Date Night

Oh, date night. I remember in high school going to get pizza and then bowling on a date with my high school boyfriend. Or we would go to the neighboring town to “drag main”. Going to the movies where we paid like $4.00 or something and seeing everyone you knew (small towns). Or the best was going to my boyfriends house to watch a movie with his parents (fun times ;) NOT!! (Remember when that word was cool?)

Then in college I started dating a different guy, he was a site to see from the beginning. We were great friends for a couple months until I found myself falling in love with him. He finally asked me on a date. Oh, date night!!! What are dates like in college I wondered?? They were usually a movie or out to a fun restaurant. Maybe we would take a trip to Kansas City and go the plaza for some good food and shopping. We would go to Gallyans and climb the rock wall, go play some Frisbee and out to the lake for a picnic with KFC. Or we would just stay in the dorm for some pizza and some reality TV. I went on a lot of fun dates in college with my cute boyfriend, now my husband ;) I will never forget the feeling of getting ready for date with Brett and the anticipation of him walking up 4 flights of stairs in the dorm to come pick me up ;) Or when we lived across town from each other and seeing him pull in the driveway in his vintage Saab. Oh, I kind of get butterflies in my stomach just writing about it.

I am a firm believer in date nights. Brett and I don’t really call them date nights anymore, we just go and do what we please whenever we feel like it. Well, Friday during the day, I got the urge to go on a “Date Night”, just the two of us. I really wanted sushi but I knew Brett would not be in the mood for that. So, I let him plan the date night. He didn’t really do too much planning as it panned out but it was a blast nonetheless. We ended up going to M&S Grille. I sat down and realized that it was a little pricey and I was not sure we wanted to spend this much on dinner. I just started to tell Brett that I didn’t know it was so pricey when he said, “Vikk, it is ok, you get what you want. We have money to go on a date; we don’t have kids or tons of stuff to pay off. It is ok, we can have a nice date night”. I got those butterflies again like I use to when we first started dating. We ate a wonderful meal in one of the best spots in the restaurant. Everything was so tasty and we had the best conversation and just enjoyed being with each other. We headed home and Brett thought we should look through some photo albums for fun. He pulled out the album that I kept of all our college days together. It was the best!!! Snuggled on the couch, looking and laughing at pictures. Thinking of stories that I had already forgotten about or remembering stupid inside jokes. I love date nights!!

Thank you Brett for being the best date a girl could ask for.

Snow days

My dad sent me an email today that inspired me to blog. My father lives in small town out in the country at a nice little town called Sabetha. He was emailing me about what he has been up to and it made me realize how snow is such a pain in his neck being out on a farm and how here in the city it is like a dream come true. In KC all the schools close, you have a good excuse not to go into work, you wake up and everything is covered in snow and minutes later a snowplow comes to clean your streets. We have a neighbor who loves to clean off everyone’s driveway and sideways with his snow blower so we don’t think it is too bad. Brett and I both love the snow. Debo also loves it as you can tell. Not to much for us to worry about when it snows.

On the flip side, I got this email from my dad this morning, a bit of a different perspective:

“We ended up with 6 inches of snow, then it really started blowing about midnight on Monday. I had just gone to bed, and was almost a sleep when bang and a flash that lit up my whole bedroom. What they hay!!! I jumped out of bed and notice that the flagpole light was still on, so didn’t know what was going on when again "bang" and what looked to be a roman candle shooting across the barnyard. All power went out. It was no longer what the hay, but what the hell!!! I got up and went outside to make sure there was not hot wires dancing across the feedlot. I could find nothing wrong, so went into town to report it at the dispatch office. Would you believe Joe already had called it in. (He is the greatest neighbor) So I came back home and cleared the roads so the city truck could make it out here, for I barely made it back home. So spent most of the night up. Apparently, the lines blew together over my feedlot, and then it blew a line knockout fuse over at Rod’s corner. Today it is blowing hard from the south, so the roads are closing up again. I hate snow when it blows.”


