I Had to Redeem Myself...

Remember Nate's birthday cake, back in September? Refresh your memory here! Well, I felt it was time to redeem myself! I found a picture that looked easy enough, and I made a snowman cake!

Ingredients:

• Funfetti Cake Mix :) cooked in two round pans
  
• Twizzler Pull n Peel for scarf and hat brim
• Bottom of sugar cone for nose
• Reeces Peanut Butter Cups for buttons
• York Peppermint Patties (bit down to size) for eyes
• White and Brown frosting

I think I know what kind of cake Nate will be asking for next year :).

Let's Get Wackee...

Rummy has been our families 'game of choice' for the last 4-5 years, and will always be a family favorite. HOWEVER, this holiday break, Macy and Daveed brought home a new game called Wackee Six... and the word "addicted" would be an understatement! Here are some pictures of us getting wackee...

During the game, it's relatively quiet because everyone is so focused, but when you miss a chance to place a card on a pile, the sound affects are hilarious! The rules say, and I quote, "If 2 or more players seem to have played a card at the same time, do not hurt each other arguing and do not pout..." It's fast paced, super intense, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried on multiple occasions about our family being on speaking terms after the game! Tonight our family made it through, but we'll see how things pan out tomorrow!

My Favorite Date...

I can't let too much time go by before I blog about one of the best dates I have ever been on! Back in October, Nate took me on a "day-date" which covered all 5 senses... seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting!

Sense of Sight: We drove down to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods! It was a perfect fall day, and the rocks were gorgeous! We drove around the park, stopping periodically to take some pictures.


Sense of Hearing: The whole date was a blast, with tons of LAUGHTER! One of the funny things that we were laughing about was when we asked a foreign lady at the park to take our picture in front of the bathrooms! She was so confused. Why on earth would we want our picture taken in front of the bathroom when the real beauty was out in the park? I'll tell you why... cause even the bathrooms were made out of the red rock that sprinkled the garden, and I thought that was pretty cool! Nate returned the favor by taking a picture of her, but she insisted on getting actual rocks in her background! Her loss...


Sense of Smell: Nate had a dinner reservation at 8pm, so we had some time to kill. He surprised me by pulling into the Starbucks parking lot to get my favorite drink... a Peppermint White Hot Chocolate! I was beyond excited as this sweet smelling drink is a new discovery for me this season (introduced by Nate only a few weeks earlier).


Sense of Touch: With our delicious drinks, we then headed over to a little town outside the city called Manitou Springs. We walked up and down the street (singular: just one main street), went in the cute locally owned shops to touch all of the trinkets, walked through a very unique art gallery, and played on some of their statues! Small towns give off a very special vibe, and being there at that moment couldn't have been more perfect.


Sense of Taste: Now, please note that at this point I am as ecstatic as humanly possible. Nate could take me to McDonalds or Taco Bell and I would still be on cloud 9... but he didn't! He took me to The Melting Pot!!! Now I don't know for sure, but I think the feelings that you feel at this restaurant might be very similar to what you might feel in heaven... pure bliss :) The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant worthy of it's own posting, but here is a quick overview of the four course meal we had...

1. Spinach/Artichoke Cheese Dip: with breads, veggies, and apples to dip!
2. House Salad: with peppercorn ranch!
3. Pot of Garlic Broth: chicken, shrimp, NY steak, filet, duck, and ravioli (it all comes raw and you cook it in the broth for 2 minutes)!
4. Milk Chocolate with Crunchy Peanut Butter: with brownies, rice krispie treats, cheescake, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, and pound cake to dip!

This part of the date was easily my favorite. We are eternally in debt to Calli and Zac for introducing us to this restaurant! We left the restaurant around 11pm (four courses takes a long time!) and we drove home. I fell asleep on the ride home (no surprise there) and slept that night in food/pure happiness coma!

Dinner Dates...

We all live busy lives... Nate is busy with teeth, I'm busy with 10 year-olds, Jeff is busy with money, and Maxi is busy with Lauren Brea! But we've created an exclusive dinner club that meets once a month, the first Monday of every month. We take turns cooking (which is good for Maxi and I to develop our "cooking skills"), but we moreso just love to get together and hang-out.

