Memorial Day 2012

 Happy Memorial Day friends! We had a cookout here at the house today A few people cancelled at the last minute but we enjoyed the family that were able to make it! My mom, stepdad, brother, dad, and Nick's mom, sister, and niece were all there. I grilled burgers, hot dogs, and pineapple. Mom brought homemade potato salad and I had fruits and veggies ready.

 My mom all decked out in her patriotic gear (and drinking coffee)

 My brother lounging by the pool

Brad eating marshmallows with daddy

I also discovered a bird nest in my crape myrtle tree by the pool! There are 3 or 4 baby robins that were getting fed by their momma. So cute!

Nails and Family

Oddly enough I have taken a liking to nailpolish recently. I have gone years without painting my nails more than the occassional time or two. I know one reason I got back into it is because I finally found the perfect time to do it! I hated how you had to sit still and basically do nothing for at least 30 minutes after you did your nails or else they would inevitably smudge on something--especially with a 2 year old! So when is the perfect time for me to paint my nails? In my car, sitting in the driveway, before I go to work. Why? Because my drive to work is 30 minutes and I can aim the air vents right onto my nails and they are completely dry when I get there! Yay! And if I need to, I can do a second coat before I leave work so that they are done when I get home.

I have a pinned a few ideas for nail designs that I like and tried them out. Here is one called Newsprint Nails where you basically transfer ink from a newspaper onto your nails. Simple but cute!

  instructions here.

It was quite easy, but the best way I found was to dip the actual strip of newspaper into rubbing alcohol then press it firmly onto your nail for about 5 seconds, then gently peel it off. The ink rubs off if you don't use top coat.

Top coat is another reason why I hated painting my nails--it never worked! My color would start chipping the next day. I decided to buy one of each brand of top coat and return them if they didn't work until I found one that works! The brand I bought most recently is Maybelline Color Show and I am thoroughly impressed. My polish is on day 4 now and there is minimal chipping around the edges! I may have found a winner.

This next polish is the Sally Hansen Crackle polish in black. I did it over a frosty pale pink base. I didn't used to like the crackled look, but now it's growing on me! Especially when I think of all of the neat color combinations you can do.

I mentioned to hubby that I wanted some nailpolish for my upcoming birthday and I do believe he bought me HUGE collection of them! I'll know in a couple of weeks...

This past week my Uncle Del from California has been in town. He is my dad's older brother so they have gotten together several times to catch up. Yesterday the three of us met my dad, Uncle Del, my grandma, my brother Eric and his wife Teri at Old Chicago and had a great dinner together. Of course I had to get pics of everyone there!

 (The tall one is my pops)

This is a neat pic of my grandma and Brad together. The last pic I have of them like this is when Brad was just about a month old! He is her ONLY great grandchild! She told me that Brad needs a little sister, and I told her he might get one when he is old enough to help change diapers--HA!

In other news, I noticed recently that my paychecks have been a bit higher than expected but I never really looked into it--turns out that we just started getting paid time and half for getting called in!! I take a pretty good amount of call but now that I know this I will be taking a lot more! God has really blessed me with my career and the opportunities that I am offered!

Nick got our pool all cleaned up last week and we have already taken a couple of dips in it! It's the only way to beat the Oklahoma heat. I usually lay out for about 15 minutes to get nice and sweaty, then jump in the cold water and cool off. Brad was a little iffy about it at first (the water is still pretty chilly) but after a few minutes he loved it and was splashing all around in his floaty toy!  I know he will really enjoy it this summer.

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Don't do anything stupid, and remember the reason for Memorial Day.

Oklahoma Italian Festival 2012

Today we drove many miles to McAlester, OK for their annual Italian Festival! It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Norman *each way*. My dad also went, but his girlfriend and her granddaughter came too so they drove separate and met us there.

We got our tray of food and enjoyed the live band that was playing. It was warm but the wind helped keep us cool. After eating the kids got to ride the carousel! Brad actually rode it twice.

Next we went thru the building and looked at all of the craft booths and food vendors there. Brad nabbed a free sucker from a Girl Scout booth. They had a train for the kiddos to ride around the lot so of course little B had to do that!

He was very excited about the train.

We had a pretty good time and when it was time to head back home we grabbed some cold water and a corn dog for the road! Brad was such a good boy in the car each way--no potty breaks and no tantrums! He kept trying to sing the ABC song to us so we helped him out with that.

We got home just in time for Brad to take a little nap before dinner and for us to relax. After dinner Nick went to a friend's house. I talked my mom, brother, and sister-in-law to come over and hang out at my house to keep me company! We all hung out on the deck the whole evening and had a great time.