What the crap, I am such a snot here in KC to think about how glorious the snow is and my poor father is up all night because of the wind and he has to use a tractor to clear his path. Anyway, I kinda get in my own world and think I it so exciting to have lots of snow until I get emails like this, then I just feel bad.

Love you Dad, spring will be here soon.

keep it casual

Some of you may know that I am not a huge fan of Valentines Day. I am not sure which part I don’t like: The big cheap teddy bears that have writing on them saying “Be Mine”, the dozens of red roses that have more baby’s breath than roses (I hate babies breath), the packed restaurants, the Little Debbie desserts that are covered in nasty sprinkles or just the hearts everywhere. Now, I do have valentines and I love him dearly but he also knows that if he gives me a dozen roses (or carnations) with baby’s breath, I will throw them directly in the trash. Yes, some of you may think that is harsh but I hate them. I do love roses when they are all different colors and they are bunched together with other big bright flowers, not like this:

I hate getting the same arrangement that thousands of other girls are getting; I want something different and bright. I almost think arrangements like this are depressing, I guess Brett can use this at my funeral if he wants. I don’t think I will mind at that point.

Moving on past the flowers, I have to tell you what I am so excited about tonight. For our date night Brett is taking me to Culvers, that is right, HOME OF THE BUTTERBURGERS!!!! I love this place; I love the burgers, the fries and the custard. I love that is will not be packed tonight and it takes less than 10 minutes to get our food. We will not have to wait in line or make reservations or spend an arm and a leg to go there. I am not sure my date is as thrilled as I am except maybe excited because it will be easy on the check book but he loves me so he is taking me there ;) When Brett and I were dating we use to go to really nice restaurants but it was so stressful on me to get ready, wear the perfect shirt, get to the restaurant on time only to wait because they forgot to write your reservation down. NO THANKS!! I just want to be with my valentine and be causal. Every once in a while I like a nice dinner but I would prefer it be on a weeknight when it is bad weather and everyone else is staying at home. One year Brett took me to Chipotle for Valentines Day and we had the best date. Since then we have made it a tradition to go causal for Feb.14^th. Try it out ladies; it is way more fun and you don’t spend all night in a restaurant with hundreds of other people. I get to be done with dinner and snuggling while we watch the KU game with my groom by 7:30pm baby!!!! Nothing better than snuggling while it is chilly outside.

Oh, be sure to get some Reeses buttercup hearts today!!! Not to worry, Easter egg Reeses are already in stores. That might be the only thing I love about this holiday, the Reese’s hearts and the fact that Easter it the next big holiday. Easter is my all time favorite!!!!! Can’t wait to break out the Easter egg tree and all my cute bunnies!!!!

Star Struck

I am sure we all have seen famous people at one time or another. I have to say it is one of my favorite things about going to NYC or LA, just to maybe have a glimpse of someone famous. I have been able to see some famous people and even have pictures taken with them, including: Dirk Nowitzki's(plays for the Dallas Mavericks), Carolyn Kepcher (from the Apprentice), Toby Maguire (As he was making Spiderman 3 in NYC) as well as some KU basketball players and coaches.

Anyway, I love it and last night I was invited to go to a Special Screening of "The Astronaut Farmer" by my girl Andrea . Billy Bob Thorton and Virginia Madson were also there to welcome us and give a few comments on the film before it started. It was pretty cool and thought it would make for a good blog.

Oh, Dad, thanks again for this camera, this last photo was taken from the very back row of the theatre, nice zoom!!

