12 Days of Baking

Don't ask me what I was thinking. I might regret this later, but this year, I started a tradition called "12 Days of Baking." My team at work loved it, and I usually had extras so Jeremy's office got to benefit as well. I LOVE baking so it was so much fun, but it was a little hard at times coming home and being on my feet all night. I might try to plan a little better if I do this again. It might be best to bake some on the weekends and do some easier stuff during the week. The most torturous part was coming home from an early morning run to ice cookies or decorate a cookie cake. (I guess it's a good thing I ran because I definitely ate everything I baked!) Anyway, here are the 12 days...

On the first day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me RICE KRISPY TREATS!

On the second day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES w/ VANILLA FROSTING (kindergarten style as requested by my colleague, Ted)!

On the third day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me HOMEMADE BUTTERFINGERS! (that's what I call them...they are amazing and addictive. It's just Cheeze-Its, PB and chocolate bark. Thanks to Jill for the awesome recipe!)

On the fourth day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me CHOCOLATE, FRITO, PRETZEL YUMMINESS!

 On the fifth day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me RED VELVET CUPCAKES!

On the sixth day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me ORANGE COCONUT PECAN BALLS!

On the seventh day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me COOKIE CAKE!

On the eighth day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me DECORATED SUGAR COOKIES!

  On the ninth day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me SNICKERDOODLES!

On the tenth day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me SNOWMAN CAKE BALLS and my family's favorite iced sugar cookies! Jeremy's office got the cake balls. His boss's little girls loved them and told their dad they didn't want to eat them. They wrote me the sweetest thank you note for their "lollipops."

On the eleventh day of Christmas, Molly Ann baked for me CHOCOLATE/OATMEAL/PEANUT BUTTER NO BAKE COOKIES!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Molly Ann got lazy and took some fun candy for the team...which they loved just as much as baked goods!

AHHHH...10 More Days!

Okay, I need to get with it! I have 10 days to fulfill the New Year's Resolution list I made back in January.

Here's an update on the list:

1. Blog More--Done.

2. Finish my scrapbook from Hawaii in 2007. Didn't touch it...crap! I am pretty sure the scrapbook and all the pics are buried at the bottom of my guest room closet. I guess that would add another resolution to the list...clean out the guest room closet. Let's be honest, this might go on 2011's list.

3. Cut back on chips and queso--Done! It helped that I gave up fried food for Lent.

4. See more live music--Done! In the month of October alone we saw Griffen House, tons of bands at ACL, Ray LaMontagne, Tyrone Wells and Carrie Underwood. I think I have done a great job w/ this one and I have loved getting to know new bands!

5. Have more restful nights at home--Pretty much done. We started watching the entire season of Lost on streaming Netflix, so we were planted on the couch a lot of nights watching two or three episodes at a time. That helped the whole stay at home thing. I think I have a pretty good balance of this even with all the service stuff I am doing lately.

6. Preserve my wedding dress--Nope. I am still planning on having that party. :)

7. Sing more--Sadly no. I can't seem to balance that with work, Junior League, church leadership and family time. Maybe very soon. I want to start teaching voice and piano again soon so maybe there will be an outlet there.

8. Play more piano--Again, no. Dang it I am not doing well w/ this list! My sister is a music major at Baylor now, so maybe she can inspire me!

9. Purge my life of stuff--Absolutely done. I am not all the way there, but I have really worked hard this year to be more aware of the crap I put in my body. This also includes me purging our house of extra junk we don't need. We cleaned out our garage so we actually use it for our cars now! My new business (http://www.ahealthierlife.net/) has helped me achieve a healthier lifestyle too!

10. Dig deeper into my faith--Sort of done. This can always improve. I can say this year has been more others-centered for me. I have been serving others (through church and Junior League) more than I was before, and I have to say it feels awesome. Life is too short to be selfish!

Puppies and Kisses and Rainbows

I love my team at Volusion! We have so much fun while we work REALLY hard. Everyone on my team loves dogs and we have a special place in our hearts for puppies (or cute dogs that look like puppies). So, when things get crazy and we are all feeling a little on edge, we tend to send around random pictures/videos of puppies. It always makes us smile! C'mon...who doesn't love a cute puppy picture! I wanted to share a few in the hopes that you will smile too.

