I'm me. What more do you want?

2011-02-03T16:30:00.000-06:00

Sorry I made an error in the new blog address I posted.. My new blog is at http://thewatsonshouse.blogspot.com/

Moving

2011-02-02T01:20:00.004-06:00

Well.. I have decided to move my blog and close this one down. My new blog is going to be all of the thing I said I was going to post about in my last post.. Cooking and books. But I will be doing this new blog with the hubby, since he is the cook.. If you would like to continue following me please go to http://thewatsonshouse.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all the good time on I'm Me. What More Do You Want?!! I've had a blast here and who knows.. maybe I'll pop up now and again on this site..

2011-02-01T21:28:00.003-06:00

So, I'm still here. I know its been almost 6 months since my last post. Life has been, lets say, eventful for us in the past few months..

I have had many ideas and things I have wanted to post, but as I said, life got in the way. But I am back for good this time! My goal is to focus more on the cooking. I was good at that! And throw in a few things about book.. So look forward to lots of yummy posts!

Lets start at 6 months ago.. In my last post I mentioned my trip to Oregon. It was such a wonderful trip! I got to hang out with some friends, host an Avon pedi party, and spend time with my family. Oh and of course I got to spend some time on the beautiful Oregon Coast.

While in Oregon the hubs and I made a decision that has altered our lives.. My husband is in his second semester at the University. Which is about 30-45 min away from our house depending on the traffic. We decided to move to the town that the University is in. Now if you remember I had a friend and her kids move in with us. That whole situation has been an experience.. I won't go into all of it now, but things got a bit awkward between us all..

Move to this past month, and here we are in our new apartment 5 min away from the University. We are in a much smaller space now.. Our Kitchen is so tiny, but surprisingly we have been cooking in it a lot more! Hence my wanting to post more about cooking!

As for the rest of today's post, I am going to leave you with the book I am now reading.

What have you been reading lately?

Where has the time gone?!

2010-09-15T22:42:00.004-05:00

Seems like forever ago since I was last on here.. Oh wait! It was forever ago! Lets see.. What has happened in the last 2 months.. Well, my friend and her 3 kids have moved in with us. This has been a new experience! I am no longer working.. I quit my job at the Zoo due to my car being broken and not having a way to get to work..

Um, what else? My husband is now a student at the University of Texas Arlington. I couldn't be more proud of him!

I've been getting back into baking, so look out for future food posts.

I am getting to go to Oregon for a visit. Just me. The hubs has to stay here.. I'll be gone for 2 weeks. Should be a ton of fun! I have not been home in 2 years. I already have tons of stuff planned! Trips to the coast, pedicure party, lunch with old friends and hanging out with the fam. I promise to take lots of pictures!!

Well thats all I have for right now.. Hope ya'll have a great Wednesday!!

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-09-15T18:12:00.006-05:00

Strawberry Shortcake:

Prep: 30 min Bake: 12 min

Oven: 400 degrees Makes: 8 shortcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

2 tablespoons milk

5 cups strawberries

3 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet; set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl combine egg, sour cream, and milk.

Add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until moistened.

Drop dough into eight mounds onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.

Meanwhile, combine 4 cups of the strawberries and the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Using a potato masher, mash berries slightly; set aside. To serve split shortcakes in half; fill with strawberry mixture and whipped cream. Top with remaining sliced strawberries.

Wordless Wednesday (Before and After)

2010-07-07T09:38:00.000-05:00

Before hair cut

After hair cut

Game Night

2010-07-02T14:28:00.002-05:00

I recently got to host a Game Night from House Party . It was super fun! I had some friends over from work and we had margaritas and played the games House Party sent me! I got the newest Trivial pursuit (its not out till August), Taboo, and Catch Phrase. I didn't get any photos of the action but i have some from before the guests arrived!

My fabulous House Party package

Coffee Cake and Peanut Butter Cookies

Goodie Bags and cheese and cracker platters

Table all ready for a night of fun games!

Changes are a Coming!

2010-07-01T13:40:00.004-05:00

In 6Th grade, I met this girl who I absolutely could not stand. Her name is Teresa. We shared many classes together over the years, and by the time we hit the 8Th grade it seemed as though we had every class together! In our first period class we were forced to sit together for most of the year.. I would say by the middle of the year we were on track to being best buds! We also had another friend, Michelle who has a blog, here. By 9Th grade the 3 of us were inseparable.

Teresa and I in 8th Grade

The summer between 9Th and 10Th grade is my most memorable summer of all. That summer the 3 of us would spend days upon days at Teresa's house. Teresa's mom was so cool! She would take us cruising down by the university to check out hot guys and midnight trips to the coast. Her mom even sat out in a parking lot while Teresa and I were at a concert 3 hours away from home!

Michelle, Teresa, and I

But, alas the good times must come to an end right? Towards the end of the summer we learned that Teresa and her mom would be moving away! of course there were lots of letters written and visits made. I spent a few weeks with them the following summer. But as always we drifted apart some. Shortly after I left that summer Teresa found out she was pregnant. My mom and I went to visit when her daughter was a month old! And that's the last time I saw Teresa (her daughter is now 11!).

Don't get me wrong, we have stayed in contact, but have not seen each other since then. Over the years she would get a hold of my mom to get my number or address and we would be in contact again, and then drift away until the next time my mom would call and say guess who I just talked to! 2 years ago My husband and I made the trip to Oregon so he could meet the rest of my family ( we'd been married for 3 months at this point) and wouldn't you know it! not even a day after we left and got home, my mom calls and says, "Hey! There is someone here who wants to talk to you!" and knowing my mom that could be just about anybody! So she passes the phone and its Teresa. There in Oregon. A day after we left! If only she had been a day earlier or we stayed a day later I could of seen her again!

After we moved to Texas she found me on Facebook and we have been able to chat more regularly. She started to talk about family she had in Texas and moving down here to be near them. I was like well, what part of Texas??!! And when she told me my jaw just about dropped! I said,"Well, then! You better move on down here because that's the town I live in!!!!" Small world, eh?

So I am super excited! Her mom is on a plan right now on her way down here and Teresa and her kids (she has 3 now!) are driving and should be here Friday or Saturday!

Teresa and 2 of her kids

Oh and Teresa and her kids will be living with us! I am super excited to see her again but a little nervous about sharing my house with them. It's been just me and the Hub's and the kitty's for so long..

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

Remember me?

2010-06-08T15:54:00.004-05:00

Hi ya'll! Its been awhile huh? I would love to say that I've been super duper busy and just have not had time to blog. But then I would just be lying to ya'll. I have not been busy.. I have just been lazy! Well, that and I just have not had anything I've wanted to blog about lately. I had wanted to turn this blog into a cooking blog. You know, share my yummy baked goods with everyone, but with the the way things are in life right now, I can't afford to bake stuff as much as I've been wanting too.

So, I figured its time for me to get back to blogging, and maybe I can't bake as much as I want to, but I sure do read a lot! So maybe I can talk about books I've read and throw in some day to day life stuff and occasionally throw in some baking! Now, I'm not talking about doing like book reviews or anything, maybe just post the books I'm reading and plan to read.. I can tell you if I like the book, but other than that I'm not much good with review writing!

I also decided it was time for a blog makeover, to go with my fresh start. Of course I think anytime is good for a blog makeover! There are just way too many cute blog designs out there! That's why I could never pay for a custom one.. I would just change it to a free layout a month or two later! Lol!

Well, I went to the library today and picked up 5 books.

I got Burned by P.C. Cast, The Smart one by Ellen Meister, Born of Fire by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Willow by Julia Hoban, and the Hypnotist by M. J. Rose.

Right now I am reading The Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. I am almost tempted to put this book down so I can read Burned. I have been waiting for the 7Th installment of the House of Night series forever! But I will be good and finish the one I'm reading first!

Have any of you read any of these books? What are you reading now?

Today at work..

2010-03-26T15:22:00.002-05:00

As I was passing the Meerkats on my way out of work today I over heard a woman ask her child if there was only one Meerkat and the child said "Yes, there is only one. The others are dead!" Of course all our Meerkats are not dead.. They just didn't want to come out today. I thought this was cute and had to share!

Update

2010-03-10T22:29:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update on my niece. We think we know where she is and she has been in contact with my mom. My mom has offered her a place to live, but there are a lot of things that need to get cleared up. At least we know she is safe! Thanks for all your prayers and concerns.

Please Pray

2010-03-08T19:45:00.002-06:00

My niece who is 15, ran away this past weekend. I've been told that she has been spreading a lot of lies about family members and friends. Lies that are hurtful and could get some people into trouble. I'm not sure if I believe that part, but I do know that she has been gone since late Friday night. My sister has already filed a report with the police and is putting up posters in their neighborhood. Please pray that she is found and returned home safely.

Thanks.

You Might Remember Me...

2010-02-23T19:55:00.003-06:00

I use to post here often..

Yeah yeah I know I haven't posted anything in a really long time. Yet somehow I managed to gain 5 followers! Hmm.. Maybe I need to take month long breaks more often! Just kidding.. maybe..

I've had so much craziness going on lately. My goal for this blog this year was to post more recipes and less life stuff, but I can't afford to go out and buy stuff to bake something different every week.. My poor shiney new mixer is feeling very neglected!

For those of you who don't know, my husband is no longer working, and has not worked in quite some time. He is going to school full time to hopefully better our futures. He is doing very well in school and just got accepted to one of the local Universities!! But him not working has put a strain on our financial situation. During the winter at the Zoo everyone gets their hours cut. So my pay check saw quite a pay-cut! Luckily spring is almost here and that means more people coming out to see the animals!

