Man, to be little again...

So, I don't usually make a habit of this, but today I was CRAVING a peach milkshake from Chick-fil-a. If you haven't had one, try one...A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!
So I grabbed one on my lunch break. As I took a sip it took me back to summers when I was young (er) (I'm still young!!). I have such fond memories of spending all summer swimming in the pool and having cook-outs on weekend evenings. My family used to make homemade ice cream for these events and MAN was it the perfect way to end a summer day. The peach milkshake today tasted just like the peach ice cream we used to have churning in our big, silver, steadily humming, ice cream maker. Man, I miss those carefree days!!! As I sat in the parking lot, enjoying my milkshake, I started to think about all the things I miss about being a kid during the summer, here is my list: (feel free to comment on some things you miss most about your childhood summers)
* I miss the hill beside the house I grew up in, my brother and I spent hours and hours pushing our scooters to the top of the hill and riding them back down. It was so fun and I can still feel the way the foot board on the scooter would wobble when we reached speeds almost too fast for a scooter to go.
* I miss lightening bugs...weird, but really, I can't think of the last time I've seen a field glowing from the hundreds of lightening bugs.
* I miss the old tire swing that hung from the tree in our pasture. My dad never did "things" small, so our tire was an old tractor tire...that thing was huge!! It was perfect for climbing inside and twisting the rope just enough to send us into a crazy, stomach churning, out of control feeling, spin.
* I also miss the creek my brother and I were fortunate enough to grow up beside. I can't think of a better way, to pass the hot summer days, turning over creek rocks and hunting for the next creek creature. I remember when we thought it was an "excellent" idea to remove the crawfish and minos from the creek and "rehome" them in our swimming pool.
* I miss the smell of fresh cut grass and the way it (cut grass) would stick to my feet when we were outside playing.
* I remember taking dad up on his "great" offer to spend hours picking up sugargum balls (those horribly, prickly, brown things that fall from trees) for the simple payment of a ride in the bucket of his "amazingly, cool" John Deere tractor. Yes, I also miss that...prickly sugargum balls and all.
* I really miss the smell of musky dimes (lol, I'm leaving this the way I spelled it..but thought it would be PC to put the proper spelling in muscadine. I want you to know I even googled the spelling, LOL..but it came up both ways. After further research I realized it came up both ways b/c there are A LOT of people out there that spell it musky dimes, so it showed up in lots of searches BUT the proper and correct way is not musky dimes, lol)...man oh man does that smell bring back memories. We had a few big bushes on the land surrounding our house and that smell ALWAYS takes me back to summers spent on E. Prince Rd.
* I miss the way our playroom (located in our basement) was always cool and made for the perfect place to play on really hot summer evenings, after we spent the day outside.
* I miss the occasional icee we would get from my grandfathers stand and I even miss the sickly sweet combination of every, single, one of the flavors I would insist on mixing together.


Obviously there are lots of things I miss about being a kid during the summer :) There's even more, but I'll spare any readers. Strangely...I'm suddenly hearing the jingle " I don't want to grow up..." as I go back to work **sigh**.

Kids say the darndest things :-)

Lately, I've been a cake baking fool!! I'm loving every second of it too!!!!
On Sunday I met Aud in Newberry, she asked me to make a cake for a friend of hers ;-)
It was nice to see her and extra nice to see Alexa...even if it was only for a few minutes. Later that evening I called Aud to see if she made it home okay and if the cake had survived (it was my first fully stacked, 2 tier cake...fully iced in butter cream and HEAVY). She said it had arrived safe and sound and while she had to rearrange her fridge, it fit inside nicely.
Here is where I could just squeeze Alexa.
Autumn said she put the cake on the counter and began to clear out her fridge.
She said Alexa said "momma, momma" and when Aud said "Yes, Alexa" she said "She's watching you."
Autumn said she stopped and looked at Alexa and said "Who's watching me Alexa" and Alexa pointed to the cake and said "She is momma, she's watching you."

How cute is that!!!! My cake is a girl!!! Alexa is sooo smart and very creative, she never ceases to say the cutest things!!

So, for future reference my cakes are female ;-)


Other than baking up a storm, Sev and I haven't been doing much else. We spent last Saturday out on the lake with friends. This weekend we're spending time with Sev's parents, where I have another cake to bake for their house warming party!
Sev's just about done with his first summer class and when this one is complete we'll get a quick beach break!! We're excited to spend a few days at the beach with Steph and Jon!!! We NEED a vacation and we lovvvveee spending time with my cousin and her husband :-) After that Sev will start back with his second summer class, yuck...calculus 2...pray for him!!