Event time

As most of you know, I do event planning for a career. Some may say it is the dream job and though there are some fun times and great food, it is a lot of hard work and a lot of stress. Most of you may remember my story about having to pick up a dead bird. I have had several instances where an event throws me a curve ball and I have to figure out how I am going to fix it with in minutes. It would take me forever to list off all the problems that I have had to deal with in the past, starting with a blind homeless guy getting lost and wondering into my event full of huge donors or random med students that walk through an event and pretend they are a guest. Like I wouldn’t notice that, they have backpacks on and they are shoveling brie cheese and beef tenderloin in their pockets ;)
Yesterday I had an event and it was pretty crazy all day with rentals showing up, liquor being delivered, valet services, security on site, podium and mic set up and my caterer and florals. I have to say this event had some stinking good food and it was really pretty. My pictures don’t even do it justice but I had to share.

For girls only

Ok, before all you boys read this blog post, you may want to just go ahead and keep on surfing. Just giving you a heads up. Although I think most of you women out and husbands will appreciate this as well I will predict.

Ok, so no surprise, once a month a women gets her cycle (ok, boys stop snickering like you did in the 8th grade when you heard all of this for the first time). Anyway, it is not a huge deal now because I have done it once a month for over 10 years. Yet something new this month really pushed me over the edge and I have to share. Again, boys you may want to stop reading now.

I went to go grab a feminine pad (I like to call it that) and unwrapped it only to find the sticker on the pad that you tear off that read, “Have a happy period”. “Oh, yes” I said out loud in the bathroom, “I will have a lovely period”. After all, it is my favorite time of the month, I love a time to reflect and think about how I love being a women and how we are so special to get a cycle once a month. I mean the commercials for tampons really say it all. Yes, I love to get in a bathing suit and dance around in my pink leggings and then out shopping with the girls. Everything is pink and lots of clouds are used in those commercials for some reason. Are you kidding me??? “Have a happy period”??? Who was the ad wizard on that Advertising team that thought to put that? Did they really think that was going to cheer me up right after I had a two hour headache, cramps all day and a huge fight with the person I love the most for no reason what so ever??? If I was on that ad team I may have written this on that sticker:

“Have a candy bar, you will feel better”
“$1 off French fries coupon, use now”
“Massage for hour coupon”
“Yes this sucks”
“ It is ok to smoke pot when you feel this bad” (totally kidding, never smoke pot kids, it makes your brain shrink and it will destroy your life)

Again, just to conclude, I do know that a women’s cycle is perfectly normal and women have been doing it for years. Yet, really there is no need to come up with cute packaging and nice sayings on the packaging. Rather than making me feel like it is all wonderful, it makes me want to throw the whole box of your products into the trash. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing that brand of feminine products again.

Oh, I went to check out the website of this product and this is what they had to say about that product and see if it said “Have a happy period” anywhere on this web page, sure enough:

My favorite part of this webpage is when they say this:”This is the time of the month that's all about you. So be your own best friend. Make it your mantra to indulge yourself and celebrate being a girl” Don’t event get me started on this comment, hee hee.

Peace out sisters and stick in there!!!

sweet boy on my mind

sorry Brett, I am thinking about Debo our sweet beagle.

So, I know I have turned into a little bit of a wierd dog person but Debo my dog is just such a good dog and he is so stinking cute that I have to blog about him from time to time. Lately he has been super good about going into his crate when asked and giving me lots of attention.

Most of you that know me know that I am a super extrovert, meaning that I get my energy from people and Brett is an introvert which means people exhaust him and he needs a little alone time to recharge. I didn't see this being a problem after we got married until Brett would go into the cold basement to surf on the Internet or pay bills. What was I to do all by myself for a solid hour at a time?? Debo has been the best companion. He always loves attention and he loves to love on me. He is the best snuggler on a cold winter day and I love Sunday naps with him. He is not a very smart dog and he doesn't really do any tricks but I still love him more than I ever thought I could love a dog. Anyway, no big story, just wanted to give a shout out to my cute beagle (since he reads my blog and all)

Love you Debo!!!

