Be Nice.

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Yesterday at work, a middle-aged woman came through my line. I told her I hoped it wasn't weird of me to say, but I thought that her shirt was really cute. I figured she'd think I was strange, a lack of socialization causing me to reach out and grasp for human interaction.

I was wrong, though, and she was very flattered by my comment. It turns out that it was actually her daughter's shirt. She had recently lost 30lbs and none of her clothes fit anymore. She was so excited to go home and tell her daughter what had happened.

Isn't that a nice story? It's stories like this that show you how important it is to be kind to strangers. I just wanted to tell her she had an awesome shirt, but I ended up totally making her afternoon.

Restoring My Faith

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Back in May, I had a horrible experience with the Kay Jeweler in Columbia, Missouri. It was so bad that I had to call the corporate customer service line, who refused to help me. It was awful. I was prepared to never walk into a Kay Jeweler again.

That changed today.

When we purchased our bands back in February, I purchased their service plan on my diamond band. To remain active, you have to take your ring in every six months to be inspected. Since we purchased it in February, the inspection was due this month. I've obviously put off taking it in because I was so turned off by my experience in Columbia.

The Kay Jeweler at the mall here is nothing like the store I went to in Missouri. I dealt almost entirely with the manager, who was incredibly polite and wanted to do everything possible to make me happy. She and another woman both inspected my band, and the three of us agreed that the band is CRACKED where it was sized. SO... I had to send my ring in for repairs. I'm fine with that. I noticed the crack a few weeks ago and want it to be fixed. I also had them look at my engagement ring.

Oh, goodness.. my engagement ring.

I could go on and on about my engagement ring and the issues that I've had with the Kay Jeweler back in Missouri regarding it.

But I won't.

I will say that the store here was so great about helping me. I ended up telling them all about my experience in Missouri and both the manager and the other employee were appalled with the way I was treated. My faith that an establishment can actually have and use good customer service tactics is slowly being restored.

Unofficial Announcement

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We may be expecting a visit from the stork in approximately nine weeks!

Not us, gosh. Our dogs!

Neither of our dogs have been altered and Penelope has recently come into season. We did our best to prevent the "miracle of life" from occurring, but apparently animal instincts are just too strong. Yesterday afternoon, the two did the things that dogs do that results in puppies... and then again this afternoon.

Sooo... I think we're having puppies!

I don't know anything about canine pregnancy, birth, and puppy care for the first eight weeks of life. This will definitely be a learning experience for our little family. We're looking forward to the adventure, though.

We aren't 100% certain that Penelope is pregnant, but we think there's a pretty good chance of it. Once it becomes obvious, I'll make an official announcement. For now, though, all I see when I look at my little princess is the cells of a fertilized egg dividing. :P

Changes

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So I finally have a job. I am working as a lumber cashier at Lowe's. At this point I am only part-time, so I am only getting to work thirty hours a week. It's a start, though! It has been pretty boring so far, I've just been watching videos, more videos, and oh, did I mention the videos? This afternoon I finally escaped from the windowless training room and and started on a register. It looks as though I am going to be a lumber cashier, which is fine with me. There are so many contractors in and out of there during the day that I am bound to stay busy.

I am also taking the semester off from classes. A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to head to Missouri to sign a lease for an apartment. I could not stand the thought of going back without my husband. I decided to transfer to a local college. I was told by the admissions counselor that it was a "little more than Mizzou" in cost. We checked the other day and it is three times the cost of Mizzou, which we cannot even come close to affording. By the time we got this information, it was too late for me to get in anywhere else.

So for now I am going to work as many hours as I can at Lowe's, spend time with my husband, and relax.

Speaking of relaxing, I have to go. My house is filled with the tasty aroma of lasagna and garlic bread and my television is showing the oh-so-funny Meet the Robinsons.

PS -- L, IKEA is awesome. Visit www.ikea.com to find out exactly what it is. You can request a free catalog to enjoy for yourself.

I'm Busy

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I really want to write a worthy post since I've been absent on and off over the last week. However, my new obsession arrived today, thus delaying any decent post until tomorrow.

