Miss me?

I would think not as I hardly have anything exciting to say even when I am writing consistently.  I have not accomplished anything on the list since the last time I wrote - meaning not much to write about. The Hubby and I have been talking about what to do for his 30th in about a month and mine in February.  More than likely I am going to be driving a convertible, listening to Atlas Shrugged, singing Karaoke at the top of my lungs on my way to the Gun Range on my 30th birthday. :) Well, it might not be that bad as I did buy the latest Living Social Deal and I have two tickets to the local range that will be used in the near future.

Yesterday The Hubby participated in a grueling 55 mile mountain bike race.  I tagged along as someone has to fill the water bottles, pass out the goo packs, and check to ensure that he is fully conscious when he comes to visit me about every hour and 15 minutes.  I brought the camera along as well and used it is an opportunity to practice my skills.  Not sure how he manages to crack a smile, but I think he actually enjoys himself - why else would you put yourself through that! My reward for a job well done was a trip to THREE vineyards on the way home.  I purchased 4 bottles of wine and added two glasses to my collection.  I do not own a matching set of wine glasses - I instead have about 12 glasses from the local vineyards that I have visited since living here.  I have never taken an official "Wine Tasting Class," but I have developed an education from talking to the owners.  I would like to take a class - that is why it is on the list - but that is not a cheap thing to do, so I may just make a trip into the country and hit up a few more vineyards and absorb as much knowledge... and wine... as I can.



Tomorrow night is my last cake decorating class of session 2 - flowers.  Over the last few weeks and I have been making tons of flowers and tomorrow night I will be putting them into an eccentric arrangement on the top of a cake. I am sure it will look weird, but I made all the flowers - what else am I going to do with them?

6 months...

Today is my half birthday, so I guess technically I should be done with half of the list - right? Wrong. There are still a ton of things left on the list to accomplish and I have only six months to do so.  It seems that what I thought was the "easy" stuff has been put off to the end.  I mean, how hard is it to drive a convertible? Well, it is really hard if you don't know anyone that owns one! I have also been staring at my scrapbook "stuff" set up on a table for about a month now and I have not made one step towards the table and progress.  The Hubby and I have discussed many times about how we "need" to plan and schedule the trip to New York, but have not done anything for that yet other than looking up the price of tickets.  I feel like such a slacker.

I did buy the living social deal of the day today and now have an all day pass at a local gun range - progress in the right direction. I still have to go before I can cross it off the list though.  That is about all the progress that has been made since last I wrote.  I am taking the second course in cake decorating - gum paste flowers.  One class so far and a couple of cute little flowers made. 

Hopefully in the next few months I can scratch a few more things off the list.  I am a realist and I know that I am not going to get it all done - I just want to accomplish as much as I can. :)

Giraffe.

I am officially crossing something else off the list – yeah! Yesterday I officially made my “fancy cake” (#2).  It was a chocolate cake and it was apparently very good.  I had a little sliver of it myself, but after making all of the icing and taste testing it I did not want any more sweets! I did learn a valuable lesson: Don’t use cake labeled “Super Moist.”  The cake was so soft I thought I was doomed as it fell apart.  Luckily The Hubby was around and he was able to help me with flipping it over and leveling it out.  Overall, I think it took me about 2.5 hours.  Sounds like a lot of time, but it was fun.  Another cake has already been requested for October and I have already been thinking of ideas. J

It is starting to look like Wilton has exploded in my kitchen at times.  I may be getting carried away with purchasing cake decorating items.  I ended up getting a “tool box” to hold all of the spatulas, icing colors, icing tips, etc.  I also have a turntable and most recently I purchased a stand that can hold the different icing bags while I am decorating.  I ended up having to clean out a cabinet in the kitchen – the liquor cabinet- in order to store all of the items.  No, I did not drink everything; I just moved it all down to the cabinet downstairs. The good news is that I have been getting tons of coupons so I have not paid full price for anything.  I did sign up to take the second class and that starts on Monday August 6^th, 2012.  I decided not to take a break in between the classes.  I find cake decorating to be fun and relaxing – a nice little “stress reliever.”  I am excited to learn how to make some different kinds of flowers and starting working with fondant. 

I decided to cross something else off the list as I feel as if I have “become a hugger.”  (#25) Last night I had to hug everyone in the group before I left for the night.  That would not have been something I did in the past.  I would accept the hug, but I did not initiate the hug.  I know that seems like an odd goal to have, but you don’t know the group I hang out with! Everyone hugs! J  I am glad that I have become more comfortable with accepting and receiving hugs.  I love that the group is so supportive of both The Hubby and I.  I feel like I have developed an amazing family here in the “Dirty South” and am grateful to have them as I am so far away from the rest of my family. 

Dollywood

I decorated a cake – a little 6 inch cake with a fish on it. Technically I could cross this off the list right now, but I am going to wait until next weekend when I decorate another cake for a baby shower.  A giraffe cake has been requested and yesterday I practiced making a giraffe.  Rocky seemed to really enjoy the first one as he stood up on the table and licked it clean as I was making another batch of frosting.  I also bought a couple of new cake pans, the icing tip, some new colors, and a frosting bag.  I might be slightly addicted. 

We made some cupcakes this past Thursday.  They were pretty good and I had fun making them - I got pretty good reviews on the frosting as well.

The last Intro class is this week and I may take the next group of classes as well, but not next month.  I think I need a little break.  I feel like I have been out “late” every night for the last few weeks with work, teaching, and the cake class.  I have tried to make up for that by not doing much of anything on the weekends.  This past weekend I cleaned the house all day on Saturday and went to see The Dark Knight Rises on Sunday – that was about it. 

