matty and i. oh, and beck. wasn't that nice of me to let her join us?
3.02.2010
i am famous. i was on tv.
forgive me, in advance for this post.
it's going to be l-o-n-g. if that bothers you, i'm sorry but i'm blogging.
every.
last.
detail.
my friend becky loves adventure.
and lucky for me, every once in awhile she drags me along.
yeah me.
ya all know that the Olympics were right here, in our backyard (really, literally, Canada IS in my backyard!)so when an opportunity comes up to GO there,
it would be a crime to stay home AND SLEEP. there will probably never be another Olympics so close!
since we're not really THAT old, and we don't NEED 10 hours of sleep a night, we decided to forgo those measly few hours and head up to see......
drum roll......
da....
dum...
my friend, matt.
matty.
mattster.
MATT LAUER!
now really, 11 grown woman skipping sleep, screaming with joy at the thought of catching a glimpse, let alone A PICTURE with him is embarrassing.
OR NOT!
sorry, i'm getting ahead of myself.
let's start from the very beginning, a very good place to start (la. la.la).
beck saw another friends post on Face Book that she (the other friend)went to the tapping of the TODAY SHOW! yes, no knock-off. this was the REAL thing. the REAL TODAY SHOW. with REAL celebrities! the REAL-LIVE-MATT LAUER (and some of his 'other' FAMOUS sidekicks.)
so we left the warmth of our beds at 1 AM to drive an hour, get on a gondola (a 'cart' thingy, that holds like 750 people (ok,maybe 50) and scoots you STRAIGHT up a mountain. we were crammed in there like sardines. oh and it dangles us by 4 cables but they said it was safe, so i went). thankfully, it was dark out so i didn't see the danger below. oh yea, and by the way, since we were the part of the first 100 in line, we got in FREE!
dutch girls dig that.
on a side note.....my SIL lis spotted another FAMOUS gal on the gonadal up. miss Sarah from the later part of the Today show,the one who does the Face Book updates for Kathi Lee was standing next to us!
i didn't recognize her but whatever, she knows my matty so i guess i'll consider her a friend.
after all, any friend of HIS, is a friend of mine.
after a mini-photo shoot with her, we made our way to the famous fire pit, where the tapping was...well, taping.
since we were a tad late we missed our opportunity to get front row.
but never fear, when you have miss jana libot on your 'team' it doesn't matter much.
she'll get you in.
cuz she's pushy.
in a good way!!
i think it was her DARLING pick coat.
yup, cute coats get you places.
so we spent the next 2 hours, working the camera. a few of us (NOT ME) got lots of air time. and i'm ok with that. cuz, yes i was there! it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!
no, we didn't tackle anyone. most of them got out of our way. they could sense that we needed to get close, if only to touch the coat tales of them, the famous ones.
i never thought i'd be one of 'those' people...the kind that get all giddy and sloppy around famous people.
but i am.
i'm one of those people.
and i don't really mind, after all, it may never happen again.
i live in a small town.
i don't get out much.
being at a live taping is super, super cool but wow, it's a lot of standing around time.
which ended up being a BONUS for us average 'joes'.
matt, ann, meridith and al-al roker were so ridiculously nice. and willing to take pictures, LOTS of pictures.
i KNOW that they get paid a crazy amount of money to be nice but in my own little mind, i want to think they are nice because they want to. not because they make more money than all 11 of us,COMBINED will probably ever see in this lifetime.
really, they are so nice!
and ann, yes, miss ANN CURRY told ME, little old me that she thought I WAS NICE. :)hey, why is no one paying ME to be nice?
i can do that.
enough about me.
on to important things. like matt.
i'm a little smitten by him.
not smitten like i'm smitten (i like that word) with the hub.
let me just put that out there...for the record...i am married to the dearest man on the face of the planet. i would never, in a zillion years trade him for matt lauer.
never. ever.
we have a phenomenal relationship thus the reason why he laughs at the fact that i'm smitten wiht matt. (love you babe)
i've been watching matt since he's had hair.
