I could really go for a Kewpee hamburger right about now....

Hamburg with pickle on topMakes your heart go flippity-flop

Man, July can not come quick enough! Wanna know why...I cant stop dreaming about those tasty square burgers wrapped up in that beautiful blue and white wax paper with the little kewpee doll smiling back at you....This July is when Micah and I will make our Indiana/Ohio trip....... and the second I am in Lima, Ohio I am going straight to the Kewpee!!!

I generally take mine with Mustard, Ketchup, Pickles & pickle relish, green olives and onions with a side of fries and the original Frosty! GAH! And their Sugar Pie...dear lord! Only 153 days to go and counting.....

Want to learn about Kewpee's and how Dave Thomas formed Wendy's on a LIE!

My New Years Resolution

Well I didn't post my new years resolution on here....and I think I should so that way I will keep seeing it and be held accountable for it.

This year I would like to be a better home-maker. Micah and I have lived together for a little over a year now and we really haven't found our rhythm as far as the house goes. We both are always so busy and involved in projects that the house is always an after thought. I really want to live somewhere that I am proud of...with the way things are now, I am generally embarrassed when people come over...so I have made us a weekly chore chart, like the kind your mom made for you when you were a kid. I think this will help us keep on track. Once we have this down then we will spread out...We have lofty goals for the front and backyard such as starting an herb and vegetable garden, and I want roses in the front yard.

Here is our chore chart!

EVERYDAY: Dishes-rinse and load in dishwasher only run when there is a full load. Wipe down counters, wipe out kitchen sink, Quick tidy of house (Put shoes away, put mail away, nothing left out on counters or tables)

Monday: Sweep all floors, Quick bathroom clean (Sink, mirror, toilet), Cat box

Tuesday: Dust, Wipe down appliances, clean microwave, one load of laundry, cat box

Wednesday: Tidy the bedroom, Organize one other thing (Closet, drawer, mail), Cat box

Thursday: Sweep floors, One load of laundry, Cat box

Friday: Dust, clean bathroom, mop floors, cat box

Saturday: Change sheets, one load of laundry, Cat box

Sunday: DAY OF REST!!!!

Cake Attempt Part 1.

Sooo I've decided that I really want to hon my cake baking skills... Ive always loved to bake, but its usually been cookies, brownies, cupcakes and fudge...Never a full on cake!

I took a crack at it last night, I didn't have a ton of time, so I made a boxed cake instead of from scratch...but MAN did this box cake come out like no other box cake I have ever had!

I used Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic Yellow Cake Instead of using Vegetable Oil, I used straight up OLIVE OIL (NOT extra virgin or virgin) It made a WORLD of difference! The cake was insanely tasty!

I used two 6" round cake pans and a 2" one to have a little taste tester cake ;) I baked them per the instructions, let them cool in the cake pans on the rack for 10 minutes, then turned them over and took them out of the tins and let them cool on the rack another 10 minutes.

I had already had some butter cream frosting that I made from scratch a few weeks ago in the fridge. Homemade butter cream will last a good month in a tightly sealed container! Here is the recipe I used. I then Incorporated Smucker's Strawberry Syrup (1/2 cup plus a little extra) into the (pre-made) butter cream frosting...the color was slightly pink, so I used a little Wilton Pink icing color to make my icing a more pinkie color.

Once that was all mixed I was ready to assemble my layers, I sliced both cakes in half. The first layer was spread with Smucker's SEEDLESS Strawberry Jam

Then I placed the next layer on and it was spread with the Strawberry butter cream

The next layer was spread with the Smuckers jam, The picture below is before the jam was spread.

I then topped the 3rd layer with the 4th layer and then proceeded to cover the whole cake in the butter cream.

I then tinted the left over pink butter cream with Wiltons Violet icing color and then used Wilton Disposable Decorating Bags with a #18 decorating tip to make a star/flower shape around the bottom edge of the cake. I used a #5 tip for the little dot design on the top of the cake.

OF COURSE I had to dive right into it! One of the perks of living next to the in-laws is I can make things and then have them taste test for me! Here is what it looks like once its sliced into.

And yes I was so proud of my little cake that I posed with it

Phoenix Bridal Expo

I survived the Phoenix Bridal Expo! **phew**

It was sooo much fun, but a lot of work! It was cool being on the other side of the fence, I've always gone to the expo's as a bridesmaid, maid of honor and then finally this year as a bride...it was neat being there as a vendor!

The Definitely Debra booth was jammed packed from the minute they opened the doors til the very end each day, which is good news for us! Debbie and I hardly had a chance to catch our breath between eager brides. We already started to brain storm for the June booth which I am very much looking forward to.

On Saturday Morning Ella from Classic Cakes and Confections dropped by our booth, she baked the cake for our wedding. She dropped off the worlds tastiest cookies, white chocolate, cherry macadamia nut oatmeal cookie...ummm YUM! I HEART Ella, she is just to cute!

I was able to take a breather and run by the Butterfly Petals booth, the florist who did our wedding...and DANG did their booth look amazing, so much so that I through a mini-fit because i want to have another wedding just so I can be surrounded by more of their fabulous creations! On Sunday, at the very tail end of the expo, Amanda from BP brought over a peacock inspired bouquet and gave it to me, I was over the moon with excitement!

