The Bathroom

Thanks to mom and dad's generosity, we were finally able to buy a matching bathroom set! We purchased new towels, shower curtain, and bathroom accessories. Here they are:

We love the look of the brown, and my favorite color is blue. The combination of blue and brown is nice. Our bathroom now feels so luxurious!

A close-up of the accessories... these are the two jars for holding cotton balls and q-tips. We also got a kleenex sleeve, toothbrush holder, lotion holder, and matching shower curtain hooks.

A view of the entire bathroom, thanks to the mirror. :) I think I need to go enjoy this new bathroom while taking a bath... :)

Josh is a Graduate!

Josh has finished his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science... he did it in two years, while working part-time for the IT department, and maintained a 3.9 GPA. I am so proud of him! :)

I'm not the only one... he received his graduation present from my dad (THANK YOU, DAD!) and used it to buy a shotgun.

Taylor is proudly displaying Josh's new Mossberg 12-gauge tactical shotgun...


The boys immediately changed the handle to the pistol grip.


Josh has worked hard, and is THRILLED to be done. GREAT JOB, JOSH!!! :)
Now we're looking forward to the next phase of our lives...

Cookies and Movies

The kids were here this weekend, and poor Audri was sick. Since we were sticking pretty close to home because of her cough and fever, we decided to watch the Star Wars movies... I can honestly say I had never watched them all before, just bits and pieces of a couple of them. Of course, I'm not good at simply watching a movie, so I got motivated to bake while they were on!

As of movie number 5, which we've just started, I've baked 4 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies, 6 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and prepared 3 dozen no-bake chocolate cookies. I have snickerdoodle dough chilling, and am considering peanut butter cookies as well. Those may not happen... I'm just about out of flour, but could make a small batch... :)

The kids are thrilled, as I've let them sample cookies most of the day. We're all enjoying a lazy day indoors!

Highlights...

I highlighted my hair! Ok - actually, I paid someone at a salon to highlight my hair...

Ta - da!!!

Side shot...

It's got some warm copper and golden blonde highlights all throughout. It brigthened up my face, and suprisingly, my outlook! :) It's certainly not the cheapest way to get an attitude adjustment, but I LOVE IT! :)

Chocolate Cake

For Christmas I received a pan that has 12 mini-bundt cake molds... I hadn't had a chance to try it out yet, so last night when Josh asked if I had the ingredients to make a chocolate cake, I decided it would be the perfect time to try my new pan! I whipped up the cake, poured it into the bundt cake molds, and baked them for 30 minutes. After they cooled, I poured some chocolate cream cheese frosting over each one, and everyone had an individual sized bundt cake! They were so yummy... and so easy! I think I may have to start experimenting with cake recipes, just so I have a "reason" to use my fun new pan! :)

Taylor is here!

Taylor is here, and I LOVE IT! It's made it easy for me to find things to be grateful for each day... I'm grateful he's here, grateful he's my brother, and grateful that he wants to eat everything I cook! I am having a blast... luckily, so is Josh. It's like one of our best friends just moved in, and we're enjoying the time together. Within a week or so, Taylor will meet people and have other things to do besides hang out with us, but for now it's fabulous that he's all ours. :)

New Year's Resolutions

This year as I sat down to write New Year's Resolutions, I realized that I've never been good at following them through for an entire year. I have written some wonderful goals, and even broken some down into smaller, achievable steps... however, by year's end, I don't think I can say that I've consistently worked on any of them, ever, for an entire year. So, this year my resolution is simple, and something I can live by every day. It is simply this:

Live a life of gratitude.

I have many things to be grateful for, and yet it is so easy to dwell on the negative. I am choosing this year to be grateful. I'm sure that it'll affect many areas of life, and will help me make some other positive changes as well... but that isn't the point. I want to sip my apple cider on December 31st, 2010, reflecting on the year, and knowing that I was able to find something to be grateful for each and every day.