Happy Tuesday :-)

A new blog and a weekend update

Sev and I had a nice weekend...I say that alot don't I?....but who doesn't love the weekends??
Anyways, we just hung out on Saturday, sev worked and I cleaned. Then Sunday we rode, and I mean we rode HARD. It was the hardest I've ever ridden. Not the hardest trail...but the hardest I've pushed myself on a ride. We ended up running into another group of riders along the way and they happened to have a girl with them. I've never had the chance to ride with a girl so I asked Sev to hang back with that group so I could get a feel for how other girls ride. She was FAST. Skill wise we were probably even, I was able to keep up with her and we kind of had the same style. However, she was on a bigger bike, more power, and was able to pull away just a tad on the straights. This frustrated me and forced me to ride harder in the turns. It wasn't a "race"...but in my mind it was a challenge. Sev said he had never seen me ride like that. It was sooooo fun!!! We came around a bend and I saw the girl slow down and from what I could tell the turn was just a slight turn and then it straightened back out...."nows my chance!"...I twisted the throttle and entered the turn going faster than I should have been...it wasn't a small turn, it was a jack-knife. Quick thinking and fast reactions had me ditching the bike mid turn. It sailed off the side of the 3-4ft drop off and I landed smack in the middle of the trail.....ouch. Sev was quick on his feet (literally, he dropped his bike and was running from the momentum up to me). I just wanted him to get my bike. I suffered two badly scrapped elbows, a bruise on my stomach, a hole in my pants on the left knee, and scrapes and bruises on both knees. My bike suffered a broken front brake lever. My helmet suffered a broken bill. Severyn laughed because, when I finally got to my feet, I brushed myself off and said "shoot, she got away." IT WAS SUCH A RUSH!!!! I'm really in love with this sport. We got back on and did a bit more riding before we called it a day. I have nice big bandages on my elbows and I realize I look like a kid that forgot to put their elbow pads on while learning how to ride a bicycle...but I'm okay, and I can't wait to go again!!!!

I emailed a few of you but wanted to put a quick note on this blog about my new blog!!!! I decided I wanted to keep a separate blog about my cake/cupcake endeavors. I'll still share on here from time to time my different creations...but I use this blog mainly for family and friends and I'm sharing the other blog with EVERYONE...so I'm trying to keep the two apart. Check it out and let me know what you think :)
http://4theluvofcake.blogspot.com/
I have another cake order this weekend, a fathers day cake...from a lady that found me through my blog, yippeeee!! Marketing at its best, lol. Then the following weekend I have a house warming party cake. Between riding and cake making, I'm enjoying life!!!!!

My lunch break at Mcdonalds...

Now, first off...I have to say that I'm just glad that ANYONE willing to work, whatever job they can get, and not live off of MY TAX money gets props (b/c my mom is probably think "props" what??? it's like kudos mom, like "yay way to go!") from me.
Secondly, anyone reading this is going to think "really, she took the time to post about this?"...and the answer is "Yes" I'm taking the time to post about this...because I can AND because it took my entire lunch break AND I find it funny AND I want to share because I'm not sure how hard it is to work at Mcdonalds...but apparently its pretty difficult.

and the story goes:

I kind of have a vise now for Mcdonalds iced lattes. My mom told me about these little drinks and I have to admit...they are quite yummy and for half the price of a starbucks!
So, because the sandwich I packed for lunch was a pb&j, that I made 3 days ago (don't ask) and the pb&j was feeling a bit more like cement than actual, creamy, gooey, sticky pb&j...and I could really use some caffeine...I decided to toss my lunch and go to Mcdonalds.
I can tell the moment the lady comes across the speaker...its going to be a bad ordering day at Mcdonalds (do you ever have those days? where you just KNOW they are going to mess something up at the fastfood drive-thru?).
Lady taking order: "What can I get cha'?"
Me: "I would like a 4 piece chicken nugget happy meal with BBQ sauce and apples instead of fries. Oh and a water with that please"
Ordering lady: "uh huh anything else"
Me: "Yes. (and here is where it allll started going down hill...as if her attitude hadn't already triggered the downfall) I would also like a medium, iced, sugar free, fat free, vanilla latte.
Lady: Got it, pull around.
I look at the little screen that records and shows what they are ringing up and I see "tea" and "latte" not "iced latte" (I told you, I have a vice and I KNOW what the screen is suppose to read).
Me: "I'm sorry, its suppose to be a WATER, not tea and an ICED latte."
Lady: "I KNOW, I have to ring up tea!!! pull around".
So, I pull around and hand over my money and I'm directed to the next window where I wait...and wait....and oh my gosh are they killing the chicken, plucking the feathers and cooking my chicken nuggets or WHAT...and wait.
Finally they hand me my nuggets and apples and the guy at the window says:
"Pull up there to that there flag post and wait, the rest of your order will be out shortly"
Me: "okay, thank you"
I pull to the flag post as directed...and wait....and wait....and oh my gosh did they have to go and harvest the coffee beans or WHAT???...and wait.
Finally the guy comes out with my latte and my water.
The latte is HOT...not iced....its 95 degrees out!!!! WHAT.
Me: "sir that (pointing to latte) is supposed to be iced. "
Mcdonalds employee: "huh, whaaa?" (seriously that's how he said it...no T on the end of what)
Me: (pointing to latte) "THAT is supposed to be ICED"
Guy: "huh, oh...okay"
and this is where I should have just shut up and let him walk away....
Me: "and sir could I please get some BBQ sauce and carmel dip for my apples and nuggets"
Guy: "uhhh, okay" and walks away.
At this point another car has pulled up behind me and is obviously waiting on their order.
A few minutes later...(I guess they have to harvest a whole other pot of coffee beans)...a different guy walks out.
He hands me a bag and my water and says "I've got to get your latte" and before I can say anything he turns and half sprints back inside....uhm....I don't think BBQ sauce and Carmel dip takes an large size mcdonalds bag OR weighs as much as what he handed me...I look inside....nope, someones food and now there are 2 cars behind me waiting...so I wait to let the mcdonalds employee find out who's food it is.
He comes back and I see him try to hand the lady behind me my latte....AHHHHHHHHHH.
She shakes her head.
He walks to me..."heres your mocha ma'am"
Okay....if you've been following along, it was suppose to be a latte...but at this point I just want to LEAVE!! So I take it and say, "sir this is not my bag of food but can I trouble you, realllllly quickly for some BBQ sauce and carmel dip, please" (I know I know, I should have just LEFT but come on, who eats chicken nuggets w/out sauce??? that would have just been pointless plus I had 10 more minutes left in my hour lunch break, lol).
Guy: "uh huh, sure" and he runs off.
I will admit I didn't have to wait as long for the sauce and carmel, as the guy quickly returns.
He hands me the dips and I drive off.
I stick the straw in my water and because I've been waiting in 95 degree weather for my lunch I take a BIGGGGG swallow.


Its a vanilla milkshake.



Happy Thursday and if you have a full time job, be glad its not nearly as hard as a full time job at McDonalds!!!

Arbors, Ali, Apples and Amphibians!!??

Sev and I enjoyed a nice, peaceful weekend at home this past weekend. We were sad that we missed Christophers first big race, but we needed a weekend HOME! We started the weekend off Friday evening with some BBQ for dinner. After dinner we came home and sadly...like two old people....we fell asleep rather quickly. We woke up Saturday morning and lounged around for just a bit before Sev left to pick up some hours at work (with a FULL summer class schedule he is trying to make up work hrs.). I started my house cleaning! I did...gosh, I don't even know how many loads of laundry...sad, I know. Cleaned our bathroom, cleaned our bedroom, cleaned our kitchen, organized our pantry, folded laundry, cleaned the guest bedroom and bathroom, put away laundry and took a break to play for a minute or two with Ali. Around 1pm I met Sev at Lowe's where we priced the material for an arbor...something I've been wanting in our backyard since....well...before we even bought the house, lol. We walked around Lowe's and I sketched and re-sketched some ideas, we priced and repriced materials. Finally, we could no longer ignore our growling stomachs...so we headed to chic-fil-a, for an AMAZING peach milkshake!!!! ...well...really we went for lunch, but I enjoyed the shake VERY much!! Then we headed home to do a bit of yard work and mull over the arbor idea. After we organized the garage a wee bit, sev did some weed eating...weedeating...ugh, is that right?? ANYWAYS, after he did some yard work and I did a little vacuuming, we decided to go and get the material for our arbor!! We...well...Sev worked until dark. I take credit for planning the arbor and making sure we got the right amount of materials and made sure sev had the materials he needed while on the ladder...but he did all of the building work. At one point I left Sev's side as his right hand man and washed the siding on our house...it was yucky!! Later, I left to pick up a pizza and a movie, Benjamin Button (which I enjoyed, but sev said was wayyy toooo long). Heres a pic of Sev in the beginning stages:

When the sun began to creep behind the house....the night creatures began to surface!!!
I took my camera and caught some of the little green friends in action!

Here we have Kermit (very original, yeah I know) he's sitting on the side of our house...waiting for his next meal:



And here we have Jobba (I don't know how its spelled, I'm not a star wars freak...but its jobba as in jobba the hut?! again...very original...but come on LOOK at this toad!!). Jobba is in the process of praying, why? Because Ali has spotted him! I zoomed in to take his picture...but this toad is actually the size of a pea, seriously...a baby baby toad:





And lastly we have Izzy...she is in the process of blending in with her surroundings!! She did a nice job, not once was she spotted by The One with the Long Tongue ;-) :



And here we have Ali...he is surveying his surroundings and keeping us all in check!

