Lazy Ladybug

It's January 9th and my Christmas tree is still up

2011-01-08T22:04:00.003-06:00

However, the ornaments are off. I only did that this afternoon. I really have not been the mood to get everything put away this year. Actually, I want to get it put away, I just don't have the motivation to do it. Ugh. Our guest room looks like Christmas exploded. Hopefully this week I can get the last of it packed up and put away.

So, where have I been the last four months? Working and living. I don't even remember when I last wrote (I think it may have been September), so I'll try to do a quick recap:

* Work, work, work, and more work. I have been incredibly busy at work, but it has been really good. I've got my review coming up this week, so I am hoping for more good things to happen.

* My best friend had a baby boy!

* We had some pictures taken by a girl I work with. Those pics would be a great post! Check back in!

* I had jury duty. Thankfully I wasn't selected.

* We drove to East Texas to see best friend and new baby.

* I helped my mom with a garage sale that she said was never going to do again after the LAST one!

* Josh started the RCIA process at the church we go to. At Easter he will officially be Catholic!

* We celebrated our 2 year anniversary. (Has it really been 2 years already?)

* I made eyeball cake bites for a neighbor's Halloween party and that led to me getting a lot more orders this fall! Check out all the latest creations!

* We started getting really serious about starting a family and it's not happening as quickly as we thought, but we are staying positive and saying LOTS of prayers.

* I supported my dad as he ran in his second San Antonio half marathon.

* We hosted Thanksgiving at our house. It was a huge success and it was so nice to be able to be at home at the end of the day.

* We spent Christmas in Ft. Stockton. We were there for almost a week and it was nice to be able to slow down and relax.

* We rang in the New Year in Schulenburg. I actually rang it in in my sleep because I was out by 10:30!

* I got a Nook Color and a new pair of boots with my Christmas money and they have both been well worth it! :)

* We started the Couch to 5k program. We are one week down and looking forward to keeping it up.

I think that pretty much sums up the major points of the last few months. I am really going to try to do better about keeping up with updating this!

Happy New Year!!

Headed west for the weekend

2010-09-07T18:09:00.004-05:00

Josh and I headed to Ft. Stockton for Labor Day Weekend. It was so nice to get out in the middle of nowhere for a few days and not do much.

We went down to Marathon to eat dinner at The Gage Hotel Saturday night. It was so good and the day was absolutely beautiful!! Beautiful enough for Josh and I to talk about quitting our jobs and moving our west! :)

Gorgeous west texas sunset

I don't know what it is about being out there, but I love it. There's just something about the environment that makes me feel so at peace with the world.

And when we got home yesterday afternoon, this was awaiting me! One of the first oxblood lilies of the season! Yeah!

In case you were wondering...

2010-06-30T20:00:00.002-05:00

Yes, I fell off the face of the earth.

Work has been busier than I could ever have imagined! I racked up over 166 hours in the last three weeks. One Friday, I got to work at 6 in the morning and didn't leave until 2:30 the next morning! Most of the time it was getting to work at 6:30 and not leaving until 8 or 9:00 that night. I am still exhausted! I am a person who needs a good 9 hours of sleep at night, so this has been brutal for me. The crazy thing is this is only the beginning of the project...we have 3 more years of this!! Ugh!

I don't even remember where I left off with this blog, so there may be a lot of backtracking in the next couple weeks as I find time to post pictures and recap what has been happening!

Hangin' in there

2010-05-23T17:45:00.003-05:00

I was hoping to be able to do a decent post, but right now, I'm just hanging in there. These last few weeks have been so exhausting, that I'm still trying to catch up with everyday life right now. And it's not going to get any better soon, because this weekend is the family reunion that I have been planning. Hopefully, after that, things will slow down, and I can get in a post about my garden, my family who came in for the funeral and update my baking blog with some things I have been doing.

Life and Death

2010-05-11T19:18:00.002-05:00

I went home this weekend not just for Mother's Day, but to visit with family, mainly my Grandpa Jim. As of Saturday, he was starting to go downhill. He's been slowly getting worse since October, so we have been expecting this, but it's still so hard to go through, especially to watch.

I've now seen firsthand both of my grandfather's gradual decline to the end, and it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It's such a strange feeling to watch this. On one hand, I am fortunate and thankful that I was in my late 20s until my grandparents started to pass away because I was able to get to know them; however, sometimes I think it would have been easier if I was younger because the pain of seeing them suffer is sometimes unbearable to think about.

I saw this when my Grandpa Bennie passed in October, but it has been this experience with Grandpa Jim where it has all come full circle for me - it is amazing how the end of life is so much like the beginning of life, but while the beginning is full of joy and excitement, the end is full of sadness and heartbreak. Just like a newborn, there is a diaper, someone watching over you at all times, checking how much liquid you drank, and basically making sure you are comfortable because you really can't speak for yourself. It is incredibly ironic.

While this has been incredibly difficult, it has definitely helped me to appreciate life and prepared me to someday help my parents, which is not something I really want to think about, but that's life!

Grandpa Jim during World War II

Baking Blog

2010-05-03T21:49:00.003-05:00

Click on the pic above to check out my baking projects. Most have been on here already, but they are so delicious! Even to look at!

I'm going to be posting them all throughout the next few weeks, so keep checking back!

I am so tired!

2010-05-02T19:53:00.002-05:00

Literally. Tired.

Everyday, I come home with intentions to blog, but by the time I take care of the dogs, check in on facebook and google reader, I pretty much have no energy left for much. Poor Josh hasn't gotten a home-cooked meal in about two weeks. But that is actually working out well for him. He's on a diet and working out everyday, and has lost 17 pounds in the last 2 months!!

It's been an exhausting three weeks since I started work. Mentally and physically. But it has been really awesome! I have been busy the entire time, and learning so much. I am so incredibly thankful to have this job!

Last weekend we went to Ft. Stockton to visit with the in-laws, which that trip is exhausting by itself. It was a pretty good visit, and I picked up some cute things from the local stores.

These next 4 weekends are already booked and going to be very busy. I hope that I can get through it all in one piece!!

I survived!

2010-04-18T15:27:00.002-05:00

So, I survived my first week at the new job!

It was so incredibly overwhelming and exhausting, especially mentally. I think I did pretty well. I got thrown right into a project doing a planting plan, which was nice. Nothing too hard. Apparently, the word on the street, is that I am going to be thrown head-first into a huge project that is just getting started and is going to be a multi-year thing. We shall see how that goes!!

So far, so good! I can't complain!

Sepia Saturday

2010-04-17T17:31:00.002-05:00

Here are my grandparents - Jim & Edith Kalina - outside the hospital in Shiner. How beautiful and handsome are they??

Great News!!

2010-04-12T19:38:00.002-05:00

So, I have some very exciting news. (No, I'm not pregnant).

I had a job interview Friday morning. It was supposed to be Tuesday, but they called on Monday to reschedule for Wednesday. Then called Tuesday to reschedule for Friday. It was for work at a landscape architecture company - something that I thought was completely out of reach at this point.

The interview went really well! They said they had talked to one other person, and would make a decision and let me know something Monday.

I got home and immediately started getting ready to go to Austin for Josh's company's golf tournament. About 45 minutes after I got home, my phone rings and the caller ID has the number of the company. I answer it and they tell me that they would like to offer me a job and want me to start Monday (meaning today!)!! Of course, I accept! Then immediately call Josh and tell him and it was loud enough for his whole office to hear! There was a very loud chorus of "Congratulations!" from his coworkers. I couldn't quit smiling!

They called back again a little while later, and when I saw the number, I almost had a panic attack thinking they were going to say that they had made a mistake! :)

The golf tournament was a lot of fun! I got to be a beer cart with some of Josh's coworkers, so we drove around all afternoon drinking and having random dance parties in the middle of the fairway (or tee box or cart path). It was a great way to spend the day!

Saturday and Sunday I had a to-do list for things around the house I needed to get done before starting a job. I know I should have just taken it easy, but I had been doing that for 6 months, and it was things that I really wanted to get out of the way like dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming. And I threw in a little clothes shopping as well! I had some birthday money burning a whole in my purse, so I headed out to JCP to get some new work clothes! They were having a sale and I stocked up on some cute tops!

And speaking of 6 months...tomorrow will be exactly 6 months that I had been laid off. For these last 6 months I have had some of the worst rollercoaster emotions so far in my life. I never was really "flying high," but I have definitely been lower than I ever have. Unless you have actually been unemployed, there is no way for you to understand it. It is so lonely, and isolating, and depressing. There were times when I could empathize with people who kill themselves in situations like being laid off. I never got to a point where I would do that to myself, but I can now understand how someone who doesn't have supportive friends and family could. It is the most helpless situation. You send out hundreds of applications to not hear anything at all. Even an email saying you were not hired is a million times better than nothing at all. There is usually not even a response that they received your information. And in today's world where everything is done online, you usually have no clue who to contact to even ask about it.

So this job has come at a great time! I think it is going to be a great experience! I'm having to relearn CAD because it's been almost a year since I've worked with it and the last time it was 2007 Light! This company just upgraded to 2010. I have a feeling it's going to be a long week!

I'll check back in on Friday to recap my first week back at work!

Sepia Saturday

2010-04-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

These two people are my great-grandparents, Frank & Mary Kalina. Her parents can be seen here. This picture was taken at Frank & Mary's 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1953.

Wildflowers

2010-04-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have a soft spot in my heart for wildflowers! I think it was in the 6th grade that I had to have a wildflower collection for science class. Ever since then, I have always been enamored with any and all kinds of wildflowers.

Since we had a such a fantastic winter, weather wise, for flowers, they are out in full force this year. I have been itching to get to a good area to take some pics. This past weekend afforded me that chance in more than one place.

These were at Bill & Dolores's Friday evening.

Saturday morning, Dad, Josh, & I went to my parent's farm to burn some brush piles. Once we got them started, I headed out in the pasture to see what I could find.

There was a small patch of pale blue bluebonnets. In this picture it looks more white.

There were tons of Red Paintbrush. I was on the lookout for a yellow one, but it remained elusive this year.

Wild Hyacinth

Spiderwort

These are on the land behind my parent's house. Saturday afternoon, we took a little hike to the creek with Rylie to check out the flowers and the dewberry situation for the year (looks promising!).