So while you're sitting there, awaiting the arrival of my wonderful words of wisdom, I shall be on my sofa, browsing through my IKEA catalog.

See you tomorrow!

Happy Birthday!

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Happy 4th birthday to our wonderful dog-son, Re-Pete!

Second City

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I was out of town this weekend, visiting my friend, Laura. We've been friends since my freshman year of college when we took an American History class together. We don't see each other as much now that we're living in different cities, but we always have a blast when we do get to visit each other!

Saturday morning we baked the amazing chocolate cake recipe I posted last week. Yummy. We put crushed walnuts on top of it as well, which was also tasty.

That evening, we had tickets to see Second City. It's a comedy group out of Chicago and we saw the touring company. It was hilarious. Way funny. Have you seen the Sonic Drive-In commercials with the two dark-haired girls? Those two ladies are members of the touring group that we saw. I felt like I laughed the entire 2.5 hours we were there. The show's format was made up of skits, similar to SNL, with some improv interspersed throughout. During the improv portions, they would take suggestions from the crowd for topics. They ranged from nude wrestling to sledgehammers. If you're ever in Chicago, you should definitely get tickets to see them at their theater there.

So that was my weekend. I came back home today and took a nap, trying to recover from my exhausting weekend. From cake baking to a wine tasting to a comedy show, we were definitely on the go the entire time. I had such a wonderful time and am so glad that Laura and I are still in touch and such great friends!

2 Months

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Happy 2 month anniversary to my incredible husband!

I've Been Tagged!

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As you can see from the title, I've been tagged. Thanks, Laura!

1. I prefer crispy fries. I pick through my fries, looking for good ones. This is natural to me, so I don't even notice that I'm doing it. I was eating at a restaurant several months ago with a friend. She suddenly asked if I was seriously picking through my fries.

2. I won't eat at Hardees. I think that their food is gross. I would rather go hungry than eat there.

3. If I start reading a book, I have to finish it. I'm not sure why, but I cannot stop reading a book mid-way. Even if I don't like the book or realize I'm going to dislike the ending, I continue reading until the last page. I've probably read 10-12 books in the last month. I've been going through a Nicholas Sparks kick, which makes me mad, because his books all have sad endings. The one time his book had a happy ending, it had a sequel with a horrible, heart-breaking ending.

4. I sang the national anthem, a capella, as a solo at my own high school graduation. There I was, in my cap and gown, belting out the beautiful melody in front of a gym full of people. The funny thing is, I didn't see any of them. I was lost in the moment.

5. I am horrible about answering my phone. Often times I'll look and see who's calling, not answer, and call them back ten minutes later. I have no idea why I do this. It's a disease. In high school I loved to talk on the phone. You couldn't get me off of the phone. I could talk the paint off of a barn. I'm a chatty person, but for some reason I don't like to answer the phone.

6. I quilt. It's my old lady guilty pleasure. I love making something and knowing that it serves a purpose and will make someone happy. I made my nephew a quilt for being the ring bearer in our wedding. While back in Missouri last weekend, Adrian was staying over with my in-laws and I saw him clutching the quilt while sleeping. It made me feel awesome!

Here are the rules:


1. Link to the person who tagged you


2. Post the rules to your blog


3. Write 6 random things about myself


4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them


5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.


6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.


Now the problem... finding six people to tag. I don't know enough people with blogs! Here goes:


Aimee: Water's World


Jennifer: Hansen Highlights


Aimee: I'd Rather Be In Paris


Melissa: Simple. Positive. Happy.


Okay, four is going to have to do. I've run out of people.

I Officially Live Here

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I finally got my Illinois drivers license today.

Finally.

I'd been putting it off. I really didn't have a good reason for doing so. I just didn't feel like taking the written exam that was required since I was coming in from out of state. Unlike my experience at the social security office, my hour and a half wait at the DMV didn't involve talking to socially-awkward, middle-aged women about their love lives.