Bulldog vs. Doorstop

The Winning Pic (mostly because it has a puggle in it) I got this off the Mr. Puggle blog and their names are Buddy and Pickles..I really hope the big one is Pickles.

Cute Little Thirsty Button

This reminds me of when I was in high school and I would stay up really late talking on the phone w/ my boyfriend...and fall asleep. 

Nanny nanny boo boo



Oh no...not the snow!

As a footnote: I don't really like cats, but this video is hilarious. It makes me wonder what goes through a child's head when we read books to them.

Adventures with Sky Mall

This last weekend my Mom, Susie and I got to take a trip to Ohio to visit some old friends. One of my very first friends (since I was a baby) had a wedding reception, and we got to go share in the celebration. We had a blast and it was so special to be there. My Mom and Susie have been friends with the McDonalds for about 30 years. They moved away when Krissta (their daughter) and I were in kindergarten. Despite the distance, they have remained good friends and it was fun to see them together again!

As I traveled up there I got to do one of my favorite things: browse Sky Mall. Who doesn't love the treasures found in this magazine?! I got a little bored on the long flight so I perused and found a few items that won't make my Christmas list, but made me laugh to myself.

Relaxing Magic Showerhead

For a mere $44.99 you too can have this color-changing showerhead. This takes singing in the shower to a whole new level!  Its like being on stage! Now all they need is a waterproof microphone and we are set. (Also, is anyone else thinking "that's a horse of a different color"?)

Brobdingnagian Sports Chair

How embarrassed would your kids be if you took this to little league games? Secondly, what the H-E-double hockey sticks is "brobdingnagian"? Well according to dictionary.com it's something of "extraordinary size, gigantic or enormous." So, there ya go...if you have huge people in your family, you are in luck. The funniest part is the description that says: "...its 9' sq. seat affords ample room for full-body gesticulations."  Gesticulate to your heart's content.

Electronics Cleaning Compound

As it mentions in its description, this is a "high tech malleable compound that picks up dirt, dust, etc." It honestly just looks like a fancy version of Nickelodeon Gak. Remember that nasty stuff? I would want to just use it to make inappropriate noises. If you need a little blast from the past, check out this old-school commercial!

Rescue Tape

So, according to the description of this product, this tape is strong enough to be used by the US military and it is even waterproof. Sadly, the first thought that went through my head was: BP Oil spill. If only some of those wealthy oil dudes had skipped out on the first class flights, they could have discovered this hidden Sky Mall treasure. Problem solved.

Watch Storage Case

This brought back memories of Christmas Eve at my Margaret and Pawpaw's house. My Pawpaw loved to buy watches for Margaret almost every Christmas. It was sort of the running family joke. He is so sweet...he still buys watches for us every once in a while.  Anyway, Margaret could have definitely used one of these. She might be the only person in the world who ever had this many watches.

Passing the Bar Game

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is not exactly a law student's version of fun. Nor would it be a way to study for the bar. I don't know, I might be wrong. I am pretty sure it would more likely be used as a drinking game by 1st year law students who are in the apathetic mode. I had a friend who recently took the Bar and it didn't sound like fun and games to me. I can see stuffy lawyers who live in DC playing this with their kids as practice. Poor kids...they have no chance at living a socially normal life. 

And...every one's favorite:

Skyrest Travel Pillow

I think the most awkward thing about this nifty pillow is the level at which you lay your head. You are literally right in your neighbor's face. Plus, you have the dilemma of when to blow it up, before or after taking your seat. Either way, you have to hold it in your lap until you can take your tray table down. We all know you have to be at 10,000 feet or something like that before that sucker can come down. Furthermore, where do you put your tiny complimentary beverage and peanuts. See, this is too much trouble. Skip the huge blow-up pillow and fall asleep bobbing your head forward like the rest of us. 

What are some of your favorite Sky Mall treasures?

Some New Stuff

I have been going to/trying a few new things lately and I wanted to share.

