Non-Adventure #7 Californiaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I am back from California, I got in last night after a full day of traveling. I flew into LAX on Thursday morning. My sister picked me up and we headed out to enjoy sometime in LA. We went to the Grove did some shopping and had our make-up done at Nordstroms. While we were getting our make-up at the MAC counter Adam Sandler was hanging out in the store. We had a nice lunch at this beautiful Italian restaurant. After leaving the Grove we headed out to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After a slight detour because of Kevin Costners movie premiere for Swing Vote. We got out and walked around looking at stars, footprints, and Graumans Chinese Theater.
Down the street from all that is a shopping center. We hung out there for a little while. In the picture below you can see the movie theater where the movie was premiering.
In the courtyard area below there was a lot of commotion and production as well as signs telling people that by entering the area you are giving permission to be filmed. They were filming something for TLC's Ten Years Younger. We waited around for a little while waiting to see someone in the box or revealed but no one got in while we were there. So we gave up waiting but in the picture below you can see the box.
All of these pictures were taken from a bridge. This last picture is from the other side of the bridge where you can see in the distance the Hollywood sign.
After we left there we drove up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to head to Oxnard. It is a beautiful drive with the ocean and beach on your left the whole drive. It takes you through Santa Monica (the picture below is the Santa Monica Pier and some houses that are on the PCH), and Malibu. We rode with the windows down and enjoyed the wind, the sun.

The main reason I went to California was to help out my sister because she was having a minor outpatient surgery on Friday and her husband (who is in the navy) was on a mini-deployment. Her surgery went well and everything turned out fine but she spent the rest of the day as well as all Saturday and most of Sunday just hanging out around her town house. She slept and I cleaned, made jello, and did some laundry. Monday she was feeling tons better and so after hanging around we decided to drive up to Santa Barbara. We got ready and were on our way out of town when her doctor called and wanted her to come in so she could look at the rash Donna had gotten. She said it was a small allergic reaction to something but nor serious and that if it got worse to call her. So we left the hospital and headed out to Santa Barbara!
We arrived and were extremely hungry and so we ate linner (lunch/dinner) at The California Pizza Kitchen and then did some shopping. The picture above was what it looked like when we walked out of one of the shops there. It was so beautiful with the houses and mountains peeking through the shops. Everything there was so beautiful the architecture, the flowers and greenery, even the highway up was beautiful. We hung out most of the evening and then headed back to Oxnard with a stop to visit with her friend Aurora. We came home and watched Field of Dreams (my favorite movie) and I packed up for the airport the next morning. Monday (Santa Barbara day) was my birthday and for my birthday Donna helped me buy these earings (picture below) from Juicy Couture for my birthday.
If you turn them on the side the prongs that holds the stones in make little crowns. They are so cute and it worked out well because I was earingless due to losing one of my earings on the flight out to LA (they were the only ones I brought and I wear them literally 24/7). I had a good time and as usual it was good to see my sister. I went to LA 27 years old and came home 28, and yes it feels old. Well, I am still trying to get on that photo two blogs down but I wanted to get these two out. Sorry I didn't take more photos to show you guys but there wasn't much time spent out of her house. At the end of the trip it was good to come home and see my sweet little white dog, I really missed her and from the tracks she laid at the airport I can say that I think she missed me too.

Non-Adventure #6 Twice the blessings, and twice the curlz!

Saturday July 19th was the day we scheduled to have Amy's baby shower. We figured since she was was expecting twins an early shower was guaranteed to have Amy appear at the shower. I was thrilled when Leah (her sister) asked me to help host the shower. I decided I would do the food with help from Rachel and Susan. I also did our hostess gifts which were girl diaper cakes #1 & 2. So as the Saturday loomed closer I started to feel a little stressed with so much to do, but in a good way (I like to stay busy!). We had a great array of food that covered the sweet and salty as well as the delicious. Rachel did our liquids (lemonade and sherbert punch) as well as sausage cheese balls. Susan made tea sandwiches, cherry bread, muffins and another type of bread I cannot remember (blueberry, maybe). I made my sausage/cream cheese pinwheels, mini french puff pastries, and a fruit creation (thanks dad!). We had bibs outside for everyone to decorate for the girls. Here are the pictures of the cakes, I searched all over for this ribbon, and chose it especially for the cakes. It was a beautiful black ribbon with white flowers on it.

