Cake Pop Class

Boy was I doing things all wrong making my cake pops. I learned so much and our cake pops actually turned out good!  I was pretty impressed with them and they tasted great. You guys should take a class if you have one locally because there is way to much for me to explain all the secrets. I think I am going to have to try the second class which is where you learn how to do details like make a hello kitty cake pop, or Mr. Potato head.

Here are a few pictures the instructor took...

here are the cake pops I made..

my sister and I rolling away

Cake Pops

Life is pretty uneventful around our household as of lately. I was so excited my family was home from their week long vacation from the keys and I got to see Delainey. It was crazy how much she grew over one week. Saturday Jeff talked me into doing yard work all morning with him (definitely not my thing) but then he took me town to Avondale for lunch at Biscottis which was delicious and made up for the heat and yard work that morning. Sunday we did our usual church/lunch with the family and then we went and sat out by the pool with Al & B for a bit till the afternoon storm came out of the blue.

I am officially back to school I spent all day there today trying to get some things marked off my to do list. It is extremely long but I got quite a bit done today.

One of my sisters friend is hosting a cake pop class at her house tonight. I am pretty excited to learn the secret of making beautiful cake pops like they do at a bakery. I have tried on many attempts and they taste great but arent the prettiest because I don't have a big enough freezer to put them in once I have them on skewers drying. So we will see how this goes. I will be back to share the secret once I learn tonight.

I would love to learn how to make the basic ones so I could do more fun ones like these..

Birthday Surprise!!

So you know from a previous post kids are in Jeff and I's near future probably a year or two. So we were discussing how our car situation wasn't really good for us to have kids. Jeff has a truck and I had a mazda 6 which was to small and getting old. So we both knew when we bought another car it would be a tahoe without a doubt. So we just casually started looking around to see if anything came up. We went to see one two weekends ago and we were ready to buy it and trade in the mazda. We showed up and it sold an hour before we got there. Not very good luck. God has better plans for us!

Well I came across this white tahoe ltz which was exactly what I was looking for. I am crazy but I wanted a white or black tahoe with silver handles which is the ltz (jeff's comment was who in the world would care if it has silver handles but that person would be me), it also comes with a little nicer upgrades in the car like navigation, rear entertainment so when we have kids they can watch movies on trips etc. Well to find that in our price range with low miles is very hard to come by. When we did find one it was gone the next day for obvious reasons. When I found this white one I went and saw it while Jeff was at work and it was perfect. He told me he would call to see what he could do. To my disappoint he told me two days ago that a couple from Orlando was interested and going to make a deal on it, so we had to keep looking. I was bummed because this one was to good to be true.

Fast forward to last night...I was taking a nap and Jeff called at like 6:00 and said I am so busy at work I wont be home till like 745 which is no surprise to me as he works late quite a bit. Well he came in from work and goes Happy early Birthday (my birthday isn't till next month) and handed me the keys to a car. I was like what are you doing and he took me outside and opened the garage and there was my white tahoe! He said there really was a couple from Orlando interested but he just went and bought it before them!

Excited was an understatement! My dad came over and took us out for ice cream to celebrate! My husband is so amazing and truly goes out of his way to make me happy and surprise me. God sure has blessed me with an amazing man! Now I have my mom mobile so in a couple of years I will be ready for kids. Isn't she a beauty...

Back to School

Towards the end of July I start getting a little bored with summer, crazy I know, but I start getting the urge to get back into the classroom and start getting set up. I love to take my time and this year my brother is getting married in New Orleans the week of our pre-planning when I normally would do my classroom. So I have to get it ready to go before I leave for New Orleans because right when I get back it is Orientation. Slightly stresses me out so I made my first trip to my classroom yesterday. I had to move rooms so it makes my decorating twice as much because normally I can leave quite a bit up on the walls. I am in the process of getting all the goods to make these cute little necklaces for all my kids. They have to do AR reading tests which is just a reading program at our school. So every time they pass a test they get to add a bead onto their necklace so hopefully by the end of the year they will have a pretty necklace to take home with them. I know they will love them even the boys because they are still so young. But I have to nail in all their names on the dogs tags. slightly time consuming what was I thinking. This is a picture I found on the internet. Hopefully they turn out cute. My theme is Sports this year to go with the Olympics so I went to Hobby Lobby the other day and found a bunch of sport scrapbooking paper to use for my bulletin boards and I am going to use the sports section of the newspaper for one. So i have some ideas but now i have to go make it all happen!

Before I hit up school I am off to meet Jeff for lunch. His work has moved downtown which is farther for me but is a good reason to go have lunch in Avondale at some of my favorite restaurants! Then I'm hitting up the classroom. Happy Thursday. 

