my week in a nutshell

Since I have some "spare" time (haha!! aka...I don't FEEL like doing anything that I should be doing!) I figured I'd blog a bit about stuff I've completed this week, and part of last week!

 

Work has been slow, which for me being PRN = No hours for me. Financially we are okay, BUT boredom sets in! When I get bored, I bake, when I bake, I eat, ahhhh! Nah, it's not THAT bad. It's acutally kind of nice to be home this time of year, so many projects going on and my husband is home so it's all good :) Prayers that I get hours in January-throughout the year!

 

Anyways. SO, one of my co-workers is having a baby! Well, multiple of them are (it's in the water!) but we had a shower this past Thursday for her. She & her husband chose not to find out the sex until the baby is born, kudos to them, I'm WAY too impatient! Here are the cupcakes I made to go along with the cake they ordered! I tried my best to do uni-sex cupcakes, but man, I sure do LOVE pink stuff so it was hard! The yellow with the "grass" had little cardboard lions (similar to the elephants but I put them on at the last minute since they wouldn't fit with the carrier!) Everyone loved them, and I must say, I'm proud of myself!

 

 

Last week I was crafty-crafty! I broke out the Cricut to work on Christmas cards just to find out that the online craft room was temporarily down!! BOO! And for those who don't know, our bedroom isn't huge, so I had to move everything out of the way to break out my sewing machine and teach myself to sew a button! Wahooo I did it!! I made our dogs some bandanas for Christmas with a button to secure them around their neck! I even MEASURED their necks and got an accurate fit **GO ME!** :) 

 

 

Once the Cricut craft room was opened up and running again, I was a card-making fool! Well, getting them "prepped" anyways, my husband got put to work on helping me decorate and complete them! We only made 20, so we didn't send to as many as last year, but hopefully next year will get an earlier start on them!

 

Since we're preparing for our upcoming anniversary trip to New Orleans, I decided I needed a hair cut (as did my husband, but he's not one for 'mirror' pictures :P) So here I am with 2" cut off the length, relayered & side bangs! Woohoo, feels better! AND I even gave our little Barkley dog a hair cut (his hind legs, feet, ears, tail...he just looks so shaggy when I don't keep up with his haircuts!) and my parents dog Missy got a hair cut as well!

 

As you can see in the above picture, I'm somewhat dressed up. I went to a "Pure Romance" party one of my friends hosted, it was...interesting! LOL! It was a good, fun time with fun people. I get there and one of my bridesmaids, Brett, came walking in with her neighbor! Small world! So we went to dinner after the party, it was nice to visit with good friends :)

 

 

 

Today, Saturday, we decided to hang out in Port Lavaca. Usually we'd go to Victoria and piddle around up there, but we'll be up there for church tomorrow and I had a mountian of laundry to do! We helped out in the back yard. My parents have TONS of plants, and some stuff was just needing to be cleaned up and so we did that! My husband cleaned out behind the shed, organized the wood pieces that just get thrown back there in a hurry, we raked up the leaves, I mowed (what little there was to mow!), and then I tackled the tangerine tree!!! My parents have 2, and they are LOADED. The one closest in picture is the one I pretty much de-tangerined, the other is another story. lol.

 



After I finished, I decided to indulge in one myself, and it was gooooood :) Wish they were seedless, but sooo worth it! My Mom juiced a bunch of them and the juice is quite tasty!

 

OH and how could I forget? When I rolled over at 8am, my husband asked if I wanted to go fishing! We got up and went fishing with my Dad, good news is NO HARD HEADS!! YEAH!! Bad news is, NO keepers :( I caught a pretty red that gave me a little fight, and I caught a drum. My dad caught a drum and my husband caught a red. Too bad no keepers, but now that I FINALLY got my fishing pole back in the salt water I am hooked! :)

 

 

 

Till next time... :)

Kemah Boat Parade

So last weekend was Travis' last weekend to be in Galveston! My parents drove down on Saturday and we all went to the Kemah boardwalk, ate at Joe's Crab Shack and then watched the lighted Christmas boat parade. It was a good time, but the parade was ridiculously crowded. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend!

 

 

So now I'm officially super duper happy to have my husband home for a month!

 



Dicken's on the Strand!

I can't believe my husband is almost finished with his 2nd 8 week clinical, it seems like just yesterday I was not wanting to tell him goodbye after just a short weekend between Lubbock and Galveston. Now he gets to come home for a MONTH! YAY! I'm excited. Then there's the thought that if things hadn't changed the way they did back in May, we could still be living in Amarillo, about to move down here just now! Man, I'm SO thankful things happened the way they did and they brought us home sooner!!!

So anyways, December is going to be yet another BUSY month for us! Last weekend, the first weekend of December, I went to Galveston. Travis & I met up with my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Ken, Aunt Teena & Uncle Walt for Dicken's on the Strand! It was HOT, BUT it was still pretty awesome! I went once before years ago, but it seemed so much better now! Here are some pictures from the strand! :)

 

 



Thanksgiving/Black Friday!

