Guns

I also shot a gun for the first time in the desert while we were out riding ATVs. I know that most of you have alreaday done this (by the age of 29), but I had never even held a real gun until then. It was a crazy experience. I can't think of the correct adjective in order to describe it, but it was very unique.

I was very steady and wasn't nervous or scared. We wore earplugs and shot at a box. Joe taught me how to hold the gun and how to aim and shoot. He stood behind me the whole time I was shooting (I didn't know until I looked at the pictures). He was there just in case.

I think I would like to get a gun and go to the shooting range. Eb says he is going to put a gun on our gift registry for the wedding at Cabela's (yes, we are registering at Cabela's). I think I'd like to practice shooting more . . .

Here is me shooting for the first time!

Desert Fun

I have been behind in my posts, sorry. It just seems like this year is flying by . . . what happened to February? I don't even remember that month! I can't believe there are only 47 days left of school, 47 days!!! 47 days until swimming, sleeping in, tanning, going to lunch, staying up late and hanging with friends. I can't wait until SUMMER!!!

So, I thought I'd post some pics of our ATVing day in late February. We had SO MUCH FUN! My mom and Joe have an ATV and then Joe borrowed a two seater and another one seater from a friend so that we each had one to ride. It was my first time really riding an ATV (not counting the ATC I rode in Mexico when I was 16) and it was hard to learn at first but then I got pretty good at it. It was difficult to steer such a big machine, but after awhile it got easier. Your first instinct when something goes wrong is to put your feet out (like a bike, to stop) but that is dangerous so you just have to re-train your thinking.

We took the ATVs out in to the desert (all four of us) in Maricopa, Arizona. We rode for about 3-5 miles and then stopped to eat lunch under a big, dead tree. The scenery was beautiful and it was so peaceful to know we were the only ones for miles and miles. We saw one other ATVer that day and it was a guy with his dog and two little girls on his ATV (not wearing helmets or in a seat!!!). It is dangerous riding on the paths sometimes because another ATV could come speeding around the corner without you seeing it. But, we had good luck and stayed safe.

Eb and I want to buy our own ATV eventually (maybe after the wedding). It would be so much fun to just head out onto the reservation and ride for hours. Eb let me drive the ATV for half the day and it was fun to both drive and just watch. It was an amazing experience!

So, here are some pics, enjoy!

Wedding Dresses!

June and I went shopping for wedding dresses on Monday. She was ready to buy a dress and I went just to have the experience with my family and June. I have a dress that I bought at a yard sale years ago for $20 and I was perfectly happy wearing that dress and just getting it altered to make it into something that I wanted.

But, all of that changed when I started trying on dresses! I found the perfect one, very vintage, very antique looking - totally beautiful. It was funny because both June and I thought we knew what we wanted but after trying some on and asking for Tracy (our person at David's Bridal) to find dresses she thought we'd like - we both ended up picking a dress that she picked out for us! Totally weird for us, since we both are planners and usually know exactly what we want. I am not going to post any pictures of our dresses, you will just have to be surprised at our weddings!

I can't wait to get married, I feel married already. There is no one I'd rather spend my life with than Eb. He makes me feels so good everday, and he is my best friend. I feel lucky to be with him. My family loves him and I love his family, it is a perfect match.

June's wedding is coming quickly and mine is coming slowly. I can't wait to help her and be by her side planning and organizing.  I kind of wish we would have planned everything in a shorter time because decisions have to be made quickly, and everyone just goes with the flow (Liz and Rich - that was the way to go!).  It's a bit overwhelming when you want to include everything; and we just have to remember that we want to keep things simple so after the ceremony we can move right on to the partying!  We know that everyone just loves us so much, and we are lucky to be surrounded by so much love and support from our family and friends.

Life feels great today, I think the cloud over me (after Leslee's death) has finally floated upward making the hole in my heart a bit smaller. It is hard to get back in the swing of things, but today I feel good. Life is good, and we are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends. We love everyone so much, and after losing someone, it really shows you exactly how lucky you are (and how lucky you were before, when you maybe didn't take the time to notice).  I have the most wonderful family, and I can't wait for Ian's family to be my family too.  Thank you for your continued love and support, we can't ever express just how much all of you mean to us.  We are so blessed.

So, above are some dress pics. You don't get to see us in any dresses, but you can see our experience a bit. I am so happy I got to share this day with my best friend, June, and my mom and Aunt Donna. It was really one of the most wonderful days of my life, and I can't wait for even more wedding experiences to share with my family and friends. Eb and I love you all!

Spring is Finally Here!