Rylie checking things out

This ladybug would not hold still for anything!

Buttercup. This is a true buttercup. The pink one's that everyone calls "Buttercup" are actually Showy Primrose.

Poppy - I love these flowers! So delicate and simple.

And the obligatory Texas Bluebonnet picture. Bayla is missing because he had finished rolling around in a huge pile of cow poop. He wasn't allowed anywhere near us!

Good Friday Fish Fry

2010-04-07T16:09:00.010-05:00

For the last few (at least 8) years, my family has gotten together with some family friends for a Good Friday Fish Fry. We switch locations every year, so each family gets a chance to host it. This year it was out at Bill & Dolores's in the country.

The day before they had just gotten two 6 week old puppies who were so cute!! We spent a lot of time out at the barn with them.

I sure do miss sweet, snuggly puppies sometimes!

This one I can tell is going to be quite the mess when she gets older!

They had a nice case of puppy narcolepsy!

They fell asleep wherever they were last sitting.

Toes made great chew toys!

They were held a lot that night! And oh my goodness, the crying when we finally had to leave them! I do not miss that horrible crying!

My Shiner Beer advertisement

Dolores and her granddaughter, Jenna

Each year, mom & I make deviled eggs. Ross eats about half of them himself!

More puppy lovin' after dinner

And then we tried to get a pic with the dogs in the bluebonnets.

This is what most of the pics looked like!

Running away!

Lots of hand gnawing!

Finally a good one!

They ended the evening by having an all out fur-pulling, tail-chewing fight.

Moving

2010-04-06T14:18:00.002-05:00

I've decided to separate my baking skills from my personal stuff. All my baking from now on will be posted here:

http://nikkidssweets.wordpress.com/

It's a little crude right now while I work on creating a cohesive design, but come check it out!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

These are the cake bites that I made for Easter. They are Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing and White Chocolate coating. I decorated them to look like Easter egss.

It was definitely some good practice. Some look a little crazy, but I had a lot of fun doing it!

I put some in an egg carton so that they look a little more like eggs!

Sepia Saturday

2010-04-03T07:00:00.002-05:00

This is my Grandpa Jim, my dad's dad.

His real name is Vaclav (Vatz-lov), with Jim being the English translation. He was born in September 1918, making him 91 years young. Yes, he's still alive and kicking. Up until October of 2009, he and my grandma were still living on the farm where he grew up. His parents had moved to the farm when he was only a few months old.

He served in the Army during WWII. I don't know much about his time in the service, at least not off the top of my head. The one thing I do know, is that he was shot in the leg, earning him a Purple Heart.

He has the best sense of humor, even now that he is in the nursing home. He's not happy with where he is, but he's making the best of it. For being 91, he still has his wits about him for the most part. I'm hoping we have quite a few more years left to have him around!

Life is Rough

2010-04-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

This was Rylie last weekend. Too tired to even lay her head down!

Strawberry Harvest

2010-04-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

I got my first strawberry!! If my dogs hadn't eaten the first plants, I would have had more by now, but I'll take what I can get!

It was so good!! Now I'm waiting on my other vegetables to start producing!

Cake Class Final

2010-03-31T18:14:00.004-05:00

I had my final cake decorating class last night.

This class was just making all the different flowers in class and then assembling them on a cake in the final class. We also learned different borders and the basketweave (which Josh stared at in amazement and still can't figure out how I did it!).

Wedding Shower Cake Bites

2010-03-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

These are my very first order for Cake Bites. My very first order for someone besides family. Well, not quite, because the orderer was my cousin Sarah, but they were for her friend Sara's wedding shower March 27.

I was so nervous to make these because I am a perfectionist and wanted these to look just right! I think they came out perfectly!

The white is Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting and white chocolate coating.

The chocolate is Yellow Cake with Chocolate frosting and dark chocolate coating.

The stripes are the bride's colors - Navy Blue and Yellow.

The couple's monogram

The Cake Bites at the shower (*photo courtesy of Kelsey Bryant via Facebook*)

Sarah called me with rave reviews and hopefully some more orders!! I think for my first time, they turned out really, really well!

Spring has arrived!

2010-03-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

Now, I am not talking about the obvious flowers, trees blooming, sunny days, and warm weather.

I am talking about my annual springtime bout of poison ivy. And this year, I have no earthly clue how I got it! I'm starting to think it might be running in my blood! This year is not too bad, just small spots on my inner arms, as well as my stomach. It has been bearable.

This is the 4th year in a row that I have had this crap! It all started in 2007, with the worst case I have ever had in my life.

Looking at this picture, it doesn't look all that bad, but oh my goodness, was it hell on earth! That spot on my left wrist is courtesy of my watch! Apparently in all my blondeness, I didn't think to thoroughly clean my watch after I got done playing in the bushes. Oh yeah, and I forgot to wash the dog's collars, so that was also a source. This picture, also doesn't show the very large spot on my shoulder and the back of my thigh.

This all occured after I went back to Lubbock from spring break at home. They don't have poison ivy in Lubbock. The doctor had never seen what poison ivy looks like! I asked for a prednisone shot to take care of it, but oh no, this guy wanted me to do a week long dose of oral steroids. Well, imagine my "surprise" when after the week, the poison ivy that was starting to look better starting getting worse. And when I went back to the doctor, he told me that he didn't want to give me anymore steroids! Seriously! I almost had a heart attack!

I have now become an expert of sorts on what over the counter poison ivy medicine works the best...I have tried them all! In my experience, Calagel is the best!! Very cooling and soothing. After last year's case, I now use Burt's Bees poison ivy soap. Absolutely a god-send!

And then there are the home remedies. In '07, since I couldn't get any medicine, I had to resort to the OTC stuff and home remedies. I did lots of googling, trying to find some relief. You will find all sorts of crazy stuff that people try! Someone even talked about pouring bleach on it! OMG! Seriously! The absolute best remedy is hot water, scalding hot water. Yes, I said it! When I read about it, I thought is was craziness! But one night in the shower, after almost completely scratching my skin off, I thought I would try it. Start with running warm water over the area, and slowly start turning the water hotter and hotter until you can't stand it. The area will start itching like crazy, but hold steady for awhile. After you get out, the itching will have magically stopped (at least for a few hours). The hot water gets the histamines out, and it feels so good!!

It's never been as bad as it was that year, but now I am armed with an arsenal of tricks to tame it before it gets too out of control!

Here's to spring!!

Alright

2010-03-29T12:39:00.002-05:00

I am alright. I just really haven't felt like blogging. I've had plenty to say, but every time I sat down, I didn't feel like writing.

This unemployment thing is getting really old. These past two weeks have been incredibly depressing. I don't have much hope or positivity to keep me going. It really sucks to get an email saying that 'the position has been filled, but feel free to apply for another.' I don't know what else to do about finding a job! Luckily a family friend has a friend here in SA who works for a bank, and he is going to help me find a job! That's a very small bright spot! But that bright spot needs to get a lot brighter fast because I checked yesterday and my unemployment benefits are going to run out in 4 weeks and some change. Talk about depressing!

In the midst of all the "depressingness," I turned 28!! Oh my goodness, I seriously cannot believe I am 28! It just doesn't seem possible! I didn't do much for my birthday. We just hung out at the house and then went out to eat. And Josh got me some Vera Wang perfume, which is my favorite! I have been out for a long time (like 2 years long time), but I have kept the bottle so that I would remember to get some. Josh saw the empty bottle and surprised me! I love it! It makes me happy!

This weekend was Josh's birthday. He took Thursday and Friday off so that we could take care of some stuff around the house. We got most of it taken care of, in addition to some unforeseen problems like the kitchen sink backing up. I am so thankful that I married a man who is handy around the house and can fix things. He's probably saved us thousands of dollars on repairmen! We snaked the pipe a few times, and the sink works like new!

My last cake decorating class is tomorrow and I am so excited to see our finished product. We've just been making flowers in this class, and then we will put them on the cake. I think it is going to turn out very cute!

So, that's where we are. Life is still chugging along. Here's hoping I can catch a break soon!! :)

Gettin' older

2010-03-20T11:44:00.002-05:00

Last night, I celebrated my last few hours of being 27 by getting an Orea Blast from Sonic.

I was trying to get down to my pre-wedding weight by my birthday, but last night, I said, 'Screw it! I'm celebrating!!'

This afternoon...

2010-03-18T15:41:00.002-05:00

Bayla and I hung out in the hammock for a while. (Please excuse the horrible photo. It was taken with my phone.)

Today is absolutely gorgeous! I took my book outside and while I read, he took a nap.

It was just what I needed!!

Sepia Saturday

2010-03-13T06:00:00.002-06:00

This is my great-great grandparents, Jan and Marie Caba. They were both born in Czechoslovakia. Jan in 1850, Marie in 1852. I'm not sure when they came to the US.

This is my grandpa Jim's grandparents on his mother's side. From his stories, Jan was a drifter. He was killed on Highway 290 near Hempstead in 1932. Grandpa also remembers when he was about 4 or 5 years old, Jan coming to the house and sleeping in the yard.

Another story Grandpa told us: The priest in Praha at the time would not let Jan and Marie be buried in the same plot in the cemetary because they did not live together. They were married, but did not live together, so they are buried in separate places.

I love family history and all the stories that you can find out!!

Family visits

2010-03-10T11:58:00.008-06:00

This past weekend, I headed home to get in a visit with family. My uncle Ken (dad's brother) and his wife Dawn were in from Malibu, CA, formerly of Vegas. The live in the same oceanside community where Matthew McConaughey keeps his Airstream trailer. We don't get to see them very often, so it was good to catch up with them.

We also ALL got to meet Rach's man, Zack. Poor guy, having to meet the WHOLE family in one day.

The cupcakes with a hot dominoe game in the background

What else? Food. This was before dinner arrived!

I hope I can live to be 91 and still with it enough to play dominoes!

Grandma, my dominoe partner! We kicked Ross and Grandpa's butts!

Rossy-poo thinking very carefully about his next move.

The other photographer

After dinner, we all got together to take some pictures with the grandparents.

This is Nate, my cousin Joel's little one. So cute and chubby!

Fist bump!

My family

The siblings

And the end of the night.

Two of the great grandkids, Gavin & Nate. Gavin was so over it at this point! I think Grandpa was too!

