Baking Weekend

My friend asked me to make a birthday cake for her office. I was excited because this would be my first order! So I spent extra time making the cake super fluffy and perfectly strait and then I made a new icing that was SO good. It costs more to make but it is really good. The only problem was I ran out of icing to do the decorating part! Yikes! So I made some chocolate icing to do a little decoration. I wish I could say that it looked fabulous but it looked boring. Although, I know it will taste FABULOUS! Which in the end is what you want. Next time I will make more icing for a square cake (size: 2 - 10x10x2). Oh well, it was great practice and I love the new icing. There is a chocolate border on the sides you just can't see it in the picture.

My next posting will be hot pink cupcakes and ZTA cookies...I will redeem myself.

Sick Day #1

So I have felt it coming on and it has arrived: The Infamous Head Cold. I need to go to work because I don't want to use up leave and I would spend the whole day watching crappy TV instead of doing anything productive. So I put on jeans even though it is Wednesday but I thought it would look better than sweat pants. I dropped Bailey off at daycare, ran by dry cleaners to get the early bird special (20% off), Chick-Fil-A, and CVS. I used a coupon for a free chicken biscuit with a purchase of a LARGE Dr. Pepper...yum! Then at CVS I went back to pharmacy to get the "good stuff" and thought to myself...I'm going to buy some chocolate. They had all their KING size chocolates on sale for 99 cents so I used my Extra Care Buck to get it for free but since there was negative 1 stinking penny I had to buy something else....so I got some rolos. So as of this moment I have had like (410)Dr. Pepper, a (474) King Twix bar, (450) calories Chicken biscuit, (220) and rolos. Total: 1,554 calories. This is why I can't be sick...I eat to feel better. But the good news is I saved money at the dry cleaner and I used coupons for all the bad food I ate.

Trip #2

Blake will be back in a few days and this time I have waisted lots of time lounging and watching movies (In order: Cinderella, Tinker Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella) with Bailey. I know it is good to rest, but I have been doing it a lot. Last night I had 5 shows being recorded from 7PM - 9PM! Thank goodness the 2 shows I watch on Tuesdays are reruns...I would be too far behind. I know...it is sad but I love my shows. If I could stop I would but I have to know what is going on. I don't watch them until after 8PM (Bailey's bedtime) so I squeeze in 2-3 a night unless I want to stay up past 10:30. In between/during I wash clothes, wash dishes, pick up toys, pay bills, and work on things...but last night only 1 or 2 of those things were accomplished because the shows were too good for doing chores.

So for Blake's return I am going to make chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot. Yum! I am also going to give decorated sugar cookies on a stick a whirl -- I keep up with blogs about them and they would be really cute to give to the ZTA girls at bid night (informal recruitment) on Sunday. I also have to get the spare bedroom back in order because right now it looks like my craft closet exploded all over the place.

Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Sewing Scrubs

I started making a pair of scrubs for my SIL. I forgot how long it takes to cut out the pattern and then cut out the fabric. I spent two hours doing just the top on Sunday afternoon! I still need to cut out the pants, but that is only 2 pieces (thank goodness). The sewing part goes by my faster once you understand what you are doing--I'm getting my mother's help on the shirt because I have never done sleeves before. So in total the time it takes to make a shirt will be 4 hours and at least 2 hours on the pants. Cost of all the fabric, elastic, and thread $15. So the question is: Is it worth making them or buying them? Lets just say minimum wage...$8/hour ($8 x 6 hours = $48+$15 supplies = $63). BUY THEM at the store! There is a scrubs outlet here in town where everything is always 40% off...on average: $15 for the pants and $25 for the tops...$40 for the outfit!!! Yes...lots cheaper than $63. I love my SIL and will make her scrubs anytime she asks for them (just give me a month)...but only because I love her...not for the money. I also wanted to see if I could do it. I love a challenge and being able to make others happy with what I make them. I'm really excited to see how they turn out--hopefully I will finish by next weekend (fingers crossed). Pictures to come!

A RoCk StAr!

Last night I had my first guitar lesson! So before I become famous I just want everyone to know that FAME will not change me. lol.

So after the lesson while watching Grey's I started practicing putting my fingers on the cords and my little pinky is having to really stttttttttretch. In case you did not know this about me which only close friends do know - I have really small hands. My fingers are about 3/4 inch shorter than most girls my age. I think I have found one person that has small hands like me. So my pinky is having a little bit of a hard time making it, but hopefully after a while it will be able to. Also, my dog freaked out when I started practicing. So even if I do not get famous (yeah right) my dog will make us money when we send his video to America's Best Home Videos and the Animal Planet. Vote for Meiko!