We finally planned our trip to Pigeon Forge as well.  We booked a cabin – my rule was I wanted a Jacuzzi and The Hubby wanted a pool table.  I also wanted it to look like a cabin, inside and out.  Some of them looked more like a “house” on the inside and I wanted the wooden floors and walls – the whole nine yards.  My family is going to come and stay with us in September and I am excited to see them.  I especially want to see Payton who will probably be walking by then at the rate he is growing! We watched the travel channel last night and they were showing roller coasters and two came up from Dollywood.  The Hubby is excited for that.  I will be keeping my feet firmly planted on the ground holding on to everyone’s purse.  J

Lasagna

Last night I cooked lasagna for dinner.  The lasagna itself did not have 10 ingredients (#19), but I added a side of garlic bread and also a dessert and was able to knock something else off the list! I accomplished making a meal.  I realized yesterday why I don’t cook that often though. 1) We are going to have leftover lasagna for the rest of the week. 2) It was expensive to buy all the separate ingredients. 3) I am just too busy and don’t get home early enough during the week.  It was really good though – so good that we had it for lunch again today. J

I also decided to cross off (#28) as I have been attending church on a regular basis.  I don’t think that starting to attend church again has made me a better person.  I just needed a place to go, an “assigned place” where I felt a connection.  I have been struggling with some things emotionally over the last few months and having a comforting place to go has helped.  I plan to continue to stay involved in the church through volunteering and any other opportunities that come up. 

I bought some more items yesterday for my “fancy cake.”  I actually purchased a box for storing all of the decorating supplies.  I went in to get a smaller box for holding all of the decorating tips and ended up with a larger investment. I have a feeling that this might turn into an obsession.

Star Light, Star Bright

I am in love – with the idea of decorating cakes.  I had my first class last night and I watched her make icing, level a cake, and decorate.  I learned how to fill the icing bag and then proceeded to make about 100 stars on my cookies, the practice board, and the table since I was having so much fun.  I know that it sounds simple enough and probably boring to some, but I enjoyed myself and am very excited about all the ideas I have in my head.  As soon as class was out I purchased some 6 inch cake pans, icing colors, and some other ingredients to make my own icing at home – which by the way was WAY better than the store bought kind I purchased for class.  My wonderful friend Allison has “commissioned” me to make a cake for her baby shower at the end of the month.  A giraffe cake has been requested and I have been doing research – I am excited as this will knock something off my list as well when I decorate a fancy cake! 

In other exciting news, I finally own a pair of pink running shoes! Again, this may be trivial to the average reader but when you wear a size 11 or 12 it is hard to run across a cute pair of shoes when out shopping.  I have always had to plan way ahead when purchasing shoes for dances at school and I have always bought men’s running shoes – meaning blue.  Nothing is more embarrassing than having to wear the same tennis shoes as the boy at the next locker.  I also bought some cute blue/green shoes as they were both half off so I was able to justify it as a BOGO purchase.  Extra bonus is The Hubby bought some orange tennis shoes and as I can wear the same size as he I can now “borrow” his shoes as well. 

I have been slack at keeping up with this blog, but at the same time I have not had anything very important to say.  I have had a few moments of feeling overwhelmed by all of the things left to accomplish on my list.  I don’t know if I will be able to get it all done, but I do know that I have tried things and done things that I would not have done without the list in mind. I would not have attended the cake decorating class without the extra “push.”  I would not have volunteered for the High School Youth Group at church and would have missed out on meeting all of the amazing youth.  I am grateful for the progress I have made and I look forward to what I am able to accomplish from the rest of the list. 

So, it appears that despite my best efforts I am failing at one of the things on my list. I am not doing a very good job at keeping up with this blog (#29) and what I am writing is boring. In my self defense I do lead a fairly boring life though. I get up and go to work, come home and often continue to complete paperwork, go to sleep and the cycle repeats the next day – does not leave much time for excitement or anything good to write about. I do manage to socialize some on the weekends. Last weekend we had everyone over for a “Basement Reveal” party. It was a lot of fun and nice to have everyone at our place. We had a few drinks, ate a ton of food, and had a few dance offs with the Kinect. Overall, I think the basement looks great and I love that we worked on it together. It will be a nice place to hang out in the future – a cooler place to hang out during the summer months as well. We went to my first lacrosse game last night. Still not sure if I understand the rules, but I did like the view.

 The Hubby and I have been working on planning our trip to New York (#1) in the Fall. We are planning on going the second weekend in October and just need to get the rest of the details worked out. I have also made some progress on Decorating a Fancy Cake (#2) as I have signed up for a Basics in Cake Decorating class at Michael’s. The lady at the check out was very encouraging as she told me that there have been people to attend the classes having never decorated a cake and they know own businesses doing just that. I don’t have high hopes for my own skills, but I know that I will have fun and that is what is important to me. With all of these babies being born around here, maybe I will get a chance to make a cake for a shower to show off my mad skills. I don't forsee myself making anything like this, but wouldn't it be nice?!?!
 I plan to set up my scrapbook stuff and just leave it out so that I can get that caught up. I did make it to the gym once this week for a short run so I can get back on track with those fitness goals and hopefully losing a little weight along the way as well. I know that I owe a few pictures from our trip, so here goes...
 
Owen, the cutest godson ever. 

 
Two of my favorite men, The Hubby and Payton

 
 My sister and her little man.