Adventure Date Night!

 

My girlfriend Becky did such a FAB job with blogging our group adventure date night that I couldn't resist using her blog post! The video footage was the prefect idea! I would have completely forgotten! She made some super-duper cute photo edits using picnik.com. GREAT website. I highly recommend it. 

First things first regarding these date nights...the invite!! I oh-so-sneakily placed Aaron's invitation next to his bathroom sink the night before our date. The following morning was my day off work... so I decided the morning surprise of finding this lovely invitation for an evening full of adventures would top a 6am hand delivery from the not-so-hott-in-the-morning wife ;-) 

I knew he would be filled with anticipation all day at school!

Take it away Becky!

We had such a blast Valentine's Day weekend with these two fun loving couples! The clever cutie pie, Janene suggested we take our hubbys out on an adventurous date. With the help of TheDatingDivas.com, we got in touch with our inner cupids to create an unforgettable date night.

FIRST, we met up at the Crossley Manor, and each boy was given a clue about a restaurant. Aaron and Todd had poems. And Brian had pictures (since he can't read).

             
They are so confused!

Ding! Ding! Ding! They figured it out.

Once they figured out the restaurant clues, the boys got to decide which one they wanted to go eat at. They chose Cafe Del Rio, which led us to our NEXT adventure... The car ride.
Driver:(Oh. My. Isn't he gorgeous?! <3 The driver's wife)

Car Tasks: Everyone had to draw a task out of the envelope.

One task was for everyone to jump out of the car at a red light and start dancing. This was awesome!
                 

I love how Emily is having a fabulous time shaking her preggo belly! She is too cute!

My car task:

To hold up this sign at the car behind us. An old grandpa was squinting to read it. Once he did, he gave me a thumbs up. I'm glad he chose that finger.

Janene's car task was to reenact an engagement proposal. And here we have Aaron proposing. We got a couple of car honks out of this!

We laughed our little booties off, and drove off quickly before anyone realized that it was hoax!

                               

Have you ever been shot by one of Cupid's arrows? 

Have you ever pretended to BE Cupid?

This was Brian's task. And it was certainly a Laugh Out Loud moment!!

Now at the restaurant we each had to draw a different task to do, as well. 

The restaurant tasks were confidential. Since none of us knew who had what task, it made things interesting bu wondering why someone is saying random things. For example, one task was to mention MC Hammer at least 3 times during dinner. It was too funny! Brian's task was to ask the waitor what was the closest drink they had to Love Potion #9. Our waitor was a complete DUD. He disappeared after Brian asked that. We think that scared him off. Oh, well. We still had great time.

The girlies! I heart these two.

Note: Brian's horseback riding skill was not an official restaurant task. However, it was HILARIOUS, and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

A door my size! Whoop! Whoop!

After dinner, the boys got to choose what activity they wanted to do next. They chose to go back to the Crossley Manor for games and ice cream sundaes!

Great choice boys... This was such a fun date night! TheDatingDivas.com has some great ideas. We look forward to more good times with our hubbys and friends!

We hope you had an amazing Valentines in celebrating your love!

Yours truly, Me

Ice Day in Southeast Texas

Waiting...

Yes, Miss Brandy. You know all about waiting, don't ya? 

