Sunday, July 29, 2007

Tango Band

Last night was the Tango Band Show.



Tricia and Robby rode with me, Josh and Jess met us there. Rodney reserved us a table earlier in the day, in the front, so we had a nice place to sit and we didn't have to fight anyone for it.

The picture above is from "We Will Rock You." Rodney busted his knuckle on a symbol and broke the drum throne during that song. The very first song. Classic Rodney.

Jess looking beautiful.



Rodney plays drums.




Rockin' out to "Common People"




We had a lot of fun at the show, at our little table. We also danced a lot and got really silly with the other girls/wives, which is what we usually do.

Amy has the boa. (It gets passed around a lot)



Someone messed something up.




I think something near 45 songs were played. It went by really fast for some reason though. Rodney did really well and looked super cute. I forget how much I love watching his stick twirling and arm flailing when I go long period without seeing it. He really is very talented. And cute.



Ryan, Aaron, Richie and Ana also came by - I didn't see much of them but I was glad to know they were there.

Tricia and Robby



Even though a drink did get spilled on me... I'd say it was a pretty successful night! Between the many bathroom breaks, the ENORMOUS plate of nachos, the dancing, the ridiculous amount of drinks and the great conversation...I'm sad it's over!

Today we got up and went to Lowe's. We walked around pricing some things out and browsing. We had lunch, stopped by the grocery store and came home so Rylee could nap. I'd collected a ton of paint samples while we were at Lowe's and spent about 30 minutes cutting them up and taping certain colors with others that I like. Then I attached my color pallets to pieces of paper and labeled each one with the room it was for and what each color would be in said room. Rodney thought this was incredibly awesome.

On a spur of the moment we decided to jump in the car and head out to Ikea. They close at 7 and we left at 4:45. We got there at nearly 5:30 and stayed until almost 7:30. I found the canopy that I have been wanting for Rylee (but couldn't find at the Austin Ikea) and Rodney spent two hours on the computer in the kitchen area, rebuilding and changing out cabinets for our kitchen. We talked with a specialist and were able to ask a lot of questions. We have a much better understanding now of what we want/need to do. Which is always a good thing.

On the way home, we stopped for veggie burritos at Chipotle and then over to Rodney's parents house. I hadn't seen my new refrigerator in person and I thought it was time to do so! It's just as pretty as I recall!

Cakes to start tomorrow!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Inspection

Today was the house inspection. It went pretty well. There are a few minor issues but we're pretty sure they will be taken care of without any problems. I took a bunch more pictures today and I'm sure I will post them soon. I want to close on the house before I commit to posting pictures. No jinxing here!

Here is our beautiful new refrigerator. Well, not this one exactly, but rather one that isn't a floor model and doesn't have stickers all over it. Our actual refrigerator is sitting in my in law's garage and will be there until we close. The day I get to unwrap that thing is going to be a happy day for me!



Beautiful, right?

Here are the cabinets we are currently crushing on.




And this will form one half of my workspace/storage area.



Last night Rodney had practice so Rylee and I had a fairly easy dinner. I made egg noodles with cream of mushroom soup, rosemary potatoes and we had some corn as well. Quick and VERY easy!




Tonight I might make flautas or maybe lasagna. Haven't decided just yet.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Weekend Getaway

It's been days since I've been able to update. We were in Austin Thursday through last night and I'm sad to be back.

Rylee and I missed her swim lesson on Thursday because she woke up with Scarlet Fever or Scarletina, one of the two. It's a rash associated with Strep and I've had it many times so I knew immediately what it was. Not contagious though, so the trip was still on.

We spent Friday scouring Austin for a good deal on a refrigerator. We went to a couple of scratch and dent places and Sears before we ended up at Conn's. We found a refrigerator! It's BEAUTIFUL!! It's a 26 inch stainless steel side by side. I know it's probably a really nerdy thing to be excited about a refrigerator but...it isn't if you know me ;) I will definitely post pictures of it as soon as I upload them.