a Pro

So most people that know me know that I am kinda a pro at walking on ice. Whether I am in heels, snow boots or sneakers, I seem to always keep my balance. I am not sure I have ever fallen on ice since I was in elementary school because I just had the balance and coordination to be such a pro. Two days ago I came home for lunch and my husband was telling me about a girl at work that wiped out in the parking lot three times and had to go home to change her clothes because she was such a mess. I laughed my head off and then said “How do you fall on the ice that easy, seriously, just get your balance and walk, it is no big deal”!! I am usually pretty sensitive in general but this is just one thing that I can’t be sensitive about for some reason. When I see people slip when they are walking, I have to hold it as tight as I can to not bust a gut, I just think it is ridiculous and really funny. Last night my girlfriend was telling me how her co-worker slipped and broke her leg, Ha!! Are you kidding me, what the crap, can’t people just be more careful and think a little before they start walking on ice, I mean it is really not that hard!!

I said goodbye to my friend last night, opened the door to go outside and Whhhhhoaaaaaaa!!!! I BIT IT HARD!!!! Can you believe that? I hit my knee really hard on the hard cement and scratched up my elbow a little. I also fell partly on my butt which is always a safety feature when you have a ghetto bootie as I do. I started laughing so hard I could not contain myself. I was one of them, one of those idiots that can’t walk on ice and makes a total fool out of themselves. Fortunate for me, I was with two good girlfriends that could laugh it off with me and I was not with a group of people from work or something.

To all people that suck at walking on ice,

I am sorry for judging you all like that. I know you are good people and you may even be coordinated, sorry for thinking that you guys just didn’t have any sense of balance and athleticism. Next time I see you slip and almost bite it, I will try to not laugh (no promises). If I see you bite it, I will run to you aid and help you up without laughing (no promises). If you are nervous about walking on the ice and you need a hand, I will be there by your side and not even think you are ridiculous (again, no promises).

Wicked was Wicked awesome!

I could just have a short blog today because the conclusion to my thoughts on Wicked the Musical is:

IT WAS FLIPPING AWESOME, BEST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN, HANDS DOWN BETTER THAN I EVER THOUGHT IT COULD BE!!!!!

Yes, the bold means I am shouting, it was so good and you all have to see this show if you ever have the opportunity. The set was amazing, the costumes were creative and beautiful, the music was wonderful and the story was unique and funny.

I LOVED IT!!!!

I love it when a show like that can be so good that it puts me in tears because I am just so entertained and I am so into the story. That is my gage on if it was a good one, three tears at least. I have seen Mama Mia and Hairspray here in KC and it didn’t really do much for me but Aida, Cats and Chicago have been ones that I have LOVED!! Even shows in KC are ok but if you have a chance to see them in a big city, even more fun.

Earlier that day we hit IKEA and shopped for 5 hours, can you believe that!!! I got all kinds of stuff for just $150, good deal!!! I love IKEA and I wish instead of Nebraska Furniture Mart we could have gotten an IKEA. I will save how much I dislike NFM for another blog.

Day two in Chicago was by far my favorite: IKEA + Yummy Thai food + Wicked + Two great girls = PREMIUM!!

What a start

So this week I am going to blog about my trip to Chicago. I title my blog what a start because this trip started off on the best foot ever!! As most of you know, the weather got bad last Friday and we had a 7pm flight out of town and we were a little concerned it was going to be delayed and we were not going to get out of KC for hours. So, my girl Katy suggested that we find an earlier flight, I didn’t really think that would be possible but I called Southwest and two minutes later, we were booked to leave at 4:30pm. We get to the airport and we are in line to board the plane and an announcement comes over the intercom “We have over booked the 4:30 pm flight and we are looking for 5 passengers to go on the 5pm flight for a $100 voucher plus the cost of your ticket” We all looked at each other and in seconds decided we were all a go on that. So I ran over to the check in and told them I had three passengers in my party and we wanted to go on the 5pm flight.