Funny story. Well, the weather took a nosedive here in southeast Texas. It got kind of cold. Some roads and especially bridges even had some ice on them! And it just so happened to occur on the weekend I needed to drive to Houston for some Dental CE credits. I think I pressed the lovely snooze button a few times, not trusting myself to simply 'relax for a few moments' without needing my alarm to sound off with "Good Morning Beautiful." Fitting, huh? Not so. With drool stuck to my face, I somehow managed to slip into the shower at 4:30am. I'm not sure if I actually pulled out the shampoo and soap. Make-up, blow-dry, clothes, chocolate milk and I was as good as I could be! I pulled out onto the highway and carefully drove over to my boss's house to head out to Houston. I could not believe the mentality of some of these "Oh my gosh, I don't know how to drive in this icy-cold weather" people. I saw five wrecks within 10 miles on the highway, including a 7 car pile-up on the other side. Yikes. I was almost to his house but decided to give him a call. Turns out the cities were shutting down all of the bridges and most of the freeways. Ugh, okay. So, I flip around and start heading back, partially excited to slip back into bed and grab another 6 hours of snooze time. Not so. Remember that 7 car pile-up? I found myself at the beginning of the stopped traffic. To make matters a little more convenient, my car battery died once traffic started to move nearly three hours later. Haha, I called Aaron and the tears started flowing like nobody's business. I also was dealing with suppressed frustration with my boss for not calling me as soon as he realized a few hours earlier that he didn't want to drive to Houston. I needed help. I said a quick mental prayer. I sluggishly got out of my car, into the freezing rain, and stopped a few trucks for help. The second guy was an off-duty officer. I was so relieved! He directed traffic to move around, allowing him to squeeze his truck by my car to jump it because the traffic was at a complete stop, again. Another guy pulled over to help. Five minutes later and I was back in my car feeling completely grateful knowing that Heavenly Father knew I had reached my maximum frustration and offered me much needed assistance. I am sure it was mere pity. Either way, I felt my prayer was acknowledged and my heart felt more peaceful and calm. I made it home : )

Aaron and I made some delicious double chocolate waffles. I'll have to share the recipe later. Do you see the picture of Brandy above? We asked her if she wanted to go for a walk and the picture is of her waiting for us to bundle up into warm clothes and come back down to take her out. Aaron's mom took the picture. It made us laugh; she is so precious.

Do you see the massive icicles clinging to the mailbox?!

Yours truly, Me

Cakes CAKES cakes!

I've been told time and time again that one of my weaknesses is my lack of self-confidence. It's not that I don't believe in myself, nor do I think I have limited potential in the things that I pursue. It's just that sometimes I fear the unknown, the pitfalls, the what ifs. Simply put, I am downright terrified of letting others down and having them think poorly of me, my talents, or my intentions. Naturally, it's often a battle for me to charge head first into something even if in my heart everything fits so perfectly together.

My good friend since forever got married! Sarabeth is such a doll. I have always deeply admired her and have received an unmeasured amount of spiritual inspiration from her. If you knew Sarabeth, you would too. And she is gorgeous. Through and through. I really just love her. 

Her tight wedding budget had been dancing around my mind and I knew she was getting her cake from Costco. And this simply should never be the case. Even with no cake decorating classes behind me, I asked her if I could do her wedding cake for her luncheon reception. As mentioned previously, it doesn't come naturally to charge head first into something that I have little, if any, experience with. I believe it was her sheer excitement that gave me the confidence that whatever I did, she would love it.

Base tier: Italian cream cheese cake with a coconut-cream cheese filling

 Middle tier: Raspberry cake with a cream cheese filling

 Top tier: Pineapple cake with a pineapple-cream cheese filling

She chose neutral colors which left me wanting to do a simple, classy, and romantic style. 

I decided to make her the cake less than a week before her wedding. 

And somehow, it all came together. Beautifully, I must add. 

I am just so darn proud of myself and the incredible support that my sweet Aaron is to me. I also appreciated the sweet pep calls and texts that my mom and bff would send my way. 

My heart is very tender towards those who believe in me.

I also made a tooth cake for a surprise congratulations party for Aaron getting accepted to Baylor. 

I used the same recipe for this chocolate-peanut butter tooth cake that I did with my Chocolate Reese's Mousse Cake

One of his little cousins read a short story to Aaron of The Crocodile's Toothache. 

How creative and cute is that?!

Congrats future DDS!

I like to continually think it's the simple things in my life, or in anybody's life, that always create the happiest and most memorable of moments--the moments you cherish for as long as you live, and the moments you reflect back on when you're needing a little inspiration or a reason to feel thankful for the incredible things that have blessed your personal journey in life. 