Thank God we're back in South Texas this Thanksgiving to spend it with our families first of all!

On Thanksgiving Day Travis & I spent the day in Victoria, we had Thanksgiving Dinner at his Grandma & Grandpa's house, lots of food, family, and fun!

 

 

 

After dinner we went to my in-laws house, we were looking through the black Friday ad's, and after a phone call to my Mom and off we were to Wal Mart! Travis & I waited for said item until 10pm, then we waited in the check out line another hour! Crazy! It was fun, worth it, eh...but fun! By the time we got out of there I was like "ooo lets pull an all nighter!" That changed QUICKLY when I saw the lines to check out of the stores! CRAZY! We went to my in laws, slept a few hours and then up & at em! We had breakfast at ihop, then hit PetSmart up! :) we got some AWESOME deals for our pet kids! Then off to work I went for a couple of hours! Had some Vera Cruz ( YUM! ) and then we came back to Port Lavaca. I ended up taking a 3 hour nap lol.

 

Saturday (today!) we spent the day with my parents. Mom taught me how to make her yummy dressing and how to "properly stuff the bird", and we had it all. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pumpkin, pecan, and apple pie!

 

Mom let me crumble the corn bread & bread :)

My Mom showing me how to "stuff the bird"

Ready to go!

After dinner we played UNO (Dad won!) and then we had fun decorating the "Gingerbread village", kind of a "contest" but not really! It was fun though, we all enjoyed it and hopefully will make it a tradition!



 

Fun times :) Tomorrow is church & then we'll spend the day in Victoria with my in laws. I am looking forward to December! LOTS going on! Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, Boat parade at Kemah Boardwalk, move my husband back HOME for a month, New Orleans for our TWO year anniversary, CHRISTMAS and lots of fun! :) Hope everyone has a safe Holiday Season...I'm sure I'll post more of our happenings before Christmas!



Cake Decorating

So...I've been taking a cake decorating class at Hobby Lobby on Monday evenings! I REALLY love it. Sure, you could buy the book and teach yourself...but what fun is that!? Plus I'm a hands-on learner! First class I was intimidated, 2nd class discouraged since my icing was like cement and my cake was TOO moist and my icing literally PEELED my cake up! OH well, a little help from the instructor and all worked out.

Before class started (the day before) my husband took a picture of me with my CUTE cupcake apron one of my former co-workers from Amarillo made me! :) (Cupcake pattern, SO me!)

So, week one we did basics! We decorated "practiced" the star tip with sugar cookies.

 

 

Week 2 we had to bring a cake, make our own icing (week before with cookies it was Wilton's icing!), and we had to FILL our cake. I made a yellow cake and filled it with pineapple. It was "Okay". I used almond extract in my icing...never again. I'm more of a vanilla extract girl! Here's my finished cake (My cake had "freckles" like me...yep, the crumbs were ALL in my icing! Ohhh well!)We had to pipe the outline on, and use our new pointers we learned in class to decorate!


                                      

After week 2 I felt more "confident" and we had a pot-luck luncheon at work. SO I decided to make a Fall cake! It started off slow...and I just kept going. I wasn't going to do a gel outline, but when I decided to go for it, it went and I just went with it! Here's my "step-by step", and honestly...it was picture by picture JUST in case something got screwed up, I'd have PROOF it started good. HAH!

 

It was a strawberry cake, double layered, with pineapple filling. Everyone LOVED it, taste wise AND decoration wise! :) YAY!

 

 

 

 

Week THREE was cupcake week! YAY! When we learned how to "ice a cupcake", all I could think is..."Wow...had I just KNOWN it was so easy!" I did some of these in class, then came home to finish them and by now I'm sure they are HISTORY! (I took them to work!) They are confetti cake (my favorite!) with the buttercream icing. We learned how to do leaves, flowers, "shaggy flowers" and swirl roses :)

 

I personally think it's going GREAT. I'm loving it and I plan to continue the classes...hopefully Santa brings me some of the "wish list" items I have for my upcoming classes to do awesome stuff!



 

 

 

Thankful 30

So instead of the daily postings for November, I decided to do all of my "thankful-ness" on here, at once! These are really in no particular order.

1. God. I'm so thankful to know God and have him in my life.

2. My parents. They have been there for me my entire life, be it for moral support, emotional, financial, you name it. I couldn't have asked for better parents.

3. My husband. He is my best friend, my soul mate, my everything. I thank God for him everyday. And to imagine it was all because we BOTH posted a cheezy ad on yahoo personals one day. I'm very blessed to have him in my life, and that we both have Christ in our life and as the center of our marriage.