Junior League of Austin

My mom was in Junior League growing up and I remember all the fun stuff she got to participate in. My main goal in joining JLA is to get more involved in service projects. The one my mom used to do was the WHO program. I am not exactly sure what WHO stands for, but I remember my mom and her JL friends coming to my elementary school in their denim aprons. They would do a little presentation with an owl puppet that said "whoooooo" and teach us how to handle a stranger. (You know, don't take candy or get in their car...that sort of thing.) The Austin chapter is extremely service-driven and I love that. Don't get me wrong, we have some fun, but we love to serve. The service project we are doing as provisional members is called FIT (Food In Tummies). We provide a backpack of food for every student in an elementary school that is 98% on the free lunch program. This backpack goes home with them on the weekend so that they will eat (healthily) over the weekend and come back on Monday ready to learn. I have LOVED this! We did a sort of "pep rally" for the kids at the beginning of the school year and it was awesome.

Fall Smells w/ My New Scentsy

I LOVE the Fall. In fact, I might just write a post about my favorite season, but for a sneak peek, I will tell you about how wonderful my house smells! My cousin, Monica, recently started a business selling Scentsy products. If you haven't heard of them, check out Monica's site and buy one! They are awesome! It's basically like having a candle, but there is no fire involved and it spreads the fragrance all over the house. Right now my fragrance is Autumn Sunset and it's lovely!

Bikram/Sweaty Yoga

My friend, Laura, recommended that I try out Sweaty Yoga at Black Swan Yoga. It took me a while but I finally tried it and I loved it! It's not exactly like Bikram yoga, but it's close. The room is only about 90 degrees instead of 100-105 degrees, we do different poses every time and the class is only an hour long instead of 90 minutes. Recently, my sweet hubby (who is obsessed w/ deal-a-day sites) got a 10-session Bikram yoga deal for me. I am excited to start trying that and it will be interesting to see how my body becomes stronger, more flexible and hopefully leaner. I can't run as much as I used to, so hopefully yoga can become my new practice. (As Jeremy and I have come to realize, we are getting old!) But, I love that yoga slows me down and forces me to pray and meditate. I can strengthen my faith and my body at the same time.

Music Discovery

As most of you know, Jeremy and I LOVE music. It's fun to live in a city that encourages us to try new artists and gives us the opportunity to become more aware of new music. Our October is filled with lots of fun concerts! In college, my friend Phil introduced me to an artist named Griffin House. I have one of his albums and I have loved that album for a while now. For some reason, Jeremy recently became interested in him as well, and we got a couple more albums. He is a secular artist, but the underlying tone in a lot of his songs is spiritual. He is also really romantic and always makes me wonder who he is writing all these songs for. Another amazing artist that I am obsessed with lately is Tyrone Wells. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, you have probably heard his music. Our community pastor randomly ran into him last year at South by Southwest and struck up a conversation. Turns out that Tyrone's dad is a preacher! He has an AMAZING voice and he too is secular, but his songs have an underlying Christian theme. He actually came and sang at our church and made me cry. Check him out!!

What new things have you experienced lately?

Enemy Territory

Last weekend Jeremy and I got to take a road trip with our good friends, Allison and Jordan (and their dog Raider, who stared at the car ceiling the entire trip because of the reflections from our phones). The Texas Longhorns were playing the Tech Red Raiders and it was a perfect opportunity to go to a football game and spend some time w/ Allison and Jordan's family in Lubbock. As an added bonus, we got to see my Dad, who is a huge Red Raider fan, some of Jeremy's old pals from Dumas and my cousin, Aron with some old friends from FBC Odessa.

That was the ugliest game I have ever seen, and I have been to a lot of Baylor football games. That's all I will say about the game itself.

I have no connection w/ either school, so I decided to default to my hubby's alma mater and wear burnt orange. I should have pulled a Switzerland and worn my Baylor green and gold, but I wanted to have a team to cheer for. Plus, Jeremy is always supportive of the Bears so I had to reciprocate. I even made the little Longhorn w/ my hand at one point! :)

I was laughing at all the cheers that the Longhorns do. There is one that says "give 'em hell" and I told Jeremy he was not allowed to teach that cheer to our kids. He probably will.