Cake #1

Cake #2 Both cakes together Here are the shower pictures, unfortunately I only had my camera with me during the beginning of the shower and so none of mine are during the shower.
The sign-in/blessings table
The sign-in sheet
The blessings jar
The food table picture #1
The food table picture #2
The presents table Me with two(four) of my favorite girls!

The shower was a success! Amy spent over an hour opening up all the presents! We cleaned up and were out of there by 2ish (the shower started at 11am). I think Amy has some pictures up of the presents and guests on her blog. Just look her up on my favorite blogs to read. I'll post again soon and talk about my trip to Cali!!!

Non-Adventure #5 Dog Days and a Wedding

*I am posting this so late because I kept meaning to add a picture but I am posting now and will add it later! (can't add it now because I am in California with my sister helping her recover from a minor surgery)

So our last weekend in May was a jam packed weekend full of fun activities for both Sookie and I. Friday was the calm before the storm. They scheduled the Dog Days of Summer for Saturday. It is basically an event downtown at the old civic center park area where people can bring their dogs (on a non-retractable leash) and they had all kinds of booths set up. They had dogs doing agility tests and tricks. They had people there selling fancy collars, leashes, harnesses, clothes, and carriers. They also had people advertising for doggie daycare, dog boarding, grooming, vets, and emergency services. Some booths were giving away treats, food, bandanas, leashes, cups, magnets, and lots of other goodies for dogs. One of our first stops was a booth where they had tons of dog costumes with all kinds of accessories. I looked through almost everything they had and didn't find anything cuter than the summer dress she was already wearing. At the last minute my friend Stacie stumbled across this little red beret that matched her dress and so I put that on her. She moved too much during her first photo shoot and so we had to do some reshoots. But we found a winner (and it was one of the ones with the beret)!

Here she is posing for the camera:

*I will add this picture later! So come back to see it

Here is Sookie after we got home from the dog days. She was totally worn out.

So I wish that was all I had on my Saturday but I still had to get ready for a wedding in Ft. Worth that evening...

(I should stop here and tell you that this was the wedding of Brady Gunn and Erin McCall. I have know Erin since she was a sophomore in high school. I was working ACU Leadership Camps and had met this guy named Chris through some campers I had known who were what I would consider my regulars. He went on and on about his girlfriend who was coming on another week and how I should look out for her. I first met her on the 4th of July at the Richard's house where me, a bunch of counselors and some of my campers were hanging out. She was this tiny, very shy thing, who didn't say too much. Well, thankfully Chris reminded her to ask for my hall when she went to camp and asked to be placed on my hall at registration/check-in. I think that was the week that she got sick from something in the middle of the night and ended up staying in my room. After that summer we stayed in contact and every summer after she asked to be put on my hall and we became good friends and better ones when she moved out to ACU her freshman year. She and Chris eventually broke up and neither one of us ahs kept in touch with him but I am forever grateful that he told Erin to be on my hall. It has been a great joy of mine to have befriended some of those campers and stayed in contact with them. There is an incredible joy in getting to watch them mature in age and in faith and along the way they have blessed my life in ways they will never know. That is how I met Erin and below is the continuation of going to Erin and Brady's wedding):

