Chocolate Chips...

...and I'm not talking about Toll house here, people!

I can't remember where I saw these, but I think a co-worker had told me that her mom makes them for Christmas. Ever since then, they have been in the back of my mind...taunting me.

Ladies and gentleman...Chocolate covered potato chips. In this case, Pringles, because that's the brand that was recommended to me to stand up the best in the dipping process!

Let me start by telling you that there was a traumatic melted chocolate experience on Christmas Eve that involved all three of us Briner girls gathered around a small, homemade double broiler full of chocolate chips (yes, the Toll house kind) trying to get the damn things to melt evenly.We ended up making a horrendous mess, and only having enough chocolate to dip about 24 orange slices, for our family Christmas Day gathering of 18. Epic fail. But they WERE delicious!

I have made melty chocolate goodies before, and used a small crocpot, or an electric fondue pot, and it works like a charm. I told Erin and Hannah that I would try and find one at an after Christmas sale for us!

The next day was Christmas and we were all at our Daddad's house. I went down into the basement to put my corn pudding into the extra oven down there, and low and behold, a tiny crocpot, still wrapped in plastic, never used! I took it back upstairs and asked Daddad if he ever used it, and he said "No, why? Do you want it?" Of course I said YES!! To which he enthusiastically told me to get it outta the house before he threw it out. I think my Ma was looking out for me :)

ANYWAY...another option to the fondue/little crocpot is a pre-packaged little cup of chocolate melts that you can buy at most grocery stores. That's what I used for the first time I made the Pringles! You just peel the lid off, pop it in the microwave, and you are good to go. This is not the brand I used, Wal Mart had a different one, but you get the idea. It is found in the baking aisle, near the chocolate chips and things like that

I had intended to do this for NYE but never got around to it. I was watching Jax and had a few friends over and between his feedings, and watching Amish Mafia, it just didn't happen ;)

One day last week, Gioia called me at work in a panic because she was with Matt's dad at UVA, his surgery had gone on longer than expected, and Matt was in Arlington at work. For those of you non-Virginians...those are both locations FAR apart from each other, and over an hour from where we live. 

The time when the bus comes to drop the boys off from school was quickly approaching and she was afraid that neither one of them was going to make it! No worries, that's what Em-Way is for ;) I finished up my day about an hour-and-a-half early and drove over to their house to meet the bus.

I had the boys finish their homework and told them we would make a special snack when they were done. Jason is a chip FANATIC! He loves ANY kind of chips! Potato, tortilla, Doritos, Cheetos, you name it...so I knew this would be a hit!

Jason was screwing around with his reading homework, so Aron and I did most of the dipping, and then threw them in the fridge to cool and harden while we waited for Jason. we dipped about half of each chip into the chocolate, and left the other half plain. 

You could just as easily dip the whole thing in, if that's what you want :) 

Also, the boys came up with the idea of adding sprinkles! How cute would red and pink sprinkled chips be for Valentines Day??

2012 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...

Traditionally I have written a "Top 10" post to round out the year. A list with pictures of my family's best moments, vacations, etc to show you all just what we have been up to (2010 and 2011)

Well...I'm going to be perfectly honest. 2012 was rough. And that's an understatement.

I was very reluctant to link up the 2010 and 2011 posts from my old blog...because as I look back on them my "best of" moments were actually not very good at all. Things were very hard for me in Chicago, and I played it all off like life was good and we were a happy little family with our 2 pups and life was just swell.

 The Ugly:
If you have been following me, you know that it was not. My VERY BEST moment of 2012...

Leaving Chicago. This was the single most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. It was the easiest decision I have ever made, but it was not easy to do. Does that even make sense? My marriage was over LONG before I left, but I was scared...terrified even, to leave. It is something that I cannot even begin to describe to you. Maybe one day.
All I know is that I am stronger, smarter, happier and have never felt more alive than I do now. Being HOME with the people who love and care about me has never felt so good.

Aside from leaving my husband and loosing my home, I also left behind and AMAZING job in Chicago. I could not have been any happier than I was in that position. My boss taught me everything I know about Cardiology and gave me the skills that made it possible for me to take the position that I am in now. He and his wife also were so generous to me during my struggle after leaving, and I can never thank them enough for that.


The Bad:
In the midst of picking up the pieces of my life, I lost one of the most influential and important people in it. My Ma. I'm 28 and until August 6th had all four of my grandparents living. I have lost a few friends, but never someone extremely close.

She has been slowly slipping away from us, body and mind, for the last 5-7 years, but that never makes it any easier. I still called her every Sunday and answered her as she repeated the same questions and reminded her of day-to-day details that were sometimes fuzzy to her.

She was the epitome of a Southern lady. Always dressed to the nines. She loved all animals, the Redskins, and her family...especially her grandchildren.

