What you've missed in the last month- ok 2 or 3

Another unfinished blog that I am just going to post so we can get over this hump!!!!!!

I feel like I get a "by" on this little break from blogging because of the holidays so I will try to catch you guys up. First off...we have a new header, that I'm EXTREMELY proud of!!! ^^^^ thanks to jordyluxe on etsy for creating that for us. I have put that cartoon everywhere!!! I love it so much!

Ok, now. Let's start with November 21, which was my brother's birthday! For those of you that don't know, my brother is 15 years older than me. This has always made for an interesting brother/sister relationship. He is definitely like a father figure to me, especially since I lost my dad at such a young age. We got him the new Call of Duty game: Black Ops. He was super excited and even used his whole day off to play it! We also went to Freebirds World Burrito for his birthday lunch, which was AWESOME. In fact, about a week ago I went twice in one day. Gah, it is so good. So if you've never been to Freebirds, they wrap their burritos in two layers of foil so that people can make stuff out of the foil to put around the restaurant. We made Kevan a foil birthday cake:)

Thanksgiving...Break?

This is a blog I started writing in the beginning of January and I have been avoiding blogging because I haven't finished it so ... I'm just gonna post it as is with what I have written and then just give some pictures at the end. I just need to get over this blogging block :)

This year was the first Thanksgiving of our married life. I think that most people probably wait a few years before jumping behind the wheel of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner when they first get married. Not us, apparently :D. We thought it would be a good idea to get our "first Thanksgiving cooking disaster" out of the way early. But guess what!? It wasn't a complete disaster!!!!

Since everyone in the family kind of had their own thing to do on the actual day of Thanksgiving, we decided to have our Thanksgiving meal on the Saturday after. Kyle's mom, Saundra, is unfortunately snowed-in up in Minot, North Dakota; and his sister, Shelby, is with her husband, who is stationed in 29 Palms, CA. His other two sisters, Ashley and Amanda, and their significant others, Mark and Joey, were able to come down to my mom's house for Saturday. Also in attendance were my brother, Kevan, and his wife, Shellye, and my two nieces, Kami and Brook.

PICTURES!!!!

My cousin Dakota with our fried turkey that we had at Thanksgiving

My wonderful pumpkin spice cupcakes which I will be posting the recipe for later :)

Kami and Brook having just a little too much fun at Tom Thumb shopping for Thanksgiving groceries.

Just having fun with my favorite girls

Update

To fulfill one of my Old Year's Resolutions: here's a new blog...my second in the span of a week!!!

I just thought I should give a little update to the progress of my resolutions and steps I am taking in the right direction...no matter how little they may be.

1. I really want to find the perfect church and become active in it.

This week: Shady Oaks Baptist Church

Update: I worked Saturday night and was living on the prayer of a cancel for my Sunday shift. Even with the odds stacked against me, I came home, made some lemon poppyseed muffins, and Kyle and I went to sunday school and church. Now...we have visited a few churches in the span of our relationship, and have found good things about all of them. I had a thought that maybe after a fourteen hour shift was not the best time to assess a church's ability to keep my attention. That in mind, we visited my home church, where my mother still goes, and where I believe my membership still lies. I really wanted this Sunday to be more about just getting our feet wet in church again. It was a good experience overall, and I really hope to continue our journey for the perfect church.

2. I would like to lose 10 pounds.

Motivational picture of the week: I swear I used to look like this.

Update: I started my new diet (if that's what you want to call it) yesterday. I have a really neat app for my iPhone that I downloaded some time ago called MyFitnessPal to help me track my calories. It has a listing for every food imaginable and it is really easy to search for what you are eating. You can see how many calories you have eaten, and how many calories you have to go. I am trying to stay under 1500 calories a day. I plan to do a blog maybe next week about "pretending." Like how I pretend that my Chocolate Drizzle Special K Cereal Bar is really a Milky Way. It should be interesting. I'm also struggling with this whole "drink water until you drown" thing. I love Diet Coke and it will probably be the hardest thing for me to give up. I think it will happen eventually.

3. I want to spread contagious joy.

What's more joyful than a smiling Paigey on a dinosaur?

Update: According to Greta, in my comments section from the last post, ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! :) Haha. But seriously, I have been trying to be better about this. I think that positivity is something that has lacked a little bit in my life lately and am attempting to amp it up. I feel like I have made strides towards being a more joyful person.

4. I want to be a devoted blogger.

Update: Blogging now. Boomshakalaka.

5. I want to be awake more.

Update: Yesterday I woke up at 6 AM when Kyle had to wake up to get ready for work. I cooked him some delicious breakfast burritos, walked him to the door to say goodbye, and gave him a hug and kiss (just like Leave it to Beaver). This is the point where I would normally just go lay back down in bed a few more hours. Instead, I stayed up ALL DAY!!! No nap, no mid-morning dozing, NOTHING. This is probably my greatest accomplishment this week, because my awake time allowed me to do a lot of things I have been wanting to do for a while. I treated and vacuumed the entire carpet staircase, I organized my desk and office shelves, I deep cleaned the kitchen, and I did a billion loads of laundry. Ok, not a billion, more like three. It felt really good to get some things done instead of just sitting around watching Netflix. I'm going to try to stay awake like this on all my days off this week, and also try to not sleep away the entire day that I work.