So after looking for the shirt I wanted to wear (I found it in the crevice of the couch), making my hair straight, and doing my make-up. I was heading out and when checking the time I was doing good, even going to be on time. So I was cruising along making good time, I made it through Ft. Worth and as I am about a mile away from my exit the traffic is starting to get bad. Well, to make it short they were slowly forcing you down to ONE LANE! I sat in almost dead stopped traffic watching my time tick away and then vanish, and then I was late, later, and REALLY late. I finally merged down to the last lane only to go three feet and be able to move back over three lanes to exit. So I get to the church fully expecting people to be walking out the door and to have me trying to make the decision to walk in or just go on to the reception. So I decided to go ahead and head in. To my surprise the ceremony was still going on. I missed all the processionals and some songs and most of the sermon but I was able to see the sand, the vows, the rings, and the pronouncement of husband and wife. I went on to the reception at the BEAUTIFUL Ridglea Country Club (the church was one of the most gorgeous churches I have ever seen as well, it was a presbyterian church in Ft. Worth on Oakmont Trail, I think). It was one of those weddings where two wonderful people are perfect for each and together they are even more incredible people. I made it through most of the reception and then headed home.

Here is Erin (McCall) Gunn and I at the reception (my hair was down but because its so dark in the picture my hair seems to have disappeared):

Sunday was the first Sunday for our new preaching minister at Singing Oaks. I think I am going to like him and his lessons. I like that he gives us an outline every Sunday where we can follow along and fill in the blanks. The rest of our Sunday was relatively uneventful which gave me and Sookie a chance to rest up.

Rambling # 4 Diaper Cakes!

Ok so one of my confessions from my 6 random things post is about how I wouldn't mind running my own diaper cake business. I just love making them they are so much fun. I have to say that there isn't a single part of making a cake that I find boring or tedious. The only thing about the diaper cakes is that everyone I know and have made one for has been having a boy, so I have never been able to make a girl baby diaper cake. I'm hoping it changes soon due to Amy's news. I think her girls will get to be girl diaper cakes #1 and #2. So one of my typical diaper cakes consists of 112 size one diapers, 10 washcloths, 5 onesies, a blanket, bath wash, baby lotion, powder, and 2 pacifiers. Then if I know the babies name I might put it on the front of the cake. I change the cakes up all the time so everyone is a little different from the last.

I guess I should tell you how I stumbled into this little adventure. Well it all started with this blog I was stalking about Suz and how she and her husband Joe were preparing to have quads. Well the people at her father's office threw a shower and gave her a diaper cake and so with my friend Leah's baby shower coming up, I thought I would give it a try. Now I researched and looked at all kinds of pictures online and I had in my mind a vision of how I wanted hers to look like. I wanted it to be three or four layers and have these wires coming out of the top with her bottles hanging of them. Needless to say I was thinking a little grandiose, and because it was so hard to make the "dangling bottles" work I will not attempt that ever again.

Since that first cake I have made one for my friend Chrissie to take to her school for a fellow teacher (that is the only one that I didn't get a picture of), one for Kris' boy Jack Hudson who arrived yesterday (Congrats Kris and Amanda!), and one for my cousin Bill's new son Brady Charles. The pictures are in that order starting with Leah and baby Casen's.

Leah and Casen's

Kris, Amanda, and Jack Hudson Wasemillers:

Bill, Danica, and Brady Charles Brown's:

So there you have it. That is one of my maybe jobs I wouldn't mind doing. I guess if you are interested and want a diaper cake leave me a message.

Non-Adventure # 4 Sookie's First Day

So the reason I am giving for being slow in posting is due to the fact that I just haven't taken the time to move my pictures from my camera to my computer. I have now finally done it and so here are some new non-adventures. The one that I am posting today, happened the very FIRST day I had Sookie.



So it was that first Monday that I had her and things had gone well that morning. I had let her out, played with her, and then fed her. I put her back in her house (kennel) and went on to work. Well my dad went home around lunch time and let her out with our two big dogs, which was a good thing, not a problem. He comes back to work and tells me he let her out and that she had somehow found a pen and chewed it a little on my bed. It's my turn to go home for lunch and I see that yes she chewed the pen up on my bed. It seems he let all the dogs back in the house and just let her wander unsupervised around the house, where she found a pen, dragged it back to my bed, chewed it up and all the ink went through my comforter, through my sheets, and only just stopped at me mattress cover. Well he failed to mention the gravity of the staining at work. He left out the bed and the fact that she had blue paws as well.