Flowers

2010-03-08T16:46:00.005-06:00

I went home this past weekend. As I got closer to the 'burg, I started noticing wildflowers in the median, most likely phlox. I got really excited that maybe there would be some in the pasture behind my parents house. I was very disappointed, but did catch a few.

Just a plain ol' dandelion, but the yellow was so pretty against the brown, wintery grass

The peach tree in my parent's backyard

This is actually an annual winter weed, but I loved these when I was little!

And then, the phlox. There were only a few out, but they are so cute and pretty!

Sepia Saturday

2010-03-06T06:00:00.001-06:00

This is my great-grandparents, Frank and Mary Kalina. I believe the children are the oldest 3 of 10 children: Josephine, who as a teenager would become blind; Mattej (Matthew) who married and moved West Texas; and Mary who married and moved to Central Texas.

Spring Flowers

2010-03-05T07:00:00.001-06:00

How cute are these?

I think these might be my favorite to date. Although the Valentine's cupcakes were cute too.

I am heading home this weekend to visit with my family and grandparents. My uncle and aunt from Vegas are in town and we are having a big family lunch on Saturday. And I am bringing the cupcakes.

These are vanilla cake with strawberry filling and lemon buttercream frosting. I made the little flowers earlier this week from the leftover icing from my decorating class. I left them out, so they dried out and were easy to work with.

Hello Spring!!!

2010-03-03T14:21:00.002-06:00

Blooms on my neighbor's tree.

It's finally getting warm and sunny here and it couldn't come soon enough!

Sepia Saturday

2010-02-27T06:00:00.002-06:00

This is Sr. Rogata. She is my grandpa Jim's sister who was a nun here in San Antonio at Our Lady of the Lake.

The picture last week was taken at OLL at her anniversary.

She wasn't just here in San Antonio. She taught all over the state and Oklahoma and then retired to OLL and was there until she passed in 2005. She was the sweetest, kindest, most caring person you could ever meet.

Cake Class Final

2010-02-26T18:50:00.003-06:00

I had my final cake class for Course 1 last night. It's amazing to see where I am now!

The decorations are a little more "traditional" than what I like, but I now know how to use the tips and translate things into how I can decorate cupcakes.

I have signed up for Course 2 that starts in March, and I am so excited!!!

Any guesses?

2010-02-22T15:04:00.002-06:00

What do you think this could be?

This is what a strawberry plant looks like after all of it's leaves have been stripped.

A few weeks ago, I bought two strawberry plants and put them in a hanging basket. I brought them in last week because it was supposed to be below freezing a few nights. On Saturday night, we went next door for a beer tasting. When we got home around 1:30 (yes a.m.), I noticed this little pile of green in the middle of the floor. I turned on the lights, checked it out, and realized that is was chewed up strawberry leaves! OMG! I ran over to the plant and saw that there wasn't a leaf left!

I have no idea what came over my dogs. I think Bayla was the one that did it. Rylie munched on a few leaves when I first got the plant, but stopped after that. Bayla kept hacking like he had something stuck in his throat. Ugh. Maybe this is a sign that I don't need to have a garden again this year!

Sepia Saturday

2010-02-20T10:38:00.007-06:00

I saw this on another blog and really liked the idea.

I am huge into family history and I love looking through old photos.

This picture was taken in the late '50s, I think 1959, on the steps at the Cathedral at Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio. This is my dad (the little boy on his dad's left) and his family. They were there to celebrate, I believe, the 25th anniversary of his aunt, Sr. Rogata, becoming a nun.

In 2004, we had a family reunion in Kerrville. Since everyone was in town, we decided to drive into San Antonio and recreate that picture almost exactly. Then for Christmas that year, my grandparents and all the siblings got a frame that included the first picture and this one.

This picture includes my aunt Monica. In 1959, she was just a 'gleam in Grandpa's eye.' She wasn't born until 1961. :)

Then each family that was there, took a similar picture. We just have to remember to go back in 25 years to recreate it!

And then everyone who was there got in it.

Cake Class

2010-02-19T17:06:00.005-06:00

For the past three weeks I have been taking a cake decorating class at Michael's. I have kind of self-taught myself decorating over the years, but really wanted to take a class to learn some of the things that I hadn't learned yet.

I completely forgot to take a picture of my cake last week, but was not going to miss out this week!

We worked on perfecting the roses, learned how to make the clowns, small flowers, and borders. These pictures really don't do it justice!

I loved my clowns!! Wilton makes little plastic clown heads that you put on top of the body, but you have to buy those and I really didn't want them. It was looking like my clown was just going to have to be headless! But as soon as I got done with the body, I decided to use some of the really stiff icing to make a round head and put it on the body. One of the other girls saw that and decided to do it as well. And then it spread around the room!! Yeah it doesn't have a face, but I think it turned out really cute!

These are the little flowers we learned to make! I love them!! The color was called 'Rose,' so I assumed it was going to be a pastel color. Ha! Yeah right, it is bright, bright pink!

And these are the roses! They leave a little to be desired, but they are getting better.

I have really had a lot of fun taking this class! I am thinking of going on to Course 2 in March!

Mardi Gras

2010-02-17T18:19:00.003-06:00

I just had to post this pic!

Josh and I went out to eat last night because I really didn't feel like cooking anything. We headed up the road to Willie's and had a pretty good time. They were handing out beads and partying for Mardi Gras. So, when we got home, we decided to see if the dogs would wear them.

This is the one and only picture I could get.
They were having none of it! As you can see, I caught Rylie in the middle of a bark, and Bayla is thinking he saw a squirrel outside. I'm really not sure what Josh was doing! :)

Four months

2010-02-16T12:25:00.003-06:00

It just hit me yesterday that it's been 4 months since my lay off. Ugh! This really doesn't get any easier. In fact, it feels like it's getting harder. I don't know what else I need to do to actually get a job!

I guess I should bake some more cupcakes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-15T18:05:00.007-06:00

This was a low key V-Day for us. We both had work to do, so we didn't get to spend too much time together. We did make dinner yesterday evening, but that was it. I am not a big fan of Valentine's as it is. I think it's just turned out to be all for making money.

I did make some cupcakes though! Red Velvet with White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting. YUM! They turned out pretty well. The cake was a little dry, but the frosting was delicious!! And earlier last week, I melted some red candy melts and piped it into hearts and "LOVE" words that I put on the frosting. They turned out really cute!!

Josh said his coworkers loved them! And he even caught one of them throwing out the red heart from on top because he thought it was wax or something! Ha!!

Rain rain go away

2010-02-04T16:23:00.002-06:00

I never thought I would wish the rain away, especially after the summer we had, but this week has really sucked with the cold and raininess. It has been rainy and wet, which hasn't really helped my attitude. It's pretty depressing to not have a job right now, and this weather has been helping any.

And I seriously think my dogs are suffering from SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder!! They have been moping around the house all week! You can tell their mood is depressed. I'm guessing they are sad that they can't go out and play!

Hopefully this weather will clear out so we can go out and play!

Sick

2010-01-31T13:24:00.002-06:00

I ~~hate~~ severely dislike my husband right now. Not really. But really. You know what I mean.

Thanks to him I am sick. Ugh! I hate being sick. Although, I doubt I dislike it as much as my husband when he is sick. Is it my husband or all men big babies when they are sick? I swear that he is never as whiny as when he doesn't feel well. Good lord, you would think he was dying! And then there is the snoring. Oh my gosh, the snoring! It's pretty bad when he's not sick, but when he is stopped up, it is unbearable! Friday night it was so bad, I couldn't even wake him up! So around 12:45, I got up, grabbed the extra blankets, and moved to the living room. Now, let me give you an idea of exactly how bad this snoring was. We have a fan in our room for him because he is like a furnace (that is another story for another time!). So, I get settled onto the couch with Rylie and some late night television. I could still hear him snoring over the fan, closed bedroom door, the television, and the heater when it came on! Seriously. I don't know when the snoring subsided, but after about two hours, I was still awake and didn't hear anything. I didn't think anything of it, but then started to wonder if he was still breathing at all! I go check on him, and thankfully he is sleeping soundly with no snoring. I go back to my "bed" and try to fall asleep. He gets up the next morning, comes in the living room, and asks me why I am on the couch. He didn't even know I had gotten up! Geez.

He hasn't been feeling well for almost a week now, and we thought it was allergies. Yeah. Guess again! I felt it coming on last night in the back of my throat, but I didn't think it would hit me too hard. At least not overnight. I was so wrong! I woke up in the middle of the night and could barely swallow. I was up at 7 because I couldn't take it anymore. I think the mornings are the worst. I immediately made up a batch of honey/apple cidar vinegar to gargle. That stuff is amazing! It burns like hell, but at least I don't have to pop as many pills for a sore throat.

I think I might try to take a nap now. The dogs have been pretty lazy today, so I might curl up with them. My sweet little space heaters!!

Work widow

2010-01-30T19:22:00.003-06:00

You hear about those women that call themselves "hunting widows," "football widows," " 'any sport' widows," etc. Well, I think I am a work widow.

In addition to Josh working all week, usually til 6 or later, he is doing ~~some~~ lots of side work and is gone most Saturdays all day. Now, I'm not really complaining because he IS supporting my unemployed behind that no one wants to hire (It's been over three months already!!). So, I am very thankful for that and that he can get the extra work. But, when I sit at home all week by myself as it is, Saturdays without him are extra lonely. And it's really sad that the days all seem to just be rolling into one another. Thank goodness for the calendar and my favorite TV shows or I wouldn't know what day it was! How sad is it that my weeks revolve around television shows? This is how pathetic I have become!

I have some ideas in the works to start my own business, but I am trying to work out the logistics, and thankfully that is occupying my time quite well.

I really shouldn't complain about not seeing him much, because work-work will slow down, his side work will slow down, and then we'll have evenings and all weekend to be together and I'll be asking when he's going to get busy again! Ha! Just kidding Josh! Kinda. :)

Creme Brulee

2010-01-29T14:43:00.005-06:00

My absolute favorite dessert of all time has got to be creme brulee. I love it! When we go out to eat and make sure to save room for dessert, I get this everytime. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I am dissappointed in it, but I usually always enjoy it no matter what.