My car is also an official Illinois resident. It almost doesn't have Missouri plates. Almost. My front plate shows Abraham Lincoln, but my back plate still says Missouri. The screws are rusted and we're having a tough time getting them out. And when I say we're having a tough time, I mean we can't get them to budge at all.

So after spending most of my afternoon at the local DMV, it looks as though we're in Illinois to stay for a while!

Like a Fish Out of Water

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Michael and I went to the Champaign-Urbana area today. We wanted to have lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (we don't have one here) and decided to check out the mall as well. The mall there has a lot of stores that our local mall doesn't, so we ended up spending quite some time there.

While we were getting ready to leave, I told Michael that I was planning on wearing a Mizzou shirt, so he should wear something else. ((We often wear similar shirts on the same day. I say it's because we're, you know, soul mates, but he says it's because we have a bunch of the same shirts.))

Michael immediately hollered back that I needed to wear something else. Being the stubborn gal that I am, I stood my ground and refused to change, though it was mostly because most of my clothes were in the dirty laundry. Michael soon gave in and we were on our way.

Upon our arrival at BWW, we saw that everything was covered in orange and blue. Everything in Columbia is covered in black and gold, so I could respect the obsession for local college athletics. Michael, on the other hand, tried his best not to walk too close to me as we were escorted to our booth. I saw several people glance at my shirt.

We'd been at BWW for about ten minutes when I had a moment of total clarification. I looked at my husband and asked him in a whisper, 'Is this the team we play every year at the Edward Jones Dome in Saint Louis?' to which he quickly replied, 'Yup.'

Oh.

The Mizzou-Illinois rivalry isn't as big as the one we have with kU, but it's still a big deal. A big enough deal that we play them every year on a neutral field. And here I was, wearing the name 'Mizzou' across my chest in east central Illinois like a giant scarlet letter.

I chose not to let the situation make me uncomfortable, though I heard from my husband say more than once, 'People are looking at your shirt...' He even went so far as to suggest that perhaps I buy a new shirt at the first store we went into.

But I didn't. And no one threw stones at us or slashed our tires. We made it out of Cham-bana unscathed, though I am not sure I'll be wearing another Mizzou shirt when we next go shopping.

Gumbo!

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After the success of last week's chocolate cake, I've decided to try one new recipe a week. This way there is at least one night a week where we're having something different rather than having the same things every week.

As a gift at my bridal shower, I received a copy of of Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade slow-cooker recipe cookbook. I love cookbooks. I read through them, salivating over the pictures. Of course, then I am sad because I realize that I could never cook something that tasty.

That was before the chocolate cake.

Now I have more confidence when it comes to trying new recipes. So much so that I have been pouring through my three cookbooks looking for new and exciting entrees. Here is the recipe that I am hoping to try this week. Note that I am posting the recipe first rather than waiting until after I've made the food. If anyone else tries this recipe before I post about it, please let me know how it went!

Sweet Potato-Sausage Gumbo

- 3 cans (14oz each) chicken broth

- 1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes with onion, celery, and bell pepper

- 1 package (13oz) fully cooked andouille sausage, sliced

- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces

- 1 box (7oz) gumbo mix with rice

In slow-cooker, stir together chicken brother, undrained tomatoes, sausage, sweet potato, and gumbo mix until combined.

Cover and cook on LOW heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or until sweet potatoes are cooked through.

Doesn't this recipe sound tasty? I'm not sure yet what I'll serve with it. I'm thinking maybe corn bread, but haven't decided.

Happy 1st Birthday

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Pretty Flowers

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June 20th

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June 20th was a crazy day. My family spent the day finishing up last-minute wedding preparations, out-of-town family and friends began arriving, and we had the rehearsal dinner.

Soon after waking up, my mom and I ran to Wal-Mart and picked up a few decorations for the rehearsal dinner and bought the roses for my bouquet. (Aside from our invitations, my bouquet was one of my favorite money-saving detail.) We bought three dozen beautiful, red roses for $29.98.