China Cabinet

Look at this little beauty I just purchased! I have been wanting some sort of a china cabinet, not for china because we dont own any, but for glassware, cake stands etc. We have a little nook in our dining room so fingers crossed this will fit perfectly.   Jeff has to go pick it up on Wednesday so we will see then. It may be to big and not give enough space for a walkway so if not I told Jeff we can always put it on the patio and make a little bar out of it or in a nursery one day with some baskets or something. But I liked it to much to pass on it.

Weekend Recap

So my life is surrounded with babies which I love, but it has sort of got me having some baby fever! I have brought it up a couple times around Jeff and he is not feeling it quite yet. Although he loves being around them and talks about them all the time he isn't ready for his own, which I understand. We originally planned that we would start trying to have kids at 27, so I still have two years. I am sure he is right that we should just spend more time saving money, traveling, and doing whatever we want. But I honestly can't help it when I'm with my niece everyday, she is such a good baby and cute as can be she would make anyone want to have kids.

So Friday mom, Jamie, Delainey, and I went out to run errands. We had to go get my brothers rehearsal dinner invitations printed to send out. Then we went shopping.
She is a child after my own heart because we were out shopping for like four hours and she either slept or was like this the whole time.

We went back to my parents house Friday after shopping so Uncle Jeff could have some play time with her and then went out to dinner with the family. 

Saturday Jeff and I tackled our garage. It was just stuffed with stuff since we moved in 3 months ago. We filled the back of his truck up with stuff to donate and threw quite a bit away. My favorite thing in the world to do is get rid of stuff. I hate just having useless stuff around. I organized all his fishing stuff, tools, car goodies etc. Now we are in the process of deciding what to buy for storage purposes. We need shelving and ways to hang all his tools. But at least for now we can fit a car in the garage.

Saturday night we had dinner with Al & B and we watched Cam drive around in her princess car we got her for her first birthday! We are happy she can use it now. Can't believe her 2nd birthday is already coming up.

Jeff's company finally moved downtown which is a farther commute for him, but its good the bank is growing. Lucky for Jeff he got a desk with a view of the river so while he talks on the phone all day at least he can look at our pretty city. Here's a picture he sent me this morning. You can kind of see Jeff in the window with his red striped shirt on. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

hBm

So heres for some exciting news in my life anywho.

So you know my friends Al & Brandon the ones I always talk about. Here is a picture of us together at dinner one night. 

They are the parents of the little girl I always talk about, Camdyn who is hilarious and we love so much. She calls me LaLa and Jeff is Toff. So funny I honestly am slightly upset because she likes Jeff better and always says where's Toff? Jeff is obsessed with this little girl. I love listening to him talk about her constantly. 

They had baby # 2 Haigan which I posted about last month.  Here is the big sister with Haigan.

They sure do make some pretty babies. How precious is she. 

Well last week they came over and asked me if I would be Haigan's godmother! Excited is a understatement. Jeff and I love these two girls like they are our own. Since we are kidless we just love to be with them.

So of course I said yes and I can't wait to take her shopping and do all the fun things a godmother can do to spoil her crazy. 

Thanks Al & B. It is such an honor and I can wait to watch your babies grow up. Good thing you only live across the street so they can run to my house whenever they want. 

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Well we are home from Boone, NC. We had a great time hanging out with two of Jeff's friends from college, Birdsong and Conroy. They acted as if they were right back in college and enjoyed themselves probably a little to much. We ate some delicious food, hung out and enjoyed the pretty views of the mountains. I really liked it there and we will have to go back and ski one day they had a cute downtown with some cute little boutiques. I actually found a dress to wear to my brothers wedding. The roads were a little much and at some points I thought I was going to loose my lunch. I don't know how people drive them in the dark because there is no way I wouldn't even attempt it.

I am so excited to just be home and get back into some sort of routine. I only have a couple weeks before I go back to school. Jeff has been gone 6 out of the past 7 weekends and I have been gone 5. I feel like we are never home and when you aren't home you don't eat as healthy as one should. With my brothers wedding coming up August 11th I am determined to loose 10 pounds before that and Jeff wants to loose some as well. We definitely need something to jump start us and get us back on track so I am going to start this 7 day diet tomorrow and then I will get back on with my weight watchers like normal.  I have done this before and it is not to bad but definitely are hungry the first couple of days. Jeff actually said he wants to try the diet with me. Now I will help to keep him on track ,but I am just not sure how long he is going to make it.  I also order 30 day shred with Jillian Michael's to see if they can help my workouts.