To date it is the only thing she has done to cause any real damage and so it's not a big deal. We were even able to get the blue off her paws. The sheets are sheets and I'm not bothered by the fact they still have ink stains after mutiple washings and every stain removal in the world. Although it gave me a great excuse to get the pink and white polka dotted comforter I had my eye on in Target, so I guess thanks, Sook!



Here she is with her blue Paw.

Rambling # 3 Like Leah, I have been tagged twice.

So I have been tagged by both Amy and by Leah. So I figured it was time I actually did the blog so that I can avoid another tagging.

So here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

So here are my six Random things:

1. I confess here and now that I am a TV-aholic. I love it. I have so many favorite shows I could be here all day writing a list of my favorites. I love watching them on TV, Seasons on DVD( I have all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls as well as many other TV shows on DVD), and online. I am a big fan of http://www.hulu.com/. It's great, you can watch TV shows and movies for free online.

2. To go along with my TV obsession I confess that I secretly wish I lived in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. I want to live in the same town as Miss Patty, Babbette, Taylor, Gypsy, Sookie, Jackson, Mrs. Kim, Luke and Kirk. I want to go to all the quirky festivals and celebrations they always have. In reality though I have been to the backlot set they used for Stars Hollow and stood in the gazebo and in front of Luke's.

3. I have an uncanny knack for catching movie mistakes/continuity issues. Like in Oceans 11, in the scene where Julia Roberts comes down the stairs, Brad Pitt is eating a shrimp cocktail in a wine glass and when the camera changes angles it's a on a plate. Angle change again and it's back to the glass. I often annoy my friends and family in the movie theater with these observations during the movie.

4. I miss summer vacation. That break in the summer that was for enjoying being outdoors and hanging with friends. I really miss New Jersey summers. They were so nice. Not too cold where it wasn't fun to do things outside and not so hot that being outside is draining. I miss those perfect NJ summers. Days filled with going to the water park, the boardwalk, the beach, the pool and camps.

5. I love music. Almost all kinds. Most days my iPod is in the songs playlist on shuffle because I have a hard time deciding on one artist or one album to listen to. Currently though I am really into an artist I picked up from One Tree Hill named Missy Higgins. I really love her album On a Clear Night.

6. One last confession. I am not sure what it is I want to do as a career. There are many things I think I want to do and I have figured out some things I know I don't want to do. It is something that sometimes keeps me up thinking. I think I would love to have my own company making diaper cakes, or a stationary shop to do announcements and invites with my mom, a bakery or pie shop, or who knows what else. One thing I do know is that I'm not sure I would like to be a classroom teacher. I think it's just not for me.

SO now comes the time where I have to pick six people to tag and so I guess I tag:

Alison, Annalee, Brooke, Felicia, Lori, and Tiffany! Your it! Have fun!

Non-Adventure #3 Hello Sookie!

So I guess I should apologize to the two people who read this blog, I have been absent from posting because I have been a little busy. I decided a while back that I wanted to get a dog. I tried to adopt this really cute Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix from a shelter near my sister in Kentucky but the shelter picked some other family to adopt Blueberry and her sister Blackberry. So, after returning home from Kentucky without a dog I decided to check our local shelters. I guess here is where I should say that I have always wanted a Westie, they are those cute little dogs from the Cesar dog commercials, they look like this:

So I found the North Texas Westie Rescue and they didn't have any girl dogs at the time I was looking, and so somehow I stumbled onto the Oklahoma Westie Rescue (okwestierescue.com) and I found two dogs I liked. The first was this kind of awkward but cute dog named Pepper and the other was a cute puppy named Zoe. I filled out an application to adopt Zoe and after a long process involving them calling references and having a home visit I was approved to adopt. The thing was the process took sooo long that someone else adopted Zoe first. When chosen to adopt one of their rescues you must come pick up the dog in person. So the after being approved my first available weekend to make the journey to Oklahoma was the last weekend in April. So I decided I would go then and meet the dogs and I would then make my final decision about which dog I wanted to adopt. So on that Sunday after church my wonderful friend Baylee and I hit the road for (a long, long, long) trip through Oklahoma. Our first stop was Oklahoma City to pick up Pepper (her current foster family was moving and if I didn't adopt her they were going to have to move her to another foster home in Tulsa) and take her on with us to Tulsa where the other dogs were. So we left OKC and drove a very boring drive to Tulsa and finally arrived at Meredith's (one of the ladies in charge of the Westie Rescue) house we met several of the other dogs including two others I had been looking at online a dog named Jenna and another named Bruce. Bruce was very cute and had he been a girl I would have got him. Looking at the girl dogs online I was leaning towards Jenna but when I got there she was very blah, she was personalityless, and I really liked Pepper the dog we picked up in OKC. She was cuter than her online pictures and she was fun. So I officially adopted Pepper. She is super cute and has a TON of energy. Because she has lived in a foster home since December she is pretty much potty trained and she is a great car dog she pretty much sleeps once the car gets going. So a big big thank you to Baylee who went along with me as my travel buddy and chat partner. Here is a picture of me with my new dog who was named Pepper but who I have renamed Sookie. (like the character from Gilmore Girls, one of my all time favorite shows!) So here is my new dog Sookie:

Non-Adventure #2 Fast Cars and Sunburns

So non-adventure #2 happened just this last Sunday. I should start by saying that my dad gets access to sporting events all the time and this weekend was no exception. He got tickets to Nascar at the Texas Motor Speedway. Neither one of us had ever been to a race and so we decided to make a day of it. With our tickets came a pass to the Lowe's tent in the Village of Champions. We got there bright and early and parked way out due to the fact that our passes didn't come with the VIP parking pass that would allow us to park closer on the paved area. We froze walking up because we had both dressed for the weather that was predicted for later in the day. It was so windy, which made it even colder. We headed into the Lowe's tent where we got a disposable camera and a matchbox version of the 48 Lowe's car which is driven by Jimmie Johnson. They had breakfast and all the juice, water, and soda you could drink. We ate and then walked around and looked at some of the other tents. Dad decided he wanted to go back to the car for a bit but I didn't want to so I sat in the tent and tried to get warm. When he returned it was time for our Q&A with Jimmie Johnson. He was super nice and answered everyone's questions with good, full answers. He didn't have time to sign autographs but we were able to take as many pictures of him as we wanted. Here is "our driver" #48 Jimmie Johnson

After he was done we took a pit tour and got to talk to one of the guys in Jimmie's pit crew.

Then we headed back and they had lunch out for us. We ate and then went and found our seats around the track. From the tent to our seats felt like a mile walk. We watched all but the last 100 laps.

Then we went home and watched "our driver" Jimmie win 2nd place. We had a great time and we enjoyed it all for free!

Non-Adventure #1 Dah-ling You Look Mah-velous!

I am really late in posting the first non-adventure. The first non-adventure took place about 2 Saturdays ago. It was Saturday March 29th and it is an event that only happens twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. It is Fashion at the Park. Twice a year they have fashion shows at Northpark to introduce the new hot things for fall or for spring. My favorite show is always the cosmetics trend show. For $15 you get a ticket into the big white tent and you get to see what is new in cosmetics for that season. They have drawings during the show with tons of cool stuff, I have never won the drawing but last year Baylee won a huge basket of with a $150 worth of products. After the show you can have a make-up appointment with one of the make-up counters. Plus they are usually doing demos and trials of all their products. The fall show they were giving free false lashes and they would put them on you. Plus if you buy anything you ticket from the fashion show will get you $15 off of your purchase.