I've started selling Avon to try and help bring in some extra income. I've had a few orders here and there, but its going very slowly! It can only get better right?!

The only other major thing that has happened since I last blogged, is the fact that I had a major blowing out with my sister. I'm talking about the sister that I pretty much moved to Texas for. No, I'm not going to go into details to respect her privacy, but lets just say I don't expect to hear from her ever again. Its been since the middle of Jan, that I last spoke to her. Her last words to me were to tell me where I can shove my perfect life.

So other than all that life is grand!

I'm thinking about doing another giveaway.. not sure yet.. Any ideas?

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2010-01-03T09:00:00.005-06:00

I had a ton of frosting left over from the sugar cookies, so I figured some carrot cake would go nicely with cream cheese frosting. Except I didn't have enough left to frost a whole cake.. So cupcakes!

Plus I got to use my shiney new mixer to make the cupcakes!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Prep: 1 hour Bake: 22-26 min

Oven: 350 degrees Makes: about 30 cupcakes

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups finely shredded carrot* (lightly packed)

3/4 cup cooking oil

1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting

Allow eggs to stand at room temp for 30 min. Meanwhile prepare muffin pans with liners. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In another bowl combine eggs, carrot, and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir until combined. Pour batter into the prepare pans.

Bake for 22- 26 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Once cooled frost with the cream cheese frosting.

*Note: The carrots should be finely shredded or they may sink to the bottom of the cake.

Eat and Enjoy!!

Christmas Loot

2009-12-30T07:15:00.000-06:00

First off, before I get to the Christmas loot, we had a lovely white Christmas. It started snowing early Christmas eve morning and continued to snow all day.

Sadly it was all gone by the following afternoon.. Oh, how I wish you would stay a little longer, the next time you decided to visit, Mr. Snow!!

This year our Christmas was just the two of us. My sister came over Christmas eve and left early Christmas day. Since the hubs isn't working we didn't really buy presents for each other. But we did manage to be able to exchange small gifts to each other. My wonderful hubs bought me some Disney movies to add to my collection, along with a gift card to Borders. He got all kinds of goodies in his stocking and a variety pack of popcorn kernels for the air popper. And of course I got the Disney movies my mom sent as well!

My wonderful sister got me the bestest gift ever! A Kitchen Aide mixer. It very pretty and shiny! And no, I did not hug it once it was out of the box...

Isn't she pretty? I got to use it the other day, post with pics soon to come!

My decorations were very sparse this year. Christmas came and went before I knew it so I wasn't able to do as much decorating as I would of liked to. As you can see I only decorated the top half of the tree. Thing one and Thing two (Ford and Rocky) wouldn't stay out of my tree...

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and got everything you wished for!

Sugar Cookies

2009-12-29T01:31:00.001-06:00

Its not Christmas without sugar cookies, right? I planned on posting this before Christmas, but it snuck up on me before I knew what was happening... I've also included the recipe for the cream cheese icing I used.

Sugar Cookies

Prep: 30 min Chill: 30 min

Bake: 7 min per batch Oven: 375 degrees

2/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 salt

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are barely light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep: 20 min Makes: about 3 3/4 cup

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

5 1/2 to 6 cups powdered (I only used about 3 1/2 cups)

In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency.

Use as much or little powdered sugar as you feel needed. I only used about 3 1/2 cups and found that to be a good amount for the consistency I was looking for.

Enjoy your cookies!!

Peanut Butter Bark

2009-12-14T07:40:00.000-06:00

I've been on a peanut butter kick lately.. Can you tell? This recipe is very quick and easy! Very yummy too!!

Peanut Butter Bark

2 4 oz packages of dark chocolate backing bars, broken into pieces

1 2/3 cups ( 10 0z package) Peanut butter chips

1 tablespoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts or toasted almonds ( I used pecans)*.

*To toast nuts, heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts in thin layer on a cookie sheet, bake 8-10 min; Cool.

Cover tray with wax paper. I used a rectangular metal cake pan lined with wax paper.

Place chocolate in medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute; stir If necessary cook for an additional 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred.

Immediately place peanut butter chips and shortening in second microwave safe bowl. Heat for one minute in microwave; stir. If necessary cook an additional 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred; stir in nuts.

Alternately spoon above mixtures onto prepared tray; swirl with knife for marble effect. Cover; refrigerate until firm. Break into pieces.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Bread

2009-12-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

This time of year my mom always makes Cranberry bread. It is one of my favorite things that she bakes, and she has been sending me a loaf every year since I moved away from Oregon. So this year I thought, since I've been doing a lot of baking why not try and make it myself? I'm glad did! Boy that's some good bread! Yum Yum!

If you would like to try your hand at some Cranberry bread, here's the recipe:

Cranberry Bread

1 Cup fresh or frozen Cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons shortening

3/4 up orange juice

1 egg, well beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and lightly flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

Prepare cranberries, nuts and orange peel. Set aside. In bowl mix together flour sugar baking powder salt and baking soda. cut in shortening. Stir in orange juice, and egg mixing just until moistened.

Fold in cranberry mixture. Bake 60 min or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 min. remove from pan and let cool completely.

Eat and enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

2009-12-09T19:16:00.005-06:00

I got this recipe from Sunday Baker. I am very bad about taking step by step pictures.. I was taking these cookies out of the oven when I remembered that I had not taken any pictures. If you need to see the step by step pictures, stop by Sunday Bakers page here.

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Cream together:
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
3/4-1 c. confectioners sugar

Roll the mixture into small balls. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes:

With a mixer, combine:
1/2 c. softened butter
1/4. c. peanut butter

Add to it:
1 egg white
1 t. vanilla extract

Combine in a separate bowl:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1/2 t. baking soda

Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. As the dough gets stiffer, stop using the electric mixer and stir in the rest by hand.

Form this chocolate dough into 1 1/2" balls

remove peanut butter balls from the fridge. On lightly floured surface, flatten one of the chocolate balls with your hand. Put a peanut butter ball in the middle. Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter ball, sealing all edges and making it back into a ball shape.

Place the dough balls on a lined cookie sheet, Dip the bottom of a small glass in water, then in some sugar. Push down on each ball, flattening it, but not completely.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min.

Eat and enjoy!

(sorry for the crazy font size.. I'm not sure how to fix it.. I have it all set to the same size and it won't fix itself..)

Someone's Selling Avon!

2009-12-02T15:35:00.002-06:00

Hi all, I just wanted to take a minute and tell you all about my new business venture.

With my husband not working, and my zoo hours getting cut severely, I have taken to selling Avon. I'm hoping to get enough business that it will bring in some much needed income! I plan on putting a button in my side bar that will link directly to my Avon page, but for now you can just click here.

If you are interested in buying or selling Avon products, please check it out. You can order online through me, and if you let me know before you place your order I can get you FREE shipping!

We have a ton of great holiday deals going on right now, so please go check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-26T09:00:00.001-06:00

Promise's, Promise's...

2009-11-25T22:53:00.000-06:00

I promised a while back that I would post pictures from Boo at the Zoo. Unfortunately my camera decided to not work that night.. I did get one picture taken before my batteries decided they could no longer go on living.. Of course the picture is blurry and has nothing to do with the Boo at the Zoo festivities.

This is whats called an Ocelot. He is very adorable. He is a lot smaller then some of the other wild kitties out there, but he is still probably 3 times the size of your house cat! I just want to take him home with me and love him and squeeze him and call him George! But that's besides the point..

The husband and I have also done a few other things in the past few weeks that I have deemed blog worthy, but did not take any pictures of. We went to a Greek festival, but we did not stay for any of the festivities.. We just went for the food, which was very yummy by the way. I didn't get to see any Greek dancing or see the Greek bands play, so thus no pictures.

We also went to a model train show that same weekend. Yes, my husband is going to be one of those guy's who has their whole basement filled with model train sets, with the landscaping and everything. The only thing stopping him from doing that now is the fact that we have no basement. He keeps looking at the attic though.... So we go to this train show and walk around and see a lot of elaborate get ups. Some really nice ones that focus on the details of the landscaping, what with hikers climbing the mountains and bears just on the other side of the trees, but do I pull out my camera and take pictures? No. It stays in my purse.

The hubs and I are pretty boring people and the one weekend we actually get our butts up off the couch and go do something, I take no pictures.. Hopefully this is not a trend that plans on sticking around! I love taking pictures and usually carry the camera with me at all times..

We plan on going to some of the Museums in the Fort Worth area pretty soon. I plan on taking lots of pictures for that! ( we shall see....)

What about you guy's? Are there times when you plan on doing something and don't follow through?

Alternative Plans

2009-11-20T09:25:00.000-06:00

Its been well over a year since my husband and I have been trying to conceive. We almost succeeded once, we didn't know it though. I thought I had posted the story, but I guess not..

So, here it is:

In June 2008 we took a trip to see my family in Oregon. The day before we left, I had some severe stomach pains. Didn't really think much about it, I was2 or 3 days off my period, so I just thought the pains were related to that. Took a hot bath and they went away.

We spent 7 wonderful days catching up with family and friends and enjoying ourselves on the coast. We even took a trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Yum Yum!