a thick head full of black hair.
here's the thing with matt.
he's just one of those guys that all of America loves.
he loves his wife and kids. i love that about him.
there isn't a trail of dirt following him. he's just an all around NICE guy.
and i got to meet him.(well,i stood next to him for a total of 7 secs. just long enough to snap a picture, but whatever. it's as good as meeting him.)
yuppers, i like matt.
after we finished up taping (our feet were numb-it was really cold)we busted out of there.
back down the gondola.
much, MUCH nicer on the way down. pretty actually. i just may go back.
my dear hub wanted me to 'live out my dream' so he got not only my kids but the db kids out the door for school for us.
7 kids! a full on pancake breakfast AND HE CLEANED THE KITCHEN all so that i could meet matt.
what a guy!
here's a shout out to my fellow Today show groupies! becky vh, wendi ww, lisa db, jana l, mandy vh, michelle h, tammy w. tammy k, kathy w, cheryl w.
this will go down in the 'book' as one of my greatest adventures.
thanks beck.
i'll follow you on an adventure any day!
it's going to be l-o-n-g. if that bothers you, i'm sorry but i'm blogging.
every.
last.
detail.
my friend becky loves adventure.
and lucky for me, every once in awhile she drags me along.
yeah me.
ya all know that the Olympics were right here, in our backyard (really, literally, Canada IS in my backyard!)so when an opportunity comes up to GO there,
it would be a crime to stay home AND SLEEP. there will probably never be another Olympics so close!
since we're not really THAT old, and we don't NEED 10 hours of sleep a night, we decided to forgo those measly few hours and head up to see......
drum roll......
da....
dum...
my friend, matt.
matty.
mattster.
MATT LAUER!
now really, 11 grown woman skipping sleep, screaming with joy at the thought of catching a glimpse, let alone A PICTURE with him is embarrassing.
OR NOT!
sorry, i'm getting ahead of myself.
let's start from the very beginning, a very good place to start (la. la.la).
beck saw another friends post on Face Book that she (the other friend)went to the tapping of the TODAY SHOW! yes, no knock-off. this was the REAL thing. the REAL TODAY SHOW. with REAL celebrities! the REAL-LIVE-MATT LAUER (and some of his 'other' FAMOUS sidekicks.)
so we left the warmth of our beds at 1 AM to drive an hour, get on a gondola (a 'cart' thingy, that holds like 750 people (ok,maybe 50) and scoots you STRAIGHT up a mountain. we were crammed in there like sardines. oh and it dangles us by 4 cables but they said it was safe, so i went). thankfully, it was dark out so i didn't see the danger below. oh yea, and by the way, since we were the part of the first 100 in line, we got in FREE!
dutch girls dig that.
on a side note.....my SIL lis spotted another FAMOUS gal on the gonadal up. miss Sarah from the later part of the Today show,the one who does the Face Book updates for Kathi Lee was standing next to us!
i didn't recognize her but whatever, she knows my matty so i guess i'll consider her a friend.
after all, any friend of HIS, is a friend of mine.
after a mini-photo shoot with her, we made our way to the famous fire pit, where the tapping was...well, taping.
since we were a tad late we missed our opportunity to get front row.
but never fear, when you have miss jana libot on your 'team' it doesn't matter much.
she'll get you in.
cuz she's pushy.
in a good way!!
i think it was her DARLING pick coat.
yup, cute coats get you places.
so we spent the next 2 hours, working the camera. a few of us (NOT ME) got lots of air time. and i'm ok with that. cuz, yes i was there! it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!
no, we didn't tackle anyone. most of them got out of our way. they could sense that we needed to get close, if only to touch the coat tales of them, the famous ones.
i never thought i'd be one of 'those' people...the kind that get all giddy and sloppy around famous people.
but i am.
i'm one of those people.
and i don't really mind, after all, it may never happen again.
i live in a small town.
i don't get out much.
being at a live taping is super, super cool but wow, it's a lot of standing around time.
