I am pretty sure i NEED this dress.

But with its $209 price tag i am deciding on a different option.

How about an airplane stamp, bright paint and a dress that i already own?

Now on the search through my closet...

I'll be back.

Oh an Anthropologie,

stop making cute and EXPENSIVE things.

Thank you.

My husband is wonderful

He made...

My favorite carrot cake

IN THE SHAPE of a carrot... cutie!

And swedish pancakes!  :)

I also have a pair of Chestnut Uggs on the way!

One happy girl!

Teriyaki Steak Kebabs

And...

JAM!

My beautiful freshly picked strawberries

Puree the strawberries to your chunkage preference

mine is smooth

7 cups of sugar a dab of butter...

Bring to a boil

add Certo

Pour hot jam into your jars and seal tight!

Lids will pop when sealed in 1-2 hours.

:) YUM

4 batches of jam later and i have enough to make gifts.

26 jars!

These will be gifts for the attendee's at my baby shower.

Pictures soon of them decorated!

Women in my Family Tree

Today i was pondering this quote:

"All women become like their mothers.  That is their tragedy.  No man does.  That is his."

-Oscar Wilde

Now... sure i TOTALLY believe that we take from our mothers, we learn from them of course we will adapt to our surroundings much like they did, but this is not a tragedy.  This is a blessing.  When i do something and think to myself, "I am so my mom right now."  I am smiling.

This happened today.

I picked strawberries in the fields.  

lol

It reminded me of going to Grandma Shine's house and picking strawberries from her garden.

Now i am making jam.

This reminds me of Grandma Susie's house and devouring hot jam on toast and canning the rest to place in her canning cabinet.  (Yes, she had one of those.  It is awesome)

Today, on my birthday i feel very blessed to have taken pieces of all the women in my family.  I am so thankful to be a mixture of them.  

They are beautiful, kind women who love the Lord.

I am truly blessed by each of them.

So today, as i turn 24...

I put cute pink panties on,

curled my hair,

frosted my cupcake (applied lip gloss),

took to the German community collecting supplies for canning

and bought myself a Sunflower plant

I think of all of family

and I smile.

Happy Birthday to me!  

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."  ~Washington Irvin

Does it get any better?

I love summer.

AND cute ice creams.

Nick made Tech Sergeant!!!! 

He also loves me... 

He cut his hair for me!

I love it like this! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Rachel's Delicious Coffee Cake mmmm....

Thanks for the recipe!

Shrimp Taco's with homemade Guacamole

Good.

results

Here is the result of the S'more cupcakes...

What a goof...

A cute goof.

And dinner...

Yes, i feed him occasionally.

When i can stomach the smell.

I have decided that i can PREPARE the meat just not cook it.

Honey Barbeque Chicken strips and cobb salad.

cupcake

I LOVE baking Cupcakes! mmmm...

Black Bottom Cupcakes

What is bad about these guys?

Chocolate... goood...

cream cheese.... goooood....

chocolate chips.... GOOOD...

And S'more Cupcakes

Okay so i am being lame sauce by not blogging EVER anymore but...

my appetite has changed with my nose.

I cannot eat cool food anymore.

Example:

Orzo Shrimp and Pesto Salad...

Finish making it... 

NO GO!

Couldn't take a bite.

I know i talk a lot about baby/pregnancy right now but it seems i have 

baby goggles on or something.

I think about the baby all. the. time.

I guess it is good Nick is busy right now because i think he might get tired of my rambling!  :)

Another note:

Sorry i miss home...

but this is the view from our kitchen.

-AND-

Inside that kitchen are my Daddy, Mommy and brother

Do you ever play worst case scenario?  I do... ALL THE TIME
For example: We are on the plane headed to Germany, i lay out the sleeping bag on the floor (cargo plane not commercial) and cuddle up under the seats (to stay out of the aisle as much as possible and to block the light) so then i start playing in my head... What if the seats crashed down on my head?  Then i think about me at the hospital and them telling me that the part of my brain that was smushed was the part that told the rest of my body that i am pregnant and because this trigger was released i needed to be very careful.  My brain might start tricking me into doing things that are bad for the baby so Nick was going to have to watch me for the next 6 months to protect the baby... fast forward i am going into labor and completely denying it because i don't think i am pregnant, the labor is awful i rip a ton because i am so tense and won't believe anyone... yeah i do this ALL THE TIME ... this all stemmed from my head being under a seat while laying on the floor.  I am weird.

On a separate note, i am now officially making two dinners.  This morning i bought all of the stuff to make some pulled lime cilantro chicken for tacos, even as i type this i want to vomit.  The sound of it now makes me sick.  SO... i bought beef for myself and i made two meats for tacos.

  I have also been cooking what sounds good to me and then eating cereal instead while Nick enjoys the food i can't even look at.  LAME SAUCE!

Carrot Cupcakes

I made Carrot Cupcakes by Martha and they didn't turn out.  This time it WAS my fault.

I switched a few things.  I didn't want coconut and walnuts IN the cupcakes so i just doubled the carrots but i think they held too much water and weighed them down.  I used half sugar half brown sugar because i like the taste and i added a dollop of cream cheese that i sweetened with sugar and chocolate chips... 

Martha's untampered recipe is here:

Carrot Cupcakes

This is to show you that sometimes things just don't turn out... don't fret

FROST!

\

See these cupcakes in my prego shots here:

My Little Cupcake