I had found a recipe online for a creme brulee cupcake quite a while ago, but haven't gotten around to actually making it until this week. There were a few glitches, but oh my gosh...it is so good! And I get to use a mini-torch! Hello! Fire! (I'm a closet pyromaniac! Really, who isn't? Fire is so much fun! I remember well, as a little kid at my grandparents, setting leaves on fire with a magnifying glass. Always on the driveway though...we didn't want to catch the farm on fire!)

I don't even know how to describe the cake part, but it includes caramel syrup, and it was good by itself. I cut out a cone and filled it with swiss merigue buttercream. This was a glitch because it didn't turn out quite right, but it still was delicious. Now, I know what to do differently next time! The finale was a sprinkling of brown sugar that then gets torched!

I thought it tasted pretty good. Josh was disappointed because he thought it would be more custardy like actual creme brulee, but he thought it was good. My dad wants me to bring him some, so I froze a few to take home.

I'd say this recipe was a success!!!

I just don't know

2010-01-27T19:35:00.002-06:00

This unemployment thing is so up and down it's not even funny.

I felt like I was doing pretty well this week, and then BAM I feel like I am knocked back down again. I figured it out that I have applied for over 60 jobs! 60 jobs!!! And I have only been called for one. Just one. And I'm pretty sure I didn't get it because I haven't heard anything since then. Ugh. I really just don't know what to think anymore. This is pretty depressing sometimes!

I keep reminding myself to say a prayer every time I think about it!

Finally...

2010-01-26T16:13:00.005-06:00

These past few days, Bayla and Rylie and have been saying, 'Finally!!' Finally, it is warm and sunny outside and we can sit in our chairs and catch some rays!!

It was a long, cold, and wet winter. They didn't get out much, but we have been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather now!!

Mint Chocolate

2010-01-25T16:38:00.003-06:00

** Edited to add pictures at the bottom **

I am sick. I made some delicious cupcakes this weekend and completely forgot to take any pictures whatsoever!

They were Mint Chocolate cupcakes. All homemade. Chocolate cupcake with Mint buttercream frosting. Mm mm mm. Josh said they were orgasmic! The neighbors loved them. The rest went to work with Josh and I haven't heard the verdict from there yet.

I plan on making some more next week, so I will try to make sure to get a picture. Ugh!

** I had sent some to work with Josh and three came back. He said his coworkers were on diets and didn't want to try them. What the heck is that? It's a cupcake for crying out loud, not a whole cake! Anyhoo, I got to take a picture! I'm going to be making these again to take home next weekend. We'll see what the family has to say! **

Still here

2010-01-22T16:32:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm still here and still alive.

I went to Nacogdoches last weekend for a visit, so it has kind of thrown my schedule off a little. I left last Thursday morning and got to Nac early afternoon. I immediately went to campus to visit with my aunt and and check in with Ms. Meads, my old boss at the AARC. It was so good to stay with my aunt and get to hang out with her. I haven't really spent any time with her since I left SFA.

Friday morning I drove around and looked at all the old apartments that I have lived in when I was there. Everything is still the same. Nacogdoches is still the same. The campus is still pretty much the same, but there are new buildings popping up everywhere!! Friday afternoon, I went back to the AARC to visit and Ms. Meads asked me to come along to their happy hour that afternoon and I was going to be the surprise guest. She told me that everyone was trying to guess who it could be! The looks on their faces when they walked in and saw me sitting at the table! It was priceless!! And so much fun! I had a really great time catching up with all of them! Laura came by with her daughter near the end. It was so good to see her and get to meet Madeline, who loved me! Josh says that I am the "baby whisperer." I am beginning to think he might be right! :)

Saturday morning my aunt and I got up and went to the Nac Farmers Market. We got some really great stuff and they had so much more that I wanted to get, but I didn't have the money or the space to bring it home! We then went to a photography exihibit at the SFA gallery that was awesome! Jennifer came into Nac and went to lunch with us and then to my aunt's house to visit some more. It was so good to see her and talk to her in person! Then that evening I went over to Laura's to visit some more, which was really nice because I rarely get to talk to her.

Sunday morning we got up, went to eat breakfast, and then I packed and headed back home. I was sad to leave because I had such a great time! It's a shame that it's so far away. It only took me about 4 1/2 hours, but that's not somewhere where you can just jump in the truck and go. Hopefully it won't take me another three years to make it back!!

This week has been lazy and crazy all at the same time. I have been more tired than usual, so I did take a few naps, and not get out of my pajamas all day! I am wanting to get my garden going in a few weeks, so I have been thinking about plants and what I want to do this year. We are expanding it, so I have been getting measurements for my dad and hoping we can get it done shortly! I can't wait for fresh veggies!!!

I haven't taken a picture in weeks! I hope to do a little better in the coming weeks!

Sausage

2010-01-12T20:02:00.005-06:00

A whole lotta sausage! The weekend before Christmas Josh shot a couple deer and took the meat to a place in Schulenburg to get it processed. We got the call on Monday that it was ready. The question is were we ready for all the meat?

I went to pick it up yesterday. There were 110 links of sausage and 50 something pounds of pan sausage. I packed it all into the freezer when I got home!

I think we'll be set for meat for awhile!!

Cold.

2010-01-09T12:41:00.002-06:00

When I got up at 7 this morning, it was 16 degrees outside! 16 degrees! Brrr.

This is what Rylie thinks about the cold. I couldn't agree more!

65 Years

2010-01-07T14:00:00.001-06:00

On December 27, my grandparents, my dad's parents, celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary!

They are both still with us at 91 years old, but they are starting to slow down some and are now in the nursing home. So, my dad and I made a lunch of ham and sweet potatoes and took it up there for the whole family to celebrate.

5 of their 6 kids - Monica, dad, Ralph, Doreen, & Annette

Kids and spouses

6 of 14 grandkids - Joel, Summer, Sarah, Ross, me, Ryan

Grandkids & spouses

Grandma's brother and his wife

2 of 12 or so [with one on the way (not me!)] great-grandkids

There is also one great-great-grandchild!

Sarah & Cindy

Monica and her husband Don also celebrate their anniversary on the 27th. They are a little behind though, only 6 years! :)

My dad stuck his hand right into the side of the cake!

Cutting the cake

Things are looking up!

2010-01-06T12:21:00.002-06:00

2010 is slowly starting out very, very well!

On Monday, we paid off my truck and found out that Josh was getting 5% of his salary back!!

On Tuesday, Josh found out that he was getting the remaining 5% of his salary back!!!!

Today, I got a call from UTSA about one of my applications that I had submitted. They want to interview me tomorrow!!! Yeah!!!

Now, I hope that I didn't just jinx us!

Now back to our regularly scheduled Christmas 2009 recap...

2010-01-05T09:30:00.004-06:00

I'm a horrible procrastinator. I know this. I embrace it. But it's over a week after Christmas and I'm still posting about it. Yeah, that's a little sad. But this Christmas was pretty good. And I took a ton of pictures.

This is going to be all about the tons of food we ate during the Christmas weekend. It's a little sickening. You've been warned! :)

My dad's sister from Vegas was down and she was in a food/candy making mood! Most of this stuff is courtesy of her ideas!

Of course, I made red velvet cake balls!

And I made cinnamon sugar pecans which are always a huge hit!

These pralines were courtesy of my aunt!

My dad decided that he wanted to make homemade poppyseed kolaches for the weekend. It was a huge undertaking, but they were soooo good! My grandpa even said they were really good!

Kneading the dough

You wouldn't believe how many kolaches come out of a ball of dough this size!

Almost ready to go in the oven

Fresh out of the oven!

All of our baked goods ready to go!

Christmas Eve buffet!

Pretty cake balls!

My dad also decided he wanted to make a Lemon Meringue Pie with fresh lemons. It turned out really good!!

And this is just the dessert table for Christmas Day. I completely forgot to take a picture of the rest of the food!

We were all so full every day! It took me a few days to get my system back on track and to even get hunger pains again! And I also have a few extra pounds to get rid of!! :)

I own my truck!!

2010-01-04T15:42:00.003-06:00

Today at lunch, Josh and I went to the bank to pay off my truck!!!!! So, technically, WE own my truck now!

We have been doing the Dave Ramsey plan for almost a year now and this was one debt we were both really striving to get paid off. We were on track to have it paid off in October or November, but that pesky little lay off in October completely derailed those plans. So, we got it paid off about 15 months ahead of time! Oh yeah!!

2010 is slowly starting out really well!!

The 2009 Christmas recap will resume shortly. Yes, I am a slacker!

2010

2010-01-02T18:36:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year!!!

I can't believe that the new year is here already! It just doesn't seem possible! I am seriously hoping that 2010 will be much kinder to us than 2009 was. I don't know if I can handle another year like that!

We really didn't do anything special for New Year's Eve. Josh had to work til noon and then we went out and ran errands. We rented some movies, watched those, and stayed up for midnight at the Tower in San Antonio, then went to bed. We are old. Very old. At least we made it to midnight! I don't think I can say the same for last year.

On New Year's Eve, I spent some time thinking about where I had spent past NYEs:

1999: I was dating Matt, my ex, at the time and he and his sister had a party at their house which was out in the country. A few friends came out and we had a lot of fun! I can remember it like it was yesterday! This was also when everyone was freaking out about Y2K and the world or something blowing up at the stroke of midnight. My mom made me come home before midnight just in case something happened. Of course, nothing did. I really didn't like her that much for making leave early for nothing!

2000: I'm pretty sure it was with Matt again and some friends of ours. We were in the truck on the way (late) to a party when midnight came and went.

2001: I had started dating a guy named Josh earlier that year, who lived in Ft. Worth. My mom and I went to Ft. Worth for New Year's and his brother, he, and I went to Billy Bob's where we rang in the new year.

2002: Same Josh as above and I, along with my friend Laura, and her boyfriend (now husband) Jason went to New Orleans for New Year's Eve. What the heck my parents were thinking letting me go, I have NO idea! I wasn't even 21 at the time! We had a blast that trip! Lots of time on Bourbon St. and plenty of beads generously given to us, not earned! If Bourbon St. was as crazy as it was that night, I would NOT want to be there for Mardi Gras. I can only imagine the insanity then! We decided to leave Bourbon St. before midnight and make our way back to the hotel which was quite a distance from Bourbon St. We had had to take a bus down there and one back. But you are talking about kids who don't normally use public transportation and had consumed some drinks! We could not figure out which bus to get us back to where we needed to be!! Finally we got on one that dropped us off near (I say that sarcastically) our hotel. We had to walk quite a ways in the dark, along I-10 in New Orleans to get to the hotel. Midnight came as we were walking. I am still amazed we lived through that!

