Roseler, to Portland, OR to see Pete, Amanada & Vanessa before Christmas. Dan & I went to Vegas before I started back to school in January. Missy & I took Sophia to Portland right after Mother's Day; and Dan, Missy, Sophia and I just returned from Victoria, TX to celebrate Dan's brother's retirement from ministry after 30 years!
That is our exciting news. I am looking forward to finding a job I love and getting caught up on my reading and scrapbooking. I have really missed doing both of those things.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Love, Connie & Dan

Here's a couple of pictures of our tree and decorations. Even have Maggie in there. Our old, fat cat. So cute!

Well . . . I cannot get the first picture to rotate to an upright position. I'll try to edit it and try again tomorrow. Sorry!

Debbie - do you notice the ceramic tree and base that you made for us? I still have it and it still works. Shows you the fine quality, eh?

This Semester is Over

I can't tell you how relieved I am that I took my last final today. I am grateful to God that I did so well (I got A's in all 4 of my classes, a first since I started the nursing program) and I have a few weeks before school starts again. Spring will be my final semester and I will graduate in May. I believe that Dave (Missy's husband) will finish his Associates Degree after he takes his last final tomorrow. He will be working on his Bachelor's Degree at AU in the Fall of 2007. We are so proud of all the hard work he has done to achieve this first milestone.
Now the fun of getting ready for the family get together starts. Dan and I are going to Portland on Sunday to have an early Christmas with Peter, Amanda and Vanessa. We are taking my Dad, too. And, we hope that Dave & Missy can join us. Missy is working for Dan since he had trouble with a secretary leaving at work.
So, it's off to bed so that I can wake up, get ready for work, and plan the day. I love mornings!
Connie

Turkey Leftovers?

I am just finishing dinner and have made a mighty tasty recipe. It was originally published in Good Housekeeping maybe 25 years ago or so. I will write the recipe as it was published, but I will tell you that I did not have any mushrooms, I used about 1/3 of a box of Barilla Plus Angel Hair Pasta (4 gms fiber per serving), and I used crushed Ritz Crackers instead of the soft bread crumbs and butter and it turned out delicious, so there is wiggle room for creativity.

Turkey Tettrazinni
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
8 oz linguini - Cook as directed and drain.
3 Tblsp butter
1 small onion, diced fine
1/4 Cup flour
2 3/4 Cup milk
1 small can mushroom pieces with liquid
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 cups cubed or shredded cooked turkey

4 slices soft bread torn into soft crumbs
3 Tbsp butter

Melt 3 Tblsp butter in 2 qt saucepan. Saute diced onions until soft and transparent. Stir in 1/4 cup flour and stir until well blended. Allow to gently cook for a moment but do not let brown. Slowly stir in milk, you should get a smooth milky mixture. Add mushrooms and liquid, bouillon cube, and cracked pepper. Cook and stir constantly as your white sauce slowly thickens. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
In a small saucepan (I usually use the pasta pan so I don't dirty another pan), melt 3 Tbsp butter. Removed from heat and add soft bread crumbs. Stir until crumbs are well coated with butter and set aside for a moment.
In a casserole dish (I used one of my pampered chef New traditions stoneware) put the cooked pasta, the turkey and the white sauce mixture. Toss gently until well mixed. Top with bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes.

Enjoy!
Love, Connie

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Here is our test to see how this works, very foreign to me even though I have enjoyed reading other people's blogs, just never knew how they did it. Thank you for all your work on this KathyLynn!
Love, Conie