4. My brothers & sisters. Eventhough we are so far apart in age, as I've gotten older our relationships have gotten closer. They are all so different and each add a little something to my life with advice and good times :)

5. My grandparents. Without them I wouldn't have my parents! In all seriousness, my Grampy passed when I was a child, Grandma Bernice in 2007, Nana in 2010, and I still have my Grandpa Husak who is 88! They have been through so much in their lives, and I'm very blessed to have gotten to know each of them and make special memories. IE: Nana's apple pie will ALWAYS be on our table for Thanksgiving! I'll always remember Grampy and my conversation before he passed. ME:"Grampy, you're in ICU", Grampy:"I see you too!" :) And with Grandma Bernice, you were always garunteed a new pair of socks at Christmas time...but she had a heart of GOLD and no matter what, she gave to all! Grandpa for his historian side of him, his arrow heads and the neat wood carvings he's given!

6. My Mother & Father in law.They are awesome people, who are always there for us and they raised an awesome son (well, 2 awesome sons, but one is my amazing hubbs!)

7. My grandparent in laws. My husbands grandparents are awesome. They have all taken me in as a grand daughter early on. I'll always cherish his Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Grandpa keeps us laughing! And the 4th of July's on Nanny & Paw's lake in East Texas!

8. My brothers & sisters in law's. They are all like siblings to me, but they deserve a special thankful for! I have 1 sister in law, 3 brother in laws and one soon to be sister in law! They are all amazing people, and I'm glad to have them in my life.

9. Our pets. Pudge, Barkley, Princess, Stinky & Gizmo. They are all special to me in so many ways. There are no words to coming home from work and having kisses galore from a 90lb Basset/Lab and little 25lb Barkley scratching your leg like a post in the yard to get your attention!! Love them all!

10. My job. I couldn't be happier with the opportunities I've been given and the learning experience. Thank you God for blessing me with such an awesome job/co workers!

11. My health. Eventhough my jaw/wisdom teeth are giving me a fit (and I will be having them out in January) I am very healthy, and very blessed for that he had given not only me my good health, but my loved ones as well.

12. Opportnities! VERY thankful for awesome opportunities.

13. A house to live in. Eventhough it's not our house, my parents graciously opened their house up to us for us to save money for our own house! And hopefully my Thankful 30 of 2013 will include OUR own house :)

14. My vehicle. I used to think I would always have new cars. Well, my Jeep turned 5 yrs old this past summer, and I love it. I want to drive it forever. It's a great vehicle and well, it gets me from point A to point B! :)

15. Education. I remind myself every month as I pay my student loan, how blessed I am to have had to opportunity to go to school (had to use loan money but still!) and get a great education and become a PTA, something I LOVE doing.

16. Pictures, I love to take pictures. And I'm thankful for technology to be able to share my life in pictures with my friends/family, and to have pictures to remind me of all the good times with those no longer with us here on Earth.

17. Memories, I'm thankful to have a great mind still and remember all the little things that make life complete. After working with dementia, brain injuries, ect you realize how blessed you are to be able to remember things.

18. Church... we LOVE our church (Blyth Road Church of Christ). It's small, it's where we put on Christ in baptism, where we united and marriage and where we hope to raise our children.

19. Travel, eventhough we haven't ventured TOO far from home, I'm thankful we are able to take trips, even if it's to our favorite place ever...San Antonio, or Vegas, or our upcoming trip to New Orleans. I can't wait!

20. Flowers, yes I'm thankful for flowers. They make me smile, make me happy and show caring and compassion.

21. Our freedom. How thankful can we be to live in a country where we are FREE! We have rights, and that in itself is awesome.

22. Internet. Thankful to have internet to be able to keep in touch with so many people, no I don't think "texting" or "emailing" or "tweeting" even are appropriate for some news/conversations, but it's amazing to be able to skype when my husband is away!

23. Talent. God gave us all some talent, some more than others. I have to work on mine :) I'm thankful for being able to scrapbook, sew, and my new cake decorating class I just started!

24. Money. I'm thankful that I have a job (yes I said that already! but hear me out!) Money makes life "easier"? It is a blessing, and I'm thankful that I make money to provide for myself and my family and give to the church to continue to work of God and spread his word.

25. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and all those in between! They mean a lot to me too, each of them bring a little something different to the table with different views, perspectives, but they are all amazing people.

26. Friends. I have learned who my true friends are, and unfortunately it's not many...but I count quality, not quantity!

27. Clothes and Shoes. Can you imagine life without them? They keep us warm, stylish, and well, CLOTHED! :)

28. The changing weather. I enjoyed the 4 seasons in Amarillo, because frankly you shouldn't be able to wear shorts AND even need to mow the grass in November! haha.

29. Dreams. We all have dreams and aspirations in life. We have stuck to our dreams/goals pretty well. :) Dreaming keeps you young!

30. The future. I'm thankful for a promising future with my amazing husband, family, friends, and I'm looking forward to our future. Future house, future babies...:) Future love and laughs!

Happy November everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family. May you get to spend time with loved ones, make good memories, take lots of pictures and eat great food :P