which ended up being a BONUS for us average 'joes'.
matt, ann, meridith and al-al roker were so ridiculously nice. and willing to take pictures, LOTS of pictures.
i KNOW that they get paid a crazy amount of money to be nice but in my own little mind, i want to think they are nice because they want to. not because they make more money than all 11 of us,COMBINED will probably ever see in this lifetime.
really, they are so nice!
and ann, yes, miss ANN CURRY told ME, little old me that she thought I WAS NICE. :)hey, why is no one paying ME to be nice?
i can do that.
enough about me.
on to important things. like matt.
i'm a little smitten by him.
not smitten like i'm smitten (i like that word) with the hub.
let me just put that out there...for the record...i am married to the dearest man on the face of the planet. i would never, in a zillion years trade him for matt lauer.
never. ever.
we have a phenomenal relationship thus the reason why he laughs at the fact that i'm smitten wiht matt. (love you babe)
i've been watching matt since he's had hair.
a thick head full of black hair.
here's the thing with matt.
he's just one of those guys that all of America loves.
he loves his wife and kids. i love that about him.
there isn't a trail of dirt following him. he's just an all around NICE guy.
and i got to meet him.(well,i stood next to him for a total of 7 secs. just long enough to snap a picture, but whatever. it's as good as meeting him.)
yuppers, i like matt.
after we finished up taping (our feet were numb-it was really cold)we busted out of there.
back down the gondola.
much, MUCH nicer on the way down. pretty actually. i just may go back.
my dear hub wanted me to 'live out my dream' so he got not only my kids but the db kids out the door for school for us.
7 kids! a full on pancake breakfast AND HE CLEANED THE KITCHEN all so that i could meet matt.
what a guy!
here's a shout out to my fellow Today show groupies! becky vh, wendi ww, lisa db, jana l, mandy vh, michelle h, tammy w. tammy k, kathy w, cheryl w.
this will go down in the 'book' as one of my greatest adventures.
thanks beck.
i'll follow you on an adventure any day!
email update....
people, you are rockin it!!!
i know some of you are going to be devastated that you don't see YOUR pick below. if that's the case, that's just pathetic.
although, i know that a few of you (ok,me) have been laying awake nights thinking of a new one to add to the list, in that case, i thank you ....and get a life.
here are my top picks....
1.queenBof3.gmail (the hub doesn't like it because he thinks it makes me sound like i'm the queen. um, isn't that the point? (not to mention the truth?)
2.nogirls4me.gmail (TOP of my list!) thanks lue!
3.ilivewithmymama (from my very funny friend, shanda! i think this is SO funny. my mom may not think as much! :)) mom, it could be worse, it COULD say, myparentsliveabovemygarage!! :)
4.kirkcameroninmylocker (again, submitted by miss shanda. um, ya, she knew me in middle school. i was obbsessed with kirk cameron. admit it fellow 80's girls, he's still cute. that curly head of hair gets me every time!)
5. javamamato3.gmail (i love my java!thanks lue!)
6. illwearapushupbraasagrandma (shanda.an A+ for creativity!)
7.3isperfect4me.gmail
8.allboys4me.gmail
9.reflectionsfromtheredhouse.gmail (miss holly)
10.blessedmama.gmail
11.spoiledbymymen.gmail
12.homebodymama.gmail
13.stockincloroxwipes.gmail (i'm just saying.....)
vote now or forever hold your peace.
voting will close on friday.
no vote.
no coffee card for you.
i know some of you are going to be devastated that you don't see YOUR pick below. if that's the case, that's just pathetic.
although, i know that a few of you (ok,me) have been laying awake nights thinking of a new one to add to the list, in that case, i thank you ....and get a life.
here are my top picks....
1.queenBof3.gmail (the hub doesn't like it because he thinks it makes me sound like i'm the queen. um, isn't that the point? (not to mention the truth?)
2.nogirls4me.gmail (TOP of my list!) thanks lue!