After that, my dad and I headed out to the Country Club in order to build the crazy lighting system I had thought of six months before. The plan was to drive a dozen poles into the ground and string white holiday lights from them in order to provide light for our outdoor wedding reception. We had received a wonderful deal on the lights by purchasing them the day after Christmas at Lowes for 75% off.

My dad and I thought that placing the poles would be easy because we'd received a heavy rain the night before. No. We were wrong. It took us several hours to place the twelve poles. An hour and a half into the adventure I began to feel warm and realized that I was standing in the sun with no sunscreen on. I quickly ran to my car, applied two coats of SPF 50 to my face and shoulders, and got back to work. My cousin Nikki had come to town for the day and helped us with the lights. At some point in the afternoon the boys also showed up. They helped my dad pick up chairs for the reception and unloaded them at the Country Club.

After we finished up with the lights, I ran home and hopped in the shower. I quickly made myself beautiful and ran to the church to wait for everyone else. Because I am a little obsessed with starting things on time, I told everyone to be there at 6:15PM so that we could start precisely at 6:30PM. I had guessed that we'd end up waiting on one or two people, but everyone was there on time. We were getting ready to start and realized that the pianist hadn't arrived yet! She arrived a few minutes before 6:30PM and we quickly got started.

Even though it was only practice, I was still really emotional. As I walked down the aisle on my dad's arm, I cried into my bow-quet. I was ridiculous. I know. Everyone laughed. My crying worried Michael a little because he was afraid I'd cry through our entire wedding (You should have heard me after he proposed!), which would cause him to cry through our entire wedding, and we couldn't have that.

After the rehearsal, we headed downstairs to the Fellowship Hall and enjoyed a delicious dinner of chicken strips, brisket, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Afterward, we decorated the church and headed our separate ways. With the help of two Tylenol PM, I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow at 11PM.

Ty signing the marriage license at the rehearsal dinner

Chantel doing her part to help us get married.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the Wedding Saga!

Chocolate Cake

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Remember the cake I mentioned at the end of last week? I made a second attempt to make the same cake again this morning and had very different results. Who knew that mixing up baking soda and baking powder could have such a huge impact on the taste of the cake? I certainly did not.

I ran out this morning and picked up a box of baking soda and butter and got to work in the kitchen. I even made the irresistible icing a little sooner this time so that it would have longer to cool before being poured over the cake. Just before pouring it on, I poked dozens of holes in the cake with my knife so that the icing could go down into the cake.

And then I took a bite.

Oh my word. That is, without a doubt, the best tasting chocolate cake I have ever had. I am still in shock that I was able to make something that tastes as wonderful as this cake. This is one of the few things I have ever made from scratch that tastes even remotely good. I mess up box cake mix, so the fact that I made this and did it well is a miracle.

Someone made a comment the other day in regards to the cake. I'm sorry that I didn't post the recipe. I didn't want to post something that I myself wasn't capable of making. Don't worry, though, you're getting the recipe today! I would not be able to sleep at night if I kept this wonderful recipe from you a moment longer. So now, without further ado, from ThePioneerWoman to me to you, here is...

The Best Chocolate Sheet cake. Ever.

Combine in mixing bowl:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt (I left this out, my doctor would be so proud!)

In a saucepan melt:

2 sticks of butter

Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder. Stir together.

Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.

Add:

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon baking soda (not powder... this was my mistake last week)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir buttermilk mixture into flour/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350F for approximately 20 minutes.

While cake is baking make the incredible icing:

Melt 1 3/4 sticks of butter in a saucepan.

Add 4 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder. Stir to combine, turn off heat.

Add 6 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Just under 1lb of powdered sugar.

Stir together.

Pour over warm cake.

Optional: Fine chop 1/2 cup of pecans and stir into icing.

OH, and the final, most important step: ENJOY!

Of course, a trip to the gym might not hurt. Oh, and please don't tell my doctor you got this recipe from me or that I made it. I don't think he'd be too happy with me.

Road Trip!

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We decided to make a trip home this last weekend. My new brother-in-law was scheduled to return home Friday from South Carolina, where he had been at since late May for basic training. Since he wasn't able to be there for our wedding, we wanted to see him.