We have our monthly meetings, but we also have random, spontaneous dinner dates too! My favorite thing about living close to each other is that we can do exactly that. Here is the conversation that happened last Tuesday!

Me: What are you guys having for dinner tonight? I need an idea for Nate and I...
Maxi: Well, we're gonna have Mac n' Cheese with grilled chicken. Do you guys just wanna come eat with us?
Me: Really? Okay! We'll bring a salad and some cornbread.
Maxi: Sounds good, see you at 8.


And it was as simple as that! Maxi and Jeff, Mom and Dad, and Nate and I met for dinner on an hour's notice... living in a 5 mile radius of each other definitely pays off. Now we just need to get Brook, Macy, and Daveed to move back to Colorado!

Side-note #1: Our dinner group isn't exclusive, that word just sounded fancy! We would love more people!

Side-note #2: I really do need more cooking ideas for Nate and I, please send recipes!

Journaling...

When I was 8 years old, I received my first journal. It was a gift at my baptism from my primary teacher! I was so excited and promised myself that I would write in it everyday! Well, that lasted about one week. I still have that journal... with seven days of my "thoughts".

I've never been good at journaling. I completely understand the importance of it, and I truly wish I was better at it... but it's not in my genetic make-up.

I love taking pictures. Pictures are a form of journaling for me. They document exciting events, important people, and places that I've been. I use pictures to help tell about my experiences.

Like this experience...

Nate and I went snowboarding this weekend, and it was our first day out for the season! We were so excited, and we really lucked out with the weather (for the first half of the day!).

Only this time, I don't have any pictures to show you how fun this day was because...
When we got home, I realized that my camera was gone. I threw it in the front seat while I was taking off all my boarding clothes, and I think it must have fallen out into the parking lot...

I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears (two to be exact), but I decided that losing my camera isn't the end of the world. I lost quite a few good photos, which will now be dipicted through a different form of art...


"Lame!" you say? I couldn't agree more. But this is what you'll be getting for the next month. For Christmas I've asked for a camera!

Cowboy Boot Shopping...

Nate and I both want a pair of cowboy boots. He wants a pair because he wants to be a cowboy, I want a pair because I can make some cute outfits with them! So we started our cowboy boot adventure at Goodwill... big mistake.

We didn't find any cowboy boots... but with a billion other distractions, it didn't take us long to come up with a little game. We came up with some simple rules, and then split up.

1. You have 5 minutes.
2. Find each other a ridiculous item.
3. Item has to be church appropriate.
4. Can't exceed $10.

While plugging our noses (literally), we went up and down the aisles in search for an absurd article of clothing. We met at the dressing rooms, with our sides splitting from laughter for what we had chosen.

Nate: sporting a nice woolen sweater,
floral print with accents of Aztec designs.
Me: sporting a florescent pink blazer,
with large gold buttons, and shoulder pads.

Game over. We bought our items and exited the store! You might be wondering though about the third rule we made (Item has to be church appropriate). That's right, we wore these atrocious things to church...with smiles on our faces of course!


The looks we received were priceless. Matt noticed Nate's sweater from about 20 rows back, commenting "Nice sweater!" in a text. One of the grandma speakers had on a very similar blazer as mine. Never a dull moment in our lives, however we'll be looking for our cowboy boots elsewhere.

Only in Colorado...

This was us on Saturday!

This is what it looks like today (Tuesday).

Which can only mean one thing. Put on your big coats, because...
SNOWBOARDING SEASON IS HERE!!!

Happy Halloween...

Halloween 2010 came and went. We got zero trick-or-treaters, which was a good thing because I didn't buy any candy anyway!!! Ha! The highlight of this Halloween season included three things...

One: Going to a really cool pumpkin patch.

I know what you're thinking... "How could a pumpkin patch be that cool with cement floors, brick walls, and a sign that says '3 for $10'?" But it was :)

Two: Attending a Halloween party (with a pumpkin carving contest as the main event) with Nate and all his dental friends.

(We tied for first place. Nate did the owl, and I did the spider!)

Three: Just being with Nate. (If you just threw up in your mouth because it's super corny that I just said that, I apologize!)

