I was doing a bit of organizing, cleaning generally moving some dusty things around this morning and uncovered something. It is a little book, The Sixty Sixth Baccalaureate & Commencement for Northwest College, May 2002.
Listed their under Baccalaureate Degrees was my sisters name:
Christie Amans……..Magna Cum Laude…..Bothell, WA
I went and googled to get the definition:
According to Wikipedia.org (even though its Wikipedia its true I learned it in Latin class), these terms are called ''Latin honors'' and are used to "indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned."
Here is a list of Latin honors, in order of increasing level of honor:
By GPA: Graduation with honors 'cum laude' requirements can vary but in general: Cum laude grade point average estimates: gpa for cum laude - 3.5 to 3.74; gpa for magna cum laude - 3.75 to 3.99; gpa for summa cum laude - 4.0+.
I went to my sisters graduation ceremony and do remember noticing this, but I am just so proud of her that I wanted to share.
Christie is a wonderful sister, I have to say she really has made my life so special for many reasons. She is 6 years older and really included me in her life. She has always been a giver of her life and treasure. She paid all of my travel expenses to go see our Mother in Yuma last month. Just one example of her generosity towards me.
She went to college and became a Dental Hygienist then moved from Oregon to San Jose, CA to go to Bible College for a year. There she met her future husband and made life long friends. She lived in California, where I visited many times, and Texas, what a fun place to visit too!!
The last 12 years her family has lived in Seattle, we have spent most Thanksgivings with them there. After 4 years of moving to Washington she had a big decision regarding her career. She decided to go back to college and get her Baccalaureate Degree, in her 50’s. She was going to college, writing term papers and had an outstanding time doing it.
She has a new career now with Home Instead Senior Care, where she is Human Resource Manager. And I must say she is really a perfect fit.
Christie I am reminded of how very proud of you I am and how lucky I am to be your sister!!
One of my most memorable moments with Christie was in Maui. My daughter was getting married there and we traveled and stayed together with Christie and her husband Larry. We were at the beach going snorkeling, but not Joe, he says no way! Sharks you know!! Well after trying to get flippers and mask on while standing in the surf…..
Christie and I are finally out in the water, sand out of our masks…..Larry is still not so sure. We are saying, "come on in, its great"……. then we see Joe behind Larry waving his arms and everyone else on the beach is too!! So we thought, lets go in closer and see what they want. Well what they wanted to say was there was a shark between us and the beach and now we were swimming right to it!! All I can say is Ignorance is bliss!!
When we noticed we were the only ones in the water we thought just maybe something was up for sure!! LOl……we never saw the shark!
It was fun and we went down the beach a ways to the rocks where more people were and continued our snorkeling…. it was a very fun February memory.
We celebrated Valentines Day very quietly, had a great steak dinner and Joe gave me a very pretty bouquet. Watched some Olympics, I just love the Olympics and always wish they would show them earlier in the evening. We are going to bed after midnight for goodness sakes…..lol!!
Thanks for listening to my sharing of my sister, I would love to hear your special memories too!!
Prim blessings,
Carrie
This past weekend I got the baking bug and started working on my bread recipes. It is a good work out for the arms making bread that's for sure. Years ago I made bread every week, I had a few recipes that we enjoyed. But homemade bread is not the best for my diet, :)) I love it too much so I let it go by the wayside. The holidays is a great time to do some though, I am working on a wheat dough that is a bit lighter for some fluffy rolls. This is a batch of 50 % whole wheat flour and 50 % white flour. I am thinking I will reduce the wheat flour but first I am going to read through some recipes to see what else I could change before reducing the amount of whole wheat.
Here it is in my rising bowl we will enjoy eating it over a couple days then try again.
While Joe was hunting with Pepper, Slide, Jake and Casey, Miss Daisy Mae was my buddy for the weekend. She wasn’t happy at all about being left behind.
Daisy had surgery for the second time on her accruciate ligament. The crimp holding the line together didn’t hold both sides. So the vet did the surgery again for us. Poor little girl, she will be 10 in April and will miss hunting this year. She was enjoying being let out of her crate since she was the only one at home.
And when I told her I would put her on the blog she perked right up. She loves attention and was looking forward to the taste of fresh baked bread.
I made up my favorite apple cake recipe a couple weeks ago, its out of A Taste of Oregon cookbook.
Hood River Fresh Apple Cake
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups chopped cooking apples
1 cup chopped nuts
Cream together sugar, shortening, and eggs. Sift the dry ingredients and add to mixture. Add chopped apples and nuts. Bake in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.
SAUCE:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
In a small pan combine sugars, margarine and whipping cream. Bring mixture to a boil, and then add vanilla. Pour sauce over individual servings of cake. It may be warm or cold, but is particularly good warm. Serves 12
This is one of my favorite fall recipes. It goes together quickly and is delicious! This sauce has the most amazing flavors.
I made an apple pie too. I use premade pie crusts, I use to make my own but these are really easy and flaky too.
I let them sit out of the refrigerator at least 20 minutes then roll them out a bitter thinner, I used my leaf shape cutters to make vents and decorated the top of the pie.
I brushed the top crust with egg whites then sprinkled with sugar. It make a pretty pie!