The drive back to west central Missouri is a long one. In fact, it can get pretty boring. We spend all but a short period of time on interstate highways, so all we see are gas stations and the other vehicles.

"Are we there yet?"

The puppies did really well this trip. The last few trips we've tried to ban them to the backseat, but they always end up sleeping in my lap. Not this time, though. We covered the backseat with a sheet and put a blanket down for them to curl up in. They whined and whimpered for about ten minutes (mostly Penelope, of course), and then went to sleep. They did even better on the way home today.

"Pleeeeeeeease let me sit in the front seat!!!"

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In other news, I've added another tab to the right side of the screen. I made an e-mail address for the blog. So if you'd like to say more than the few sentences generally left in the comment section, feel free to use it.

Photoshop Addiction

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Photoshop + Wedding Photos = Hours of entertainment for me!

Enjoy!

The Sweetest Thing

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I don't know what got into me this morning, but I decided I wanted to bake a cake from scratch instead of going with the fool-proof mix in a box (which I once messed up). I went to a certain super-center in order to obtain the necessary ingredients with which to make what I hoped would be the best cake in the history of the world.

After proudly assembling my items, I proceeded to leave the store. For some reason, foot traffic going out the door was really slow. I peeked around and saw that there was a little old man with a walker shuffling ahead of me. From behind me, these two middle-aged men came weaving through everyone. I was little annoyed. Were they in that big of a hurry to get out of the store?

One of the men looked at the old man with the walker and got a big smile on his face. Oh, I thought, they must be together. What the man did next was one of the nicest things I have ever witnessed in my short, twenty-two years on this planet.

The gentleman extended his hand to the older man, looked into his eyes, and thanked him for his bravery and service to our country. It was at this point that I noticed the older gentleman was proudly wearing a Veterans of Foreign Wars cap.

I quickly pulled my sunglasses down over my eyes, so as to cover up any sign of emotion (my eyes have been known to betray me from time to time).

-----------------------------------------

I was also hoping to post photos of the incredible cake I made. Oh, I could post photos of the cake, but they aren't incredible. Apparently I wrote my shopping list rather quickly. Instead of purchasing baking soda, I picked up baking powder. A quick Internet search tells me that the two are not interchangeable and accidentally doing so can change the texture and flavor of the dish. The made-from-scratch icing is incredible, though. I'm going to take my dogs on a walk to burn the calories consumed while the cakes finished baking.

It's the Little Things

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I am all about the details. The little details. The teeny-tiny, nobody-really-notices-or-even-cares-that-they're-there details. Our wedding was full of them. There were details bursting from the rafters. I had spent the last year and a half obsessing over them.

And since the wedding is over and I am suddenly without teeny-tiny details to obsess over, I'm going to talk about them and post photos.

This is our aisle runner. Isn't it beautiful? I made it. The monogram was at the back of the church and the runner ran all the way up to the front of the sanctuary. Sadly, this was thrown away after the ceremony, so all I have is this photo.

Consequently, if you know anyone getting married and think they might be interested in a hand-painted aisle runner, let them know that I am willing to offer my services to make their special day as special as mine!

This is our wonderful Unity candle. I made it pretty, too. Okay, so it wasn't difficult. Ribbon, hot glue, and a printout of our monogram. We lit our candle while 'Love of a Lifetime' by Firehouse played. I love the 80's.

This is a photo of my dad and brother. No, they weren't the teeny-tiny details that I obsessed over (okay, so my brother's hair was one of those details, but that's because last year it went well below his shoulders). What was one of the teeny-tiny, obsessive details is hanging between their heads. Yes, it's just the letter 'M' with some ribbon and paint. There was one on each door. Both of our names start with the letter 'M' and I thought it would be a cute detail. Plus, painting them gave me something to do instead of reading Hecabe.

The last little bit of my obsession that I am going to share is our cake topper. I loved our cake topper. It was fun. It was carefree. It had Lego people on it.

What?