The day before we were to fly home, I started to get severe stomach pains again. I got into my mom's hot tub, thinking the warm water would help with the pain like last time. It only got worse. I finally got out of the hot tub once I was all pruny and wrinkly. After getting out I dang near passed out from standing up. My mom suggested we go to the hospital, I was in so much pain I was crying and that's when my husband decided I really needed to go to the E.R.

Once there, we discover that I am pregnant. We weren't even trying. Had not even talked about the possibility of having kids yet.. So, Yay, right? Not really. You apparently should not be in that much pain whilst pregnant..

Turns out I was trying to grow a baby on my right ovary. I had what the doctor called a right ovarian ectopic pregnancy. I am one in a million women who get this.. After surgery and a week in the hospital, I got discharged and got to go home.

Since then we decided to try and have a baby. Its been a year and 3 months. Still no baby, but everyone around me is having one!

So at this point I am thinking about adoption. Does anyone out there have any experience with adoption? Any advice? Any advice on trying to concieve a baby on our own?

Banana Bread

2009-11-19T20:14:00.000-06:00

Banana Bread

Prep: 25 minutes Bake: 55 minutes

Oven: 350 Makes: 1 loaf

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (5 medium)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine

Topping:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of one 9x5x3 inch pan; set aside. In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

In medium bowl combine eggs, banana, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

In small bowl combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and 3 tablespoons flour. Using pastry blender, cut in 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/3 cup walnuts.

Sprinkle topping over batter

Bake in oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack.

Eat and enjoy!

The loaf of banana bread I made from this recipe didn't last over 24 hours in my house! It is that yummy!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-18T09:02:00.000-06:00

(I did not take this picture, but its pretty, huh?)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T08:24:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin Bread

2009-11-10T09:54:00.001-06:00

Pumpkin Bread

Prep: 20 min Bake: 55 min

Oven: 350 Makes: 2 loaves

3 cups sugar

1 cup cooking oil

4 eggs

31/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2/3 cups water

1 15-ounce can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottm and 1/2 inch up the sides of two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans; set aside. In an extra large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium. Add eggs and beat well; set sugar mixture aside.

In large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternately add flour mixture and th water to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. beat in pumpkin. spoon batter int prepared pans.

Wonderful Handmade Gifts

2009-11-09T14:52:00.005-06:00

A few weeks a go the girls at SITS held an auction. I bid on a cute handmade purse and won the auction! Would you guy's like to see my cute new purse and the surprise goodies I found inside it? Of course you would!

I got my package today, and not only was there a cute purse, but a key chain thingy to match the purse, a cute belt, and a lovely necklace charm. I love it all! Thanks!!

I bet you would like to know where you could get a cute purse like mine, huh? Well, go check out the wonderful woman who made this purse and all the extra goodies. She has a blog called Loving Mom 2 Boys and you can find her Etsy shop here

Fall Decorations

2009-11-05T22:21:00.000-06:00

I love all my new fall decorations! I got a new center piece for my table. I wasn't sure what to put in it though.. I had some mini pumpkins that I put it, but it seems like it needs something else. Any suggestins? Also I have a mantle this year that I got to decorate! So exciting.

Have you decorated for fall yet?

Crumble Top Cranberry Bars

2009-11-04T22:44:00.008-06:00

Crumble Top Cranberry Bars

Prep: 25 min Bake time: 50 min

Oven: 350 Makes: 25 bars

Crust:

1 1/2 cups uncooked quick cooking oats

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray; set aside.

Combine oats, 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in large bowl until well mixed. Cut in butter and vanilla with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place 1 cup crust mixture into small bowl; set aside.

Press remaining crust mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown.

Meanwhile, combine sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolk. lemon zest and vanilla in small bowl; stir until well mixed. Stir in cranberries. Spread filling mixture over hot, partially baked crust.

Stir pecans into reserved crust mixture; sprinkle over cranberry mixture, lightly pressing down onto filling. baking for 35-40 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 30 minutes; refrigerate 2 hours. Cut into bars.

Enjoy!

Its the time of the year for holiday baking! I'm looking forward to trying my hand at making holiday breads and cookies. My next project will be Pumpkin Bread. I can't wait. I can almost taste it! I am also going to try to make cranberry nut bread this year. Its one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods that my mom makes. Hope mine is as good as hers!

Whats your favorite holiday food?

In Memory of Ann Deedon

2009-11-03T14:51:00.001-06:00

In Memory of Ann Deedon

My last living grandparent died this weekend. She was 91 and died on what would of been her and her husbands 73 wedding anniversary. I didn't really know my dad' mother very well.. I have always lived in states that are far away for her. I do remember the few times that I was around her, that she like to talk! She could talk your ear off and the some.. I didn't realize how many grandchildren she had till I read her obituary.. 46 grand kids! That's a lot!! Above is the link to her obituary. It would't let me copy and paste it..

Pistachio Bites

2009-11-03T11:50:00.000-06:00

Ahh, I love this time a year. The cool crisp air, the warm fire in the fire place, yummy hot chocolate, little kids running around the zoo in their Halloween costumes.. For 6 days every October my zoo has what they call Boo at the Zoo. They have lots of candy for the kids, wonderful carnival foods (funnel cakes!), professional pumpkin carving and tons of other fun things for the kiddos. Did I mention the yummy funnel cakes? We usually close at 4, but for Boo at the Zoo we reopen at 5:30 and stay open till 8, that way you get to be at the zoo after dark for extra creepiness! I plan on attending with my sister on Monday. I promise to take lots of pictures!

Anyways, on with the cookies! If you like pistachios, you'll love these cookies!

Pistachio Bites

Prep time: 20 min Baking time: 8 min

Temp: 350 Makes: 6 dozen cookies

Batter:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup coarsely chopped shelled pistachios

Topping:

6 ounces vanilla-flavored candy coating ( almond bark), chopped

1 teaspoon shortening

1/2 cup coarsely chopped shelled pistachios

Combine butter and brown sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, almond extract n vanilla. Beat until well mixed and dough forms. Stir in 1/2 cup pistachios until evenly distributed in dough.

Divide dough in half; shaped each half into 10-inch log. Wrap each in plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 3 hours or over night).

Heat oven to 350. Cut 1 log at a time, keeping remaining log in fridge, into 1/4-inch slices with sharp knife. Place onto ungreased cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Place candy coating and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir; continue microwaving, stirring every 15 seconds, until candy coating is melted and smooth.

Place waxed paper onto flat surface. Dip each cookie halfway into warm coating; shake off excess. Place onto waxed paper. Immediately decorate with pistachios.

This cookies are awesome. The girls at work call them happy cookies and claim I put something in them to make everyone happy.. They are just that good!!

Until next time enjoy!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Carmel Espresso Chews

2009-10-27T09:15:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Carmel Espresso Chews

Prep: 35 minutes Bake: 6-8 minutes per batch

Oven:375 degrees F Makes: 4 dozen cookies

1 tablespoon milk

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or coffee granules

1 cup butter softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups unsweetned baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup finely chopped peacans (optional)

48 Rolo candies ( Round chewy carmels in milk chocolate), unwrapped.

Glaze:

1/2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffe granuels*

1-2 teaspoons hot water

1 cup powedered sugar

Heat oven to 375. Combined 1 tab;espoon milk and 1 1/2 teaspoons aspresso powder in small bowl. Set aside.

Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in large mixing bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add dissolve espresso powder mixture and eggs; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, cocoa and baking soda. Stir in chopped pecans (optional). Beat, scrapping bowl often, until well mixed.

With lightly floured hands. shape dough into 48 (1 1/4-inch) balls. Place balls into lightly greased mini muffin pan cups*. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until puffed and set (insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, then they are done..). Immediately press 1 candy piece, top-side down, into each Cookie. Cool for 10 minutes in pan; run small sharp knife inside edge of cups to remove cookies. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder into 1 tablespoon water in small bowl. Stir in powdered sugar and additional water if necessary for desired consistency. Drizzle Glaze over cooled cookie.

* Editors note: I used coffee grounds instead of the espresso powder. With making the glaze using coffee grounds I suggest getting a coffee filter and after letting the grounds "dissolve" filter out any grounds that are left and use the coffee water with the powdered sugar for your glaze.

Also, I followed the directions and put the cookies into the the mini muffin pans, and as you can see, that didn't turn out so well. I suggest using the mini muffin pan liners. The cookies came out so much better in my second batch!

These turned out very yummy. They are very brownie like!

Next time I will share my pistachio cookies with y'all.

Until next time, enjoy!!

Lifes a Circus!

2009-10-23T09:02:00.003-05:00

For my birthday, way back in August, I got to go to the Circus with my sister and friends. It was very exciting. I've never been to the circus before, well I went once with my dad when I was little, but all I remember is getting out of the car. I don't remember the circus at all! How sad is that?! Anyways here are some pictures from the awesome circus!

People protesting the circus..

I got tons more pictures, but they are all blury.. These are the best of them! I had a blast at the circus. Came home sick from all the yummy cotton candy and pretzels!!

Until next time, enjoy!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

2009-10-21T19:26:00.001-05:00

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Prep: 30 minutes Bake:10 minutes per batch

Oven: 375 degrees F Makes: about 48 cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup chopped peanuts or semisweet chocolate pieces

( I used 1/2 a cup pecans and 1/2 a cup chocolate since thats allI had in my cupboard)

Preheat oven to 375. In large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds or until combined. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in rolled oats and peanuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Transfer to wire rack; cool.

If your looking for something easy to make with stuff you already have in your cupboard, these are the cookies for you!