Tomorrow we are going to a cookout at my other brother's house, then Monday I am off! I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

2 Ingredient DIET Cuppies!

 Cutting calories and trying to be healthy? I have the perfect treat for you! I found these on Pinterest (it was just a picture uploaded so there is no page to link) and made them tonight. The only ingredients:

12oz diet 7up

box strawberry cake mix

light cool whip (for frosting)

That's it! Mix the 7up and cake mix till smooth, then bake cupcakes according to box directions. After they cool, top with cool whip and eat!

The taste was great--you could still feel some fizziness from the pop! The texture was a bit doughy. It might have helped to bake a few minutes longer for mine. Otherwise they were a hit. I did the math and minus the cool whip they are only about 85 calories PER cupcake! WOW. I only put maybe 1-2tbs cool whip on each one so I'm sure the calories from that are minimal. How's that for a guilt-free summer treat!?

I have a couple more Pinterest recipes to try out so check back later this week for those.

I will end with a pic of a new blouse my mom bought for me on Mother's Day! We did some shopping together and this was her present to me. I love it! It has lace down the middle and ruffles in front, and it is a lovely vintagey floral print.

PS. Nick opened our pool today! Hopefully the water warms up quick so that we can start our summer fun!

LOTS of Family Pics

 I weeded thru over 200 photos to pick my favorites for you! These were done by Allison Revas at a local residence here in Norman. I used to work with her and now she does photography! Enjoy!

Skydiving Pics!

 I got my picture CD in today!! Nick emailed me some so I could see them at work, then I got to check all of them out when I got home. There are almost 50 pics! He got some of before, during, and after the jump. Enjoy!

 My friend Stephanie and I had a great time and just might go again later on! It all felt like it was over in 5 minutes but I'm glad I have the pictures to look back on so it's not just a blur. Nick is happy that I landed safely and of course Brad was happy to have his momma back on the ground!

It was a very hot day that day--about 95 degrees--and you could really feel how the air is cooler at 10,000ft. As I was falling I could feel the air getting hotter. When the parachuted opened I thought the harness was going to rip thru my groin--ouch! But my instructor loosened it up a bit while we glided down. The landing was really no big deal. I was worried I would trip or break an ankle but he just had me raise my knees and he took the force of the initial touch down.

I'm so glad I got to experience this and hopefully sometime I'll have the chance to do it again!

Food and a New 'Do

 What a crazy weekend! Saturday we just hung out around the house, but Sunday morning we hit the road for a roadtrip to Cushing, OK! We met my friend Stephanie there so that we could get our skydive on. After signing all of our waivers we harnessed up and hit the tarmac for a once-in-a-lifetime jump. In a nutshell, it was amazing and the scariest part was the anticipation! I bought pics (and Nick took some from the ground) but they won't be in till later this week. As soon as I get them, I will post a blog all about my adventure!

This morning we got up early again but this time it was for family pictures! I used to work with a girl who is now doing photography on the side so she met us at this neat outdoor area here in Norman. Brad was a little princess but we got thru it and hopefully got some great pics out of it! I am expecting these later this week so I will also post these as soon as I can.

Today for lunch I decided to try out a couple of online recipes I've been eyeballing. The first one is for baked eggrolls. Yes you read that right--baked, not fried! I have made these before but never baked them.

They look delicious, no? I was pretty happy with them, and I could probably live without the yummy oil dripping off of the corners. The filling needed a bit more seasoning, but otherwise they were only lacking some sweet and sour sauce for dipping!

The next recipe I tried was this one for baked crab rangoons. I have made this also but with a different filling and fried them. The shell part was nice and crunchy, but I was not happy with the filling. The recipe calls for mayo but it turned out to be the dominant flavor so next time I would leave it out completely. And as a usually non-seafood-eating household, I am proud to say I did buy real crab meat to put in them!

The third new recipe I tried was fried rice. In the past I would just use a packet of fried rice seasoning from the "Asian" section of the market but had never made it from scratch. I loved it! I think the rice was the yummiest out of it all. I put peas, carrots, onions, eggs, and chicken in it (plus seasonings of course).

 And last but not least.....I got my hair chopped off! About every 3 years the notion just hits me and I have to listen to it. I knew I wanted it done for summer since I just keep it up in a ponytail the whole time.

I really wanted to donate it, but it ended up being about 2 inches shy. So picky! I call this cut the angled bob with layers and side bangs. Keep in mind these pics are just after the cut--no styling or products. I'm anxious to start playing around with it and seeing what I can do!