We had so much fun meeting the Gristy family and playing in Lubbock. The Gristys were so hospitable and it was fun to put faces with names. I told Allison I wanted to see all the fun places they hung out when they went to school there. I love taking people to my old stomping grounds! They showed us where they used to live, where they used to work, where Allison got stuck in a dust storm (love West Texas) and lots of other fun sentimental things. One of my favorites was stopping at Sheridan's after the game for a late night snack (dinner at that point). I had the Mother In-Law which had vanilla custard, Rice Krispies, chocolate chips and bananas. OMG. I want more. After that we stopped at Taco Villa for a burrito and my life was complete. I literally thought I was in Heaven (especially after seeing that West Texas sunset)!

Road trips with good friends can't be beat (unlike the Red Raiders). :( Sorry fans.

Facebook Moods

I have realized lately how Facebook can really help/hurt my day. I am so lucky that the bulk of my friends on Facebook are really positive and encouraging. I get a lot of inspirational quotes, Bible verses, happy news, funny stories, etc. I don't always have a happy reaction to FB, but for the most part, I can feel really uplifted when I read through the status updates. Have you noticed how that stuff can affect your day?

Here are some thoughts I have when I read FB statuses (Keep in mind I never get on the computer version of FB, only my iPhone.)

1. I needed to hear that today.

2. For the love, when do you people have time to play these ridiculous games! I don't have a sheep to give, I don't care to beat you in Bejeweled and I don't know anything about dungeons and dragons.

3. I hope I can have that attitude when I go through hard times.

4. Holy crap, another one of my girlfriends is prego.

5. Holy crap, they are having a girl.

6. TMI. Seriously, why would you post that on Facebook for the world to see.

7. I am inspired by (insert name)'s faith. What a blessing they are in my life.

8. That video was hilarious and I should share. OR That video was a waste of 2 minutes and 34 seconds of my life...why is it taking up Youtube space?

9. Please stop updating your location every five minutes. I feel a little stalkerish knowing where you are.

10. I am SO lucky to have so many friends, family and acquaintances whith whom I can stay in touch.

11. You should probably keep that REALLY hateful political comment to yourself (I get both sides).

12. I am glad they shared that product/service. I will have to look into that.

13. HONK!! (That is someone behind me getting mad that I am looking at FB statuses instead of going through the green light.)

14. I like learning new things about my relatives. We are related by blood, but how did I not know that about them?!

15. My eyes hurt.

The Gifts We Won't Regift

Don't worry people, I don't make re-gifting a regular habit. Jeremy and I were recently talking about the wedding gifts that we use the most and I decided to make a list. I will preface by saying that we loved ALL of our wedding gifts. But it's fun to see the stuff that we can give other people knowing it's extremely useful. Sometimes the most practical gifts are the best!

Dyson Animal Vaccum
Best vacuum ever! Can I get an AMEN? We don't have a lot of carpet in our house, but this bad boy works on wood, tile, concrete, carpet, etc. I am convinced it would work on asphalt if we needed it to. Thank you Dyson for making our dog-ownership a little easier. Dog hair tumbleweeds cannot stand up against our Dyson.

Cuisinart Handheld Blender
We use this thing almost every day. Jeremy and I both love our Shaklee shakes. We have the Soy Protein and the Physique (a natural muscle recovery drink) on a pretty regular basis. This blender is perfect because we don't have to drag out our huge blender. I also love the little food processor attachment. My favorite wedding gifts are starting to have a theme...attachments!

Coffee Maker
Every. Single. Day. We love our coffee and we are a little snobby about it. We order our coffee online from New Mexico and it's a pinion bean. It's the most amazing coffee ever and we have our friend, Rick, in Dumas to thank for it. He has a cabin in Taos and he introduced Jeremy when he lived in the Panhandle. Anyway, my BFF, Amanda, got this for us and ironically she lives in New Mexico and drinks that coffee now too! It has a grinder so it sounds like an airplane taking off when we make coffee. So worth it!

Washer and Dryer
This one is obvious but it was a nice wedding/Christmas gift from Jeremy's dad and step mom that we couldn't live w/out. We realized that these appliances could have easily been a huge expense for us when we moved into our house, but we are lucky to have supportive parents. We love our washer and dryer even more now that we use our Shaklee laundry products. They are phosphate-free and smell so good! I know that's cheesy, but for real.