They started with the paper work and all three of us were already planning our next girl’s trip!! Just after we got all the paperwork done a Southwest employee came over and said they miscounted and they needed three people to go back on the 4:30pm, we wanted our vouchers we didn’t really want to go but the women behind the counter said “you will still get the vouchers and you can board right now for the 4:30pm flight”. We all just started laughing like a bunch of giddy school girls. It was so funny, we just got $160 bucks in vouchers for 10 minutes of waiting in a line, sweetest $160 I have ever made ;) So we all ran back to the gate to board out plane, it was stinking funny and we laughed all way to Chicago as we thought of places we should go. We decided at that minute that this could very well be the best trip already. What better way to start out a vacation than to do absolutely nothing and get another round trip flight!!!!

Dear Southwest,
I love you and I will always come to you first when I need a flight out of KC, thanks for giving me free money when I didn't do a dang thing!


This was only the beginning of how great this trip was, more to come ;)

Every 6 months

So I was brushing my teeth this morning and getting really close to the mirror to check it all out. Far away, I think my teeth look pretty good but up-close, man!!! So, I could see a little build up that I have missed by brushing and thinking to myself “great, how did I miss that, now next week when I go for my every 6 month check up to the dentist they are going to say something about it”. I can just hear the dental hygienist “Now, Vikkie, I see a little build up back here, and oh I see some over here. Are you flossing? Do you brush twice a day? Are you brushing like this or that”. I suddenly became furious as I was thinking about it and that is when I came to this conclusion:

If I did a great job of cleaning my teeth, what would the dentist have to do? I do an ok job at taking care of my teeth but if I fall asleep on the couch as I watch TV and Brett wakes me up to go to bed, I am not going to run to the bathroom to brush and floss for 3 minutes, I am go to bed!!! Are you kidding me?? I mean, I can go to bed because I have a dentist that I see every 6 months to clean my teeth in a serious way. Even when I work really hard at keep these boys clean, they are never going to be good enough for miss little, I get my teeth cleaned everyday because I work for a dentist and that is my job!!! Come on, they have machines that are plugged into the wall with three prongs on them (vacuum cleaners and large kitchen appliances have three prongs plug ins) !! That is a lot of power they are using and they expect my teeth to be as clean with a little toothbrush and Crest?

Conclusion: I go to the dentist every 6 months to have my pearly whites cleaned; it is not like I wait 2-5 years or until I notice that I have a huge black hole in my tooth? They get it clean; they take care of it, which is what I pay them to do. So, if I blog next Wednesday after my dentist appt. and I don’t sound very happy it is because I got reprimanded by someone that I pay!
I have no clue why I just got all worked up about this but that is what is on my mind today.

Hump day and something to look forward to

So I promised to tell you about why I am so excited about this coming weekend. Me and two other great girlfriends are headed to the windy city for a long weekend. Instead of blowing all my Christmas money at Target like I do every year, I am using it to go see a musical that I have wanted to see for about 8 months now. It was playing in New York City last time I went and I wanted to see it but the tickets were not available for a good price. The Musical is called “Wicked” and the music is out of this world! (I have been listening to the soundtrack none stop) It is based on a book and it is pretty much the life story of the wicked witch of the west and the good witch, Glinda.

We leave Friday just after work and come back on Monday (Thank you Martin Luther King for the day off work) We plan to eat some good pizza, shop at IKEA until we are blue in the face, hit some great little local stores and go see the show. I am mostly just looking forward to being together and laughing with two wonderful people.

Not to worry all, Brett is headed to Orlando for a business trip this weekend so this time he does not have to stay alone while I am out hitting the town with my girls. Many of you get on my case about taking off without my favorite guy but it just always works out. I either get a good hook up to go somewhere for super cheap and I have lots of vacation to use up. Although, Brett and I just booked tickets last night to head to Denver for a long weekend in March for a little skiing and visiting some great friends of ours.