They were very simple to make and very yummy!

Next time I will be sharing my Chocolate Carmel Espresso Chews with y'all.

Until next time, enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-14T23:21:00.002-05:00

I'm Back...

2009-10-12T23:10:00.002-05:00

Okay, so here I am. Anyone miss me?

As you can see I changed my layout. A new face for a new beginning, right? I have decided that I am going to try and post more often and share my baking. With the holidays coming up I have been in a baking mood.. The people I work with love it because they get all the goodies I bake! I don't have anything right now to share, but come back later this week for some yummy cookies!

Since I've been MIA not a whole lot has happened. My husband has gone back to school full time. I think he as finally decided on getting his degree in mathematics. Other than that, nothing has changed. Ford and Rocky are crazy as ever.. Rocky is no

longer the tiny little kitty I brought home.. Pictures of them soon as well!

Well that's all I have for tonight. Until next time good night!!

Max

2009-09-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

This handsome boy, is Maxwell. Better known as Max or Maxie. I got Max when he was a baby, and I was 11. When I moved out of my mom's house, Max stayed with her, but he was still my baby and always will be my baby.

Here we are. I'm 11 and max is about 8-10 weeks old. He always slept with me, stealing my pillow.. I don't know how he managed to kick me off my pillow every night, but he did.

Max liked to stalk the deer and raccoon that came into our yard. He was fearless! But he also liked to lick the tailpipe of any new cars on the block, so he was a bit crazy as well!!

\
I got a phone call at 1:42 am on Monday night. It was my mom. She had max at the vet emergency room. Max's kidneys were failing him. There was nothing we could do for him. He was 16 years old. He lived a very long happy life.

He was such a good boy! He was my grumpy old man. He was always grumpy, even as a kitten. We had lots and lots of good times together. We are all going to miss Max.

Rest in peace Maxwell.

You were such a good boy.

Maxwell

09/93-09/09

I'm still here I swear!

2009-08-20T07:29:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. I know I've been absent for what? 4 weeks, I'm told.. Life has been super busy and I promise a full update soon! For now this is all I have time for...

Winners?

2009-07-19T20:39:00.002-05:00

It seems I need to remind those who won my giveaway to please email me your adresses so I can get your packages out. I plan on going to the Post Office Tuesday (my day off). If I do not have addresses by Thursday (my other day off) I will draw 2 new names and pass the prizes along.

Thank you and congrats on your win!

Winner Winner, Who's the Lucky Winner?

2009-07-17T19:15:00.000-05:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--Of cabbages--and kings--And why the sea is boiling hot--And whether pigs have wings."

I will send out a bonus package of cookies to the first person who can correctly tell me where the above quote comes from.

Late Wednesday night, My husband and I were restless and decided to take a drive. We ended up going 4 hours south of us to Columbus, TX, where my husband lived as a child. It is a small little town that has not changed at all, he says, in the last 20 years. It was neat to get to see where my husband played little league at and how far he had to ride his bike to get there. I was not able to take any pictures, as this was a spontaneous trip, I left the camera at home.. We stayed the night and headed home Thursday afternoon. It has been a while since we made a spontaneous trip. It was quite fun. I have noticed that in all the small towns we went through, there was always a Dairy Queen that looked like it has not been changed since the '60's. But enough of that...

I'm sure you all are ready for me to announce the winner, right? Okay here it goes. I put every one's name in a bowl, those who are followers got their name put in twice, and the winner is:

Sandy

Since I didn't have that many people enter, I drew a second name for just a batch of cookies. The winner of just cookies is:

DiPaola Momma

Congrats to the winners!

Please email me with your address so I can get your package out!

And don't forget about the bonus cookie offer!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Table for One.. Please??

2009-07-16T05:59:00.001-05:00

Since my husband has started working nights and I work all day, I only see him in passing on my way to work. By the time I get home from, he is long gone. Which means I am left to do my own thing most nights.

The other night I decided to go to IHOP for dinner. I brought my book so I could read whilst eating, and just hang out for awhile after I was done eating. When I walked in the hostess asked how many in my party. I said just one. She looked at me like I just committed the biggest social fuax puax! Of course my waiter also looked at me the same way, especially when I pulled out my book..

Is it not okay to go dine by yourself anymore? Is it that big of a deal to eat alone? Is it crazy to want to read a book while eating by yourself? They can keep looking at me like I'm crazy because I'm going to keep on reading and dining by myself!

Also, don't forget to sign up for my giveaway! You have until tomorrow!!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-15T06:14:00.003-05:00

Last night I went and saw the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie with my sister and a friend of ours. My sis and I got to the theater around 9:45, by 10:15 they started seating people. Man, there were a lot of people there!!

So after sitting in the theater for almost 2 hours, the movie finally starts. But wait, something has gone wrong. The lights are flickering on and off, the preview up on the screen keeps starting and stopping.. Whats going on??!! Wheres Harry, Ron and Hermione?

Finally an employee comes in to save the day. They explain that we should not worry, they are NOT experiencing technical difficulties and the movie will start shortly.

The lights dim, the preview comes back on. The next preview plays, wait. Stop. The lights flicker back on, the screen has gone blank. The crowded theater full of Harry Potter fanatics groans. Where's Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Professor Snape?

Another employee walks in. Don't worry folks just a slight snag and all will be good.

5 min later the lights dim, the previews start up. The preview stops. The lights are back on. People are yelling and complaining. Wheres our free popcorn?!!?

By 12:45, we finally get to see our 12:00 showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and guess what?! They WERE experiencing technical difficulties!! But the movie was excellent and well worth the wait (we never did get our free popcorn!).

My husband has been off the last 2 days and does not go back to work till Thursday night, with the exception of going in this morning for a training class. He had to be there at 5:30 this morning. Since I had a 45 min drive back home from my sisters house after the movie my husband and I decided to meet close to where he works for breakfast. I am now stuffed and sleepy and extremely happy that I got to see the HP movie!

Since I do not have to work today, I am off to bed to catch some Z's. It has been a really long day!!

200 Come and Gone

2009-07-10T07:34:00.003-05:00

My 200th post has come and gone without me even noticing. I knew I was close, but didn't pay attention. I had ideas of doing a giveaway, but never followed through on it.

So, for my 210th post I will be doing a giveaway! Yippie!

Up for grabs will be a Bath and Body Works gift set.

And what goes well with a Bath and Body Works gift set? Chocolate of course! I will be including some form of chocolate into my giveaway.

Also, the lucky winner just might get a batch of homemade oatmeal raisin chocolate chunk cookies if they catch me in the right mood...

What do you have to do to enter, you ask?
For 1 entry leave a comment about what your favorite cookies are.

For another entry be a follower.

Giveaway will be open until July 17th and is open to anyone who wants in!

I hope everyone has a fun and wonderful weekend!!

Whew!

2009-07-09T07:45:00.001-05:00

I finally have some time to catch up! It seems like its been forever since I posted anything!! There really hasn't been a lot going on, I'm just trying to get adjusted to my new work schedule.

I am however really enjoying my new job! I work with mostly all girls, there are 2 boys in our department though. It seems like an interesting bunch of people, I'm hoping I can make a friend or two.. It's kinda sad, but I really don't have any friends anymore. None that are in my state anyways...

In other news, my hubby started working again last month, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not.. He's been working day shift this past month, but has now gone to night shift. I feel like I'm never going to see him anymore..

I did get to spend a wonderful day with him yesterday as we were both off. We had date night and went and saw Public Enemy. It was pretty good. It was nice being able to get out and go to the movies. Its been a while since we've done that.

Anyways, in Ford and Rocky news, Rocky is getting big! I can hardly believe he is the same teeny tiny little kitten I brought home 2 months ago! Ford has really taken to him, most days. Rocky can be pretty annoying at times. He likes to follow his big brother around and swat at his tail. It also really cute when Rocky copies what Ford does..

Well, till next time, I hope you have a wonderful Friday!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

My oh My

2009-06-25T10:17:00.000-05:00

For those of you that don't know, I am an Oregonian stuck in the south. I moved south to Arkansas about 10 years ago, then almost 1 year ago I moved to Texas. Now I know that probably means I'm no longer a northerner, or Yankee as I've so often been called, but I will always claim Oregon as my home.

That being said, as an Oregonian you are either a fan of the awesome Ducks or of the crappy Beavers. If its not obvious, I'm a Ducks fan. The ducks are known for changing their uniforms quite often. As in yearly I believe. They have once again changed their look. I personally don't like it.

The new look. Now I understand the look is suppose to be better for the HDTV crap and what not, but I still don't like it!

I think they should go back to the 2001 or 2006 look personally. But who am I to pick their uniforms.

I do hope they have an awesome season this next fall and I will be rooting for them every game here in Texas.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-24T07:23:00.000-05:00

Uninspired

2009-06-20T17:30:00.003-05:00

I have been so, I don't know, uninspired I guess when it comes to my blog lately. It seems like I never have time to sit down and write anything, let alone catch up on my blog roll. Hopefully this next week when I am off I will be able to write some posts and catch up on every one's blogs!

This past Friday was my last day working in the food service dept at my zoo. I get to have a full week off before I start my new position in the cash office. I am so excited to be starting this new job! In other news my hubby finally got a job (his bunkbed making adventure was short lived..). He will be working for a company that makes trash bags. He is their trouble shooter electrician guy. With my new schedule and his, I'm afraid we will hardly see each other except in passing.. but at least he will be happy getting out of the house and working again!