I went to water my apple tree at one point during the evening and LOOK what I found, to my delight!!! (and surprise, I didn't think it was possible to have fruit w/ only one fruit tree):



After an enjoyable dinner out on the patio, we headed inside to call it a night. We fell asleep about 30min into the movie I had rented. We woke up Sunday morning and laid in bed watching the rest of the movie before either of us got up and ventured out into the kitchen for breakfast!! LAZY but it was NICE!! After breakfast we headed back outside. Sevy worked on the arbor until around 3pm while I helped as best I could between battles with the weeds in my flower beds....I won that war!! Around 4pm sevy left to go fishing and I finished doing some laundry and then cuddled with Ali on the couch. Sev got home around 7pm and after watching the season premier of Army wives, we went to bed.

Sevy working on the arbor Sunday afternoon:


Ali is allllllll tuckered out, he has been working HARD people!!


I came home from work this afternoon to find this!!! My completed arbor!!!!!!

The arbor will be painted and plants will be hung...but so far it is exactly what I wanted!! I'm in search of some hanging lanterns too! What a nice weekend we had!!

oh and ps. baby brother came in 13th in his first race!!! We're just thankful he came out alive and with minimal scratches!!! Way to go keek, he made his sis proud!!!!

No BIG plans weekend!!!!

and I'm sooo happy!!!





Sevy and I are staying HOME this weekend!! We're doing absolutely NOTHING!! That's right...nothing. We're sleeping in, hanging out in our PJ's and going with the flow. We all need weekends like this during some points in our life.





Quick update:


Meredith's baby shower was sooo pretty and she got some cute stuff.


I had the BEST time making the baby shower cupcakes and cake topper. Its actually got me wanting to make another one SOON...it doesn't have to be a baby shower...just any occasion that deserves a cake!!! Soooo if you need a cake or cupcakes...please let me make them, I don't think Sevy wants to eat another cupcake for awhile, lol. That's the only bad thing about this hobby....you don't want your creations to go to waste, so for me, its far and few between the times I get to do what I love and make a cake!.....do you feel sorry for me?? good!!! What kind of cake would you like??? hehehe oh I'm good ;-) you almost want to come up with an occasion for a cake just to help me out dont you, ha! Okay...maybe I'm not thattttt good...but really, let me know if you need some cupcakes!





Sunday was AWESOME!!!

Thats Daddy, Sevy and Me!! We took on THE BIG MOUNTAIN ;) Actually, they call it Brown Mountain...but it was a BIG ride for me!! I had a BLAST and I'm chomping at the bit to get back out there!! We got up early (I think around 7am) and didn't get home until after dark. It was a real challenge for me and I think I improved my riding skills a bit. I was proud of myself :) No major falls this time and NO bruises!!! I DID...however...get stuck in a MAJOR mud hole!!! I came around a turn and could see my dad and brother sitting on a rock up ahead, I smiled and twisted the throttle just a bit harder...it was almost break time!! or so I thought. About that time I came to a split in the trail. To the right was a small trail, beside a tree and rather bumpy. To the left was a HUGE mud hole. Now, first of all...when you're zipping through the woods its sometimes hard to judge the best path...and usually mud holes were no big deal to me. I would just hold my feet up and splash right on through. I hit the mud hole going...eh' a pretty good speed...and came to a DEAD stop!! I screeched and started to yell for my dad to come the rescue when I realized the hole was so deep it was up over my tires and the mud was coming into my boots. However, when I looked up...in search of my hero's (dad and brother) whom I just KNEW were rushing to my rescue...I was surprised to find them laughing...and laughing HARD. I was furious!!! How could they!!! I fussed at them both and hobbled on up the trail, unclipped my boot straps, kicked my boots off, pulled my sopping wet socks off, dumped the water out of my boots, wrung my socks out and sat down in a huff. They knew the whole time how big that mud hole was and they were just waiting. After I lectured them for a bit, I finally apologized because they promised they didn't know the hole was THAT big. So all was forgiven. My socks were still a tad damp, but my boots were strapped back on and off we road. I'm definitely hooked on this new sport!!!

My baby brother, I lovingly refer to as Ninny or Keek, is actually going on his first big dirt bike race this weekend. I'm VERY sad I will miss this event. He is an AMAZING rider with LOTS of skill...I'm worried (b/c I worry alot) and excited all at the same time. I can't believe I'll miss his first big race...but I hope he does well and maybe there will be others in the near future. Keep him in your prayers...although FUN, riding can be a bit dangerous (as my mother will GLADLY tell you all about her broken hand/finger).

Happy Friday Everyone!!!!!