What a Weekend

Ok, this is a long one, here we go:
Friday Night: Super hot stuff, went out to a celebration dinner for my girl Lynette. We headed to Tasso’s, a Greek restaurant with live music, hot Greek waiters, great food and the highlight for me, THE BELLY DANCER, Zaina Ali!!!! That is right, after dinner a belly dancer came out and did some hot moves that I knew I had to learn. I volunteered as soon as I got the chance, I was shaking it big time and I LOVED IT! I was shaking parts of my body that I didn’t know could shake. I was surprised at how hard it was as well as what a work out it was, my abs are still a little sore today. I got Zelda’s info and I think I might organize a little belly dancing lesson party, let me know if you are in.




























Saturday: This was maybe an even bigger highlight of my weekend. My good girlfriend Andrea’s Mom, Tammy, came over Saturday morning to give me, Andrea and Katy a little lesson in electrical work. Most of the outlets in my old house are still two prong and they are not grounded. Tammy showed us how to do put in new outlets and ground them. I have now done another outlet in my bathroom and I am feeling like a million bucks!! I now plan to change out all the outlets in the upstairs. It is great to know now I why an outlet might not be working or if it is grounded or not, good stuff to know as a homeowner.

The best part of the lesson was when we learned how to put in an overhead light. Brett and I had switched out a fan for a light in our family room about 6 months ago but it has never worked because the switch did not work. When Tammy explained what we needed to do, I got totally overwhelmed. I just told Tammy that I would call in an electrician for that since it seemed like a big job. She said “ it really is not that hard to do, we just get up in your attic, drop a wire down and make a new switch over here”. As my mouth was still open from shock because she made it sound so easy, Tammy was half way out of the door to head to Lowes to get the supplies that we needed. Two hours later, my light worked and had a dimmer on it. I was blown away but what a go-getter she was. She never gave up and explained everything as we went. I can’t say enough about how cool she was and how great it is for my light to be up and running. Now I am going to work on two other lights in my house and help Brett wire our new home stereo. So here is a little Shout out to Tammy, thanks so much for all your help, I can’t wait to take a lesson in something else now, maybe woodworking or plumbing!!

My weekend ended by going to the little guy that I use to baby-sit for in college. Fischer is not so little anymore; he is almost as tall as I am. He did win his game and it was so much fun to watch him. I went home, made some dinner, grabs my sweet beagle and watched my Sunday night shows, good weekend for sure. Can’t wait for next weekend, I will blog about that soon.

Favorite thing of the week

Just after Christmas I have lots of fun gifts that I have been enjoying, God really blessed me this year with some good stuff. I have been loving my new camera and the ipod that is filled with fun workout songs. Great new clothes and lots of kitchen utensils that I love. But I have to say that one thing that I have been loving this week that I got with my own money are these Old Navy Slippers/boots. I got them for $6.99 and I have been wearing them none stop. ;) My favorite, as you can see, are these boots with shorts!! Brett has given me a new nickname every time I walk in the room with them. “Hey boots, nice shorts,” he says. Anyway, I have now gotten to the point where I come home from work and slip into them as soon as possible. Right after I get out of the shower, I have them right by the shower so I can slip them on. I LOVE THEM!!! I might have to go back tonight and see if they still have some. I can think of a few of you that might like to have a pair, mmmmm who will be the lucky girl!! Sorry guys. Brett, you especially, I know how bad you want a pair of these to hack around in the house in, hee hee.

Besides the boots I have found some great deals, fleece pull over’s, great undershirts so layer like crazy, flannel sleeping pants and some great wrapping paper for only a buck. Yes, most of the clothes will fall about in your washing machine but for $5 who cares!!

Happy Shopping.

Happy Belated

I am so bad, I have not posted a Happy Birthday Blog to my husband yet and it was four days ago (new years eve), sorry Brett. For Brett’s 27th birthday we went out to dinner at Jack Stack with some friends and then to a friends house for cake & ice-cream, homemade pretzels, cheese dip and lots of pop. We played pictionary into the night, laughed and had a wonderful time.