I want to wish all you fathers out there a wonderful Fathers day!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!

Wordless Wednesday (from our garden)

2009-06-10T07:30:00.000-05:00

No Fair!

2009-06-09T18:44:00.001-05:00

It's just not fair. I am so jealous. Two of the blogs I read just announced that they are pregnant. My husband and I have been trying for almost a year after having a bad pregnancy last summer. Its just not fair. Even my 19 year old nephew is now a daddy. I know it will happen when the time is right, but I'm not getting any younger!

I just get so frustrated. All day at work, I see women come in pregnant or with a small baby and I get so depressed. I actually had an 18 year old co-worker tell me she was glad she got her son out of the way already and that I'm at the age where I should be getting my tubes tied! Can you believe that?! I mean seriously?! I know I'm older but come on, I'm only 26, almost 27!

I'm sorry y'all. I just needed to vent. Please feel free to ignore me..

I hope everyone had a great day today! =0)

Life has been too busy!

2009-06-08T19:45:00.002-05:00

It seems like forever since I've had the time to write a blog or read any.. And my time is only going to be more pressed here in a few weeks..

You ready for this? I will be starting a new job on the 20th. I will be leaving my co-workers at Burger King in the Zoo for some new co-workers in the cash office at the zoo!

This is just a small update as I really have no time to write everything.. More will come I promise!

Wordless Wednesday (Almost..)

2009-05-27T19:41:00.001-05:00

Caught red handed sleeping in the laundry..

Shelby Nicole

2009-05-24T11:40:00.005-05:00

My great-niece, Shelby Nicole.

Proud Daddy!

New Kitten Gets a Name!

2009-05-22T09:10:00.002-05:00

After spending almost 2 weeks wondering if our new little kitten was a boy or girl, we found out he is definitely a boy! His name is Rocky.

Ford is getting along better with the little guy now. They play together, nap together, eat together..

Aren't they cute!

Rocky is a feisty little guy and has no fear. He will climb anything and attack anyone. I guess after getting chucked out of a moving vehicle, he has nothing left to fear... I'm just glad to see Rocky and Ford get along!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

It's about time!

2009-05-21T19:41:00.005-05:00

Yes I know. I've been gone for well over a week. Probably close to two, but who's counting..

I made lots of promises the last time I posted.. Promises I can't keep. I promised to share pictures from the house tour we went on, but I was not able to take any pictures on the inside of the homes.. I will share a few of my favorite house's outsides..

The above were some of my favorites from the tour. The first one was absolutely gorgeous! It looks small from the outside, but it has wonderful high ceilings and wide open space!

Also while I have been away, My mom and brother came to visit. Sadly I do not have any pictures of them from the visit.. It did not occur to me to take pictures of them.. I do have a few snapshots from when we went to the zoo though..

I had a wonderful visit with the fam. We spent 3 days in Austin. I didn't get to see much Austin though. We mostly hung out at my brothers Grandmas house. The second day we were ther I got sick, but was better by the third day. I feel like the week they were here went by much to fast, and yet went by way to slow also. I love my fam, but I can only take so much of them at one time...

My zoo has a ton of wonderful water features. This is one of the many waterfalls in the park.

And last but not least, I, at the ripe old age of 26, became a great aunt today! My nephew had a baby girl (well, his baby momma had the baby..). Her name is Shelby Nicole and she weighed in at 5lbs 13oz. As soon as I get some pictures I will post them!!

P.s. I will be spending much of this weekend catching up on all the blogs I follow, and posting many more cute pictures of the new kitten.. I will also reveal its name.. So stay tuned!

New Family Member

2009-05-09T16:08:00.003-05:00

I was on my way home from work yesterday when the urge to stop at the pet store struck me. We had been talking about getting Ford a companion for sometime now, but have never followed through on it. I stopped at Pet smart yesterday afternoon in hopes of finding a name tag for Ford, and couldn't resist looking at the adoption center. That's where I was approached by a lady holding 2 teeny tiny kittens. She asked if I was looking for a cat. In which I replied, kinda. Yes we have talked about getting another kitty, but it was never said that we would. My husband loves animals as much as I do, but having a cat was new to him. I wasn't sure how he would take having 2 cats.. And if it were left up to me I would have come home with both the kittens the lady had plus all the cats in the adoption center.

So I called the hubs and asked what he thought (he said yes!). The lady had told me that she had watched someone in a truck toss these poor babies out onto the side of the road. She picked them up but is not able to keep them due to her dog, trying to eat them. She placed the kittens at 6 weeks old. I think they are a little bit younger than that. It seems like our new baby still has trouble focusing his eyesight and he tried to nurse on the hubby's shirt.

Ford is not too pleased with me right now. He did not like the little intruder at first. He is still a little wary of the baby, but he's accepted that its not going away. We had not realized how big Ford was getting untill we saw the itty bitty kitten next to him!

The new kitten does not have a name yet, I was told by the lady I got it from that its a boy, but I'm not so sure. It's still quite young and its hard to tell.. So we are just calling it baby or tiny for now..

Looks like a comfy place to sleep..

All tuckered out after a day of exploring the new house..

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend and Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful mothers out there!

Upcoming Events

2009-05-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

Do you ever try and peer into an open window when you walk or drive past a home? Just for a chance glimpse into someone else's home and life? I do.. I love looking into other people's homes. Especially older homes..

I mentioned in a previous post that we are attending a Historic homes tour this Sunday. I can't wait! I love looking into other people's homes and I love historic homes as well! I promise to take tons of pictures!!

Below is just a taste of whats to come..

I also mentioned an upcoming trip to Austin, and my mother coming to visit. My mom and brother are coming down from Oregon on Monday. They will only be here for a week, and I've got our time well spent! There will be a trip to Austin, a Mothers Day dinner and of course a day spent at my Zoo!

My mom and I on my wedding day.

I can't wait for them to get here, but am dreading all the house cleaning I need to get done this weekend.. I have gotten so far behind on all the housework its not even funny, and with the home tour Sunday I only have Friday and Saturday to clean! Its a shame the little house cleaning fairies aren't real.. I could really use their help!! My mom has not been to Texas since we moved, so this will be her first time seeing our new house. I hope this time when she visits she will refrain from setting our stove on fire!

Funny story:

Last year, in October, I guess that was October of '07 (I wasn't married yet..). My mom came to visit me in Arkansas and meet my then boyfriend, now husband, for the first time. I was living with him at the time, and my mom wanted to cook us dinner. No big deal right? Mom's been cooking for ages. Yeah, cooking for ages, but not on our stove..

She was making fried chicken and our stove burners didn't sit level. So as you can imagine, an unlevel cook top, and a pan full of grease will lead to... Any guesses? Yup that's right, a fire! She will never live down setting our stove on fire.. Then there were the 2 times she cut her fingers (all in the same night no less). So after the fire, we banned her from the kitchen.

So moving on, lets all cross our fingers and hope that she 1) keeps from cutting herself and 2) can't set fire to a glass cook top!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thursday and will come back Sunday (or Monday) for pictures of some beautiful historic homes!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T19:31:00.001-05:00

Tagged, Oh Dear!

2009-05-03T17:52:00.001-05:00

I got tagged by DiPaola Momma over at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom.

The rules for this one are pretty simple. First mention the person who tagged you. Next post your list of 8's. Follow that up by tagging 8 bloggers, and tell them you tagged them.

8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. My mom and brother coming to visit next week.

2. Having a baby someday..

3. My husband selling his first bunk bed

4. Finishing my stack of books

5. Going to Austin next week

6. Going on a historic homes tour next Sunday

7. Starting College

8. Showing off my new house and town to my mom

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Went on a date with the hubby

2. Went to the bookstore

3. Made Egg rolls

4. Made Brownies

5. Went to Lowe's

6. Read my book (I'm almost done with it..)

7. Watched T.V. with the hubs

8. Played with the cat

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Travel

2. Have a baby

3. Lose weight super fast

4. Write

5. Knit. I have a knitting machine that my MIL gave me, but I have no clue how to use it!

6. Play my flute like a professional

7. Play the clarinet

8. Play the trumpet

8 shows I watch:

1. Supernatural

2. Dollhouse

3. The F Word

4. Hell's Kitchen

5. Kitchen Nightmares

6. Bones

7. Yard Crashers

8. Desperate Landscapes

8 favorite fruits:

(Are we talking gay men or actual fruit?)

1. My best friend David (If we're going the gay man route..)

2. Strawberries

3. Peaches

4. Apples

5. Plums

6. Watermelon

7. Honeydew

8. Bananas

8 places I would like to travel :

1. Ireland

2. England

3. All 50 States

4. Austria

5. Spain

6. Australia

7. Scotland

8. Italy and many many more places!

8 people I am tagging:

Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies

Lori at Time of Your Life

Andrea at My Chihuahah Bites!

Lisa at Cranberry Flats

Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm!

Gayla at Oatmeal and Whimsy

Pat at Back Porch Musings

And anyone wlse who wants to do this!

Weekend Baking

2009-05-02T22:10:00.000-05:00

I have been so far behind on posting my weekend baking.. You'll just have to pretend you read this post last Sunday!

My husband and I have been obsessed with everything British right now. My husband is considering going back to school to be a chef, so he is all about watching Food Network, and anything and everything with Gordon Ramsay in it (which is where the British obsession is coming from..)! I mean, we are totally obsessed! We have even looked into what it would take to move across the pond. My husbands family is from England originally. His mother and her parents moved to the States when she was 13. I don't think my husband is too serious about moving, but I wouldn't mind if he were..