She died on a Tuesday morning at quarter to six. I cried all the way to work, and still do some days. I miss her like crazy. Her funeral was beautiful, just as she would have wanted it.

My Daddad is doing OK. At 85 he really has no physical or mental restrictions and is enjoying things that he has not been able to do for years because so lovingly has been caring for Ma. I've called him and found him to be out metal detecting, gardening, fishing, on skype with his brother or reading a book She died 2 months before their 63rd wedding anniversary. I can only hope to find love like that.

The Good:
Finally...enough of this depressing crap!!
Despite my emotional train wreck, some good things DID happen in 2012! Being in Chicago for the last 4 years, it KILLED me to be away from friends and family. Coming back home meant just that...being HOME.
Two of the very first people I rushed to go see (aside from Mom, Dad, Erin and Hannah!) were of course, Aron and Jason...my dudes, my stinkers, my main men.

Aron and Jason have been through a lot this year as well. Their dad is one of my very best friends, and I'm happy to say that 2012 brought him:
1. A final divorce from their mother (sounds bad, but is a very good thing)
2. A marriage to Gioia (yay!)
3. A beautiful new home
4. The birth of the boy's brother!!

Meet Jackson...he melts me <3

 Just after my grandmother died, I got some new ink...my cousin (well...2nd cousin, once removed) Brian did it. Through some genealogy research, Brian found us on facebook and had been communicating with my aunts, dad, myself etc. He is an accomplished tattoo artist and I am VERY lucky to call him my cousin. He is still working on it, so I do not have a picture...but stay turned for the end result as well as before and after shots, as this is a cover up job!

Oscar has THRIVED since we moved back home. I was initially very worried about him being away from Lyla, since they had been pretty much joined at their cute little doxie hips since they were 6 months old.
Separating them was not ideal, but that is what had to happen, and there was no way in hell that Kurt was going to keep Oscar up there, so that is the compromise that I made.
Since coming to Virginia, he has:
1. Lost a pound (That's a lot for a little dog! And ideal weight  for him!)
2. Learned to safely navigate up and down stairs (He NEVER did stairs before, had to be carried)
3. Continued to ring his jingle bell on the back door to go outside, and even "taught" some of the other dogs to do the same
4. Gotten to sleep in bed with Momma (Never could before, because Lyla could not be trusted

I signed on to be an Independent Creative Partner with Initials Inc. in November. I've already earned some extra money and free product. I like that I have the freedom to work as much or as little as I want to, and hope to continue to do well with this. With a little slice of luck, I can do well enough with this to cut down on my hours at work and be able to go back to school!

That was a hella long post, but its been a hella long year.
Happy New Year!!

Still here...

I had this great plan that once I moved, I would be posting all the time. I wouldn't have a job, so I would have ALL this time to be crafting away and working on this blog like a madman...

Well...truth be told, I'm having a harder time with all of this than I thought. I don't like not being in control of things, and right now, there is a lot that I can't control.

1. I don't have a job, and as many as I apply to, and as many of those as I feel I am perfect for...I am just not in control of that decision.

2. I'm not in control of my emotions/health right now. I'm 2 weeks out from leaving my husband and the life that I had created and had been living for the last 4 years. I need to tell myself that its OK to cry, its OK to mourn the loss of friends, an awesome job, its OK to not be OK!!! I'm also dealing with migraines because of the stress I'm putting on myself.

3. I can't control what other people do. That's just that, the good, the bad, the ugly.

On a positive note, I have the best, most crazy awesome family there is. My parents seriously rock my world. I take back every stupid mean thing I ever said as a teenager! ha ha...

My Mom has this super strength that she gets from somewhere deep inside that allowed her to help me load that trailer and drag it here, unload it and stay strong for me so that I didn't break down physically and emotionally. She rearranged my sister's old room so that it would be as comfy as possible for me and the Osc man! My Dad makes me laugh everyday, even through tears sometimes, and he works his ass off everyday just to support my mom and Erin and this house. Erin has been doing her part too! She takes care of Osc when I go out and taught him how to go up and down the back steps on his own! They are the best!

When I talk family, I include my friend Matt, his girlfriend Gioia, and his boys, Aron and Jason...because Matt has truly been family to me over the last 5 years. I watched Aron and Jason the last 2 days after school so that Matt could go to a wake/funeral and let me tell you, Jason did something that made me laugh so hard, my gut hurt!

I used the last paper towel and offered him the empty tube, because he is 5, and well...why not? When I turned around to finish making dinner, he began wailing the words to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," through his new "microphone!" So funny!

Through everything that has been going on, who would have known that a paper towel tube, and one sweet 5 year old could be the thing that makes me smile, and tells me that everything IS going to be OK!!