Weekly Trip #1

Last Friday Blake left for a trip to St. Louise - he comes back today. I had plans to get a lot accomplished while he was gone but didn't get around to everything that I wanted too...what's new?! I did workout three times this week which is fabulous for me seeing as how I quit my workout schedule back in AUGUST but now I am getting back into it and I feel much better. "Exercise raises endorphins, endorphins make you happy..." - Legally Blonde. On my way back to pick up Bailey from working out Tuesday I stopped by HL (hobby lobby) and compared prices with HF (hancock fabrics)...luckily these places are side by side. HL had the better price at $10.50/yard for zebra material for curtains. I pinned them up in her room and it looks great. I could have saved money by only getting 2 1/3 yards but didn't know the exact measurements of her window so I bought 3 yards and there is a lot extra (practically a whole yard). The good part about that is i can make some accent pillows and maybe cover some canvas boards to make wall art with ribbons. Also I made a cake last night with my new cupcake pan I bought back in November. It would have been better if I got directions first before thinking I knew what to do....but it still turned out good (thanks Lauren for googling and Monica for telling me the "how to's"). I used cream cheese icing with nuts...hard to work with so it isn't as pretty as I would like. I made it for Blake since he is coming home today...I never make cakes for us so I thought what the heck and try things out with the red velvet cake mix and icing. Also I finally got around to ordering pictures this week. I went to walmart dot com and uploaded them all and they will be mailed to my house - the best part was if you had them sent to your house they were only 9 cents a picture with shipping costs, but because I ordered 200 pictures the shipping costs were cheaper than ordering in the store at 15 cents a picture. My favorite part is not having to go to the store and having them arrive next week with little effort. It also gives me a break from feeling like I need to put the pictures in albums, scrapbooks, and frames...I guess that will be next week's project after work.

Chapstick

Bailey loves her some chapstick. For Christmas she received 4 tubes of it (this picture is taken 2 days after Christmas...notice 1 is already gone): 1 Cinderella in Grape, 3 Hello Kitty in Strawberry, Cherry, and Cotten Candy. We are now down to one! Last night I found the cap to one of them...that is not a good sign because somewhere in my house is a half exposed chapstick collecting germs and dog hair probably lying on carpet. On to the story...this morning as I was dropping her off at "school" I took off two jackets (it was below 20 degrees this morning) and her hat to put in her cubby. I squatted down to eye level to tell her good bye and give her a hug and kiss when I noticed she had a big ball of white fuzz on her eyebrow...it wasn't fuzz. Somehow she got a huge chunk of chapstick stuck in her eyebrow. It happened somewhere between getting her sippy cup and the carpool line at her school. Which also means there is probably a mess of chapstick in my car or house waiting for me this afternoon. Wanted: Hello Kitty Strawberry Chapstick - last seen January 10, 2010. There is evidence that it was seen this morning but disappeared again leaving a pink glittered cap and glob in eyebrow. If seen please return to Bailey.

New Years Eve 2009

We met some friends and went to a new place in town, Ally Station. It was lots of fun. I think we will make it a regular to do things in town now that our area is planning big events. Last year we went to Rum Runners at Baytown in Sandestin, FL and spent lots of dough for not as much fun. Here are some pictures of me and Blake ringing in the new year...Happy 2010!

Pictures from Disney World & Sea World

Here are a few pictures from our Disney World & Sea World Vacation:

TAXES

Since Blake's schedule with the USAFR is unpredictable I took over doing finances back in April 2008. In Jan/Feb 2009 I got help from a friend on learning to do my taxes. Blake did not itemize so he showed me how to itemize and what to itemize and since then I have saved every receipt that could potentially be itemized. It took over 2 hours on Saturday to separate everything, but they are all added up and ready to be inputted. I wrote down a lot of subjects to look up - and most of them were 'no', but some were 'yes' which means...money, money, money! Taxes can be time consuming but if you break it up and do a little at a time it won't seam like a burden. I'm excited for all our forms to come in so I can see the amount the return will be! Guess what we get to use the money for: We need to get the boards along the roof line replaced and few other things done to the house so we can put it on the market next year. I'd rather use it for it shopping and a vacation to NY but oh well!

My Lists for 2010

So I have a lot of unfinished projects and not started projects in my craft closet. So I wrote them all down and have made deadlines on my planner to do them. I am a hobbyist and love to learn new things so the list is a tad long. I try to not do my hobbies until after Bailey goes to bed at 8:00 PM and lately (past 2 months) my thyroid has been messed up so I am exhausted by 9:00 PM and ready for bed which leaves no time at all for these things. I guess this list could be my new year's resolution but hopefully it will only take a month or two to finish. So here goes my lists of goals and resolutions for the year!

Sewing Projects (I've decided that Wednesday nights are "Sewing Nights"):
- Fleece Baby Blanket (1/2 finished)
- Bibs (a few in stock for gifts-I have all the materials)
- Pillow case dress in hot pink (I have all the materials)

Picture Albums/Scrapbooks:
- New Years Eve 2009
- Christmas 2009
- Disney World 2009
- Punta Canta 2009
- Disney World 2008
- Honeymoon 2006 (way over due)
- Print out all pictures over the past year!

Cricket:
- USE IT! (I got it for Christmas and I still haven't used it!)
- Make scrapbooking kits for picture albums
- Make handmade cards and gift tags
- Have a Cricket party - lol - I have friends that would want to do this actually!

Cake decorating:
- Use the "cup cake" pan I bought back in NOVEMBER! I'm making one for Bid Night for Informal Recruitment this month for Theta Nu - Zeta Tau Alpha.

2010 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Learn to play the guitar - my lessons should be starting next week!
2. Work out more!
3. Complain less!
4. Spend more time with Bailey!