Boone Bound

We are off to the mountains of Boone, NC tomorrow morning. I can't say I am excited for the 8 hr drive, but I am excited to see Jeff's best friend from college get married! I mostly excited that the temperature is in the 70s and not the 100s! 

 Trey & Ashley

 We met his fiance for the first time in April and she was a lot of fun to hang out with so I am sure wedding is going to be tons of fun. A few of Jeff's football buddies are flying in, one of them we haven't seen since our wedding. he was one of Jeff's groomsmen so it will be nice to catch up!

Ashley's parents own a lot of land on the mountain and have a big barn in their backyard. They are having the reception outside partially in the barn! I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I will try to remember to take pictures. Although my camera is a piece of crap, so I will make no promises.

 That is one thing on my birthday list is to invest in a nice camera that we can have for many years to come! 

Off topic but my niece, Delainey, got her ears pierced yesterday and I could just die at how cute she is. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Savannah Recap

We had a great weekend with my in-laws. They came over Friday and I cooked them dinner and we just hung out at the house. They had not been to our house since we moved it so it was nice for them to see it all done. They are actually in the midst of selling there house so they will be moving back closer to us. Jeff's brother just bought a house one neighborhood over he is like 1/2 a mile from us so we will all be really close. Saturday we got up and headed to Savannah. Our first stop was at Wiley's BBQ right outside of Savannah it was delicious. Our friend introduced us to this place last year and Jeff was obsessed! We then headed to our hotel and walked around historic downtown. We had to stop every couple minutes either to shop or get a beer because it was sooo hot! We ended up at my favorite roof top bar on top of the Bohemian Hotel.  They have these awesome oyster chandeliers and I am determined to get one for my patio. Jeff said yah if you see one you can buy one.


I saw some furniture stores earlier so Jeffs parents headed back to the hotel and we decided to head back out to Broughton st to do some shopping for the house. Long and behold I found an oyster chandelier. It was like 4 times the size of the one in the picture and the guy said someone locally makes them. I obviously didn't need one that big but he goes oh we can get one custom made for you. Jeff then looked at the price tag and it was like over 2,000 bucks! He just started laughing at me and said we are out of here! I was a little depressed they were that much but I am going to do some research and find a cheaper one or how hard could it be to make one on my own?

We then made a pit stop at Leopolds ice cream. I can't believe we have never been there before but I had a bite of Jeff's and it was to die for. It has been there since 1919. If you are ever in Savannah it is a must go, the line was out the door when we went at like 4 in the afternoon but it was worth it. Jeff started talking to the guys behind us in line and said oh here would you like to look at the menu and they said Oh no thanks we have already been here once today.

We took Jeff's dad out for birthday dinner and to celebrate the opening of his new business at Ruth Chris. It was delicious but we were a  little bummed we couldn't get reservations anywhere different in Savannah for his parents to try. I called like 6 different places and they have no reservations. Then we took Jeff's mom to the dueling piano bar which was fun. She had a great time! She requested Dancing queen because she thought there was no way they would know the words and they played it so she was happy!

I am currently cleaning/doing laundry all day today because I honestly can not believe we have to get packed up one more time and head to the mountains in NC on Thursday. Jeff's best friend from college is getting married and Jeff is in the wedding. I honestly do not think I can drive 8 hours so I looked into flights and they were 800 bucks a ticket so we are definitely driving :(  I will be happy to have a couple weeks without going anywhere after this one until my brothers wedding in August in New Orleans. I feel like my summer is flying by and I already have to start getting my classroom set up in a couple weeks! Terrible to think about.  Happy Monday!

Pops Birthday

It's my dads birthday today! He is my favorite man in the world (other than Jeff)! He makes our family be who we are with the help of my mother! We are lucky to live only a few miles from my parents so we are with each other quite a few times every week! I tell Jeff he is out of luck trying to get me to move out of Jacksonville because my parents, sister, and I are all within 7 or 8 miles of each other! We are heading over to my parents to cook out and the kids are making all the food. He had one request that it be healthy so we all are cooking recipes off skinnytaste.com so we will see how it works out.

I made that pasta salad I posted a couple days ago. I tried a little bite and it was very good for using only a little bit of light mayo and greek yogurt. I hate greek yogurt but you can't even taste it.

I also made a dip because we are big appetizer type of family. I saw this on pinterest yesterday and it looked good. Not so healthy with all the cream cheese, but oh well! 

It calls for red peppers but I didn't have any in my fridge so I used green and yellow, jalapenos, 16 oz of cream cheese (you could always use reduced fat), 1 can of corn, 1 hidden valley ranch packet. It also called for olives, but noone in my family likes them so I left them out. 