I walked outside tonight to bring the laundry in and I smelled the flowers for the first time.  You wouldn't think that there is a flower blooming "smell" here in Arizona but there is.  Spring is my favorite time of year . . . it means summer is coming.  

You might think I'm nuts, how could I like the summer?  I don't like it, I LOVE it!  Summer means freedom, no job, no cares in the world, waking up late, staying up late, shopping, swimming, forgetting that we ever had jobs.  I can't wait!

April is almost here too, and then one more year until the wedding.  I try not to look back at my posts on here hoping that this time next year it will be neat to read them and reflect on how much has changed in our lives.  Spring means a fresh start, spring means shedding off those winter worries and embarking on something new.  Spring doesn't mean forgetting, but just moving on.

Let's hope that June was right, right about how we were dealt a pretty crappy deck of cards early in the year so that the rest of the year goes smoothly.  I hope she is, I hope there is no more loss this year.  I hope that for everyone.

The flower smell is stuck in my nose as I type this.  I can't wait to see what April 4th is going to be like - will it be cold?  Will I have to wear a sweater?  Will it smell good outside?  Will the sun set at 8 like it's supposed to?  So many questions that only one day can answer, one day that leads to the most important day a year from then.  I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait . . .

I got the flu this year even though I got a flu shot.  I think it was God telling me to slow down and take it easy.  I think I worry too much - about my dad, about everyone being happy - I wasn't spending enough time worrying about myself and so I got sick.  It was awful but this weekend has been a total blessing, taking it slow and relaxing.  Sometimes we get too caught up in life, it goes too fast to reflect and we just move forward forgetting to take in everything around us.  It's time for us to slow down, it's spring time.

We gotta get the backyard ready for swimming, we gotta pull the weeds in the front yard so we don't get cited again by the city - so much to do but the weather is gorgeous so being outside doesn't seem so bad.  The winter drags on (even though it's only about a month!) and when the warm weather hits I take out my flippies (flip flops) and put on a tank top and feel in my element once again.  Could I live in a cold weather place?  I don't think so . . .

We made our 8th cake for Nani's 78th birthday this year, I put the picture above.  We also went to the military vehicle show and Eb found his dream truck.  He knew  he wanted it but never saw it in person before - so that pic is above too.

Enjoy the weather, get out and play and slow down a bit to take it all in and enjoy life!

Just Marching Along

This has been the strangest year of my life.  Two people very close to me have passed away, and I feel like time has slowed down.  I have no idea how I've gotten through, but the days keep coming . . . slowly.  I used to pray at night and thank God for how lucky I am - for my family, and Eb's family and our friends.  I really didn't know just how lucky I was until two of the people I prayed for at night passed away.  I am still very lucky but I miss them.

School is marching along, I can't believe it's almost spring.  Two months until April and then only a year until the wedding!  It seems so silly - the wedding, the planning, the excitement . . . none of it matters when you've lost people that you love.  You start to realize how frivolous it is when people you love won't be there to experience it with you.  I love Eb, I love his family and I love that our families will be the same in just over a year . . . but that means more to me than a ceremony or party.  It just puts everything in perspective.

I was thinking today about how my mom's family lost the head of the family, my grandpa, and it was sad.  And then, I was thinking how my dad lost the love of his life and that was sad too.  I know that they empathize with each other, my two families, but for me it is sad because I am part of them both.  Two people in my life that were very important in different ways, on different sides of my family.  I feel a lot of responsibility lately and I don't know if I can handle it.  I am ready and I am trucking along, but it gets hard sometimes because I am sad too.

Eb and I are still making cakes and everything is great at our house.  We hung up our new fans we got for Christmas, and our house is a mess because - who wants to clean after winter break?  Cleaning and spraying weeds will be this weekend, but there is lots to do.  Liz's bachelorette party is tomorrow, and we made the most amazing cake!  Leslee's celebration of life is sunday and we will be there putting on our grown-up faces and standing by my dad making sure everyone is alright.

This weekend will be busy but fun and we are looking forward to it.  I love my family (all 3 of them soon!) and enjoy being around them when I get the chance.  Lately, dad and I have been going on lots of dates and it's been so much fun.  I love getting to know my dad, and spending so much time with him.  It's sad it had to come after a loss, but I am happy I get to see him more often.

So, above are our most recent cakes.  The first was for Liz's bridal shower and the next is for the bachelorette party.  I wanted to make a penis cake (see pic I got off the internet) but she wanted a skull so we made it for her.

Lots of love to my friends and family, I love you and thank God for you every day.  I hope that Leslee is in heaven with grandpa, where they both feel good and are waiting for us.  But, not too soon - because we have lots of living to do!