So this long explanation is the event I was going to on that Saturday. So early that Saturday I went to pick up Baylee and Hope, my friend Chrissie was going to meet us at the mall. The show started at 9am, we got there at 8:30. We walked into the BIG white tent, got some breakfast and parked ourselves at the entrance to be ready when they opened the curtain. The runway is a U-shape with a row of seats in the middle, where we sat. We watched the show, Chrissie was late but met up with us after the show. When the show was over we tested out some products and then went and had our make-up done. Baylee and Hope had theirs done at the MAC counter, while I went with my fav Bobbi Brown. After having our make-up done we ate lunch and shopped at the mall. Chrissie had to go to somewhere else and left around 2:30. The girls and I were there about another hour and then we too headed back to Denton with our pretty make-up and out new purchases.

It is always a lot of fun and I just love having my make-up done by others especially pros. Here are some pictures of us at the Trend show.

Baylee and Hope

Me and the girls

One of Baylee and Hope at lunch after their make-up

and because I forgot to take one after the make-up, a pic from fall trend show with my friend Stacie.

Rambling #2 I can do that!

Ok so I have mentioned the joy that I get out of making things for others to enjoy. Well a couple of months ago I was talking to one of the girls that I work with and she was talking about her daughter's upcoming birthday and the party she was planning. Now I must pause in this story and tell you that in the ho-hum town I live in, if you want a decorated cake there is really one place to go in town (other than a grocery store). This bakery kind of has a monopoly on the decorated cake industry. Well Melissa's daughter wanted the face of Hello Kitty for her birthday cake.

So she went to the bakery and the price they quoted her was HUGE! They wanted $85! I couldn't believe it because truth be told all of their so called fancy cakes start from box cake mix. I said if it is just the face you want I think I can do that. She needed the cake in two weeks and so I decided that first week that I would do a trial cake to make sure I could do the actual shape of her face right, that way if I couldn't then she would still have time to order the other one. Well week one, I made the trial cake and was surprised that getting the shape was actual really easy and so it was on. I spent most of the second week trying to figure out what I was going to use for the eyes, nose and whiskers. I originally thought jelly beans and black licorice, but the jelly beans weren't the right size and I couldn't find licorice that wasn't little chunks. So, I decided I would make my own fondant and dye it. Just a little bit of info, if dyeing fondant using black food coloring make sure to wear gloves otherwise you will have black nail beds for a week and half. Anyways, after baking the cake (Valentine funfetti), making the shape, frosting and smoothing (thanks mom!), making fondant, dyeing it, making the eyes, nose, and whiskers, and making a bow out of ribbon I had a face of Hello Kitty that was quite cute and something I was very proud of! I had some leftover batter so I made some cupcakes and put them around Kitty with some decorative flowers on top. Melissa and her daughter were thrilled and I felt like a master cake baker/decorator.
Well here is the face of Hello Kitty


Here she is as a final project with the cupcakes around her


So in conclusion dear friends should any of you need a Hello Kitty face cake just let me know!

Well here it goes, I guess. Rambling #1

Ok, after months and months of being a "blog stalker" I am going to try my hand at blogging. My reasons for not having a blog before were due to the fact that my life isn't all that interesting. I don't have a husband or a child which is what most of my friends write their blogs about. My life is usually the same thing day after day. So, I guess in that respect I should tell you a little about myself. I live in the same town that I grew up in, which is nice in that familiar way but not so great in that way that it is ALWAYS the same and there is always the chance you can run into someone from high school who you could care less to talk to. I have a pretty great family and amazing friends. While I could care less for my job, I love the people I work with and the money will do until I make that final decision on which passion it is that I want to make a career out of. I love and have many hobbies. My current obsession has been baking. I love making pies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and other delicious treats. I'm sure that most people enjoy the end result of baking which is getting to eat the delicious treat, they have slaved over, not me. My favorite thing about it is to get to see other people enjoy what I have made. On my computer I have a word sheet that is nothing but recipes. I love it, but I hate the clean-up. Doing dishes is the worst. I love it when my friend Stacie comes and helps me make things because while I am doing the baking stuff she will do the dishes as we go.

For my first post I guess that is a long enough ramble. Until another non-adventure comes up I will just have to keep filling my blog with ramblings to catch people up on how crazy I am. I'm sure that no one will really read this but there it is, my first rambling blog.