New shades

I am extremely blessed to have Nancy as a mother-in-law. Over the years we have developed a great relationship. She and Tom have always been very supportive of us, and we are grateful for that. When we moved into our house I had mentioned to Nancy that roman shades would look really great on our kitchen atrium doors and they were practical for that space. So, Nancy volunteered to make them for me! We went to Joann’s Fabrics when they were having a 1/2 off sale on the upholstery fabrics. She got them finished this weekend and hung up on Saturday. They look fabulous! Thanks Nancy!

My sweet husband

Today is Mark's 29th birthday! I can't believe that next year he will already be the big 30. Neither of us feel that old. I told Mark this morning that he has to "live it up" this year because it will be the last of his 20's! Here are some great pictures from his early years.

2 weeks old

6 months old

17 months old - love the hair!

Diaper cake

For Allison's shower (see previous post) I made a diaper cake. I had never made one before, but had seen a few and talked to a few people about them. I also found an internet website that gave pretty good instructions. I did not follow them exactly, but they got me headed in the right direction. I am by no means now an "expert diaper cake maker", but since I was doing it anyways, I took pictures of the process. I talked to a few people who had never heard of a diaper cake, so if you ever plan to make one, maybe this post will help.

Materials needed: about 60 step 1 diapers, rubber bands, double-sided tape, ribbon, poster boards, baby items/toys

Step 1: Cut poster board big enough to support the bottom of your cake. I made mine slightly smaller than the cake stand I was using.

Step 2: Roll diapers up and secure them in the center with a rubber band.

Step 3: I put a baby soap bottle in the middle to build around. Make the first layer and secure the entire thing with a rubber band. Then make the second layer and secure with another rubber band.


Step 4: I made a 3rd outer layer. You can make the cake any size you want. I knew that my cake topper was going to be large, so I wanted the bottom bigger to balance it out. I secured this with string because it was getting too big for rubber bands.

Step 5: I decided to use a teddy bear as the cake topper. So, I removed the soap bottle and stuffed the bear's legs in that hole. Then I built the second tier around the bear. I secured it with two rubber bands to make sure it held.

Step 6: Buy a wide ribbon to go around the diapers. This is needed to cover up the rubber bands. I attached it in the back with double-sided tape. I also used some small scrapbooking squares to attach it around the sides.

Step 7: I placed more ribbon on the cake to add decoration. I tied these into bows in the back.

Step 8: Add decorations around the cake to jazz it up! You're finished!

Builder's Tip: I would highly recommend you have another pair of hands to help you. Mark helped me with all of the rubber bands and ribbon that help it together. Sometimes it becomes too much for one person to hold!

Allison's baby shower

On Saturday I helped to host a twin baby shower for wonderful, wonderful Allison! I was so excited to be able to be a part of this. Allison, you have a lot of people who love you dearly and we are all so glad to share in the excitement of the upcoming birth of yours and Justin's twins. The shower went very smoothly and there were some many people there in support! I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Allison with Karen (Justin's mom) on the left and Linda (Alli's mom) on the right.

Alli with her many hostesses. Tami and Sarah couldn't make it because they just had their own precious babies!

Anna made this amazing work of baking art! She made the cupcakes, the stand, all of it! Anna, you are incredibly talented.

Mommy-to-be and me

Alli with her diaper bag we found in Canton. Gotta love Canton!

Allison with her load of gifts. We hope you enjoy!

Kick-off to Summer!

On Tuesday night Mark and I attended a Frisco Roughriders baseball game, along with our friends Paige and Philip. Last week, Mark and I received a housewarming package from the City of Plano that included some coupons and free things. One of the free things was 4 free tickets to a Roughriders game, so we wanted to take advantage of them! The Roughriders are the AA minor league team affiliated with the Texas Rangers. The game started at 7:00 and was a long one. I think it ended sometime after 10:30. However, it was still a very enjoyable evening. We sat on the west side of the stadium so we were pretty much in the shade the whole time. It also rained around here on Monday so the temperature was cooled off a bit. The Roughriders have an emcee and mascots that come out between each inning and play games with kids, etc., to entertain the crowd. Mark and I enjoyed a feast of hot dogs, chips, and nachos. All in all, it was a pleasant all-American evening!