Anyways, on to my weekend baking (British inspired..). This past week My husband did all the cooking for the main course. I made the desert.

We had a main course of Beef Wellington, Green Beans, and Mashed potatoes. With Mini Strawberry Napoleons for desert.

Below I have copied and pasted the recipe from Gordon Ramsay's website along with a video of him preparing the Beef Wellington. As for the desert, I got the recipe off of a puff pastry box.

Beef Wellington:

.88 lbs Beef fillet
.88 lbs Flat mushrooms (we don't like mushrooms and left them out. It is still just as good..)
4 slices Parma ham (can substitute with Prosciutto)
English mustard for brushing meat (we couldn't find English Mustard so we just used Dijon, even though Gordon Ramsay says not too..)
.44 lbs puff pastry
2 Egg yolks
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 Sprig thyme (fresh)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Mustard

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Heat oil in a large pan and sear the meat on all sides. Don’t cook the meat, just brown each side. Let it cool and then brush it with the mustard.
3. Chop the mushrooms in a food processor to make a puree. Throw the puree in a hot pan with no oil and sweat out all of the liquid. Let the water evaporate and then set it aside to cool.
4. Lay four slices of parma ham down on a large piece of cling film, slightly overlapping, then brush with mushroom mixture.
5. Put the beef in the middle of the ham and roll the ham around the beef using the cling film. Twist the ends of the cling film to tighten the roll, then refrigerate it for 15 minutes to let it set.
6. Roll your puff pastry and then brush the edges with Egg wash. Roll the pastry over the beef completely covering it. Cut off any excess pieces. Egg wash the top. Put your roll back in the fridge for 5 minutes. Egg wash again and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
7. Par boil the potatoes in salted water. Quarter them and leave the skin on. Sauté in olive oil and butter with the garlic and thyme, until browned and cooked through. Season. Remove the thyme and garlic before serving.
8. Serve the Wellington in hearty slice's.

Mini Strawberry Napoleons:

Ingredients

1/2 package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)

1 package (about 3 1/2 oz.) vanilla chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream * OR non-dairy whipped topping

1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries

Confectioners' sugar

Directions

THAW pastry sheet at room temperature 40 min. Preheat oven to 400°F.

UNFOLD pastry on lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks. Cut each strip into 4 rectangles. Place on baking sheet. Bake 15 min. or until golden. Let cool.

PREPARE pudding mix according to pkg. directions except use 1 cup milk. Fold in whipped cream.

SPLIT each pastry into 2 layers, making 24 layers in all. Set aside 8 top layers. Spread 8 bottom layers with 2 tbsp. pudding mixture each. Top each with 1 tbsp. strawberries and another layer. Spread with remaining pudding. Top with remaining strawberries and top layers. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hr.TIP: *For 1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream, beat 3/4 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract in chilled bowl until stiff peaks form.

This made for a very wonderful Sunday Lunch (dinner). I look forward to my husband making this dish again! It was very yummy and I encourage everyone to try it!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!♥

The Great Flamingo Escape

2009-04-29T15:08:00.003-05:00

Today this guy here decided he didn't want to be in lock down any more. He escaped from his surroundings and went for a stroll.. I didn't get to see him, but I heard he got pretty far away from his pond before they caught him.

Gotta love life at the zoo, eh?

Back to Work I go hi ho hi ho..

2009-04-24T13:02:00.004-05:00

After nearly a month out of work, I finally get to go back! I tried to go back last week, but the HR dept did not accept my doctors note. It said I can return to work as tolerated. They said they needed a full release. Well, there is no way I would be able to get a full release, since nothing was fixed and its all the same as it was before, but I did get the doctor to give me a note saying I could go back to previous duties. And guess what?

I get to go back to work Monday morning and hang out with this guy!

I'm so excited! I've missed seeing all my animal friends!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

Weekend Cooking

2009-04-18T18:30:00.000-05:00

Today I made my own egg rolls. It was really cool. I've never made egg rolls before.. I think the best thing about making homemade egg rolls, is that you can put anything you want in them. They are very easy to make..

First, buy a package of egg roll wraps, on the inside of the package is the cooking instructions. You can use beef, chicken or pork, or just veggies.

I used some left over ground sausage I needed to use up, some celery, a can of ranch style beans, and some peas.

Meat mixture:

Combine 1tsp. corn starch; 1tsp. wine or sherry; and 1/4 tsp. salt with 1/2 cup (about 1/4 pound) of meat (beef, pork, or chicken). Stir fry mixture in 4 Tbsp peanut or salad oil (I used olive oil) until brown; remove and drain.

Vegetable mixture:

This recipe calls for carrots, celery and cabbage. But I used celery, peas and beans.

Shred 1/2 cup carrot; 1 cup celery; and 4 cups cabbage and cook about 10 sec in boiling water.

Drain vegetables and mix with meat mixture. Add 1 tsp sugar; 1 tsp. salt; 1 tsp. Sesame oil (I used olive oil); and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Divide mixture into equal portions per wrap.

Seal with egg white wash.

Deep fry egg rolls for 4 min or until golden brown. I have a deep fryer and set it to the highest setting, 350 degrees (I think).

Enjoy!

In other news, my doctor released me to go back to work as tolerated after not finding much of anything on my MRI. He said it looks like my rotator cuff is slightly frayed, but that wouldn't cause the pain I'm in. He also said he could go in and clean up my rotator cuff, but it might not change anything, or it might help a little..

My workplace didn't accept my doctors release. The said I need a full release and can't come back till I have one. Looks like I don't get to go back to work...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!

It's MRI Day!

2009-04-14T15:49:00.003-05:00

I spent my morning laying in a tube like machine. It made all kinds of wierd knocking noises.. At one point I was actually able to tune out all the noise and take me a few minute nap. I will know more tomorrow about my shoulder and MRI results when I go see my doctor.

I guess no one was interested in my fetch playing kitty post. Poor kitty thought he was going to get famous and instead he gets ignored. Oh well! That's life!

Until tomorrow, have a great night!

Kitty Playing Fetch

2009-04-10T17:49:00.001-05:00

I have been such a sucky blogger lately.. This being out of work has drug me down. I spent most of today playing catch up on my blog list and leaving comments. I am still having problems leaving comments one one blog! I feel so bad because I always comment on her blog and now I can't. So Lori over at Time of Your Life, I'm so sorry I have not left you any comments as of late. For some reason its not letting me..

I have also been a slacker in posting on my own blog! I keep meaning to post about the carrot cake I baked last weekend but I haven't felt like taking the time to do it.. Of course the only picture I have to go with my carrot cake post is of a half eaten carrot cake. It was torn into and half eaten before I could get my camera and take a picture of it.. I should take that as a compliment right? Anyways, I'm going to include the picture of my carrot cake in this post.. ha see below!

Also I have been meaning to post this video of our cat Ford, or Kitty, playing fetch. I have tried posting it before, but could never get the video to load right. So cross your finger and hope it loads right today, because its hilarious! Our cat plays fetch like a dog. I have NEVER in all my years of owning a cat, seen a cat do this..

Enjoy!

In other news, I had my doctors appointment on Wednesday and my doctor is now scheduling me for an MRI. I go in next Tuesday for that. He said that the problem could be in my neck and not my shoulder and he wants to get a better look at both my neck and shoulder and said the x-rays would not show enough detail. Fun stuff..

Finally!

2009-04-03T19:48:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally had the time to go get my hair cut! I just got like an inch taken off the overall length and the side swoopy bangs. This is not the best picture of the new bangs, but it'll have to do..

See How

2009-04-02T07:19:00.000-05:00

Our garden grows?

I found the seed packets, so I can now tell you what all is planted in our garden..

My husband planted, corn, green beans, cucumbers, carrots, chives, basil, and oregano. We plan on planting some peppers and tomatoes as well.

We also had a flower bloom in our front yard. We have no idea what is all in the front flower beds, due to the fact that the previous owners planted it all. So I was very excited to finally see something bloom, even if it was just the one.. I know the others will soon follow..

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T12:58:00.001-05:00

Around the Zoo

2009-03-31T12:34:00.004-05:00

I got the chance to walk around my Zoo this past Saturday and thought I would share some of the pictures I took.

These Flamingo's are right outside my building.

One of the baby lion cubs. He's not so little anymore...

You can hear this guy roaring all the way down into the building I work in. He is a ways away from us, so that's a loud roar!!

Sleeping bear!

Pretty waterfall in the tiger cage

How sweet! Pretty Kitty's!!

My husband has decided to start his own business, building bunk beds. I think he will be happier doing this, then with what he was doing before. He's out in his garage now, building his first bed..

Also I am temporarily out of work.. I have a on going shoulder problem that I had surgery on 3 years ago. I have trouble lifting my right arm, or using it at all. It hurts all the time, but I have learned to live with that pain, but there are days when its unbearable. Pain will shoot down my arm, up my neck and down my back. This last Friday was one of those days. I got sent home from work, and was told not to come back until I have a doctors release. The only appointment I could get is for next week. In the previous surgery the doctor cut 1/4 inch of my collar bone off in hopes that that would fix my shoulder. It didn't. It still hurts. I'm not sure if it got better or worse.. I was told my condition was called impingement syndrome, where there is not enough room in between my shoulder bone and collar bone, so they are rubbing and pinching together.