Making Cakes

Our winter break has ended and today is our first day back at school. It is bitter sweet going back - in one way I love staying up late and sleeping in, but I also love the routine that being in school provides. It feels like I never left!

Over winter break we didn't do too much. We just relaxed and enjoyed staying in when it was cold outside. Christmas went by in a blur and so did New Years. Eb and I had one of the best New Years ever at Christine and Jeremy's, it was so relaxing and low-maintenance. I was worried about Leslee (my step-mom) all during the break, but enjoyed the time off to go and see her at the hospital when I could.

To pass the time when we'd get home (usually from Wal-mart) around midnight until we went to bed (around 4am) we made cakes. Every few months Eb gets a hair-brained idea and wants to do something new, and this time it was cakes. He decided on it, I think, because I showed him pictures of Tammie Coe's website and the wedding cake I want her to make for us. He sees things (that cost a lot of money) and then decides he can do them too (so they don't have to cost a lot of money). Now, he isn't making our wedding cake (don't get excited), but he did want to learn how she made cakes using fondant. So, we started making cakes.

All of our cakes are Betty Crocker cake mixes, we do not make them from scratch (we aren't that fancy). But, we do customize our own designs when using the fondant. If you've never heard of it, here's a definition: Fondant is a paste used to embellish cakes. It is usually made from sugar and water and then is sculpted to make designs on cakes. Eb tried making his own (see our first cake picture) and that tasted yummy, but was VERY hard to work with. He followed a recipe online and it turned out ok. Making his second fondant, he used marshmallows and it tasted better, but fell apart when trying to mold with it (no pics of that one). Then, he decided to just buy white fondant (at Wal-mart) and try working with that instead.

Boxed fondant (the cheap stuff) is edible, but kind of tastes like plastic to me. It's not very good, so we use vanilla extract when working with it to increase its yummy factor. It still tastes like plastic to me and I never eat it - but it looks great on a cake!!! We read last night that you can put butter flavoring in it to make it taste more like frosting so we might try that next time.

The fondant comes in white and costs about $6. It comes with enough to cover AND decorate a 9 inch round cake. It is white, so you have to add food coloring and cut shapes out all on your own. It also says on the box it comes with little flavor, so I guess you have to add to it to make it taste better. We fold it over a cake that is already made and frosted, just for a visual effect. The frosting is for eating, the fondant is mainly just for looking at (unless we can find a way to make it taste more like frosting!).

So, here are the cakes we made over winter break. They go in order from first to most recent, so you can see how good we've gotten at it. We were actually out last night for Kelly's (Eb's sister) 21st birthday and were asked if we made cakes. Eb and I got to thinking that this just might be another option (like ebay) for us to make some extra cash in our spare time. Imight just make up some business cards on the Mac and pass them out next time someone asks us about a cake!

And, if you're having a birthday this year, get ready because your present will probably be a cake!

Here they are, the first cake isn't that great - but we are getting better. The first and second were just for fun, the third was for Christine and Jeremy's New Years party, the fourth was for Kelly's Murder Mystery Birthday party and the 6th was for Kelly's actual birthday. (I have better pics of it when it was first made, but after being kept in the car all day the frosting melted and it caused everything to sag.) Tell us what you think!

As Marie Antoinette would say, "Let them eat cake!"

Winter Time

I don't know why anyone likes the winter. It's cold, rainy, wet, your face freezes, everyone is sick and miserable . . . I just don't get it. I miss the summer already! Floating in the pool, wearing shorts, days when sunglasses are necessary with an outfit - oh how I miss it!

Today I had a student who was reading a part in a play. He had to stop every line to sniffle, wipe his nose with his sleeve, cough or sneeze. It was making me crazy! I made the kid next to him move and hand sanitize, I was afraid for his health! I am also afraid for the student who sat in that same seat the next hour . . . and used that same book to read from!

I hate flu season, it makes me crazy. I get so paranoid that I'm getting sick, I always think my throat hurts or my nose is runny. Eb has a cold but is fighting it with Cold Ease and now my throat hurts. The window where I lay on the couch is a single paned old window, it's real drafty and makes me cold even under a blanket with 4 dogs laying on me! Ugh.

These winter days make me want to stay home and cuddle under my electric blanket and lay with Eb and the dogs on the big ottoman. I hate that I have to wake up and get dressed and fight the cold to get to work. Work! Who needs it!

The countdown to winter break is on, then it will be lazy days for 2 weeks. I can't wait! I swear teachers wait for breaks more than students do, it's our time to unwind, reflect and recoup. I love coming back in January and missing the kids (not until I see them, of course) and hearing about what they've been doing. It is a good feeling, a new year. A fresh start.

Let's just hope I don't get sick . . .