July!

Happy late 4th of July! Time is flying! I am working on getting started with a new blog to display my/our baking creations and also our new baking exchange that we are starting...exchanging delicious baked goods cross country!! Look for a new blog coming soon, I promise I will post more then! So many ideas and good things coming to a city near you!

Image: My July 4th Coconut cupcakes

Old lady or 5 year old?

So perhaps I'm not very good at this blogging business since it's been a few months now...oooops! So in the last few months I have bought a new car, kept my job, kept my marriage, lost my voice, lost three pounds, gained three pounds, then lost three pounds again. There are probably a lot more details there but those were the ones that stuck out in my head. Oh and I turned 27! I almost forgot about that one. I feel partly like an old lady though and partly like a 5 year old. I feel like an old lady because I recently rediscovered that I love scrabble and am hooked to it like a crackhead on crack and also a five year old because I insisted on having pretty balloons at my birthday party. And cake. With my name on it. :) So overall, I actually had 3 birthday cakes, cookies, reeses, cupcakes, and more food than we knew what to do with. Maybe now you understand the losing, gaining, losing reference I made earlier. I had some great friends over though, including my bff from out of town and some other good friends over and we shook our bon bons to Just Dance 2 on the wii. There goes my 5 year old self again. It is now 9:40PM and I feel like I should have already been in bed (there's my old lady self.) They are constantly fighting! If only there were some type of disorder I could label myself with and then tell my doctor I need to see another doctor to tell that doctor that I need some medication! Oh wait, I could but then I would be losing my mind like everyone else so I think I'll pass and embrace my dual personalities. ;)

This coming from a psych major...how embarrassing...

This moment

I am taking to heart the quote: Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein


This is so true and I feel many people do not realize this or cannot break the cycle. I am guilty of this myself sometimes; so this year instead of making the same ol' resolutions and expecting something to actually change, I'm not. I am just going to try and change the way I think about life, myself, and the things that happen in my life. If I live each moment as if I am truly in the moment and not constantly thinking about the next moment, then I won't miss every precious moment. So many things happen each day that I love and enjoy so I want to soak it all in and enjoy as much as possible. Everything happens for an eventual reason so why not take it all in stride and strive to be the best person I can possibly be...right now. Living one day at a time, stopping to enjoy every little moment that comes to me. Not everyone can enjoy their life moment by moment, but I can. There is that much love and joy in my life that I would be a fool to not love every minute of it. There are always improvements that can be made, but there are also wonderful aspects of myself and my life that do not need improving. The way my son thoughtfully comes up with ways to say "thank you" or comes up with a gift idea for his daddy...or the way my daughter tugs on me to try and lift herself up on me or cries when I leave the room.. those might be little things to someone else but they are some of the most important things in my life..

Getting to the crazy part

Anyone ever went to their babysitters house who your mom went to church with and have them iron the boobs off of your generic barbie doll? Well, I have. Let me tell you it is quite the interesting experience. I know many people have had worse off childhoods and I'm not saying mine was bad, if anything it makes for some great, crazy stories now. So yes there I was, I don't remember how young I was but probably under 10. I got this new generic barbie doll (parents wouldn't spend real barbie money-bless their frugal ways) and of course the doll had the "barbie-like boobs" and the babysitter thought that was inappropriate for a little girl to have. Why? You tell me... Maybe I would grow up to be a lesbian? (That didn't happen) Maybe I would grow up to really want big boobs? (I think most girls do) Maybe I would show my toy doll boobs to my brothers? (They weren't interested in doll boobs) Maybe I would fondle the doll? (This is about the craziest reason I could think of and NO it didn't happen!) So yes, every time we are shopping in Target or Walmart or any other place that sells dolls I cannot help but to think of this experience I had. This lady took my doll into her room, ironed down the boobs so the poor thing was as flat chested as I was at that point, then she took some masking tape and put tape around them. Is this how women-to-man transsexuals feel after they have the surgery? Just wonderin...
I'd say I turned out fairly OK! :)

Disclaimer here: I have no problem with transsexuals and feel people should do whatever makes them happy! ;)

Maybe they were afraid of this happening:

If nothing else, I make myself laugh ;)

Love Saturday Mornings

It's not even a holiday or birthday and the husband brought me breakfast in bed again! Love him! We have to put up our tree this weekend for sure! After we get the house all cleaned up anyways... and of course I HAVE to bake something unless I can distract myself enough not to give into the urge... hmm we'll see about that. We still have some Christmas shopping to do but I'm not sure what else I need to get, guess I should look at the kids lists again. For now, onto working on this new class-multicultural psychology-more interesting than research methodology that's for sure. I did have these brownie/bar things at my company's open house last night that tasted like earthquake cake-that sounds really good...I have a turtle pudding mixture too in the cupboard...hmmmm ideas brewing now..... I'll let ya know what I come up with later! :)

Gingerbread Brownie Smore's

I had to try out an experimental Gingerbread Smore's Brownie today...HAD to pick up some of those gingerbread marshmallows (that are insanely cute!)...HAD to use the cinnamon graham crackers in the cupboard, HAD to use the brownie mix, and also HAD to use some chocolate bars and dark kisses layin around the house...so here is what came of all of that... my 11 year old step-son even helped  ;) Then of course I HAD to try them but my nose is so stopped up that I couldn't taste them so I didn't go too far with that...thankfully..

 I got the original idea just for smore's brownies from the Genius Picky-Palate...here is her version: http://picky-palate.com/2010/05/31/smores-stuffed-brownies/

Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake Days

Who loves Pumpkin Cheesecake? Well this one I made is Pecan Pie Pumpkin Cheesecake.. I usually just make the pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust but this time I tried to make similar to the one they have at Cheesecake Factory-big difference here (I didn't charge 8 bucks a slice!) :) I would make it again, I think I would make the pecan pie part a little bit sweeter though and perhaps make the cheesecake part just a little smaller because it nearly overpowered the pecan pie part. Oh and make more candied pecans for on top! Yum! Overall though it was delicious according to those that tried it. Tomorrow morning I'm going to get up and make a super yummy pumpkin bread recipe I got and tweaked from a friend. 


I actually went outside tonight and took a 30 minute walk, now I will feel slightly less guilty about all the food that I have and will ingest this week. It is 8:34 and I feel like going to bed, how pitiful is that? Remember I am only 26! I guess working full time, school full time, and 3 kids will do that to you. I am looking forward to being very thankful for all that we have tomorrow, and making and eating some good food with family. Hopefully everyone else will do the same. 

Final thought-There was the sweetest old man at the restaurant we went to for dinner tonight-he wanted to buy the old lady next to him a birthday drink (he got rejected sadly) then he gave our boys $1 coins as he was leaving. Those are the kind of people we need more of in this world. So I will end this with this thought-  I Love old people. ;)