In other news, I was asked what the husband planted in the garden. I'm not really sure. I know he put in some cucumbers, and herbs, and carrots and he put corn somewhere. Other than that I'm not sure what he planted, and he doesn't remember. So, its a surprise!

Also, I am having trouble posting comments on some blogs out there, including my own. So If I was a regular commenter on your blog and have stopped commenting, this is why. I'm sorry. I want to leave comments, but I can't..

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!

New Projects

2009-03-28T16:46:00.003-05:00

My husband built me a chest to hold all our extra bed pillows and blankets. They were just stacked on the floor...

Isn't it pretty?

He also refurbished our night tables to match the chest.

Before

After

Forgotten Elephants

2009-03-26T18:25:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to post pictures of the elephants! Sometimes I just don't know where my brain is..

Here are the elephants at my zoo

I get to walk past these guy's everyday on my way into work and on my way out.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T07:52:00.001-05:00

Kitty's big day out

2009-03-23T20:06:00.001-05:00

Kitty got to go on an outside adventure today. He frolicked in the grass then climbed a tree. He had a blast and wants to know when we're letting him back out again..

Sorry for the blurry pictures, but he just wouldn't hold still!!

What's that I see?

A square of dirt?

A Garden!

My husband recently became a house husband. His latest project is this garden. He is doing some yard work and things that need to be done around our house.

In other news, I bought the Twilight movie yesterday. I didn't like the movie. Don't get me wrong, I am so in love with the books, but the movie sucked! It just went by too fast and had no substance. My husband didn't like it and he loves vampire movies. He did not read the books so I had to fill him in on background information that the movie didn't give him. I was disappointed..

Also, for everyone that told me to get my hair styled with bangs, I still plan on doing it, I just have not had the time to go get my hair cut.. I promise as soon as I get it done I'll post pictures!

Anniversary Weekend Pictures part 2

2009-03-20T08:17:00.000-05:00

I took as many pictures as I could before the batteries died in my camera. I didn't have any extra, so the only pictures I took were in the petting zoo part of the drive through zoo..

Hungry deer!

Goats!!

This guy is just too cute for words!! My husband wouldn't let me bring him home..

This guy was a big meanie and wouldn't let anyone else have any food. He would also head butt the fence when we ignored him..

This guy was featured on my wordless Wednesday. He is a sheep. I guess he thought I had food for him because, when I tried to take his picture he leaned in real close..

We spent most of our Friday evening here, The Squid and Whale bar. The band performing is called Toast to the Blind. They were pretty good. There was on other picture taken this night, but it won't be shared.. It features a rather intoxicated Becca, and no one wants to see that.. We had a blast though!! I wish I would of taken more pictures of the bar. It was kind of pirate themed. Behind the band are a bunch of rocks and a mural on the wall implicating a pirate's cove. It was pretty neat.

Pretty view! I took this as we were heading home Sunday.

Not so pretty view. This was the same spot I took the picture above, but only looking down. I guess if you want to dump a tire, this is where you go.

Ahhh pretty view again!

Well, I'm out of pictures. There was a St. Patrick's day parade on Saturday, but the husband and I were nursing major hangovers, and missed out. All in all we had a great weekend. It was nice being able to get away and go back to the spot we got married at. When we were there for our wedding my mom stayed with us, even after everyone else left. She was with us for 2 days, so we didn't get to do all the things we wanted.. We still didn't have time to do it all over the weekend, but it was nice to go back there!!

Anniversary Weekend Pictures part 1

2009-03-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

Most of these pictures were taken from the car, so please excuse the bits of window and dash..

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-18T08:04:00.000-05:00

Anniversary Weekend

2009-03-17T19:19:00.008-05:00

Originally My husband and I decided to go camping for our anniversary, but it was too rainy. I was able to get off early Thursday, so we headed out a day early. We decided to go back to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. That's where we got married. Eureka Springs is a very beautiful town. They have a ton of neat old house's and place's to shop. Not to mention all the bar's..

Above is the emergency/fire exit of the hotel we stayed at. We Stayed at the New Orleans Hotel. It was a cool old building.

They had neat gas lights outside.

Our room was a bit on the small side, but was cozy..

This is the building next to the hotel. I thought it was neat looking, so I took a picture of it..

We also went to The Promise Land drive through Zoo. It was a ton of fun! I'll post pictures from the zoo and all the pretty house's later this week when I have more time.. Our actual anniversary was Monday. We didn't do anything that day.. I had to work.. But our weekend was fun!

Friday Cocktail

2009-03-13T11:41:00.002-05:00

This will probably be my last installment of the Friday Cocktail. I am having trouble coming up with artists to feature..

Any one remember Deep Blue Something? You probably don't, but you might remember their song "Breakfast at Tiffany's". I loved this song when it came out.

Deep Blue Something is an American rock band best known for its hit single "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The group was founded in 1993 in Denton, Texas by students Todd and Toby Pipes, Clay Bergus and John Kirtland. Bergus left the band before Tiffany's became a hit and was replaced by guitarist Kirk Tatom, but eventually returned to that role. Originally, the group called themselves Leper Messiah, but decided to change the name after seeing this name attracted mostly heavy metal fans, due to the Metallica song of the same name.

The lyrics of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" were inspired by Audrey Hepburn's performance in Roman Holiday, but the author, Todd David Pipes, thought that one of Hepburn's other films would make a better song title.

So without further adu, the video to "Breakfast at Tiffany's"!

Deep Blue Something - New Music - More Music Videos

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be back Monday with pictures from our wedding anniversary camping weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-11T07:57:00.001-05:00

(Taken at the Irish Fest. This horse was trying to scratch his back..)

Morning Greetings

2009-03-10T19:13:00.002-05:00

One of the many greetings I get every morning on my way into work.. I was really hoping to get a picture of the hippos today, but they were being shy..

I'll try and post a few more greetings later this week.

Where's all the time going?

2009-03-09T21:32:00.005-05:00

It seems like I don't have time for blogging anymore. I get up, go to work, come home, try and catch up on any blogs posted, and go to bed (somewhere in there I may get a chance to eat..). This working thing has go to go! It's totally getting in the way of my blogging.. Ha ha! I love my job, really I do. It just seems like I have no time for anything anymore.

This weekend we attended the North Texas Irish Fest. It was pretty fun.

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I will share what I did take.

This one is a chalk drawing someone did on the sidewalk. The top left corner says North Texas Irish Fest, I think the bottom writing is the artist's name. I wish I could of gotten a better picture, but it was too bright outside.

We got to hear a storyteller. He was pretty cool. Wish I could tell you the stories he told, they were great! (maybe one of these days I will sit down and try to remember them..)

I also got to try some mead. Pretty good stuff!

In other news, my first wedding anniversary is coming up. To celebrate we are going away this next weekend on a mini camping trip. It's hard to believe it's only been a year..

Also, I have a bunch of coupons I would like to share, with anyone who wants them, for $2.00 off Sargento Salad Finishers and Potato Finishers. I got them through House Party . I was suppose to host a party this weekend, but as mentioned above I will be out of town. So, I am going to "host" my party here. I have not tried this product yet, as I have not had time to get to the grocery store, but I will this week and let you know how it is.

Here's what I'll do, the first 5 people to leave a comment, let me know if your interested and I'll send you some coupons!

I hope everyone had a good monday!

Friday Cocktail

2009-03-06T06:06:00.004-06:00

Once again it's time for Friday Cocktail. Like the last 3 Fridays, I'm featuring an artist from my past.

Flogging Molly

I first heard this band during my brief stay in Iowa. I was walking around a Hot Topic at the mall when I heard this catchy band playing. Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish American Celtic punk band that formed in Los Angeles, California. I of course am a fan of anything Irish and fell in love with this band right away. I told all my friends about them, describing their sound the best way I could. It starts off all traditional Irish folk tune, then wham! When you're least expecting, they hit you with the punk rock. I love it!!

The song I'm featuring is "The Likes of You Again". They have many great songs and albums out. Sadly I only know one of their albums. I guess I'm just not a "true" fan.. I will have to go out and buy their Cd's!

I hope you enjoyed this weeks installment of Friday Cocktail!

Have a great weekend!!♥

Progress!

2009-03-02T21:00:00.000-06:00

It's been a month since I started my fitness boot camp and diet. In that month I have lost a total of 13 inches and a quarter of my body fat! My pants are a lot looser and I am feeling great about myself.

In other news, I have found out that I am alergic to either the hand soap or the hand sanatizer at work. Friday I had my right hand break out and swell up. Then today both my hands broke out, but no swelling today. I did have to go to the clinic to get checked out.. The doctor told me to not use the soap and sanatizer anymore.. Fun stuff..

I hope everyone had a great Monday!

Weekend Baking

2009-03-01T08:11:00.000-06:00

This weekend I made Turtle Brownies. I got the recipe from Tanya at Sunday Baker. This was the first time I've made brownies from scratch! I've always used the box mix before. They turned out very yummy!

I hope every one is having a wonderful weekend!♥

Our Kitty

2009-02-28T15:47:00.004-06:00

I've talked about our cat, Ford (or Kitty as we call him) before. DiPaola Momma over at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom is giving away coupons for the Pledge Fabric Sweepers to 6 people who have pets and are willing to talk about them..

Ford is a weird one. He is very needy for a cat. Always by oursides. No matter where we go.. He sheds enough hair for 10 cats that we are always sweeping up. But we love him. He always sleeps by my head, or down on our feet. He is one crazy kitty! We could defenatly use that Pledge Fabric Sweeper!