I really feel like all of my goals here are intertwined. If I do one, then another follows, which causes another one, etc. Thank you to all my friends who support me in my goals, no matter silly or serious.

Old Year's Resolutions?

I know...it has been way too long, but unlike all you other little bloggers, I do not have cute kids to take pictures of and share funny things they have said. These are the things I love to read about in your blogs, and so sometimes I feel a little inadequate as a blogger, in general. But today is a new day, and a new beginning. I know its not January 1, but I would like to set some goals for myself that I would like to accomplish before the end of the year: let's call it old year's resolutions? Sure.

Things I would like to do before the end of the year:

1. I really want to find the perfect church and become active in it.

Since Kyle and I have gotten married, we have really enjoyed our weekends together. We get to sleep in, lounge around, and just enjoy our day. Unfortunately, we have gotten so spoiled by staying up late on Saturday night that Sunday mornings have been a difficult time for both of us to get up and going. I really miss being in an active Christian body, and even if it means Saturday afternoon church, I want this back.

2. I would like to lose 10 pounds. That's all. Come on people it is already November 5th.

10 pounds divided by 8 weeks. Thats totally doable...right?

3. I want to spread contagious joy.

This is something that I have found is missing in a lot of places. It is pretty easy to make someone's day with a little bit of happiness. While I have never really understood the point of dragging other people down with bad moods, I have been not so altogether encouraging lately. I think if we do a little work on #1 up there, #3 should follow :)

4. I want to be a devoted blogger.

Let's just call devoted one blog a week, ok? Start small.

5. I want to be awake more.

I don't want to sleep through my life, and working nights it seems like I do that a little bit. I would like to think of sleep more as a luxury and not a necessity. Right now I feel sometimes like it is taking over my social life.

So there you have it. 5 things I want to accomplish before the end of this year. I will (hopefully, if number 4 works out) be keeping you updated on my progress with these things. In the meantime, you guys can try to keep me accountable.

i'm still here

I got an iPad!!!! And guess what!? There is a Blogger app for it! Which will hopefully mean that blogging is always just a touch away. So, for those that would like it here is my review of the iPad after my first night with it.
PROS:
1. Fast
The iPad is faster than even my iPhone 4. It is seamless when switching back and forth from application to application, and it is super reactive to touch.

2. Easy
If you have ever owned an iPhone, iTouch, or even played with one, then you already know how to use an iPad. The user interface is one of Apple's proud spots. They make it easy for a reason, so that user's will enjoy it.

3. Sharp Display
Everything looks better on this thing. Of course the huge screen as compared to the iPhone helps. However, I really have to admit...seeing Words with Friends on an almost 8 1/2 x 11 scale is pretty incredible.

CONS:
1. No camera
This kind of stinks, especially considering how cool pictures look on here, but i am hoping for some sort of solution where you can hook your iPhone to it and transfer pictures directly to it. This would be easier than connecting your camera (or iPhone) to the computer, and then hooking your computer to your iPad, just to get some lousy pictures!

2.No multitasking ... yet.
As of right now, my iPhone 4 spoiled brain will have to switch back and forth from app to app. But the word on the streets is that in November, there is going to be a huge update to iPad which will include multitasking and folders.

3.Not all apps are optimized for iPad
I haven't found any apps that I absolutely must have that aren't available in some form for iPad. Also, a lot of website-based apps (Facebook, Bank apps, Search engines) look beautiful in the web version on Safari. So the app is rendered almost redundant.


So there it is:) Overall, COMPLETELY satisfied with the purchase. More than satisfied...exhilarated !!! I can't wait for the update in November to see what it brings.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cheesecake Factory

My family spoiled ourselves yesterday by going to The Cheesecake factory in Southlake. We were all miserably full by the time we left but it was totally worth it.

Kyle and I got all spiffed up for our nice dinner out with the fam.



Kyle got the Banana Cream Cheesecake




I got the 12 Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake




Kevan got the Classic Cheesecake




Shellye got the Strawberry Cheesecake




Brooke just got some plain old vanilla ice cream




Mom ordered the Strawberry Shortcake. I think hers was the prettiest.




Needless to say, it was wonderful! And a great and memorable Family Fun night!!!

Beaver's Bend...a little delayed

At the beginning of this month my family took a vacation to Beaver's Bend, OK. we had so much fun enjoying each other and just spending time together.
The cabin was more than we could have ever imagined. The first thing you see when you walk through the door is the three story window that looks out into the forest. The decor in the cabin looked like Great Wolf Lodge meets the IKEA catalog. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Before we ever left for the trip, we drew names for who would cook breakfast an dinner each day. It made for some great menus. We had some old family standbys: like stroganoff and
breakfast casserole. We also tried out some new recipes: like french toast and cheese enchiladas.