Photo game

The game works like this:




1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer


2) Select the 4th picture in the folder


3) Explain the picture


4) Tag 4 people to do the same. NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Ok here is mine! This photo was taken by Andy Hartmark. The photo was for Crown Sunglasses. I think this picture was early 2006...

I tag whoever reads my blog :) Infact, leave your picture in my comments section! That will be a fun way to collect pics of my peeps :)

2008 RECAP!

I figured since I just started blogging I would go ahead and recap the best and the worst of 2008 as we head into 2009!

January 2008: Micah and I went to a NYE party where his short lived AZPunk.com Battle of the Bands, band Gunf*ck played...

February-April:Ummm Im not really sure, nothing that I can remember at least. Probably just a whole lot of wedding planning.

May: My baccalaureate & bridal shower were in May over the memorial day weekend. I had it over a 3 day weekend so that Margie & Meridith would be able to come and join in on the fun! We had a really great time, On Saturday was the Bach. party activities. We went and took a pole dancing class which was so fun and a total riot watching everyone try to work the pole! That night we were set to go out to dinner and dancing...well half way through dinner I came down with a very terrible cold and ended up in bed by 1030. :( My bridal shower was Sunday afternoon and it was BEYOND amazing! I actually cried when I walked in because I was sooo overwhelmed that my sister and dear friends had put this amazing shower together for me! I got spoiled beyond belief with all the wonderful gifts!

Margie, Angelika & I at The Arizona Biltmore drinking mimosa's!

The girls all set for a night out on the town: From top to bottom, L to R

Margie, Whitney, Nicole

Vanessa, Jen

Angelika, Jessica, Spring

Me, ChristineJune: I cant place anything exciting in June...I need to work on my memory

July: Micah, Angelika & Ryan (My lil sis and her hubs) all headed up to Pagosa Springs, CO to visit my father and step mom. We had such an amazing time up there! We went horse back riding, it was extremely scary at first, I hadn't been horse back riding since I was about 10. I had sat on a horse back in 2007 for a photo shoot and it almost bucked me off...so I was pretty freaked out, But I absolutely loved it! We also went white water rafting! It was towards the end of rafting season, so the tides weren't as large as I was hoping for but Micah and I still walked away completely soaked (we sat in the very front of the raft)! I also ate Buffalo burgers for the first time on this trip and loved them, I thought they would taste weird but they totally don't!

August: August was realllly hot...Arizona is the last place you want to be in August.

September: I found out my little sister was prego and that I was going to be an Auntie, I was over the moon to hear the great news! Baby Olivia will be here mid April!

October: October was BIG month of happenings!!! I turned the big 3-0 in '08! We hosted an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party, it was a ton of fun and most guests showed up dressed in fabulous costumes!

Also my father was given a clean bill of health, he had a year long battle with colon cancer, had a few scary emergency surgeries BUT came out on top in the end!

The Arizona State Fair was also going on this month, so me, Micah, and the In-laws (Mike & Muriel) Went one night with the sole purpose to eat dinner at the fair! I started off with cheesey curly fries, then a corn dog and a carmel apple and topped the whole night off with kicking the three MAE's butts at one of those water gun games!

And last but not least, a childhood dream finally came true! For my birthday my sister bought us tickets to go see New Kids on the Block!!!! It was soooo much fun, we met up with Michelle (Ang's SIL), Jen (one of my BM"s and a very dear friend) and her friend Kim! On our way into the venue we got pulled to the side and had our super high nose bleed seats upgraded for free all the way down to super sweet seats! We were all beyond excited!

Ang, Hooti & Dev helping get the bday party set up!

Christine, Me & Jason Micah (The Mad Hatter) & Me Dog pile on the chair, its about 3 a.m. at this point in the evening...
My EAT ME cupcakes and Tammie Coe Birthday towerSarah, Me, Ryan & Spring kareakoing up a storm...Group shot of all the guests who came dressed in costume! State Fair! NKOTB!!! Woot
Jen and I at dinner before the big show!
Seconds after getting free seat upgrades! Jen, Michelle, Angelika, me & Kim
November: What can I say, it was the most amazing month! Micah and I tied the knot in front of 284 of our closest friends and family! Our wedding day was beyond amazing. We took the following week off from work to spend with family, the Friday after Thanksgiving Micah and I went up to Sedona and stayed at the L'Auberge de Sedona (a gift from Micah's parents)! It was so amazing, we didn't want to leave. We had a private cabin right on Oak Creek!

Micah and I in Jerome on our Mini-moon

Out to lunch, My hair matched the walls!
The view of the creek from our front doorOur amazing bed! Complete with rose petals!
December: December got off to a rocky start. We celebrated Micah's 31st birthday and the very next day he fell victim to the economy when his company laid off some 15+ people. It was very heartbreaking for him, but in true Micah form had already made contact with a few people and had freelance work lined up that very day. He thankfully found a job very quickly. Our Christmas was nice, we spent quality time with family and just laid lowed and enjoyed married life.