Thanks to all our friends for making Brett’s birthday special every year. You guys really are the best.

Love you my dear Brett and Happy New Year to all.

p.s. on the same note as birthdays, happy birthday to my dear friend Lynette, happy birthday sweetie!!!

Hunting adventures in Sabetha

As promised I told you I would tell you about my first hunting trip. Well my second really, I went when I was in high school with my Dad and I was bored out of my mind!! This time it was a bit more fun and I think I might go again for sure.

So here is how it works. Because there are not too many birds to hunt in Sabetha these days and my Dad has a lot of land to hunt on, he "plants" birds so that the boys can have something to kill. That is right, he buys these birds called Chuckers for 8 bones a piece and twirls them around by their legs to make them dizzy and then he puts them in the grass and runs away. My sister Callie and I helped my dad "plant" these chuckers.

One hour later all the boys went out with the bird dog and the dog found the bird, the dog points the bird, the dog scares the bird up into the sky, the boys shoot the bird dead. It is pretty crazy isn't it. I mean, how hard is that, you just let the dog do all the work and you wait to kill something. It was a great time with the boys and my main man Brett did a great job!! Here are pictures for your enjoyment ;)

One Rocking Christmas

That's right, I had a theme Christmas at my Dads house and it was totally rocking!!!! He had the palm trees, the beads, the great food. It was wonderful.

I have to say, I was a little nervous about my Dad changing up the tradition this year but it was a great idea and I think he is going to do a different theme every year. Come on, you all know my Dad is not just a farmer in a small town. He is Event Planner extraordinaire!!! Yep, he can fix a tractor, feed cattle in the dead of winter, grow corn event when their is little rain but he can also through one great party. Not only did he have some great ambiance going on but the food was great!! It was a shrimp boil and yes it tasted as good as it looks. Maybe you are thinking..... "Man, the colors in these pictures on Vikks blog are great!!" Well, you can thank my Dad for that too. He got Brett and I the best joint gift ever since we have been married, a digital camera!!! It is so nice and I love it already. I did get lots of wonderful gifts (Pink I-Pod, target gift cards, cooking stuff, a hot little coat and some clothes and great stocking stuffers) but the camera just topped it off!!

Dad, thank you for doing something fun and special for this years Christmas. It has been one crazy year but this was a great way to end 2006 and jump into 2007. You do a great job of mixing it up and I love that about you. Love you Dad!!!

After the party we went hunting, say tuned for that post ;)

Carrie come home!!

Hey all,

this post is for my sister Carrie, I really want her to come home for Christmas and I thought if I put it out there on the "World Wide Web" (I am talking about old people calling it that, I once heard a guy at the gym call it that and I about came out of my skin laughing) then maybe she would come for sure. Carrie, please oh please come home. I want our cute dogs to meet and I really want to see you soon. I have been shopping for you and thinking about you so much this Christmas, I really really want you to come home.

Ok, now everyone please comment and tell Carrie to come home for Christmas as well ;) this should be fun.

Love you Carrie, hoped you like getting the "shout out" on my blog, hee hee.

Merry Christmas All, I am signing off until later!!!

Just add pudding

hey all,
I am feeling on top of the clouds today because I made a chocolate cake a birthday party at work and it was a huge hit!!! Nothing feels better when people notice your handy work. I have to let you all in on a little secret though: IT IS THE PUDDING!!! That is right, next time you make a cake from the box, just add a box of the pudding flavor that you are making. I have done this with lemon and vanilla and the cake is so moist and a little more taste. I am not sure who told me to do that but thanks, it works everytime. Even if I cook the cake a few extra minutes on accident, it still works. This cake was so good with a side of mint chocolate chip icecream, great during the holidays. I would also reccomend taking the Wilton Cake Decorating class, it is pretty cheap and you do learn so much. Have fun baking this Christmas season!!!