2003: I had started dating Jacob by this time, but I can't remember if I celebrated New Year's with him that year. I have blocked out a lot of my time with him, so details are a little fuzzy.

2004: See 2003. Same story.

2005: I had broken up with Jacob by this time, but I don't remember if I did anything. Probably sat at home at my parent's. Not sure. The fogginess from Jacob carried over I guess!

2006: Josh (the husband) and I were dating at this time and we spent it at his family's ranch with some of his friends. We had a good time being in the middle of nowhere!

2007: We were engaged earlier in the month!! One of Josh's friends and his wife came to SA for a little vacation and we spent the evening with them on the Riverwalk. I had been diagnosed with mono at the beginning of the month and was exhausted by midnight, so Josh and I left early and made it to my apartment by midnight, but I made it!

2008: We had spent Christmas in Ft. Stockton last year, so we were in Schulenburg for New Year's and Christmas with my family. My dad started a little fire out in the woods and we roasted marshmallows and hung out. No big deal, but lots of fun.

2009: Sitting on the couch watching movies. Nothing wrong with it, but realizing how old we have become!!

Going back over the last decade, it is so interesting to see where I was, where I went, and now, where I am. I graduated high school. Graduated from college. Went through a lot of boyfriends. Finished coursework for my masters (damn thesis). Had two grandparents pass away. Had two real world jobs. Bought a house. Got married.

Lots of stuff has happened in the last decade and it makes me excited to see where I will be in another 10 years!!

Dog's Christmas

2009-12-31T08:00:00.001-06:00

My puppies got to have their own Christmas while at my parent's. Every year Walmart has stockings with dog toys for $5. I buy each dog their own and that is all the toys they get for the year. It's about 12 toys for $10. Sounds pretty good to me!

They each have their own stocking as well that I put the toys in. I took those to grandma's house and they got to "open" them Christmas Eve.

These pictures are a little blurry because they wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good one!

Bayla sitting on his stocking

He went absolutely crazy when he got the new toys! He immediately laid down to start chewing!

This is the only picture I got of Rylie, but she was trying to get away!

Checking out another toy

Enjoying another one

Bayla & Josh with his stocking

His favorite thing to do is lay down and hold the toy in his mouth, but not really chew on it.

They had a really good Christmas and are really enjoying all their new toys!

Christmas

2009-12-30T19:51:00.009-06:00

Christmas this year was a lot of fun! My aunt and uncle from Vegas were down and they came over to my parent's house to help out the whole weekend. Most of my family was down, so it was a loud, crazy time with too much food.

I decorated the tree. It's my specialty! :)

My mom has a ton of Christmas decorations so just about every surface-horizontal or vertical-has some kind of decor.

My brothers collection of nutcrackers

Josh got a stocking this year! :)

My dad's parents getting ready to eat

Some of our guests...

...and a few more.

My sweet grandpa. This is the closest to a smile I could get out of him!

Kitty

2009-12-30T09:24:00.003-06:00

Right before Christmas I did a little "photoshoot" with my stray cat. I should video her "talking" to me because it gets pretty funny sometimes! She wasn't too happy with the camera in her face that day!

Christmas Gifts

2009-12-26T15:00:00.001-06:00

Money is a little tight this year, as I'm sure is the same for everyone. Although, you wouldn't know it by looking at the mall! Last year was pretty much the same, so I had made ornaments for our families and friends. I wish I had taken pictures, because they turned out pretty cute.

This year, I decided to make something again, as well. I took this idea I had found online and made it a little more personal and 'Christmasy.'

This was for the girls. It was the ingredients and instructions for Cowgirl Cookies. It turned out really cute!

And this is for the guys. I had already decided what I was making for the girls and wanted to do something along the same lines, but more manly. I came across one of my beer bread recipes and instantly knew that it would be a hit!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T03:00:00.002-06:00

4 Years

2009-12-24T07:00:00.015-06:00

Today is Rylie's 4th Birthday!

It seems like yesterday that I got the call that Abbie had had 5 puppies!! Rylie is my sweet baby girl who has slowly become more attached to me since I have been laid off.

Here's some pics from the last year...

1st time going hunting with Ryan and Grandpa RoRo

Soaking up some sun

Favorite spot at night before bed

Favorite spot during the day - on top of the couch

Helping me plant the garden

Some more sunbathing!

The ball - what else?

Still more sun!

Swimming, ball, sun...hmm? I'm starting to see a pattern!

My little outdoor girl!

2009 Terlingua Chili Cookoff

We were both given beads! But we didn't do anything to earn them! :)

Fixing the boots

Taking a much needed break

Trying to find a bird (you can see it on the left edge of the photo!)

Another break

Making sure not to miss any birds

A much cooler break...courtest of Grandpa RoRo

So sleepy!!

Helping put the Christmas tree up

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

Kalina Family Christmas Vacation

2009-12-21T06:00:00.003-06:00

This weekend my family, minus my sister, came to San Antonio for our old Annual Kalina Family Christmas Vacation. When my siblings and I were younger, my parents would take us for a little mini vacation the weekend before Christmas to finish shopping and spend time together. It started out going to the Galleria in Houston, but we then ventured west to San Antonio to spend the weekend on the Riverwalk. We stayed at many different hotels through the years, but always loved the Hyatt and the Menger the most.

Once we were all in college and in different places, we have slowly stopped this tradition because it was so hard to get us all together. This year, my brother decided to revive it. At first, he was going to come himself, but my parents to decided to join in. They all came to stay with me this weekend. It wasn't a full weekend, but we still had fun!

They got here Saturday afternoon. After they settled in at my house, we headed downtown. We started out at the mall to see if Ryan could find a few things. Then we made our way down to the river for dinner. We have a favorite restaurant that we eat at every time we are at the Riverwalk - RioRio. They have a plate supposedly designed for two people to eat, but all 4 or 5 of us can eat off of it and be full! Of course, the chips and salsa beforehand don't help matters!! :)

After eating, we always go next door to a store called Mr. IceCream to get dessert! They have Blue Bell Ice Cream, so it's nothing fancy, it's just something we always do!

The tree at the Alamo

The tree at the Menger

Trees in the lobby at the Menger

After walking around on the river for a while and hanging out in the lobby of the Menger, we made our way back to the mall to shop a little more. We stopped in at the Marriott to check out their decorations. One year, they had a life-size gingerbread house! This year it was just a tree, but it was gorgeous!

These beautiful light-up stars were hanging over the lobby

My mom and me!

These ornaments were hanging in the mall and I thought they were really cool

Merry Christmas from the San Antonio Riverwalk!

Road Frustration

2009-12-18T12:04:00.002-06:00

I was out and about this morning, and I just don't understand stupid drivers! Stupid drivers are probably one of my biggest pet peeves.

Josh says I have road rage, but I call it road frustration. I don't ever make any gestures or get too crazy, I mainly just talk to the crazies. This past weekend when we were on our way to Schulenburg, I drove. Of course, being Friday afternoon, traffic was crazy, and I was in typical talking to the crazies fashion. Josh just looks at me and says he doesn't understand why I can't just go with the flow. And 'how come you are so angry?'

So, on Sunday, I let Josh drive back home. Of course, there were some stupid drivers out. i.e. driving slowly in the fast lane, people driving way too fast. He says at one point, 'I want to speed up and cut that guy off!!' I just turn to him and say, 'Why are you so angry?' He just looked at me, smiled, and said, 'Dang." He knew he was caught!

I don't understand how people have gotten so "bad" at driving. I don't understand how come people are in such a big hurry that they speed so much faster than the speed limit, and weave in and out of traffic just to get one more car ahead. I'm not saying I don't speed, because I do! But I usually keep it about 5 miles above the speed limit.

I think some people need to go back to defensive driving and learn some driving ettiquette again!

5 Years

2009-12-17T11:34:00.008-06:00

Today is Bayla's 5th Birthday!

I really can't believe that he is 5!! Or that I he has been with me for almost 5 years! It doesn't seem real!

Here are some pictures from the last year.

Going to Ft. Stockton for Thanksgiving

Typical posing for the camera

Hoping that mom looks away so he can grab the cupcake!

Snuggled up with mom

So happy!!

Snuggled up asleep on the bed. He is now sleeping on a bed on the floor all night!! Yeah!

He loves the water!

And always poses when the camera comes out.

And this is my absolute favorite picture of him!!

The deer, Part II

2009-12-15T10:04:00.007-06:00

This past weekend, we went home to Schulenburg for my cousin's wedding. While there, Josh got to meet Precious! He said that he never thought he would ever touch a live deer! HA! Or feed one from his hand! HAHA!

The deer

2009-12-11T12:29:00.005-06:00

For about a month or so, my parents have had a visitor in their yard...a very sweet little doe. They think she was probably raised by humans because she likes to be around people. There are other deer that come around and she wants nothing to do with them. I have heard about this deer for awhile now, but finally got to meet her when I went home to help my mom with her Christmas decorations. One of the neighbors named her "Precious", so that is what everyone calls her.

I went out front to put some decorations up and she was across the street in the neighbor's yard. I tried calling her, but she didn't pay any attention to me. As soon as I started walking back in, she came walking across the street. She hung out in the front yard with us while we put stuff up.

She likes human contact and loves to be rubbed. She'll even put her face in your face and sniff you.

She was rubbing her head on one of the hooks

Next thing we know, we look out and she is laying down! My mom said she has never seen her get that comfortable in their yard. She has no fear!!

The neighbor that first spotted her has called some people to pick her up and take her to a farm, but I'm not sure how that is going.

It was pretty cool to be that close to such a sweet animal!!

Few and far between

2009-12-08T15:37:00.002-06:00

It's very weird to think that I am coming up on two months of being unemployed. It doesn't seem possible. If you asked me what I have been doing in the last two months, I honestly don't know what I would say.