  

Knives 

Remember that time I almost cut my thumb off? Or the other time I almost cut my thumb off? Yeah I love my knives and I use them every day, but I am so clumsy. Every time I use them Jeremy says "be careful!" My routine in the morning is to get up, make a salad to take for lunch and cut up some fruit for Jeremy and myself. I will say I don't think I have ever used that huge knife. If I can't handle a paring knife I think I should stay away from the machete. 

Board Games
It seemed silly when we were registering for these, but they have been awesome! We have a fun group of couple friends here in Austin, and we get together a lot. It's fun to drag out the games every once in a while. If you come across a wedding registry w/ games on it, buy one!

 Pearl Studs

This is what Jeremy got me for my wedding gift. I love pearls and I wear these a lot! There is nothing classier than a pair of pearl studs and you can wear them with anything. I have worn them to weddings with a formal evening dress, and I have worn them with shorts and a t-shirt. I have a feeling I will be using this wedding gift for as long as I live.

Other Practical Gifts We Use Every Day
Towels-Yes, we bathe every day (usually)
Pots/Pans-Calphalon gave us a free fajita pan w/ our set. I have never used it. I don't really get what to do w/ it since we make fajitas on the grill. Anyone?
Margarita Machine-I guess this isn't practical...I just wanted to throw it in since we love it! We didn't pull it out for about two years but hey, better late than never.

This is definitely not an exhaustive list. I have many more wedding gifts (and just gifts in general) that I love and use all the time. What gift have you received that you use the most?

The Life of a Little Dog Named Ella

Our dogs bring so much joy to our lives. They make us laugh and they will never stop wanting to cuddle. I hope my kids are as cuddly as they are! Ella is the 2 and 1/2 yr. old puggle that we got for my birthday a couple of summers ago. We got her from a breeder in the Ft. Worth area who I will totally endorse! Kanine Kisses...click puggles on the right. We named her Sorella Belle. Sorella means "sister" in Italian and we felt like it was fitting since Lexi was getting a new sister. We call her Ella for short. In honor of her (and my birthday) I have decided to write a little about her world.

I have decided that Ella has a few main life goals. I don't think she is necessarily aiming for the stars, but she is as content as she can be. No, she will never win Best in Show (I don't think the judges would appreciate her running amok around the arena), and I doubt she would be able to make it through one of those doggy obstacle courses (she gets easily sidetracked), but we sure do love her to death! Having said all that, here are Ella's life goals:

1. Find poop and eat it. (not her own or Lexi's, but anything else's)
2. Eat more ice. (she is like a crackhead when it comes to ice)
3. Get under the covers in our bed.

Ella tends to steal the hearts of many. Most all of our family and friends love her and she has a few boyfriends among our friends' dogs. The video below is a great example of the signature "Ella head turn." I was asking her if she wanted to go visit her friend Raider for the weekend:



Ella also has a neurotic side. She gets freaked out by weird things. We can come home from the grocery store and the grocery bags freak her out. She runs away when the vacuum comes out, and when we turn the shower on, she hides in the closet because she thinks we are going to bathe her. She HATES water and refuses to jump in when we take them to the dog park. BUT, the funniest time she wigged out was one night when Jeremy and I decided to play a game of Gin Rummy in bed. Check it out (it's kind of long but TOTALLY worth watching until the end).



I could go on and on about our little Ella. We have started calling her Kramer because she comes flying in and out of rooms just like the spazzo Seinfeld character. We also call her Buddha Belly because she has this little round belly. I can't imagine our life w/ out her, and I definitely understand the love between a dog and its mommy now. I suppose this only touches the surface of what it will feel like to have kids. One day...

Ella in Photos:

Ella's first visit to the vet the day we got her

She was so tiny and cute!

She loves her mommy.
 

Her first Halloween, we tried the clown hat. No luck.

Second Halloween we tried the pumpkin. She was thinking bad words.

Ella is a dramatic yawner...she sighs really loudly.

Her first road trip to Odessa.

In her favorite spot on the couch.

Waiting by the freezer for ice to magically drop out...w/ her friend Raider.

The beagle in her comes out when she howls.