I've been tagged

Technically, my sister tagged me about 3 weeks ago. This week Allison tagged me. So, after two tags, I'm finally going to break down and do it. Here are six random things about me that you may or may not know.

Rules are as follows: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I hate to jog. I have never found it to be fun, nor do I think I ever will. I would much rather walk for an hour than jog for 30 minutes.

2. Following #1, this one might sound funny. When I was in high school I was the head cadet commander for the Marine Corps Junior ROTC for my school. JROTC is what really made my high school years enjoyable. I considered for a while going to A&M (crazy, I know) for the ROTC program. I obviously didn't do that (Hook 'em Horns) but there are days when I still dream about what it would have been like to serve my country in the military.

3. I love to bake much better than I like to cook. I think the reason I like to bake is because I liked the finished product much better! Cheesecake is my favorite!

4. I bruise like a peach! Mark and I don't know if that is actually the right saying, but we think it works. I can accidentally run into any random thing (which I do a lot) and bruise instantly. For example, on Sunday I slipped getting into the shower and bumped my leg against the side of the tub. By the time I was out of the shower it was already bruising and now it is an ugly shade of black and green.

5. When I was younger, my dad was a Texas city manager. Because of this job, my family moved around to a lot of small Texas towns. By age 10 I had lived in San Angelo, Winters, Cedar Park, Lindale, and Buda. However, in 5th grade my dad took a different position when we moved to Buda and my parents have now lived in the same house for 16 years.

6. I'm quite I sharp-shooter with a rifle. I can thank my JROTC days for this. I don't really get to shoot rifles all that much anymore. However, I few years ago we went to Darren and Marla's family farm and we shot some rifles out there. I tore that target up!

I tag Kim B., Aaron (my brother-in-law), Toni , and Emily (my sister-in-law).

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting . . .

We saw Kung Fu Panda at the Studio Movie Grill. We had free tickets, so we thought we would check it out. It was hilarious! We laughed through the entire movie. I highly recommend it!

What a great teacher

Mark made a deal with some of his girl students. He said that if they passed the TAKS test and their finals, they could paint his fingernails. So, on Monday, here is how Mark came home looking!

New Jeans

I, like most girls, have a really hard time trying to find a good pair of jeans that fit properly. I have long since given up trying to get the right length. I now always take them to a tailor to be shortened. Yes, even the petites are usually too long. I'm short, I know. Well, I was listening to the radio on Friday morning on the way to work and I heard about this designer jean sale. The jeans were supposed to be on sale for 80% off. So, I called up my good college friend Shevin, who also loves to shop, and we headed downtown on Saturday afternoon. It was at a convention center of sorts just west of downtown Dallas. So, when you walk in, it is just a huge open room with racks and racks of jeans. Well, after about 1 hour and trying on some 15+ pairs of jeans, I found two that I was very happy with. I still paid a little more than I would for a normal pair of jeans. Mark thinks I am nuts, but it is my birthday money, so he can't complain. I thought they were a good deal since these are quality jeans that are normally over $200 each. This company travels all over the country and comes to Dallas about twice a year. Check it out at http://www.thewarehousesale.com/events.php.

Happy shopping!

Cookies!!!

Since I had time on Memorial Day, I wanted to try something I had never done before - sugar cookie decorating! My friend, Anna, was the first to get me hooked on these addictive homemade treats! I clearly remember the first time she ever served me her homemade sugar cookies with the delicious homemade icing. We were over at her and Karl's house for small group and it must have been close to summer because I believe the cookies were cut into suns and other summery shapes. Not only were the cookies melt-in-your-mouth delicious, they also were very beautiful. I raved and raved about how fabulous those cookies were. After that, I discovered that my friends Allison and Jill also make amazing cookies. Since I love this dessert so much, I finally decided to have an hand at it.
I think they turned out pretty well. I never really knew what hard work it is. My hands are still sore today! However, I enjoyed the process and coming up with designs. I would like work on perfecting my technique while I have time over the summer.