The remainder of the month of October was spent in depression and despair. I literally didn't feel like doing anything. Unfortunately, (but lucky for me, I think???) we had a few family tragedies that kept my mind off being unemployed. And it was nice to be able to spend time with family knowing I didn't have to rush back to work.

November was spent looking for a job, I think. I really can't remember now. When you collect unemployment, you can't just sit on your rear and collect checks. You have to actually look for a job and document that process. Not that I am any good just sitting on my rear, so that really doesn't apply to me. I have to have at least 5 job searches a week! You would think that would be fairly easy, but not for me! It's just 5 little jobs! HA! For one, there are zilch, zero, none jobs as far as landscape architecture is concerned. So, I have ventured into office administration type jobs. Even that is not as easy as it sounds! I have two degrees for crying out loud, so I'd like to make a little more than $8 an hour and just answer phones. I have even applied at a few retail places, and have heard nothing back from all of them! My question to them is this, "If you have a sign saying you are hiring, and are excited when I tell you that I can work at any time, why won't you at least call me back?!?" Seriously.

This whole thing has been really disheartening and depressing. And I'm thinking that most places are not going to be hiring anyone at least until after New Years. That's my justification anyways.

Thanksgiving was a nice break from everything. I was even able to go home and help my mom get out all of her Christmas stuff and decorate the house. She has so much "crap" that it took both of us about 2 days to get everything out and put it up. And when I left, she still had a small pile of stuff to take care of. This last week has been pretty good too. I put together our Christmas gifts to everyone. A post about that will have to wait until after Christmas, because I don't want to spoil it in case anyone is reading! :)

I have also decided to do a pretty deep cleaning of the house. My mom has been in a cleaning mood at her house, and she has started sending stuff back with me to my house, so she has got me in a cleaning mood. I still have stuff in boxes from when we moved, so I don't have much room to store the stuff she is sending with me. I started my project with the master shower. I cleaned it pretty well when we moved in, and have cleaned it since, but it was in desperate need of a good, deep scrubbing. I am not one for clorox, but I bought a bottle yesterday and went to town! I was only able to do about half because the fumes were too much in the very small, not well ventilated bathroom, but that is my project for this afternoon.

This was supposed to be about how jobs are few and far between, but as I was typing the title I realized it was also pretty relevant to my blogging habit lately. You would think I would have all the time in the world since I don't have a job, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Every day I think about writing, but then lose track of time and before I know it, the day is over. I'm going to try to make a conscious effort to be better!

Happy Thanksgiving...A little late...

2009-12-04T11:11:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving was a week ago!

Josh and I went to Ft. Stockton to spend it with his family. My contribution for the weekend was red velvet cake balls that I then decorated with fall colored drizzle. YUM! They turned out really well and everyone LOVED them!

All the colors!

ALL of them on my counter!

Show Us Your Life - Pets

2009-11-20T09:14:00.006-06:00

I am always writing something about my pets on here! They are my kids for right now and sometimes it gets hard to remember that they are dogs. But then I watch Cesar Millan and try to whip myself back into shape! :)

Bayla is my sweet boy. He is very much a mama's boy. If you want to take a nap, he will snuggle up in no time! Even if he's already been sleeping most of the day!

Then there's Rylie. She will stay awake all night long if someone is awake with her. But she is also a very sweet cuddler. And she is a sucker for some towels or blankets right out of the dryer. I'll get them out of the dryer, throw them on the couch, and she will bury herself in the pile of warm towels.

And she's my little bird hunter. This was two weeks ago at Black Gap in West Texas. She was on alert the entire time!

Check out the 'Dogs' label for more posts on my sweet babies.

My First Dog

2009-11-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

01.01.04 ~ 09-18-09

I found out two months ago that my very first dog I ever had on my own passed away.

It is a very long, sordid story, but the short of it is that while I was in Nacogdoches I was dating a guy who bought me a dog for Valentine's Day. She was a Jack Russell and her name was Abbie. She was the cutest little fluff ball I had ever seen!

When I went to Tech, he followed me. A year later, after we had also gotten Bayla, I broke up with him and decided that he could take Abbie. She had always been closer to him and listened to him better than she did me.

So, here is her life with me in pictures.

The very first day we had her, she crawled on my shoulder and went to sleep!

We would find her sleeping in the weirdest places! (Check out the one below!)

She did this to herself!

With my parents dog Zip

On the way to Schulenburg. She loved to sleep on her back!

She was very attentive and aggressive even as a puppy

First time at the creek!

Grandpa teaching her to dig in the sand

She also loved Ryan!

Instead of drinking out of her bowl, she would stand on the toilet and drink out of the sink!

First Halloween

First Lubbock snowfall. For both of us!

She would not go out in the snow unless she had her rubber boots on!

First Christmas!

And then we got Bayla!

She really didn't care for him too much.

Her first hunting trip to Black Gap. And mine too!

Like mother, like daughter. Abbie and Rylie are both great bird hunters!

When I would take a shower, I would turn a heater on, say 'heater', and they would both come running and sit in front of it

She LOVED swimming at the tank!

On December 24, 2005, she had a little of 5 incredibly cute puppies, one of which is Rylie!

West Texas

2009-11-18T16:29:00.009-06:00

The first weekend of November is the annual Terlingua Chili Cookoff. Every year we say we are going to go and we never do. Well, this year we went!!!

My dad was going to go with my brother and a family friend, but they bailed on him at the last minute. So, the Wednesday afternoon before, dad calls me and asks if I want to go with him to the cookoff and quail hunting at Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. Since I don't have much happening in my life, I decided to go with him and take Rylie with us!

I was excited to go because I have heard how crazy the cookoff is and wanted to see for myself. And I wanted to go hunting, especially with Rylie, because I heard from dad how good she does. And I really wanted to get out of town to get away from having no job!

Terlingua did not disappoint! I think it was a little crazier than I was expecting! But we had a lot of fun walking around checking out all the cooks and everyone else who came just to party.

Speaking of crazy...we watched a 'Best Breast' contest! Talk about quality father-daughter bonding time! The top pictures are of the stage and the bottom are some of the "spectators."

We spent the weekend at Stillwell Store in a rundown trailer, which actually turned out to not be as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thankfully it had AC because it got quite warm a few nights.

We hunted at Black Gap two days and had a pretty good time. Dad got 7 birds, and it was a good thing Rylie was there to find a few of those. She did awesome hunting! Better than I expected! She really does have a nose for it.

There was only one problem. She got a thorn in her eye. Her eye eye. And I had to pull it out! On the first day, in the evening when we took her boots off, she immediately started rubbing her eye. I just assumed she was rubbing it because she had had the boots on all day. When we got back to the trailer I noticed that she was holding it closed, so I got a flashlight and was able to see something on her eye. It looked like a big piece of dirt, so I go a tissue and while dad held her I tried to kind of wipe it off. That's when I realized that the "dirt" wasn't moving. I got the flashlight out again and held it to the side and could then tell that it was a thorn. I don't know how I did it, but with dad holding her, I was able to take the tweezers and pull it out.

Poor baby was miserable! She woke up with her eye goopy and crusted over! Thankfully I had some eye medication from last year when she scratched her eye. I wasn't sure if I could use it though so we drove the 10 miles to the National Park where there was cell reception and got a hold of my friend Jennifer who told me that I could use it, but to watch her.

Once we got out hunting, you wouldn't know anything was wrong with her. She was such a trooper! Once we got back home, I checked her eye again and could tell that there was still something in there. I kept putting the medicine in and luckily got through this without a trip to the vet! Jennifer had told me that if it didn't get better I would have to take her to a veterinarian opthamologist! I can't imagine how much that would be!

Rylie and her Grandpa RoRo!

Wildflowers blooming and mountains in Mexico through the window of an old adobe house

The only blooming Ocotillo that we came across

Beautiful grasses

I had a lot of fun and was worn out for days! So was Rylie! She slept for two whole days once we got back! But now it's back to civilization, the real world, and to the grind of trying to find a job.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween from my kitchen!!

Since I have so much time on my hands, I decided to get really crafty with my holiday cupcakes! I tend to make cupcakes anyway for just about every holiday, but I wanted to amp it up a little bit.

The actual cake part was layered orange and black (although it looked a little purple)!

The cupcakes for Josh's coworkers

This one was my favorite!

You would think he was looking at the cupcake, but the ball was actually just below this and he was trying to get my attention!

One year...

2009-10-18T12:09:00.002-05:00

A year ago today, Josh and I got married.

I can't believe it has been a year!

In a dream

2009-10-15T14:45:00.002-05:00

This experience starting Tuesday afternoon has been so surreal and I feel like I am in some kind of dream-like state and that this is not my life!

I have to admit that yesterday was incredibly tough and rough for me. I literally had nothing to do. Well, I had stuff to do, but nothing that was pressing. And I had no motivation to do anything. I laid around and did absolutely nothing. I finally got up and washed the dishes because I had told Josh that I would and I didn't want him to get home and they still not be washed.

I know I shouldn't be complaining, because there are people in the world and even this country who are having a much tougher time than me. I am very fortunate to have even found another job after being laid off the first time. I am fortunate to have a family who loves me. I am fortunate to have friends that I can turn to when I need a sympathetic ear. I am fortunate to have a husband who loves me and is doing his best to support me through this. I am fortunate to have ex-coworkers to keep their ears open for me for possible jobs.

However, for me, this is really tough. This lay off has made me question everything I thought I once knew about myself and my life. I feel like I really don't have a place in the world, and I'm not sure where I fit. I really don't know if I want to do Landscape Architecture anymore. Going through this twice kind of makes me feel like I need to take this opportunity to try something different. The million dollar question is "What do I do?" Do I go into a different aspect of landscape design? Do I try out residential? Do I work for the city? Do I try to get a job at a firm that does commercial again? I've been there, done that twice now and I'm not sure I want to venture into that again. Do I try to start doing my baking on the side? Do I find a job in retail just to get by for a few months? Once the economy starts to rebound, I know things will be better, but development and Landscape Architecture are going to take a while to get back to where it was. But then I ask myself if I go back in that direction, do I want to sit in front of a computer for 9 hours a day?

Another reason this has been so hard is that I am a planner and a doer. The first time around, I had already been calling people and looking for a new job, so I jumped right into doing that full time. This time around, I already know that no one is hiring, so I don't have much hope for my employment future. However, I have some amazing connections who have already started looking for me! I am so thankful for that!