Until the week before the wedding, we did not have a cake topper. We were just going to put a few flowers on top and call it a day. Upon hearing this, though, my main squeeze decided we simply must have people on top of our cake. It was my goal before I left Illinois to find a suitable cake topper. I went to what seemed like every store in the county and could not find anything I liked. Frustrated that I could not find anything, I began wandering around a certain super center. Walking through the toy section, I found a small Caterpillar machine. It was cute, cheap, and the perfect size for the top of our cake.

It didn't have people on it, though. I knew I could fix that, though. When I arrived back at the apartment, I ran to the closet and pulled out our bucket of Legos. I found a little man. He just happened to be wearing a little Lego tuxedo. Perfect! I glued him to the driver's side of the toy.

When I arrived in Missouri, my little brother dug out a bunch of Lego people for me so that I could find an appropriate one to use as the bride. My mom also provided fabric, lace, and a nasty old wig. I managed to make a teeny-tiny dress that looked similar to mine, down to the black ribbon around the waist (I told you I obsessed).

Everyone loved the cake topper. Several photos of it popped up on Facebook during the next week. My new husband laughed when he saw it. He was so excited to see that it said 'CAT' on the side.

So not everyone may have noticed every little detail, but I knew they were there and they made the day that much more special for me.

My Nephew, Adrian!

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This is my nephew, Adrian. As is the case with most toddlers, he likes bubbles. He loves bubbles. Whip out a bottle of bubbles and suddenly bubbles are his passion.

He gets pretty stinky and sweaty when he's been playing. You don't want him to get close to you and you certainly don't want him to give you a kiss. In fact, you'd rather turn the hose on him. But when he smiles at you like this, it melts your heart.

He is also skilled at jumping on the trampoline. At just shy of three years, he can bounce my chubby body off of the trampoline and do butt-busters like the best of them.

He's also passionate about golf.

Okay, so I made that last part up. He did, however, enjoy searching for 'goof' balls with my dad at the Country Club.

The Monday prior to the wedding, I babysat him for a few hours. Since he was going to be in our wedding in a few short days, I wanted him to remember that I was cool Aunt Etta and that I had fed him cottage cheese and given him a gallon of Kool-Aid and said that he'd better make it down the aisle on Saturday.

It obviously worked. At the rehearsal dinner, I heard 'AUNETTA' and suddenly had a toddler ram into my legs. The same thing happened the day after the wedding when we pulled up to my brand new husband's dad's house. Adrian, the mini-man, came barreling toward our car. Did he yell for his Uncle Michael? No. He was yelling for me.

Sweet barnacles, my plan had worked! Either I was the Toddler Whisperer, or I had given him the proper balance of cottage cheese and sugar free Kool-Aid! Either way, the boy loves me and I love him!

Boys and their Toys

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My husband works for Caterpillar. He is a manufacturing engineer on the small-truck line. It's his job to know anything and everything about about the machines on that line. Back in early June, he had the opportunity to drive one of the "small" trucks.

Does this look small to you?

Me neither. This truck is a behemoth! It is the 772 off-highway truck and weighs 50 tons. It is over 28 feet long and has a fuel tank that holds a staggering 140 gallons. ((I should note that these are the facts I chose to list because I don't understand the other statistics I read on the Cat website)). It also has air conditioning and four cup holders, which are important things when it's the middle of summer and you're doing off-highway loading/unloading and need a place to put your four drinks so as to maintain optimum hydration.

Do you think my husband would be proud that I am educating the blogging world about the wonders of the 772 truck?

I'm a Kangaroo and Blog Updates!

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I am typing this from my dining room table and feeling like a kangaroo.

Feeling like a... what?

Today was one of the hottest days I have experienced in the three months I've lived in Illinois. I stayed indoors as much as possible today and even had all of the blinds tightly shut, so as to block out any direct sunlight, as well as attempt to cut down on the amount of time our air conditioner would be on.

Anyway.

My husband called me on his way home from work and he is miserable. I'm not sure what he's done all day or what kind of conditions he's worked in. For all I know, he could have been working outdoors or on the plant floor itself, where it's generally a bazillion degrees. He's asking that I puh-leeeeeease make sure that the air conditioner is turned down because he is burning up.