Christmas

hey all,
yes, yes, I know I didn't hold up my end of the deal on blogging on the topics I picked. I thought if I put it out there, I would do it but I just didn't. My goal of the new year is to change the look of my blog a bit and try to blog at least twice a week ;)

On to other things, Christmas is just around the corner and I thought I would fill you in on the top ten things I love and hate about this time of year, here we go:

Love:
1.) The Celebration of Christ, hands down that is the best!!
2.) Smell of Christmas Tree
3.) Breaking out my Old Navy Christmas Tree sweats that I have had for years and refuse to give up.
4.) Listening to my NSYNC Christmas CD, shut up, I know you all love it!!! Back when Lance was straight!
5.) Shopping for gifts way in advance so that I don't get stressed out about that. Yes, in case you wondered, I have been done shopping for about a week now and they are all wrapped too. Pays to be a planner sometimes.
6.) Cookies and goodies, I do have the reoccuring problem of the dreaded "winter wieght". This year I am just going to let nature take its course and not stress about it. Hit the gym Jan. 2nd ;)
7.) SNOW, I love to look at it, not to drive in it. I am praying real heard for snow on Christmas day for the sake of my cute husband, he is like a little kid sometimes. He wants snow so bad he can taste it. I also went to LA a few weeks ago and thought it would be great to have warm weather in the winter. MMMM, Christmas just wasn't the same with out cold weather and snow. It was like they were trying to have Christmas in July.
8.) Christmas movies. Top one ever: Christmas Vacation!!! I finally bought this DVD this year and I love it!!! I will watch it year round. Following that movie my other favorites are Frosty the snow man, Home Alone 1, Ernest saves Christmas (this use to be my favorite, not sure I could stand to watch it anymore), I also love to watch Little Women and Step Mom during this time of year. Christmas Tree sweats + hot coco + popcorn + snow outside + fleece blanket + one cute Beagle to snuggle = BEST DAY IN MY LIFE!!
9.) Time with my extended family. In all there are about 35 people, fun times!!!! Best food in the land and great stories.
10.) Waking up on christmas morning with my best friend (and hotty, I might add).
11.) I know I only said 10 things but I love Time off work, that is worth a number 11.


Hate:
1.) That I can only call Christmas, "Holiday" , until I get home in my own house where I won't offend anyone.
2.) People shopping last minute and complaining about it.
3.) Trying to be at every bodies Christmas at a certin time and rushing around with your head cut off. Not this year folks, I am sleeping in my own bed on christmas morning, it is going to be great!!
4.) trans cyberian orchestra, I really hate that crap!!!
5.) People that put one string of lights on something outside thier house. If you are not going to do it right, don't do it at all!!!!
6.) The bell that the Salvation Army people use to ring outside every store. I mean, would it hurt them to get a few more bells to play some music with. Come on, at least do something else to keep yourself busy while raising money. I would like to think I would be really good at doing that because I would have some other instruments to make it sound great. I hate the sound of bell in the same tone.
7.) Hobby Lobby at Christmas, it is like Santa came in there an threw up all over. That have some nice stuff but so much of it sucks!! They also have tons of stuff that people could get and they do but you get up to pay and they have two cashiers and they have to type each thing in the cash register because they have not switched over to the scanner. ANNOYING!!!
8.) Christmas jewelery, for the love!!!!! Please stop wearing that crap, it is so gay!
9.) Wrecks. Yes, I have at least one wreck per winter season, last year, I had two, that was my all time low!!! This year I am going to do my best to skip that stage and try to make it to spring to have another wreck. I did have a very small fender bender at the end of Nov. I figure that does not count since it was still kinda fall.
10.) Lastly, the stress of everything being perfect on christmas and forgetting the reason we celebrate. I hate what the world has done to this time of year. Lets all do our best to focus on the bigger picture. Not the gifts, the decorations, the drama, just Christ alone!

Merry Christmas!!!!