Today has been a little better. I still have a lost feeling, but I have been getting out and about. I decided to get some mums to plant in the planters on the front porch. I have some pumpkin bread in the oven. And I've made a list for the next few days so I know what I have to do.

I know things will get better and that something good is going to come out of all of this. I'm just have to keep reminding myself to be patient and wait for that to come.

Today is a day kind of like another

2009-10-14T09:48:00.002-05:00

The last time I started off like this, I was laid off. And the same is true this time.

I was laid off again yesterday afternoon! Only this time, I wasn't expecting it. It was a complete shock. I thought things were looking up and getting better! I think I am still in a little bit of shock. Even though it is Wednesday and I am sitting on the couch watching The Golden Girls in my pajamas, it still doesn't feel real!

I started there June 1, and it was kind of an adjustment from the company I was at. It was a very slow start and I felt like I couldn't pick up on a good stride. This last month I finally felt like I was hitting that stride where I didn't have to ask a lot of questions and I could complete things by myself.

So much for that! It is such a weird feeling to be sitting here on the couch watching the The Golden Girls in my pajamas. It's so surreal right now.

On top of being laid off, it seems like my family is starting to fall apart! Last Monday, October 5, my Grandpa Bennie passed away at 96. Now this week, my Grandpa Jim is in the hospital with a staph infection! A few weeks ago, Grandma Edith was in the hospital for back pain and an inner ear infection! One of my dad's first cousins fell out of tree and may be paralyzed from the waist down!

I really think that 2009 will go down as one of the worst years of my life! Here's hoping that the rest of this year starts looking up!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-10-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

Emphasis on LABOR

On the Friday of the start of Labor Day weekend, I get a call from Josh while I am at work and he asks if it would be alright if we get some sod that a friend of his has left over from a job. I said sure! We would getting 3 palettes of Zoysia for really cheap! Heck yeah, we'll take it!

So, Saturday and Sunday morning, Josh scrapes and tills the backyard to get it ready. I wish I had some before, before pictures of what it looked like with the little bit of dormant grass we had, but I didn't get any.

This is what our yard looked like Sunday morning...

Before

Sunday afternoon we got about half of it laid out. By we I mean Josh and me. By ourselves! We stopped halfway through and went swimming at a friend's house with the dogs.

During

Then we got up bright and early Monday morning to finish the job. While we were getting started again, our neighbor Allen comes over and asks me if I would like to borrow his wheelbarrow. Of course I would! The funny thing is that I had asked Josh to ask Allen the day before and Josh assured me that Allen didn't have one, and obviously hadn't asked! Wow that thing made our job so much easier!

Now we have a yard that is mostly covered by beautiful, new zoysia!

After

The best part is that the week after we laid it, is when we got close to a foot of rain, so we didn't have to worry about watering! Yeah!

Show Us Your Life - Dessert

2009-09-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely love dessert! I can eat until I am stuffed, but will always find room for dessert, whether it is ice cream, cake, cupcakes, pie, cheesecake, or even a piece of candy. And it runs in my family. Josh says that he has never seen people who love sweets so much! We had a joint birthday party for my grandparent's birthdays and there were 4 homemade cakes!

Finding only one recipe for this was so hard. I have so many good recipes for desserts, but my absolute favorite go-to recipe for family functions, pot lucks, or get togethers is Cream Cheese Sopapillas! If you are watching your weight or worried about being healthy, stop right now, read no further, and hit the 'Back' button because this is not the recipe for you! However, if you love dessert and don't really care about what goes into it, keep reading because this is the recipe for you! I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:
2 packages crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup sugar
3 packages 8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 stick butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

* Heat oven to 350 degrees
* In a 13x9 greased pan, spread one can of crescent rolls on the bottom
* Cream 1 1/2 cups sugar with 3 packages cream cheese
* Add vanilla
* Spread mixture to pan
* Spread other can of crescent rolls on top
* Melt butter and pour on top
* Mix 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle on top of butter
* Bake 30-40 minutes or until the top is no longer moist

It is the absolute best right out of the oven, but is still pretty good after it has cooled or as leftovers. I'm sorry there are no pictures. The last time I made this was last Christmas and I couldn't find any pics!

Going to the dogs

2009-09-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

Here's Rylie on any given night:

Very tired

Slightly annoyed

Absolutely pathetic

And then there's Bayla:

Alert

Not really paying attention (for once)

Thinking he hears something

Chris & Kylee's wedding

2009-09-18T10:50:00.004-05:00

Josh's brother, Chris, got married June 6 in Weatherford. For some reason, I never posted the pics, so here are a few from the weekend.

Josh & his mom

The bridesmaids & groomsmen

Here is my friend from the weekend. This is Josh's cousin's son and he was slighly enamored with me! I love the look on his face!

The cakes

Here are both of the boys. The one on the left kept looking down at his shirt when the red eye light would come on!

Here's my little friend again! At this point he didn't want anyone but me to hold him. Not even his grandpa!

It was a long, exhausting weekend, but we had a lot of fun!!

Our generation

2009-08-20T12:37:00.003-05:00

I found this on another blog and found myself laughing so hard I was crying because I can relate to so many of them!

Some Random Thoughts of the Day that really embody how “our generation” thinks and feels in general:

*I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

*More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

*Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

*I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?

*Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

*That’s enough, Nickelback.

*I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

*The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.

*Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQs. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.

*There is a great need for sarcasm font.

*Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f*ck was going on when I first saw it.

*I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.

*The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that’s is when I realized, yup, that’s a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can recognize their own image.

*How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

*I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

*I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

*The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

*A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

*Was learning cursive really necessary?

*Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

*I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

*Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

*My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.

*Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

*How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

*I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

*Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”

*What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

*While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.

*MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

*Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

*I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

*Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

*I would like to officially coin the phrase ‘catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: “Dave caught the swine flu last night.”

*I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

*Bad decisions make good stories

*Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!

*Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

*If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

*Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….

*You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

*Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

*There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

*I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

*“Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.

*I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

*While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.

*I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

*I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

*When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

*I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

*Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…

*As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

*Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

*It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

*I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

*I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

*Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.

*Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…

*My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?

*It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

*I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

*I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

*I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

*The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

The stray

2009-08-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

My stray kitty posed for me the other night.

Most of the time I feed her when I get home from work. Some days, I will out front after dinner to see if she is still hanging around. I talk to her (I'm sure the neighbors think I'm a loon), pet her, and just interact with her. She'll hang around if Josh comes out, but she really won't let him get too close.

Every few days, I give her a little dish of milk. Yes, I take after my grandmother, but she (I think she's a she) loves it!

she tries to be aloof and not care, but it never works.

she does a lot of cleaning...

and stretching out...

she looks at me like I am crazy...

she lounges some more...

then she moves over to the planter wall and relaxes...

and looks at me like, 'Really? What do you want?'

so, I scratch her chin...(This is her favorite)

and get a shot of her white paws...

I wish the picture wasn't so dark, but I love her white spot on her nose.

Show Us Your Life - Vacation

2009-08-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

This was very hard. I'm not a world traveler by any means, but I've been on some cool vacations. Mostly around the state of Texas though. My absolute favorite trip, however, was actually my study abroad trip to the Yucatan.

I did my Master in Landscape Architecture work at Texas Tech. The summer after my first year, one of the professors put together a study abroad design trip around the Yucatan Peninsula. When I say "around the Yucatan" that is almost literal as we were all over the whole peninsula! This trip was four years ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy on some of the details. And I had a really hard time going through the pictures!

The trip was also a way for us to study eco-tourism, so we were able to visit a few eco-resorts and lots of ruins.

We started out and Merida and kind of used that as a base that we came back to a few times. One of our first outings was to Celestun on the west coast

We took a little boat ride to an area in a mangrove forest where the fresh water & salt water mix, and we got to take a little dip in the cool water.

And then on the way back, we got to see a huge flock of flamingos!!

We got to see some ancient haciendas.

We climbed and toured lots of ruins. I believe this is Uxmal

I can't remember exactly where this place was, but I believe it was on the outskirts of Celestun. It was an eco-resort that let us hang out for a few hours on their beach.

We went all the way down to the south end of the peninsula to Calakmul, which is about 20 miles from Guatamala. These are the views from the top of the tallest ruin.

We stayed on the patio at Hacienda Tabi in hammocks!

Touring more ruins

The "vacation" part for us came when we got to spend a few days in Playa del Carmen!

Touring Tulum

We also got to take a tour of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. It was so cool because we got to float down man made Mayan canals.

The ruins at Chichen Itza.

We also got to go to Xcaret. If you ever get to that area, Xcaret is an awesome place to go!

The main reason for our trip was to redesign two different town squares (zocolos) for the villages of Yaxunah and Yaxachen. This was a really cool and interesting part of the trip. We were able to interact with the locals villagers to learn what they wanted in a zocolo and also to learn more about the culture.

In Yaxachen we were able to make homemade corn tortillas with a few of the villagers.

One of our favorite activities was taking a break to swim in the cenotes. This one was in Yaxunah.

I believe this one was at Ik Kil

The last place we stayed was Kaxil Kiuic Bioreserve. We were the first group to ever stay there!

And just to prove that we did do design work while we were there! When we were in Yaxunah, a storm came through and knocked out the electricity, so we had to finish our work by candlelight and flash light!

It was definitely the trip of a lifetime and I would love to go back some day, if even just to visit of few of the places we visited.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Splish Splash!

2009-08-10T12:55:00.000-05:00

My dogs LOVE to swim!

That is actually the understatement of the year! They can't get enough!

I think it was July 4th weekend that we took them to a friend's to swim. They actually just "chase" the ball and bring it back to the steps. But they love it!

Rylie will just get right out there and go for it! Bayla takes a little more time to get in and usually just tries to take the ball away from her when she's on the way back!

Taking a breather

Bayla figured out that he liked to cruise around on the boogie board with me steering.

Eye on the ball. Always.

My littlest fish

At the end of the day, I got them out, so they could start air-drying a little. I got out to dry off as well. Josh was still in the pool with his friend. Next thing I know, I see Rylie swimming laps like nobody's business. The ball is not in there. She just wanted to keep swimming!