3.ilivewithmymama (from my very funny friend, shanda! i think this is SO funny. my mom may not think as much! :)) mom, it could be worse, it COULD say, myparentsliveabovemygarage!! :)
4.kirkcameroninmylocker (again, submitted by miss shanda. um, ya, she knew me in middle school. i was obbsessed with kirk cameron. admit it fellow 80's girls, he's still cute. that curly head of hair gets me every time!)
5. javamamato3.gmail (i love my java!thanks lue!)
6. illwearapushupbraasagrandma (shanda.an A+ for creativity!)
7.3isperfect4me.gmail
8.allboys4me.gmail
9.reflectionsfromtheredhouse.gmail (miss holly)
10.blessedmama.gmail
11.spoiledbymymen.gmail
12.homebodymama.gmail
13.stockincloroxwipes.gmail (i'm just saying.....)
vote now or forever hold your peace.
voting will close on friday.
no vote.
no coffee card for you.
2.28.2010
grandma jeans date cookies.....
we all have it.
something that is very nostalgic to you.
for me, i have 100 different things but grandma Jeans date cookies are at the top of my list. my brother tim is also very sentimental about foods, especially ones that came out of my grandmas recipe box.
today,after church we went to tim and lisa's (& their lovely children!)for lunch and to watch the hockey game. (worth the watch even from someone like me who know nothing about hockey other than that they do a whole lot of pushing. is that really necessary that they push each other up on the glass wall?!)
anyways,i was greeted by a plate of grandmas cookies.
my bro has been on this 'new' baking kick and i love it. granted, i don't live with him and by the time i get there most of his 'treasures' are consumed by his children.
but every once in awhile, he thinks to save me a baggie full.(ok, he only 'saves' them for me when he knows that I KNOW he keeps an extra stash in his freezer!) today, he made DATE COOKIES! now, i know they sound disgusting and entirely much too healthy to be wearing the title of a cookie but trust me, they are heavenly.
almost sinful really.
when i first bit into that bit of goodness, i closed my eyes, took a deep breath and let out a silent scream of joy! i may as well have been back in my grandmas kitchen, sitting by the 'short counter',with a glass on Tang in one hand and a date cookie in another.
isn't it funny how years later that i can tell you every little detail about her? the way she stood by the stove.
the way she folded her napkin.
the way she would laugh.
the way her tiny little house smelled after she baked banana bread (in tin cans instead of bread pans),
the way she smiled when grandpa Ollie walked in the back door.
the way she loved me and my family.
the way she looked when she was sitting on her lawn chair, in the driveway watching us drive away.
the way she leaned over to talk to my gramp on the intercom. (he was ALWAYS building something in his shop.although it was a really short walk out there, they still loved to talk that way)
the way she loved the Lord.
last october, at 99 years young,she got to meet Jesus.
i'm so happy for her,
but truth be told,i'm sad for me.
i'm sad that my boys will never really know her.
i'm sad that i can't call her and tell her that tim made the cookies that she was famous for.
this is where i pick myself up-
dust off those cookie sheets
and go to town, baking.
she'd be proud of that.
she'd be proud that tim's tasted JUST like hers!
i think she'd laugh, out loud knowing that we were so darn sentimental about those cookies.
i know you are all dying to have the recipe and since they are soooo good, and i want you to know, first hand how yumm-a-licous these babies are!! if you have any questions, don't email me. i won't know. i've personally never made these bad-boys. i figure i should just enjoy a few more batches of tim's.
DOUGH:
1 C. "cheap" oleo. (now that's a good dutch lady for you! :))
2 C. white sugar
1 C. brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
mix well and make into 2 or 3 rolls.
wrap and refrigerate.
FILLING:
2 C. cut-up dates
1 C. raisins
2 C. sugar
2 1/2 to 3 C. water
Cook about 15 mins. Thicken with cornstarch (which has been mixed with water).
Cool and add a little vanilla.
Slice cookie thin;put a little filling on cookie and put another cookie on top (without pressing down).
Bake at 350 degrees. watch.