On our way to the cabin we stopped in Paris, TX for lunch. It proved a little harder than we thought to find a place open for lunch on Sundays. We finally found a place called "The Roadhouse." It was the kind of small-town place where you have to walk through the smoking section to get to the non-smoking.

Kyle and I were just happy to get out of the Jeep for a while.




We encountered a little bit of wildlife when they sat us at a table with an awkwardly low hanging buffalo head. Seriously...his hair was about an inch from my face.



While we were in Paris, I navigated us to the Texas Eiffel Tower. The nieces really seemed to enjoy it.



My attempt at being an abstract photographer.



We also made a stop on the way in Hugo, OK. My mom's family has some roots in Hugo, and she knew of a so-called "Circus Cemetery." We weren't really sure what to expect, but it was fantastic and bizarre at the same time.

By far the tallest gravestone.



Some of the gravestones were really intricate and showed what the person did in the circus.




Our first day in Beaver's Bend we ventured out to the forest museum. There were a ton of wood carvings and antique wood products.

Kyle and I took a picture with Woody the bear. He's much more fun to party with than Smokey.


We also got to see a 100 year old log cabin. Let's just say it had an open floor plan.




That day we took a trip to Broken Bow lake and went on the bumper boats. It was apparently pretty amusing seeing my sister-in-law Shellye get in (and out of) the bumper boats.




Me and the nieces found a scenic creek and decided it begged for a photo op.


Kyle was super excited to get to take Jeb the Jeep out to his natural habitat, as he puts it. It really was beautiful out there.

Kami was feeling a little dejected after fishing for a few hours with no bites. This was her best attempt at a pouty face.

While Kami, Kyle, and I were fishing, Kevan and Brook decided to try their hand at flying kites. Brook had been wanting to break out her kite all summer, but there really wasn't any wind to speak of. Up here, there was plenty. I haven't seen her smile that big in a while.

Kyle really got his feet wet while we were fishing. This is him out about 2 feet into the water. He was really at one with nature. Nice to see him in his natural habitat, as well :)

On the way back from fishing we saw a go-kart place on the side of the road. They were just about to close, but let us all go for a spin before they shut everything down. It was so much fun, but I haven't driven gokarts in a while and was a little chicken. Kami was the leader of the pack, as anyone could have guessed (she who has no fear). Kyle brought up second, with me in third, and Brook (who couldn't ever get around me because I kept accidentally cutting her off) came in fourth.

I would say that we had a fun filled trip with lots of great memories made. It was Kyle's first family vacation with all of us, and hopefully it won't be his last. I think everyone was pretty worn out by the end of the trip, as evidenced by how my niece, Kami fell asleep in the Jeep on the way back home.

I can't wait for our next family adventure!!!

Cupcake Boss

This Sunday I decided I was gonna be cupcake boss with the nieces. We had tons of fun shopping for supplies and picking out how we were going to decorate them. We decided on strawberry cupcakes with buttercream icing. We found these cute little cupcake liners and cupcake toppers

that had black polka dots and flowers (which we thought we could replicate in cupcake form).

Brook was so diligent filling the cupcake liners with our strawberry batter.

Kami was super quick at filling her cupcakes, but prides herself on the decorating part.

The girls loved wearing my aprons that I keep in our kitchen. They felt so official. I don't think its really baking unless you wear an apron.

Kami helping with making the cupcake batter.

Brook adding the eggs to our batter.

My turn to scoop.

The pups were just ready and waiting for some crumbs to fall.

Our colored icings that we created. Black, Hot Pink, and Teal.

Strawberry cupcakes in our cute, cute, cute cupcake liners.

We tried to be cake boss official with our decorating bags.

There was only one cupcake casualty on our way to Mom's house for dinner. but the rest of the cupcakes got there alive.

Here's our try at being cupcake boss. They may not be the most beautiful thing in the world but they were SURE tasty!

The Funnest Couple You Know

Reasons from my iPhone photo gallery that we are the funnest (yes, I know it is not a word) newlywed couple you know:

1. We beat Nintendo Super Mario Brothers in three days: something I had never done, and he had done many times over. We had so much fun, but I bet you can guess who kept dying by falling into boiling hot lava.

2. We do fun things like go to a comedy club in Deep Ellum for improv night. This was really funny and I suggest you all go someday. Crowd participation makes for an interesting night.

3. We try new snocone flavors to see what color it will turn our tongues. I think this time it was Blueberry and Orange Dreamsicle from Kyle's sisters' snocone stand in Wichita Falls. Definitely the best.

4. We play board games together like "Settlers of Catan," which is totally nerdy but fun at the same time because I have a pink army. It doesn't even come with the game. It was ordered online...I like to think especially for me :D

5. Kyle never argues when I say "make a funny face" for a picture. We love being totally goofy together. This particular picture was at the Rodney Carrington show, another fun night we had with some ladies from work and their husbands. Don't know that I've ever laughed so hard.