He turned the AC down a little more a while later. Having stayed indoors checking out recipes from the Pioneer Woman, my body temperature wasn't elevated, so the AC left me a bit chilled. I put on my handy zippy jacket and was fine.

Of course, seeing me in a piece of zippy apparel, my youngest pooch, Penelope, came running over. Remembering the days of traveling in my coat, she was eager to relive those days. So here I sit, typing my blog, complete with a chihuahua zipped up into my jacket. Thus, I feel like a kangaroo.

Wow. I definitely did not mean to type that much about hot weather, jackets, and my dog. Sorry!

What I do want to mention, though, is the changes that have been taking place on the right side of this window. I've added a section where it shows the categories for my blogs. I had maaaaany more, but decided they were too confusing and pared it down to nine, with an additional, catch-all-extras category. So say, for instance, you wanted to read stories and look at photos of my pesky pooches (who doesn't?), you would simply click on the 'Puppies' category and it would bring up all of the posts pertaining to them. I went through earlier this evening and reassigned categories to each and every one of the blogs so that they would fit into one of these categories, though I'm sure I am the only person who will ever use them.

I'm trying to make this page a little more reader-friendly. I LOVE all of the comments I've been getting as of late and would love for those numbers to grow. If you think there's something more entertaining I could be talking about, I am open for suggestions. If you really like my blog, I'd even be all right if you shared my URL to your friends and tell them to comment because the lazy, kangaroo-feeling housewife thrives on the praise from the comments to her blog.

I also have several blogs planned for the next week or so. I realized that I posted several pictures from the wedding, but I haven't written it all out yet. There's quite a bit to write, so I'm going to spread it out over several posts.

Again, thank you so much to the wonderful ladies who comment on my poorly-organized rants! It really brightens my day to open my blog and see that people have commented. It's great to know that someone actually reads what I have to say and cares enough to comment!

Oh, and if it helps entice you, if you comment, I'll put a link to your blog on the right side of the page!

Find a penny, pick it up!

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I have decided to save up for a new digital camera. My current digital camera is all right. It is a basic point-and-shoot camera. The more I use it, though, the more I don't love the pictures that it produces. If photos are not taken in a well-lit area, the flash washes out the people the picture is of. Not only that, but it is notorious for red-eye. I can't take photos of our dogs without having them look like sewer monsters, complete with bright green eyes.

I've known about SLR cameras for years. When I was in high school, we used one for newspaper. I loved using it. Being a student, not only was having a larger camera impractical, but I simply could not afford it. Now that I'm married, however, and vacations and children are on the horizon, I'd really like to have one. More specifically, I'd like to have this one:

Isn't it beautiful?

I have a jar that I've been filling with change. With my goal in mind, I decided last night to count the coins.

I have $26.

I'm not quite there.

My goal is to have this new camera by this time next year. We'll see how it goes.

Call me Betty Crocker

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There are many things that I cannot do well. One of those things is cooking.

I have mastered what you would call 'college food' -- macaroni and cheese, frozen pizza, and takeout. I've added a few other entrees to my repertoire since then, but I would certainly like to broaden my horizons in the kitchen.

Today I decided to tackle something I've been wanting to try but have been to nervous to do until now.

Today, I baked bread.

Yes, homemade bread.

It's actually tasty.

I know, I'm surprised as well. I called to tell my mom and she asked when we'd purchased a bread maker. I quickly corrected her and informed her that I used my own two hands to prepare it, thank-you-very-much. I think she was impressed. It's quite a time-consuming endeavor, what with all of the kneading and mixing and rising and baking. All told, I think the bread came out of the oven three hours after I mixed the yeast and the water together.

The end result was a yummy, homemade bread. I am definitely up for trying again soon.

OH! We also received a letter in the mail today from Michael's brother who is away at basic training. He's been gone since the end of May, so he wasn't able to be at our wedding. He's coming home next weekend and I know that everyone is ready for him to be back!