You serve with crackers. It is really good and easy to make. 

Off to celebrate with my family and cousins. 

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you

Happy 4th!

Last night we went and watched fireworks and took Lainey along. 

here is my sister and Delainey

We are keeping it low key around here for the fourth. Jeff went golfing with my dad and cousin Kent. I have been cleaning and hanging goodies I recently got for the house.  We will probably just hang by the pool or go on the boat and grill out later! Today is my Bumpa's birthday We sure do miss him but I know he is watching down on us from heaven! Tomorrow is my dad's birthday and all of the kids are cooking him dinner at my parents house!

Friday Jeff's parents are coming in town to see the house and have dinner. Jeff's dads birthday is July 12th so we are going to take them to Savannah for Saturday and Sunday for his birthday. Jeff's mom has never been and Jeff has been dying to go! My sister and her family are going up as well to visit some friends so we will all be up there it should be fun! I told Jeff our goal is to go to completely different places we have never been because I am sure there are so many fun places and we always tend to go to the same ones. Jeff has already found one of the top burger joints so I'm sure we will be hitting that up!

So I have been trying to get some things for our master bedroom because it is a pretty big room but nothing on the walls. I am not sure exactly what I want which is the problem. I am not a big fan on art work everywhere but I also don't want a shrine of Jeff and I on the wall.

I found these frames on the internet at West Elm so I went yesterday to see if I really liked them in person and I did. So now I am just deciding where I am going to put them and what sizes I need.

We finally got our furniture delivered and it is just not enough for the room. I need to find a chair for the corner and then I am thinking some sort of jewelry armoire needs to be in there also. I know when I add stuff to the walls that may help some too.  But I went and got us some new bedding at Pottery Barn. I spotted these lamps and loved the detailed metal so I scooped those up as well a couple weeks ago.  I liked the dark moroccan feel of the lamps sort of add a masculine touch to the room. 

Yesterday I was out and about and at Ballard they had these cute little mirrors that matched our bedside tables perfectly so I got three to put above our headboard. I was so tempted to buy the bigger mirror to put in my entry way because I like it so much and they are on sale but I cant decide if it will be to big. I may have to go back.

I wondered over to pottery barn and spotted the perfect clock for our kitchen nook. So I got that and I am waiting for my dad to come help me hang it! Jeff and I have an agreement that he will not hang anything in our house anymore due to the arguments it brings with it. I can look at something and see if it is not centered or level in a heart beat and he gets mad because I continue to make him redo it over and over until it is perfect! So I just call my dad or brother in law over to help me if I can't do it on my own. 

I am off to enjoy the sun. I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July! 

Weekend Recap

Jeff and I's quick getaway to Hammock Beach this past weekend was so nice and relaxing. We really did nothing but eat, drink and lay by the pool. It was extremely hot so we really had to be in the pool for the most part! They had live music by the pool and you can just float around with a drink in your hand it doesn't get much better than that. It is quite hilarious to see Jeff try to fit in one of those small tubes then once he is in he can't get out. I should have taken a picture! There were two weddings there that weekend so we had a lot of entertainment.


Here is our room we stayed in! Don't mind Jeff on the bed! It was so big and had a full kitchen so it would be nice to go for a week and you can bring all your own food & drinks.

 Our view from the balcony.

So Jeff's favorite meal of the day is by far breakfast! He loves going out to eat for breakfast every weekend. So we did a little research to see the top rated breakfast joints around where we were and everyone kept saying this place called By The Sea was where we had to go. So we drove about 10 miles south to Flagler beach to this little run down place. I have to tell you I was pretty apprehensive going in there but Jeff talked me into it.  Anyways we sat outside on the patio where they had this huge stuffed animal starring at me which was a little to much. But it ended out being probably the best breakfast either one of us had! It was delicious and the staff was so nice.

Yes, we ordered this much food! My omelette was delicious and everything else was part of Jeff's Country breakfast! It was crazy all of that food came with his and it honestly was like $6.00, we couldn't believe it. But yes Jeff did finish all of that plus what was left of mine. He wasn't hurting afterwards but said it was completely worth it.

I ran into my childhood best friend, Christi, while we were down there. She was on a girls weekend with some friends so it was nice to hang out with her Saturday night!

We made it back home worn out from the sun and tired of eating all weekend! We have two weeks till a friends wedding in NC and then a little over a month until my brothers wedding in New Orleans, so we are on the wedding weigh down around our house! I decided to make Grilled Bruschetta Chicken off Skinny Taste last night for dinner. It was really good and super easy to make.
Recipe