This fall has been so much fun! I can't believe that October is over, but I'm excited to see what winter has in store for us!
Happy Halloween!

Sister Stats...

Well, voting closed at 7:00pm last night. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about the way things were going to end. Here are the results...
I'd also be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned about a few relationships that may or may not have been through a lot over the last week. Here is the breakdown of "Sister Competition #72,096"...

• 114 people voted on my blog (as of last night at 7:00pm)
• Since then, 127 "people" have voted...
• 9 friends left comments with votes on Macy's blog (4 for me, 3 for Macy, and 2 for Brook)
• Invitation #2 wins the competition based on the time limit set a week ago
• 3 losers will be receiving a very fancy blog background next month!
• 1 crazy party will be thrown!
  
• We will be doing an "Invitation Competition" every year now, because this was way too much fun! Maybe a different holiday next year?!

So, the biggest question is, who created each invitation?!?!

Invitation #1: Maxene (my personal favorite!)


Invitation #2: Me :)


Invitation #3: Macy


Invitation #4: Brook (the 7 page Word Document)


Sidenote: We had a last minute invitation entry from Lauren Brea. Her invitation was not submitted into the competition because her entry was late. Sorry Lauren, rules are rules...


Thanks to everyone for voting!

Which party am I going to?

The much awaited Halloween invitations are here! They are all so cute in their own unique ways, and I know it will be hard for everyone to vote.

Your vote couldn't be more important... there is a lot on the line! The winner of this contest will be hosting the real Halloween party (probably only attended by me and Macy), picking blog backgrounds for the losers, and receiving a blog dedication from all participants... so please vote TRUTHFULLY (click on images to enlarge)! If you're confused about what's going on, please read blog titled "Sister Competition #72,096...".

Invitation #1:

Invitation #2:

Invitation #3:

Invitation #4:Cast your vote below:

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Sister Competition #72,096...

Sister Competition #72,096:
Halloween Invitations

Okay, I'm sure you've caught on to the competitive nature of my family! Anyone who knows us knows that we love a little competition. In fact, we can have normal conversations that evolve into crazy competitions all the time! Kind of like this one...


Macy: I'm so excited for you and Nate to come to Idaho for Halloween. We're going to have so much fun!
Me: Macy, we're not coming. We never said we were!
Macy: Well, I'm gonna make an invitation that's so good, you'll have to come!
Me: Oh yea?! Well, I'm gonna make an even better invitation, and then you and Daveed will have to come to Denver for Halloween!

And there you have it. A competition evolved. It didn't take long before Maxi heard about it, and naturally, she wanted in on the challenge. Then there were 3...

Brook is a busy person! But, we felt it was only right to ask her if she wanted to be apart of this, and, well, then there were 4...

In our family, there has to be rules, because if you don't make rules, someone always cries (I won't say who usually cries, but I'm sure you can guess!). Here are the rules of Competition #72,096...

1. Create a Halloween invitation for each sister.
2. Has to be in the mail by October 11, 2010.
3. All 4 invitations will be posted on a blog to be analyzed and voted for by random "visitors of the blog".
4. Winner gets to host the Halloween party for real!
5. Losers (there will be 3 of them) will be given a new blog background to be determined by the winner. Background has to stay on blog for one month!
6. Losers have to dedicate a special blog to the winner.

I think we've started a yearly tradition, because this has been so much fun! I'm still waiting to receive one invitation, and then I'll put them up for voting! Even with the rules and regulations, I think there will still be some tears :)

I'm an official "cuber"...

Nate is OBSESSED with the rubix cube! So naturally, on the 4th of July, while we were waiting for the fireworks, the lessons began...

Here are Nate's skills on camera. Very intimidating, but he's an amazing (and very patient) teacher...


He taught me the different sets of rules throughout the months, and slowly (very slowly) I completed one row at a time! It didn't take long before I became obsessed as well. Just recently, I mastered the cube, and can now call myself an official "cuber"!

I have to do whatever Nate does, so here's the video to document (and prove) my cubing abilities...



I understand completely that only certain people will be excited about this news (actually, probably only Nate) but I wanted to share my excitement :) Now we can relax, and maybe catch up on some sleep!