Today I am making pumpkin pies and rolls and looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving. Yesterday Joe and I went to the store and bought Turkey and all the goodies you need to make the meal. It was fun doing the shopping together.
This year we are not going to Seattle, we are staying in Bend. So we are cooking a 20 lb Turkey and taking it to a homeless shelter and spending some time there serving food. We are looking forward to our day, after all the tough economic times here in Central Oregon its exciting to just get out and share with others. We know we are going to receive much more than we give.
We are so blessed to have a home and good health, the love of family, and Central Oregon is a fabulous area to live. We have great neighbors we enjoy, friends that bless our lives and Joe and I both have been able to enjoy our hobbies so much this year.
We are cooking a smaller Turkey for our celebration, actually we picked out a 12 lb one and it looks much to small…..lol. I’m sure it will be more than enough!!
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your loved ones too, God Bless!!
Hugs, Carrie
I had the best time…….again! Seems like its been to long again but we got to do some fun outings. I know it is going to be just more wonderful each time we visit the triplets. So I am dreaming about having my own home where I can go spend unlimited time, be at there beck and call, one short call away for filling in for anything, anytime they need a hand. Yeah, I said dreaming……but that is what I think about all the way home after a fun, action packed trip to visit the triplets.
Here is a picture of my son, the boys and myself at the farm we we visited. We went for a tractor ride to the pumpkin field, petted animals. The weather held out and didn’t rain on us and we made the outing short for the boys. Short and sweet…..perfect!
I love Denise, didn’t get a picture but she is the boys Nanny!! Just love her and the boys do too! She is a real sweetie and so much fun! Really has a heart for caregiving and teaching. She has some fun ideas for activities and learning, it is going to be so fun to hear all the stories.
The first lunch, meatballs with a yummy sauce. The boys are pretty much eating everything it seems. And boy did they love these meatballs. And boy oh boy were they messy!!! Lol…… gotta get a picture of this. Denise fed these a couple days earlier and she had her hands full getting them all cleaned up….and herself too. Lol… here’s Jaxon’s favorite face…..reminds me of a pirate face, but with meatball sauce….priceless.
You have to watch Hayden, if he likes it the mouth will be overflowing…..yeah Gramma I only have five bites…see…….
Ethan thinks they are just finger=likin good!! Mealtime is one of there favorite times and for me too. They are terrific eaters! They are growing like weeds so I can totally understand the appetite.
Friday night I got to be the babysitter during the adult Halloween party. Pebbles and Bam Bam were decked out from head to toe. OMG when they came downstairs I about choked…….I couldn’t stop laughing, they just have so much fun!!!
Everyday is fun fun fun!! The dinning room is the romper room with many fun toys……Ethan loves to play peek-a-boo and read books. He is going to be my little genius!! Love those little toes!
Do you think boys know what “NO” means at 15 months old. I think so!! Jaxon likes to take his little glasses off and boy oh boy I think he knows exactly what he is doing, and….that he really shouldn’t. You tell me!!
OK Gramma I was just testing, aren’t I just the cutest!!
Do you think they like to pose……smile……be still my heart! My photogenic triplets love to pose.
See!!!!
Now why is Hayden so happy……..because this is the couch and he loves to throw all the pillows off and go up and down, roll off and you catch him. Just his most favorite play area…..the couch!!! Here the squeal! He loves his teeth too, that tongue is always rubbing on it.
We went out to lunch before the Pumpkin Farm trip……yes to Grammas' favorite place, Panera’s. This is actually their first trip to a restaurant. We had a blast and they each ate a whole grilled cheese sandwich!!
Ethan loved people watching, he loves people. We were sitting right by the entry and he got to see everyone and then followed them to the counter!!! Getting to know the personality of the boys is one of my favorite things about spending time with them.
Jaxon kept me entertained even when I had my favorite Panera meal.
Hayden is the one who loves animals, this friendly little goat really wanted us to feed him but it gave Hayden enough time to warm up to him.
We tried to get pictures in the pumpkin patch but this is the only one that turned out with their pumpkins, and trying to get them to pose was out of the question.
They are drinking out of the little cups and trying to get a picture with all three bottoms up…….well this is the best I got. Hayden looks like his juice is spiked…lol!!!
OK thanks for indulging me if you are reading along, all you Grammy’s know how special your grandkids are to you so I know you forgive my indulgence.
I did get out of the house a couple times. I visited Country Sampler and took a drive to Lincoln to meet a fellow blogger Kindra. I will share about this on my next post along with what I am sewing on.
I need to catch up for sure….but for now I am off to have lunch with my girlfriend Linda. We just shared a fat quarter bundle of Rouenerries. I have so many patterns I could use it on, I will have to choose! There is a linen piece that I fell in love with so I am doing a make over that I will share too. It is the perfect red, perfect print and I found the perfect place!!!
Have you seen Karen’s new additions to Farmhouse Woolens, I love her taste and can not resist having just a little each time she adds something new!!!
This is a wonderful time of year to focus on Thankfulness. For us, it is the end of our busy business season. We are thankful for God’s blessing this work season. The economy is very slow and we are so thankful for everything we have received.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we are going to be home this year. First time in over 14 years. So we are looking forward to spending time at a community kitchen and having our son at home for dinner. It is an opportunity to really look outside ourselves and give to others.
God Bless,
Carrie
