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.