Fun-Filled Weekend

I did several really great things over Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday morning I woke up early and set out to Home Depot in search of flowers. Last year, I bought a rod that you set inside of a large clay pot and it allows you to stack flower pots in a cascading manner. I did this last year, but bought the plants too early and most of them did not survive the summer. So, this year I waited until much later to plant them, so I would have some heat resistant plants. I ended up planting moss roses, lantana, pentas, silver mound, and asian jasmine. They look really pretty right now, so I hope they will last!

On Saturday afternoon I went with my brother, Jeremy, in search of kittens. He decided once he moved into his house that he was ready for a pet. He (like me) thinks that dogs are too high maintenance, so he opted for cats. We grew up with cats, so we enjoy them. He decided he wanted to get two kittens so they could keep each other company. We found a listing on craigslist and went to the location. We found two absolutely adorable kittens and brought them right home. Jeremy is really enjoying the company!

The kitten gray and white kitten is a female named Gracie and the orange and white is a male named Sam.

They really enjoyed this rolled up rug in the corner!

Finally, we had some friends over for a Memorial Day cookout. My family always celebrated Memorial Day by grilling out hamburgers. So, as this day approached, I asked Mark if we could host our first event at our new house. We had 5 couples total and it was a wonderful time. We had a feast of cheese dip, chips, hot dogs, hamburgers, veggies, fruit, cookies, and two different fruit cobblers. Yummy! We rounded out the evening by playing two player Guitar Hero on the Wii. Thanks for bringing your guitar, Philip! I really do want to make this Memorial Day celebration a tradition!!!

Anyone know?

Does anyone know the name of this flower? We were given these and I love them! As a cut flower, they last for SO long!

That's my man!

On Thursday night Mark and I attended the PISD Teacher Gala. This is the awards ceremony and dinner to honor all teachers who have been chosen as teacher of the year or beginning teacher of the year for their campuses. Mark was chosen beginning teacher of the year for his school, so he was there to be honored! There was a very nice dinner held at the Plano Civic Center. Then each honoree got a chance to cross the stage and received prizes. Mark was given a very nice paper weight with his name and award title on it, along with a bag of goodies! I am VERY proud of my husband. He is a wonderful man and I know that he has such a positive influence on the students that he teachers. Go Mark!

Beginning teacher of the year
We saw our good friend, Zack, at the dinner. He is a principal at an elementary school in Plano.
Mark crossing the stage. This is a picture of the screen because that was the best hope I had for getting a clear picture!
Mark with the other two 8th grade math teachers from his school who were there to support him.

Canton weekend

I absolutely love Canton weekends! For anybody who doesn't know about Canton, here is a brief description. Canton is a town in east Texas. The weekend before the first Monday of every month they have a very large outdoor market. It is a wonderful place to get home decor at a discounted rate.

Today I was able to go with my friends Allison and Kimberlee. We were also able to meet Allison's parents there. We all had a wonderful time together! I came home with a trunk full of stuff. I got several home decor items as well as 4 hanging plants and tomato plants. I also got a wonderful plant stand for our front porch. I have already arranged the plants on the porch.

Here is what my front porch now looks like.

Here is a closer look at the plant stand. On the bottom is a fern. On the top left is a petunia I already had. On the right is a new plant I got, but I don't remember the name of it!

My petunia is looking a little ill. If anyone has any suggestions for how to nurse it back to health, I would love them!

Pics of the house

I feel that things have finally slowed down enough to actually post pictures of our house. Please remember that we haven't decorated anything yet!

This one view of the living room.

This is another view. I love the plantation shutters because I don't have to worry about window treatments!

Here is the master bedroom. We have two vanities that open into the room, each with their own closet.

This is the dining room. Thanks to Karson and Sharon for the table! It would have been on big empty room without it!

Here is the kitchen. I am standing in the office to take this picture.
Here is the built-in office. It is just off of the kitchen.