Yours truly,  Me

Cinnamon French Toast with our 'Better-than-Kneaders' Syrup

If you're familiar with the Kneaders bakery found in Utah then you must have had a heart to heart with their unlimited french toast and infamous, tasty, caramel-like syrup. Supposedly they used to make it with buttermilk. Now, they use evaporated milk with the number one ingredient being water.
Shame on them.

A few years ago, me and my handsome sou chef made our own version. We love it so much and haven't returned to Kneaders since! Okay, I lied. I totally have....To buy their extremely delicious Cinnamon Burst bread. Huge, soft, and oh so yummy. It's the best bread for this french toast. I did use french bread loaves this time because I haven't found a yummy replacement for the Cinnamon Burst bread since moving to Texas. This recipe gets whipped up a couple times each year, and every time without fail I've only been able to have 2 slices. It's rich. It's somewhat heavenly.
And it'll probably be in my oven this weekend.

Buttermilk French Toast

2 loaves Cinnamon Burst bread (2 French loaves work as a great substitute)

6 large eggs

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

1 t. salt

1/3 c. white sugar

1 T. vanilla

4 T butter & olive oil, for frying

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Combine eggs, buttermilk, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.

Cut bread on an angle into 1" thick slices. Dip in egg mixture until soaked through. Once finished with soaking all slices, combine butter and oil and heat on griddle to medium or medium-high heat. Cook slices until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

'Better-than-Kneaders' Syrup

1/2 c. butter

1 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

In a large saucepan, combine butter, buttermilk, and sugar. While stirring regularly, bring to a boil. Add baking soda and vanilla, it will foam up and bubble at this point. Let boil for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and cover. It's ready to serve!

Carmelized Pecans

1/2 c. pecans

1 T. corn syrup

1 T. butter

2 T. brown sugar

1/8 t. cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine corn syrup, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon on medium-high heat. Once it's bubbling, toss in pecans. Continue cooking the coated pecans for 5 minutes. Stir constantly. They will be golden brown and will smell sweet and toasted.

Whipped Cream

1 C. heavy whipping cream

1/2 C. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 t. almond extract

Before you're ready, place your mixing bowl (metal works best) in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then, add whipping cream and powdered sugar in bowl and being mixing. This part takes a little while. I always grab a male who looks all too eager to help to do this part. Once the cream begins to form peaks, mix in extracts. It's ready to serve. Of course, if you still have everything else.

Yours truly, Little Bakin' Blonde

Tis' the Season...

To give.

To enjoy food a little more and to stop fighting the number on the scale. The number on the scale means nothing to me in comparison to how I feel after I go for a bike ride, notice pilates is getting a little bit easier, and slip into a pair of jeans and high-heels for a night out on the town with my favorite person. 

     (Recipe to come : )

To brighten other's days and spread more smiles.

To look like a doll. Okay, just kidding. But oh, my. Isn't my niece simply precious?

To give more of myself. I want to become more fearless. Being fearless feels so good. 

I'm learning how to do it.

To become even more happier within. I want to find myself feeling satisfied with every new thing I set my heart on.

 Learn more about all things delicious. I'm a huge fan of everything and anything whipped up in the kitchen. Thank you Sweetheart for upgrading my mixer. Who knew a motor could make my heart skip a beat?

 To beautify our loved ones with a dash of fabulousness ;-)

And not just for this season, but for the rest of my life. I want to put others around me first more often. I want to give more, spread more inspiration, put away my laptop earlier every night and sleep a little more. Ok, a lot more. I want to slip into my workout clothes more often. And actually like it. I want to learn how to use my camera on other settings than Auto. I want to love Aaron more deeply. Fall in love more than I already am. I want to strengthen my appreciation for my Savior. Give my heart to Him and leave it with Him more often than not. Happy 2011 blogettes! This girl is off to yoga

Yours truly, Me