Tuesday, June 14, 2011

30 Days and Counting

The final count down has begun!!

My families Lake Powell trip has been postponed, which means I no longer have to choose between two fantastic things!
And thanks to my awesome friend Danielle, I already have seats for the midnight showing!

There will be lots of clapping and cheering! And there will most definitely be tears! It's going to be epic {and I just have to say right hear that I hate that word.... totally overused! BUT, it is the perfect word right now} and I can't wait!!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Quote Wall Monday

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sunday Afternoon Treat

Cookies are fantastic!
But what about a cookie within a cookie?
Even better right?!?!
If you are an Oreo fan you will want to give these a try!!!

Cookie 'N Creme Cookies
What you need:
  • 2 1/4 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 C butter, softened
  • 1/2 C packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 C white sugar
  • 1 {4.2 oz} pkg Cookies 'N Creme pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 C white chocolate chips**
  • 15 Oreo cookies, coarsly chopped/crushed**
**The first time I made them I added more than 15 Oreos. I probably used more like 20 to 25 cookies! My mom made them a few days later but she didnt have white chocolate chips. She used semi-sweet chips and I thought they were even more delicious with all that extra chocolate!!

What you do:
1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2- Cream butter and sugars together then add the pudding mix and beat until well blended.
3- Beat in the eggs and vanilla; mix well.
4- In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking soda using a whisk to mix them together.
5- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until well blended.
6- Stir in the choclate chips and Oreos
7- Drop cookies in rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
8- Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies are barley brown

Makes about 3 dozen

So easy! So delicious!!

Original recipe found here

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Time To Straighten Up

Clear back in high school I had braces. My teeth were never crooked or crazy looking {which I was very grateful for} but I did have an overbite, so my parents took me to the orthodontist to get it taken care of!
My orthodontist is AWESOME!! I remember being REALLY nervous about going. I absolutely HATE going to the dentist {I have to go next week... boo!} so the orthodontist also sounded very scary. But, it wasn't too bad!
I didn't think braces were awful and I tried to have fun with them! My bands were always fun and crazy color combos and always coordinated with holidays! I had no problem with them. It wasn't until I got my retainer that I started having troubles!
I was actually really excited to get my retainer because my orthodontist told me that I could bring a small picture to put on it if I wanted. Now remember, this was back when I was a sophomore/junior, so I was thrilled to create my own retainer. The brand Roxy was huge back in those days! I was to fat to fit into any Roxy clothes, so I cut out the Roxy logo and had it put into my retainer. It was going to be my awesome, name brand retainer!!!

I went back in a few days later to pick it up and it looked fantastic, I was pretty excited about wearing it. The only problem.... it tasted weird! Really really weird!! A gross mixture of plastic and acrylic! I couldn't handle it being in my mouth.I brushed it all the time, I soaked it in mouth wash and orange juice... nothing worked.... it always had a funky taste! So, I hardly ever wore my trendy Roxy retainer!

Flash forward to now! Not wearing my retainer was a bad move on my part! Remember how I never had crooked or crazy teeth before? Well, now I do. My two top front teeth overlap each other and one of them sticks out a little bit...... my ugly snaggle tooth.
It's sad. Sad because now I have ugly teeth and it makes me self conscious, sad because my parents paid a ridiculous amount of money so I could have perfectly straight teeth and I let it go to waste {I really do feel awful about this part of it!! SORRY mom and dad!!!!}, sad because now I have to pay to have it fixed and sad because my insurance doesn't cover adult orthodontic care at all.

I went back into visit my orthodontist today and he is still just as awesome as ever! The appointment was short and sweet. The solution to my problem: a new retainer. THANK GOODNESS that's all it will take! I don't know what I would have done if he said I needed a top row of braces again!

My new retainer will be blue... no logo this time.... and I can pick it up in a week! My guess is that if will probably taste funny for awhile, but I am just going to have to suck it up!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Quote Wall Monday

Friday, June 3, 2011

False Hopes and a Piece of Paradise

As part of my job I have get to visit car dealerships and meet with their financial people. Today was one of those days. Sometimes I feel really bad going.... the salesman sit in cars or chairs right as you are pulling into the dealership just waiting to flag you down! I can see the hope on their faces when I pull in thinking that I could possibly be a sale! And then their commission dreams are shattered when I tell them I am just here to talk to the finance guy! It's even worse when there is more than one salesman out there and you can see two or three of them fighting over who gets to help me by a car!! The poor guy that wins..... I can just see him walking back to his buddies and saying "That one didn't count! She's just from a credit union! I still get the next one!"

There is a silver lining to the dealer visit thing though.... treats! Sometimes I get to take the dealers treats as a "thank you" for the deals they've sent to us.
Today's treats: Paradise Bakery cookies!!


The whole drive over I told myself "You will NOT buy a cookie for yourself! You do not need it!"
I was in total control! Then I though to myself "But sometimes they have those FANTASTIC Lemon Zest cookies. They are like a special edition cookie or something because they very rarely have them..... how can you turn one of those down?" So I made a deal with myself; I wouldn't buy a cookie unless they just happened to have the Lemon Zest kind.
Well.............you guessed it... they totally had the Lemon Zest cookies today! And so I HAD to buy one! I cant go back on a deal with myself!!!!
If you haven't had them, you should go and get one! I am usually all about the chocolate, but these things are so full of lemoney goodness that I totally pick them over the Coconut Chocolate Chip!! Happy Friday!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

My Purple Thumb

Have you ever seen the movie "A Troll In Central Park?" It's about this cute little troll named Stanley with a green thumb. Any time he touches his thumb to the ground flowers and plants start to grow. The only problem is that Gnorga, the evil troll queen, hates flowers. When she find his house full of flowers, she banishes him to New York, a city of steel and concrete. Gnorga has a purple thumb and when she uses it, it turns things into stone.


Sometimes I feel like I have a purple thumb! No, I don't turn things into stone, but I am not very good at growing plants or flowers. Like Stanley though, I LOVE flora and fauna and all things green! I'm trying to change the color of my thumb this year!!

We have this short brink wall that borders our car port and I thought it would be fun to add some color too it!!
So I went to a few stores and bought some really fun pots/containers to plant flowers in!! I got two pots at Wal-Mart {yes, I shop there. Back off okay!} and a cool ice bucket at Target. But I hit the jackpot at the dollar store!!!
None of them are actually flower pots! One is a serving bowl, one is a sand pail, one is an ice bucket and the purple one is a "handy oval container"!
Because none of them are technically for gardening I had to make holes in the bottom of them. That's what you are supposed to do right? So water can get out?!?
I used a kitchen knife to slowly carve out the holes.
The orange pail didn't play along well. Every time I tried to put a hole in it, the plastic just split apart so there are no real holes on the bottom. Hopefully the plants in it survive!!

I filled them with dirt:

And then added the plants and seeds:

 And finished off by watering them. I decided that I need a watering can so I can water them every day {because using a cup just isn't working} 

The best part though was putting them out on the brick wall and standing back to admire them!!
I love them!! Hopefully I just don't kill them!!!