That afternoon Rodney and I went up to Ikea to do a little kitchen planning. I bought a few things including a large clock for the mantle, an easel, some curtains and a lamp for rylee, a butchers block for me and a few other items. The Shipmans plus Suzy arrived shortly after got back and we all went to eat at Catfish Parlour. Yummy hush puppies!

Saturday morning I got up to make breakfast for everyone - waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and then we were out the door to New Braunfels. It was pretty cloudy on the way there but the website says "rain or shine" so we figured it would be fine. As soon as we got there we noticed there was a sign saying that certain rides were closed. Every ride in the main park, to be exact. All of the great, fun rides were shut down. They told everyone they would be opening the rides mid afternoon, so we decided it was worth it and headed over to Schlitterbahn East. After a few hours and lunch, we made our way back over to West to find out that nothing would be opening up. It was such a bummer. We felt like the Griswald's. Trying to make the best of the situation, we went back over to East and rode everything in Surfenburg and Blastenhoff. Overall it was fun but we were really sad to not be able to ride the best rides there.

After we dried off and got changed, we headed back into Austin for some deliciouswonderfulscrumptious dinner eating at Kerbey Lane. Now, if you've ever been to Austin and you haven't been to Kerbey Lane, shame on you! If you are ever planning a trip to Austin,please make sure you go to Kerbey Lane. There are a few scattered around the city but the best one is off of 35th and a half and Kerbey Lane. It's in an old house and it's amazing! It's friendly to all types of people, vegetarian, vegan or not and it's open 24 hours a day.

We ordered some salsa and white queso to munch on before our meals. Rodney and I ordered the avocado and black bean tacos and the spinach and mushroom quesadilla's. He also ordered two pieces of french toast. Everything was DELICIOUS. I'm craving it now, in fact.

After dinner we headed back to my grandmothers. We were all exhausted.

Yesterday morning we were greeted by the smell of homemade pancakes and scrambeled eggs with cheese. There's nothing in the world like my grandmother's pancakes, they are absolutely devine. We got dressed and headed to Ikea again. Rodney spent most of the time in the kitchen area, planning and re-planning our new kitchen. We were there so long, we ended up having lunch in the Ikea Cafeteria. I bought a few more things including a beautiful poster and some art cards.

The Shipmans left after the Ikea trip and Rodney and I went to see the new Harry Potter. After the movie, we had dinner at my grandmother's and then hopped on the road to head back home.

I have a lot going on this week. A big cake order for Friday that I need to get started on and Rodney's got the Tango show on Saturday, which I'm really excited about. We have the house inspection tomorrow morning!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Gone

In. Austin. Now.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Crazy days

It's been a crazy, hectic couple of days. I've been super busy and things have been moving very quickly!

We started visiting homes last week. There was one in particular that I was very excited about and wanted to see more than anything. I went on my own and then Rodney came and looked at it that afternoon. We both really liked it a lot. It was pretty much perfect for me. It's an older home that had been added onto and the previous owners had done a ton of work. They pretty much overhauled the entire house. They added on an enormously perfect kitchen (with a third sink!), a giant island and the prettiest slate tile. The added on a HUGE laundry room/storage area that was just too awesome. It had enough room for a second frig, washer and dryer, a folding table, storage shelves, and more!

Unfortunately, it had problems that we could not take on. When they added on to the house, they did not do the best job. We had our dad's come look at it Saturday afternoon and the concurred. Too much money to fix it properly. They both even pulled Rodney aside at one point and shook their heads. Too bad too, I loved that little house.

Anyway, just when we'd seen crappy house after crappy house...suddenly, a gem!! This house had just been reduced 15k the day before we had seen it, putting it just in our price range. From the moment we pulled up to it, we both had a feeling of, 'this is it!' We were right! It's great, really great! It's in a newer neighborhood with newer homes and it has been remodeled and added to very nicely! We put a bid in on it that afternoon (saturday), they countered and we accepted. The paperwork was faxed this morning, so hopefully we'll be getting the signed contract back tomorrow or the next day! If so, we close in a month.

We move quickly over here you know.

I'll put pictures up when it's a done deal.