A New Look

2009-02-27T20:54:00.004-06:00

Yea! I finally got my blog into a 3 column template! With a design I absolutly love!! All with the help of Kristen at All in a Mom's Life and Lena over at Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates.

Unfortunatly I lost all the items I had in my side bar.. All my buttons and pictures and whatnot. I don't remember everything I had in the sidebar. So if I'm missing your button please let me know!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!♥

Friday Cocktail

2009-02-27T07:34:00.004-06:00

This week, for the Friday Cocktail, I am featuring an artist from my past, like before. Only I'm going in a different direction this time. This week I'm going to get a little more personal..

For most of my high school days (along with all elementary) I attended a Christian School. I was raised in Church and Church schools. In my teen years, I began to stray from God. What with my crazy family life and the normal teenage angst, I began to lose my faith. When I decided it was time to stop and turn things around, I planned on getting baptised again. A couple of friends of mine, who I went to church with every Sunday and had a weekly bible study with, told me I wasn't ready to be baptised again. They talked me out of it. After that I noticed little things about them. How after church on Sundays they would take me straight home, instead of going to their parents or grandparents house for lunch like we use to do. Shortly after that they stopped coming over for bible study. Can you see where this is going? Eventually they stopped taking me to church on Sundays as well. When I was at a crossroad in my life, a time of need, they abandoned me. I easily lost my faith after that. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in God. I just don't believe in Christians anymore.I find it hard to trust anyone from a church. I would like to start going back to church someday, I just don't know how. (see told you I was going to get personal..)

Moving on, here is my pick of the week for Friday Cocktail:

Shaded Red

Shaded Red was a popular Christian alternative rock band formed in 1993 by brothers Jamie Roberts (Vocals and Guitar) and Jonathan Roberts (guitars, bass, trumpet, piano). In 1997 they released their debut self-titled album. They quickly became popular and were the featured opening act for Petra's "We Need Jesus" tour in 1997. On January 11, 1998, the band was struck by tragedy when their tour bus hit a patch of black ice in route to a concert. Drummer, Chris Yeomen was killed and Jon Roberts was left with a shattered pelvis. It was at this time the band considered calling it quits but decided to press on instead. In 1999,the band released their second album entitled Red Revolution. The band has since broken up.

I got the chance to see them on the "We Need Jesus" tour when I was in high school. They signed my jeans. I didn't have a CD or anything else for them to sign, so I plopped my leg on the table and asked them to sign it(too bad I don't still have those jeans..). I'm featuring 2 songs by them today.

The first song, from the 1st album, is "Use Me", and is my favorite song by them. It really spoke to me in high school, and still does.

The second song is off their 2nd album , which admittedly, I have not listened to. It's called "When God Ran". It is a beautiful song on its own, but the young man in this video makes it even more so. He is signing the song in ASL (American Sign Language). I love when songs are signed. When I was younger, at church I would have the urge to start signing the worship songs instead of sing them.

I know the sound was a bit hard to hear on that last one so I'm including the words to the song for you all.

Shaded Red - When God Ran lyrics

Almighty God,
The Great I Am,
Immovable Rock,
Omnipotent,
Powerful,
Awesome Lord,
Victorious Warrior,
Commanding Kind Of Kings,
Mighty Conqueror

And the only time,
The only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me,
Took me in His arms
Held my head to his chest,
Said my son's come home again
Lifted my face,
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said son,
Do you know I still love you?
It caught me by surprise,
When God ran

The day I left home,
I knew I had broken His heart
I wondered then
If things could ever be the same

Then one night,
I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road
Ahead I could see

It's the only time,
The only time I ever saw Him run
When He ran to me,
Took me in his arms
Held my head to his chest,
Said my son's come home again,
Lifted my face,
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in his voice,
He said son,
Do you know I still love you?
It caught me by surprise,
It brought me to my knees
When God ran

I saw Him run to me

And then I ran to Him

Holy One
Righteous Judge
He turned my way
Now I know
He's been waiting for this day

And then He ran to me,
Took me in his arms
Held my head to His chest,
Said my son's come home again,
Lifted my face,
Wiped the tears from my eyes,
With forgiveness in his voice,
I felt His love for me again

He ran to me
Took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest,
Said my son's come home again,
Lifted my face,
Wiped the tears from my eyes,
With forgiveness in his voice,
He said son,
He said son,
My son,
Do you know I still love you
Oh!
He ran to me
When God ran

In conclusion to my being all personal today, I sent an email to that said friend the other day. I actually wanted to thank him for what he did. The way I see it, he, in a way helped mold me into the person I am today. Yeah I had to go through a lot, and I mean a lot, of crap to get here, but it was worth it. Had I not gone down the wrong path, I never would have moved to Arkansas. It took 8 years of living in Arkansas and even more crap to find the wonderful man I am married to. My husband is truly the love of my life and my perfect match. He is my one and only, my soul mate. So I thanked said friend for abandoning me in a time of need so I could find my wonderful husband. I haven't gotten a response yet and I really don't expect to..

I hope you enjoyed this weeks artist, and sorry if I babbled on too much. I rarely get this personal, so deal with it!♥

Wordless Wednesday (Dream Kitchens)

2009-02-25T08:42:00.000-06:00

To Have Bangs, or Not to Have Bangs

2009-02-23T05:05:00.002-06:00

That, is the question.

I just recently dyed my hair. I'm including a before, and after shot. And no, the first one was not my natural color. I've been dying my hair since I was 13. I'm not sure I know my natural color any more.. It's brown, but I'm not sure if its light or dark or somewhere in between..

Before

After

( I realize looking at these pictures my hair color looks very similar. It is lighter in the first picture. It was more of a light brownish read with almost blondish highlights. The second picture, my hair is much darker and has no highlights..)

This is the longest my hair has been in years! When I was 16 I cut all my hair off. I mean super boy short, cut it all off. Once it grew out of my horrible short boy cut, I had kept it between chin and shoulder length. I have always wanted to have my hair all one length. I am finally there, 10 years later.

And now I want bangs. But here's the thing. I keep my hair parted in the middle so the forehead length bangs won't work for me (it would take forever to train my bangs to not part in the middle). I kind of want the layered bangs look, anyone know what I'm talking about? Where it frames your face, and is okay to part in the middle?

But here's the other part of the debate, I don't want to cut my hair. It has taken me so long to get it this long. I have not had a hair cut in 2 1/2 years (except for a small trim a year ago).

So, here's where you, anyone reading this, come in. What do you think? Should I keep letting it grow out, or try the bangs thing?

Weekend Baking

2009-02-22T21:48:00.005-06:00

Continuing from last weeks theme, I made some more "Valentine's" cupcakes. I had planned on making them last week, but didn't have time.

These are strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting and cream cheese frosting.

Award Goodness

2009-02-20T21:02:00.003-06:00

Lori over at, Time of Your Life, Gave me this award. She is such a sweet and wonderful bloggy friend!! Thank you so very much Lori!!♥

Here are the rules for this award:

Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I would like to pass this award on to:

Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies

DiPaola Momma at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom

Lisa at Cranberry Flats

Pat at Back Porch Musings

Sandy at For the Love of Prims

AndreaLeigh at My Chihuahua Bites!

Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm

Susie Q at Rabbit Run Cottage

Tanya at Sunday Baker

Gayla at Oatmeal and Whimsy

Enjoy Girls! You deserve this award!! And as always, if you have not check out these blogs, go forth and do so!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Friday Cocktail

2009-02-20T05:32:00.003-06:00

This week I'm featuring another great artist from back in the day. I was in high school when this guy came around. I fell in love with his deep, sexy, bluesy voice not to mention his hotness.. Can you believe he was only 17 when this was recorded? I remember reading an article in Seventeen (I think, it was sooo long ago..) Magazine about him and how he would perform on stage barefoot. I thought he was so cool for doing that.. I'm glad to see he is still out there making music! He will be coming to our area soon, I may have to talk the hubby into taking me!!

The song I have below is from his first album (he recorded it when he was 17). I love that album to death. I wish I could of found the video to Matchbox or Still Rainin' but this will have to do. They are all great songs! There was a live version of this song I thought about playing for you all, but it was done more recently, I want you all to experiance Johnny Lang at 17.

Johnny Lang

Johnny when he was just a young lad at 17.

Johnny all grown up!! He's even hotter now!!

What do you give a sick Gorilla?

2009-02-19T17:25:00.001-06:00

A Whopper with cheese, large fry, and a 6 pack of Guinness of course!

Today, one of the animal trainers/food givers (I'm not sure what he does exactly..) came in to pick up a call in order of a Whopper with cheese and a large fry. My supervisor asked if he wanted everything on it. He had to check with someone else, turns out the Whopper was not for him. Neither were the fries.

He then told us that the food was for one of the sick Gorilla's. The Gorilla will only take medicine if its hidden in the Whopper, and of course you have to have fries with that.. I'm not exactly sure what the beer is for, I guess to wash down the medicine Whopper and fries?

We asked if the Gorilla liked a certain kind of beer and were told he will only drink Guinness..

Crazy huh? We were assured that the food was not for nutritional value, they do have a proper diet.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T11:06:00.002-06:00

Weekend Baking

2009-02-15T12:16:00.009-06:00

This weekend I made up some Valentines Day cupcakes. They turned out very yummy!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Valentine's Day!!

We celebrated out Valentines on Thursday. We had dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse. No gifts were exchanged this year, we just enjoyed each others company. This is our third Valentines day together.