~I want this house~

Ryan's been looking more at schools for his PhD and I've fallen in love with this house in Greeley Colorado (University of Northern Colorado), even though I haven't seen the inside, Ryan agrees it's pretty awesome looking from the outside and would be fun to have a charming old house like that.

It's too damn bad we won't be moving this fall for school, but really, it's such a blessing. Our house value should increase with UVU coming next July and if we don't sell before we've occupied for two years, we'll get out without having to pay property gains taxes. Hoo-rah!

Bless Ry's heart - he's agreed we can get a fixer-upper if I can prove to him that I can finish projects I start: refinishing the chairs, the dresser, etc.

On a more positive note(and completely off subject): Ryan's car issue is almost resolved!! We won the war with Parts4Less in Tucson and they arranged pick up of the lemon engine they sent us FIVE MONTHS AGO. So we don't have to pay for a piece of shite and worry about it ruining the rest of his car. We've been paying 5 months for a car we haven't been driving and we'll finally be able to get his car back. My car is paid off now and we're thinking of trading it in and getting something more dependable (Honda, Toyota, ya know).

Even though we're inactive heathens, Heavenly Father is blessing us and things are getting straightened out.

Now pray for me that I can stop hating my job (not the office itself - love it).

Melt In Your Mouth Babycakes

Another gem from the internet. I found this recipe for a chocolate cake. I think my issue is the altitude. Most of these recipes are made in Cali, so i'm thinking that's it. Anyone have any advice?

Ryan and I went to Arby's for lunch so I could snag a pile of the sauce cups (mini cups) for a recipe for Melt in Your Mouth Cake.

Here are the results. You can't really tell the size ratio, except in my blurry close up picture. For some reason the macro setting on my camera isn't as clear and I'd like. Maybe I should read the manual. The recipe made almost 6 dozen of these puppies.

Samoas in Cupcake Form

I mentioned in my last post that I've been addicted to CupCake Bake Shop. Well, I took one of her recipes and set to work. They didn't turn out as great as they should have (or I've lost a bit of my baking magic...naw, that can't be it), but they are SO. FREAKING. GOOD.

Eat.your.heart.out., Martha!

Luckiest 11-yr Old

My youngest brothers-in-law are only 10 (Ben) and 11 (Joey) and are quite fun to hang out with. Ryan called me on Thursday and said, "Wanna hear something hilarious?" Um...yes...

"Joey won a car." WHAT?!

Entered his name at the Scout-O-Rama last weekend. The lady said they probably had about 20,000 entries and Joey's name was the first one drawn. WHO THE HECK WINS A JEEP?

We all kept it a secret from him until the BSA could arrange to present it to him at school. Here are a few pictures of him after he walked out and found out he won (oh, btw, he had a ton of new 'best friends'). Doesn't that smile look like the happiest boy in the world? Lucky bastard.

cupcakemania

I got the coolest stuff in the mail the other day. (I've been a little out of control...dunno why..) First, I got a few of these: Cup-a-Cake Cupcake holders! They're actually cheaper ordering directly from the manuf's site here. I got a set of four. I'm sad they don't make a whole carrier of 12 like this. How awesome would that be for transporting...But my obsession with cupcakes started with this blog: CupCakeBlog.

I also got a shipment of paper mache fun. I've mentioned my box project (waiting for the special order of paper to come in) and I had to have a minimum order of $100, so I got these fun 18" stars. You might be wondering what i'll do with them...but i have a plan! Around christmas time, they are going to be sooo incredibly festive and make everything dazzle. Who knows? Maybe I'll drill a hole in the bottom and make one a christmas tree topper.

I've also been up to my elbows in decopouge...to which Ryan gave me some new rules. When you bake and when you craft...clean up ALL evidence. Nothing must remain!
That's going to be tough, but for his sanity, probably something I should be more consciencious of.
Here are the fru-eets of my labor:

Husband

Just a quick note to say how much of a helpful and amazing man my husband is. Seriously, without being cheesy, he's the yin to my yang.

Makes life a LOT easier with him around (even when it's just me...he makes it easier). He's gotten pretty handy lately. Recently he recycled the metal shelving from our closet and cut it to fit as a second shelf in our laundry room above the washer and dryer. He's just great.

Love you, babes!

P.S. our anniversary is at the end of this month! Wahoo! a year already.

Update!

So I got the dishes done but not the laundry. Who's surprised? (I don't see any hands up)

I moved all of my crafts into the spare room (hoo-rah for moi) and now have to find a little workspace I can use in there. I'll be keeping my eye on craigslist.

Sidenote: Wendy's commercial on right now...the dude in it is the main actor from Saints and Soldiers...he's moved up quickly...too bad, he's not a bad looking dude.

And here are pictures of my recipe box. They're not that good because I'm still trying to figure out my camera and all its little settings.

I shouldn't be blogging right now

And here's why:

1) Dishes: HUGE pile in the sink. At this point, I successfully unloaded the dishwasher. Loaded all the cups. Then I turned up the music and started cleaning off the counter. I have ADD.

2) Laundry: Probably 3 loads to do and about 15 to fold. I abhor folding laundry. It drives my husband crazy. His side of the room is clean for the most part. Mine? so many clothes (many of which are now too small for me @$%$^#!~@*) on the floor that I just use the pile as a makeshift night stand and toss my book on top before nodding to slumberland.

3) CRAFTS: They're everywhere. I am going to have to use the spare room as a craft room now...when the mess is starting to get to me, it's time to do something. Usually means my hubby is cringing inside everytime he looks at it.

But I've been having so much fun making things lately. A photog in cali saw one of my items on Etsy and asked if i could make a bigger box and make 30 of them for her. Heck yes I can. The cost for the materials alone is over $100, but if she's willing to pay, I'll make them. My only problem is making the seams look great. I'm going to have to piece them more together than I did the other one because of the size of the box and the size of the paper. We'll see what happens, right?

I'll post pics as soon as I have them made. They should be cute cute. Nothing else new. I made a funky glam desserts only recipe box. I'll have to post pics of those both soon.