Sunday we went to the Hurst waterpark with Richie, Ana and Miles. It was really fun and really hot. We slathered the sunscreen on and had a really good time. That evening we went to Benihana with Rodney (and Richie's) parents and RAM. (Richie, Ana, Miles). The kids were a little stir crazy sitting at that table (it was taking the longest time) but once they started slinging rice and veggies, they calmed down. I had a shrimp frenzy and Rodney had a tuna steak (Pescatarian, remember!!). I also had some yummy green tea ice cream afterwards.

That evening I started to feel pretty sick. Then I got pretty sick. I was up all night long. It was awful. Rodney had to stay home Monday because I could barely get off of the couch. Then we noticed that Rylee was feverish. We took her temperature and it as 102. I decided that we should take her in to see the doctor. Rodney didn't think it was necessary but I insisted. We took her ( I drug myself there) and they discovered she has strep throat. Second time in 3 months when "they" say kids under 3 don't get it. My kid's only 20 months and she's had it twice. They gave her two shots of peni and a script for Omnicef, hoping we could get it knocked out faster than the last time. The last time they prescribed the Omnicef and within a day of that visit, she still had a high fever, had liquid coming out of her ears and eyes. We ended up having to give her rosefin shots 3 days in a row because the infection was so bad. She's still feverish today. I will probably have to take her back tomorrow. She's just like me, doesn't get over things easily and gets REALLY sick.

Today I woke up with a sore throat. Now, for someone who has had strep throat over 25 times throughout the course of her life, acute tonisilitis more than 8 times and a tonsilectomy only last year at the age of 25, I know when I am getting it. I mean, I know when I am getting it. I knew this morning. Terrible headache, very sore throat, achey back = incoming strep throat. I went to the doctor this afternoon to see if I could catch mine in time. We're leaving for Austin Thursday night and I really can't be sick. He agreed and handed me the meds. They don't even have to do a strep test on me anymore, they can just look in my throat and take my word for it. That's pretty sad I think.

I feel a little better now but I felt bad earlier.

I HAD to work on the cakes for Rodney and James tonight, I didn't have a choice. I have to have it done tomorrow and get another cake started that is to be delivered before we leave on Thursday.

Rodney has been very helpful with the cakes tonight...even though it's his BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweethelpfulwonderulunderstanding husband!!






Tomorrow I'm going to try to make it up to Tango. Rodney has practice even though it's his birthday and I want to spend it with him. Which is why I really have to finish the cakes. HAVE TO!

I made my own Pomegranite Lemonade, delicious! Thank you concentrate!



Can't wait for this weekend, it's going to be great.! Austin, Schlitterbahn, Ikea, Kerbey Lane!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Rodney hates Joss Stone

It's been a busy two days for someone who supposedly didn't have a lot going on.

Yesterday was our TWO year anniversary!




That guy left a card for me in the morning and brought roses home in the afternoon. They are lovely.

I made dinner. We decided that being a Monday night, it was too much trouble to get someone to watch Rylee or take her somewhere and we just didn't want to mess with it. So, I made vegetarian stir fry with brown rice and rocky road cheesecake for dessert.

Stir fry:




This is a pretty easy recipe and one that I came up with on my own!

Vegetarian Stir Fry (serves 2-3)

1-2 zucchini, cut into large stick/chunks
Your favorite mushroom variety ( I use a combination of baby portabello and button)
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped into larger chunks
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Stir Fry Sauce (your favorite brand)
Teriyaki Sauce (your favorite brand)
Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper

Heat olive oil and garlic in large saucepan over medium heat, add vegetables and saute until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add a tsp of salt and pepper or more to taste, 1/4 cup of stir fry sauce, 1/4 teriyaki and a few tablespoons of soy sauce. Mix together and add more of each sauce according to how you like your stir fry. I typically add another tablespoon or two of stir fry sauce. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until you are ready! (which for me is usually when the rice is down) I made our stir fry with brown rice and it was delicious! The big pieces of zucchini make it extra chunky!

After dinner we went to the mall to find a new fragrance for the man. We settled on the new Kenneth Cole scent, Black. It's heavenly. One whiff makes me weak in the knees!

