Birthday Time

 It has been awhile since my last post! I have been a busy girl, and I am now a year older! 26 to be exact, and to be honest I love getting older. I feel like I have always been an "old" soul that was out of place, and the older I get the more in sync I feel. I think 40 will be a perfect time for me :)

I had some fun things planned for Saturday and Sunday with friends but neither happened so that bummed me out for a bit. Saturday evening all of my work buddies and our families got together for dinner at the local Dave & Buster's. It was a really neat place with good food and cheap games! We had a good time and got enough tickets to pick out some toys for Brad.

My MIL wanted to keep Brad for a few days so that his cousin Zoe could play with him, and after my plans for Sunday got cancelled I was able to go with Nick to their house and visit for a bit (they live an hour away). Brad always has fun playing with Zoe--she is 5 months older than he is. We missed him but it was a nice treat to have the house to ourselves for a couple of days! We picked him back up on Tuesday afternoon.

Here is Brad playing with the GI Joe's that his daddy gave him...

 Monday we had a fun day planned for my birthday! We slept in late and for lunch we went downtown to Spaghetti Warehouse--our first time there! It was delicious food and a neat historic setting. I got pesto spaghetti with grilled chicken and he got baked penne. After eating we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some supplies for a get-together at our house that night. Nick invited a few of our friends over to join us for snacks and cake.

He prepared all of the snacks and baked the cake himself. He even hung our Happy Birthday banner! We had a great evening and enjoyed our friends.

I went back to work today after a 4 day weekend and the celebration continues tomorrow with a potluck at work. It is Mexican themed and I am bringing Spanish rice and homemade salsa--yum!

I have something I am very excited about! I have been wanting to get an exercise bike to use downstairs while Brad is running around. I haven't found a good deal on any used ones yet so I thought about getting a cheap gym membership until I found one. I mentioned this to a coworker and he reminded me that we get a discounted membership at the YMCA. I looked into it today and it is a great deal!!

A family membership (with my work discount) is only $26/month--only $9 more than an individual membership--and comes with FREE childcare. That is the main thing I am excited about. Plus they have tons of classes including Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, Zumba, Boot Camp, Cardio, Spinning, etc. that are FREE. And we can go to any Y in the city. The one here in Norman is only a couple of miles away! They are open 7 days a week. They of course have a pool and regular exercise equipment too. I also get 6 free guest passes. There is no contract and it gets automatically deducted out of my paycheck at work.

I have to sign up for it thru my HR department and b/c of paperwork I probably won't get to start until July. But the price is great, we all get to go, and childcare is free! Awesomeness.

Fruits of My Labor

 This morning I was just so proud of my little container garden that I decided to take some pictures of it for you! 

Here is my tomato plant:

It has one huge tomato growing, 2 tiny new ones, and loads of blooms.

This is my basil plant (which I snipped today to make my sauce with!)

Here is my pride and joy--my eggplant! It has one beautiful eggplant that I swear I can see it growing by the minute, as well as 3 more blooms about to produce.

It's not a fruit, but here are my green onions that I am regrowing from store-bought onions that I cut. These are about two weeks along and are overdue for another harvest!

I started a big batch of sauce cooking this afternoon for dinner tonight....

...and while it was cooking I put our lunch on the grill--chicken kabobs and veggies!

I skewered red/orange/yellow bell peppers, onions, and grape tomatoes. The chicken I cut up yesterday and it has been marinating all night--yum. The foil pack is another first for me and we were all so pleased with the result! In it are cut up red potatoes and carrots sprinkled with rosemary, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and a little bit of oil. I put them on first and took it off last so they would have plenty of time to cook. They turned out perfect--fork tender!

In case you are wondering where my rafting pictures are...we did not go. I had the car packed and my keys in the ignition when I got a text from one of the girls saying that there was rain forecasted and they wanted to reschedule. I had my heart set on spending the day at the river, but there will always be another time! Instead I got to spend time with my boys and swim the afternoon away.

Witnessing Vows

 Tonight we attended the wedding of a friend I used to work with at OU Medical Center. Her name is Janice and she married another nurse from there named Janson. It was a beautiful ceremony that was a wonderful blend of American and Indian culture and traditions.

 I loved the gorgeous teal saris that the bridesmaids wore!

 The reception was at the Skirvin Hilton hotel in downtown OKC in the Grand Ballroom. There was a live band and a 4 course dinner served! They also had a photobooth so Nick and I hammed it up while we were waiting for the dinner to start.

They also provided complimentary valet parking so we got to stare at this Lamborghini while we waited for my little Suzuki to pull up....

Tomorrow at dawn I am heading to a friend's house so that we can hit the road to the Illinois river for an all-day raft-a-thon! I have snacks and bottled water ready because we are planning on floating for about 4-6 hours. Check back for pics of the adventure!

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!