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?