Then we went on the hunt for the Wii version of the new Harry Potter game (and a movie of my choice). We traveled to 4 different Blockbusters before we finally found the one that had it, thank goodness! I picked out a cheesy girly movie that we wouldn't normally watch. Because I Said So. I happen to love Diane Keaton and Lauren Graham and I'd been wanting to see it if for nothing else but them. He did not contest.

After we got home, we put the girl to bed and got a piece of pie.



I got the recipe out of one of the Kraft Food Magazines.

3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, divided
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
3/4 cup JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
1/3 cup chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts
1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)

MICROWAVE 1 of the chocolate squares in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
BEAT cream cheese, sugar and milk in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Gently stir in whipped topping, marshmallows and peanuts. Coarsely chop remaining 2 chocolate squares; stir into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into crust.
REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

It's pretty good and very simple to make! I reduced the amount of peanuts in ours because the boy doesn't really like nuts...in desserts. He can be very particular. He also mentioned that the chopped chocolate was a bit strange, even though I chopped it up a little finer vs. coarse. I added some melted semi-sweet chocolate over the top to make it pretty! I liked and thought it was perfect!

We watched our girly movie and retired to bed for the evening. There you have it folks, our wildy adventurous anniversary!

Actually, we are going to go to a movie and dinner this weekend in celebration as well.

Today I needed to make a quick dinner so that we could head over to the Hurst Recreation Complex for Richie's softball game. I made a pizza, which we ate quickly and then headed out the door. Ana brought Miles up and Ryan was there as well, so we mostly sat and chatted while the kids played and ran a muck. We took them over to the little play area and let them go crazy. Well, as crazy as two kids under 2 can be anyway.

Ana and Miles



Uncle Richie and Rylee



Cousins





Tomorrow morning I'm going to visit a house we like. I really love it and that's all I'm going to say about it for now.

I am also having my hair re-done tomorrow and starting on a series of what seems like a million cakes that need to be done before leaving for Austin next week!


aww, cooot. (as my child would say)


Sunday, July 8, 2007

Happy Baked Beans

Haha. I'm watching A Prairie Home Companion.

Yesterday I was sent off for a mini day of pampering. Tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary and my anniversary present was a tinting/hair cut. I had a few hours between each and spent my time shopping at The Gap and Nordstroms all while sipping on the best Pomegranite lemonade I have ever had from the Nordstroms coffee/juice bar. Seriously delicious lemonade. I'll be returning for some more today if I can convince Rodney.

My cut is great, as usual. The same girl cuts my hair and she's completely awesome. I would die if she ever left. Not the same can be said for my tint/highlights. The girl who usually does my hair was booked and they booked me with someone else. Someone else who is new apparently. Though, I did not know this until after my hair was finished. I asked for what I usually ask for, a chocolate tint with red highlights. I got moussy brown with a lot of orange highlights. Too many orange highlights. I had to leave immediately after she washed my hair (it was already 5 and we needed to be in Dallas at 6) so I got in my car and called to complain. I'm re-booked for Wednesday. The girl who normally does my hair will be redoing it. Everyone says it looks fine and there's nothing wrong with it but they are wrong. It's orange. While I love The University of Texas and am proud of my Longhorn heritage, in no way do I want to sport a burnt orange doo.

As soon as I got home, I got dressed as fast as I could, threw some makeup and on and we jumped in the car. We got the restaurant and practically everyone was already there. I immediately ordered a "prickly pear" grande margarita. It was delicious! This a picture of Amy's margarita - it's called a "suicide." Pear, Mango, Strawberry and Lime.



We ate a lot and I think everyone really enjoyed their food. Rodney and I split some mushroom and spinach quesadillas and some "naked" enchilada's. That's what Rodney nicknamed them - cheese and onion enchilada's with no meat sauce. Hence the "naked."





The Gruver/Hoover's



At some point we all thought it would be funny to take pictures with the giant margarita cake. I got a picture of everyone at the table with it, here are a few...