When we had a bad hailstorm. Ella went outside afterward and didn't know where to begin. God had just poured ice all over the ground and Ella was in Heaven.

Colorado in the Summer

I spent two summers during graduate school in Aspen, Colorado. There truly is nothing like Colorado in the summer. The air is crisp and cool and the sky is just a different color blue. We recently got to travel to Breckenridge, CO with some of our good friends from Austin, Allison and Jordan. We hoped to have more couples join us, but it worked out that just the four of us got to go. Here are the highlights:

http://www.homeaway.com/ Use it, and love it! 
-We rented a home from Home Away and got a STEAL!  The house was tucked up in the mountains about nine miles south of downtown Breckenridge. It had windows everywhere and the most beautiful views.

Pajama Party
-I think one of the best parts of our trip was just laying around in our PJ's and being lazy. I didn't wear any makeup or blow dry my hair for the entire five days. It was amazing. The first day there, we spent the entire morning drinking coffee and putting a 1000-piece puzzle together.Allison and I loved being at home while the guys played golf. We made peach cobbler, cut up the fruit we had gotten at the farmer's market and read our books. Oh, and let's be honest, we caught up on all the trashy gossip about Jake and Vienna (from The Bachelor) thanks to the investigative journalism done by In Touch and People.

The reflection in the puzzle made it super hard...but we did it!

Hats Off to Colorado
-If you ever go to Breck, make sure to stop by the hat store. I honestly can't even remember the name of it, but it provided about an hour of pure entertainment for everyone. We didn't buy anything and I was praying the whole time that we didn't get lice, but here are some of our favorites:

Melted Snow is Cold
-One of the highlights of our trip was whitewater rafting. We went on the Arkansas river on a route called The Numbers. There were 10 rapids all ranging from three to five in difficulty. Since the water is literally melted snow, we got wetsuits and splash jackets. The guide said it was probably about 35-40 degrees. This made Allison feel even better about her first rafting trip! Needless to say, this trip was AWESOME! Our guide decided that we looked young and athletic so he decided to take every rapid head on. We got to one rapid and he asked us if we wanted to do it or go around. We were like, "duh...bring it on!" About 20 seconds later, I flew out. Luckily, I listened to our safety lesson and I was back in the raft in a matter of minutes. Everyone kept asking me if I was okay since I was under water for so long. I had no idea...I thought the little dip was quite refreshing and made the trip more fun! (Thank the Lord I am alive!)

Sexy rafting outfits.

Church on a Mountain
-The only thing I cared about going into our trip was hiking.There is something so spiritual about being on a mountain surrounded by God's creation. I definitely had a few moments of humility, and I was overwhelmed by how much God loves me even though I am so small in the big picture. We found an awesome hike that had everything you could want in a hike: forest, steep/rocky climbs, meadows, waterfalls and a lake at the top. The hike was a 7-mile round trip hike to Mohawk Lake. It was ranked intermediate, but we all decided that it might have been a bit harder. We are all pretty athletic and there were times when it sounded like we had emphysema. But, all that heavy breathing was TOTALLY worth it!

There was one point where it was so steep, we had to use this cable to climb up.

Dude Time
-While Allison and I chilled at home the guys got to play golf. Apparently, golf balls fly farther in Colorado since the air is so thin. Jeremy and Jordan were in Heaven with the mountains surrounding them and their muscles feeling bigger than normal. :) They also enjoyed an evening on the balcony with cigars and dude talk. Allison and I decided they are spoiled, but we are okay with that!

Hook 'Em and Get Your Guns Up!

We are so lucky to be able to travel as much as we do. I suppose that's why we are waiting a little longer to have kiddos. We are also SO blessed to have friends like Allison and Jordan. They are amazing travel buddies since they are so laid back like Jeremy and myself. Plus, we just love spending time with them! We decided while we were in CO that we need to make that a yearly trip. Even after we have kids, it will be fun to all head up to the mountains. I can't wait!!

More Pics

We went to Gianpietro's Pizza and ordered the deep dish. It came in one size...HUGE!!

Allison said it looked like I was floating the clouds.

Thoughtful Jeremy.

Strong Allison!

Strong Allison and Molly!

Our amazing house!!