The funniest thing is when you pick them up out of the water, their front feet keep kicking like they are swimming!

And the aftermath. 'Leave me alone mom!'

Poppies

2009-08-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

I took these pictures back at the beginning of the summer. They were in the alley behind a neighbor's house, and I couldn't just not take a picture because they were so pretty!

These were behind my parent's house. Everywhere. It was hard to just pick one to photograph, but it was starting to rain, so I made a choice and ran!

Show Us Your Life - Wedding Reception & Honeymoon

2009-08-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'd have to say that our reception was awesome!

We were very fortunate with our location. It was at a B&B near Schulenburg, TX that also has a renovated barn. My dad was in the process of building a house for the owners, and we had seen the place being remodeled for a while, and really wanted to have it there. The owners are incredibly giving and helped make the day spectacular. If you are in the area (1/2 way between San Antonio & Houston on I-10) and looking for a getaway, they have some other B&Bs as well.

We were also very fortunate with the weather! Fall in south central Texas can be tricky. It could be 90 or 60; sunny or rainy; you never know. Being that it was mostly outside, I was a wreck for weeks. I began checking weather.com 10 days before to see what was going to happen. They were predicting rain. To be on the safe side, we rented a tent also. Luckily, it was not needed. It ended up being one of the most gorgeous days. If I had specifically requested this day, it couldn't have been better. The temperature was perfect, probably in the 80s, the sun was shining, it was great!

The entry

Planters at the barn

One of my favorite parts of the reception was the glass jars. My grandma (mom's mom) passed away over two years ago. She was one of those people that collected and held onto everything. When I decided to have it at the barn, I wanted to do something with Mason jars, and I knew just the place to get them. We raided my grandparent's garage, and I got all the jars I needed. Josh created a "handle" out of wire. I tied ribbons on them in our colors. And we hung them on shepherd's hooks that my dad had donated the rebar, & Josh's dad made.

The shepherd's hooks lined the path from the house down to the barn. In the glass jars I put candles, so the path would be lit at night. I then used some of the jars as centerpieces, alternating candles and flowers. My 3 other grandparents are still alive, and able to be there, so I was happy that my grandma was able to be there in some way.

Grand entrance

Our cakes were delicious and made exactly like we wanted them!

Yes, those are pheasant feathers. From pheasants that Josh killed himself. I'm so proud.

These are our Landscape Architecture friends from Texas Tech

Our Texas Tech guests

All of our guests

The barn from the house at sunset

Beginning of the dance. In the Czech/German culture (I believe, but could be wrong), we do what's called a grand march at weddings and at the end, everyone circles around you until the song is over, and then the bride and groom do the first dance.

My dad & me

Last June, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Josh's parents celebrated their 30th this year. I had been wanting to do something special, but really hadn't thought of something unique, so I had let it go. A few weeks before our wedding I happened to find out that at my parents wedding they danced to George Jones' Walk Through this World with Me. When I heard that, I knew what I wanted to do. So, after Josh & I danced, my dad & me, Josh & his mom, we had the DJ call our parents out on the dance floor and we dedicated that song to them.

My brother & me

Josh's brother caught the garter, my sister caught the bouquet

The barn at night!

Our getaway with sparklers.

We didn't go too far though. We stayed the night at the B&B, so all we had to do was go inside!

For our honeymoon, we went to Vancouver, British Columbia. We wanted to do something a little different. We have both been to the Caribbean, and various places in Mexico. Plus, we live in South Texas and really wanted to go somewhere cooler.

I handed the reins over to Josh to plan the trip after we decided on the destination. And when I say 'handed the reins over', I mean it. I wanted him to surprise me everything. I didn't find out where we were staying until we got to the airport at 5:00 Sunday morning. Yes, that's right. 5:00 AM, the morning after our wedding! We had to leave at 3:00. We only got about 2 hours of sleep. And believe me when I say it was just sleep. We were too exhausted for anything else!

We got some good sleep that night though and woke up bright-eyed Monday morning. Josh really didn't plan anything specific, so we played it by ear. Our first hotel was the Sylvia Hotel. It was the coolest hotel! It's older, but has really great character.

Downtown Vancouver on our walk to the aquarium.

The aquarium was really cool and perfect because it was cloudy and drizzly

Isn't this just gorgeous?

We are both landscape architects, so we loved walking through the city. It is so clean and pretty.

The Sylvia Hotel

Our view overlooking English Bay

We got a kick out of seeing a DQ in Vancouver!

We really enjoyed seeing all the rooftop gardens (and the amazing views) from the Vancouver Lookout tower.

In the middle of the week, we checked out of the Sylvia, and headed to Whistler. Our rental car guy gave us some good advice on places to stop along the way.

At Lighthouse Park

Shannon Falls

The view from our hotel at Whistler

When we came back into Vancouver the next night, we stayed more downtown at The Blue Horizon

The view from our room

On Friday, we went to Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Oh my gosh! I am not one for heights. Or one for moving while up high. But I faced my fear and crossed the bridge. I took off in front of Josh, just trying to get across as fast as I could. I get to the other side and he calls out to me to turn around. I do, and he starts jumping up and down to make the bridge move more than it already is! I was ready to kill him!

We had a lot of fun there, but I was so happy to be back on non-moving ground! I did a quick recap of our trip here and here. I'm not sure why I didn't finish the rest of the trip. I may have to go back and do that now.

Josh and I have already decided that we are going to go back to Vancouver some day because we had so much fun and the weather was awesome!

The neighbor's cat

2009-08-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Meet Berkeley. She belongs to our next door neighbors (who deserve a post all their own). I believe they rescued her from a shelter near Austin, and she's a little over year old.

One weekend back in May, Josh and I were out in the yard trimming trees because brush pick-up was the next week. Well, Berkeley decided to join us for a while and "help."

This is her idea of helping.

Playing with the branches and posing for my pictures.

Somedays I wish I had the life of a cat. Must be nice!

4th of July Cupcakes

2009-08-04T10:20:00.000-05:00

For most holidays I like to make cupcakes to take to my office and Josh's office. They are usually nothing too special, so for the 4th of July, I wanted to get a little more creative. I made a box red velvet cake, dyed can icing blue, and put white sprinkles on them. They really didn't turn out how I had hoped in my mind, but they were still pretty cute. I had wanted to do a cream filling, but something went wrong and the cream didn't turn out.

I wanted to get creative with packaging, but the only bags I found were a tad too small, but I made them work for a few. They were a huge mess to get out of the bags, so I have to keep looking for some that are a little wider on the bottom.

As I was playing around online right before the 4th, I saw these white chocolate covered strawberries and really wanted to make them! This was the last one and I realized I hadn't taken a picture of them!

I'm hoping to get a little more creative with my cupcakes, and I'll post the results here to keep track of my "progress."

A to Z about me!

2009-08-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

A -Age: 27

B -Bed size: King!!! We just got it about a month ago and it has been heavenly!

C- Chore you hate: Dishes. I despise them. Luckily Josh loves me because he usually ends up doing them!

D- Dog's Name: Bayla & Rylie

E- Essential starts to your day: cereal & milk or toast & milk

F- Favorite Color: Blue, but I have been leaning toward reds for awhile now.

G- Gold, Silver, or Platinum: Platinum

H- Height: 5'-3"

I- Instruments you play: none

J- Job Title: Landscape Designer

K- Kids: none

L-Living Arrangements: Married

M- Moms name: Theresa

N- Nicknames: Nikbeth, Ladybug, Nik

O- Overnight stay in the hospital other than Birth: I think when I was little

P- Pet Peeve: stupid drivers

Q- Quote from a movie: "It's cool to be a possum"

R- Right or Left handed: Right

S- Siblings: younger brother and sister

T- Time you wake up: between 6:00 and 6:30

U- Underwear: Victoria's Secret

V- Vegetable you dislike: most cooked vegetables

W- Ways you run late: Waiting on Josh! :)

X- X-rays you've had: many for shoulder dislocations, after I had my wreck

Y- Yummy food you make: Cupcakes!

Z- Zoo Favorite: Giraffes

Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party & Flowers

2009-07-31T13:06:00.001-05:00

The whole idea for our wedding was 'simple'. But still elegant and classy. I wanted things to coordinate, but not be necessarily matched perfectly. I think I was able to pull it off really well! The ceremony was at a small country church that was built in the late 1800s, where my great-grandparents went to church in the early 1900s and my grandparents continue to go to today. My dad's parents were married there almost 65 years ago.

My sister, Rachel, was my Maid of Honor. My Bridesmaids were my best friend, Jennifer, my other best friend, Amy, and my cousin, Sarah.

Sarah, Amy, me, Rachel, Jennifer

The boys were quite a bunch! They definitely kept us all entertained that weekend!

I absolutely loved the flowers for my wedding! I graduated with a horticulture degree so the flowers were very tough for me to figure out. I knew I wouldn't need or want any for the church, because it is beautiful by itself and needs no other decor, and I didn't want a whole lot for the reception because it's beauty stood alone as well. I hem-hawed around for quite a while trying to decide what would be the best flowers. And then it hit me. I was standing in line at the store and saw the cover for Real Simple Weddings. It had a bride sitting down holding a bouquet of just dark purple hydrangeas. That is when I knew exactly what I wanted! I love hydrangeas in any color, but my colors were dark purple, red, and champagne, so it was perfect! I wanted the bridesmaid's bouquet to be just the dark purple hydrangeas. And for mine, the hydrangeas with red roses. These bouquets turned out so well!!

Since the reception was at a B&B with a barn, I wanted to do something really simple, so we just did a few arrangements of purple carnations.

The best part of the story is from a few months after the wedding. On the wedding day, the lady who was helping coordinate things picked up the flowers and told me that the florist (who is a good family friend) told her that she would never work with hydrangeas again! I kind of laughed because I know that they can be delicate flowers. Well, a few months later, my mom asks if she had told me the story about the flowers. Apparently, the flower guy gets to the florist's shop on the Thursday before the wedding and all the purple hydrangeas she had ordered were horrible looking. She's freaking out and asking the guy what is she supposed to do because she needs these flowers. He said that he had some white hydrangeas, so she took those and spent the night dyeing these white hydrangeas purple, just for the wedding! I couldn't believe it! No wonder she never wants to work with them again! But I love her because the flowers were gorgeous!