Deed:


Jess:


Malisa:

Rod the Bod:


Ryan and Ana:


The other half of the Brothers DeMeglio:


Soon after eating dinner, everyone broke into the cakes. This was quite humorous to see.





After dinner concluded we walked across the way to Urban Outfitters. I didn't purchase anything but found a few things I wanted to! After checking in at the double wide, Brodney, Malisa, BaJamie and I made our way over to Club Dada to check out The Chem Set. Josh is playing the totally awesome drum set that Rodney built so we wanted to see that. Plus, I haven't seen them in a while and though it would be nice.

After they played, we went back to the Double Wide. It was extremely hot, too hot, I could barely stand it. Lots of Rodney/Tendril's friends showed up and a few of my own friends were there too. It was nice to see everyone, even though I wanted to kill myself from the heat.



The night concluded, we left and picked the girl up on the way home.

I slept in a little today, it was nice. Rodney has practice today and hopefully he will be home soon.

Thanks to everyone who came out last night, it was a blast!!!

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Blooooooo

I'm waiting on a cake's crumb coat to set. I have been in the kitchen the entire day. Well, except for the time we were in Rylee's swim lesson and the hour that Rodney rescued me and took us to dinner. I baked 30 cupcakes today for Tango tomorrow. They came out alright. I wasn't super happy with them but I guess you can't be with everything. If you want to check them out, visit Frosted Garden.

Right now I am working on one of Rodney's cakes. He gets three this year. Two for his dinner and one for work. That's a whole lotta cake. I was going to bake us a cake for our anniversary next week but that's really not happening now. I'll make something but it won't be cake.

I got a few of his birthday presents the other day. He's been wanting this rash guard from Sun and Ski Sports and has been talking about it forever, so I went and got it. I actually got a different one than the one he tried on but I picked it because the one he tried on wasn't EXACTLY what he wanted. He didn't want something with a huge logo on it and I found the perfect one. I also happened to find myself some pretty cute board shorts. Bought those for the upcoming trip to Schlitterbahn. Present for Rodney, present for me. Then we went into the Gap. He mentioned that he wanted to replace a bunch of his shirts so I went in there to find a few. It must be GAP/OLD NAVY/BANANA REPULBIC sale week because the sale in their was just insane. I found him 4 shirts and got myself two tank tops for $36. Everything is half off right now. I went ahead and gave him those things because he needed the shirts and I wanted him to try on the rash guard. He loved it all and was totally surprised that I remembered the rash guard. (which, I mean....seriously? he only mentioned it 45,000 times) He still gets an anniversary present on our anniversary and a birthday present on his birthday. Can't say what those are though...

Our 4th was pretty good. We did a little shopping (got more stuff from The Gap!), I did a little baking and we went over to my parents house. We ate dinner and afterwards everyone went outside to blow things up. I mean, not really blow things up but sorta...My Mom and brothers have been saving their 20oz. bottles to make science experiments with. Something about baking soda, vinegar and tissue. My brothers are crazy.

Rodney watching from afar:


We went downtown to watch the fireworks shortly after





Here are the pictures of the shells, tomatoes and mushroom dish I made, it's great! I'll get the pictures of the egglplant parm up soon!

Monday, July 2, 2007

DotDotDot

Here I sit at Tango. Rylee is at her grandparents house. I sent a meal with her.

Last night even though I was feeling super terrible, I made dinner.



This is a whole wheat pizza. I picked up a can of organic pizza sauce and used it along with some sliced red onion, black olives, mushrooms, roma tomatoes and finely shredded mozzarella cheese to complete our meal.

The dough is just the generic recipe consisting of whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, active dry yeast and sugar. Super easy and very good.

I let it cook a little longer than I probably should have but I wanted to make sure it wasn't doughy. My man does not like doughy.

Today I made the girl and I some whole wheat waffles with strawberries. Rylee loves herself some waffles. She doesn't need syrup, she'd eat them plain and all day, if I would let her.



For lunch (and for her dinner) I made a quick recipe out of the Food and Family magazine, adding a few things of my own. It's basically shells and cheese with tomatoes, basil and garlic powder. I added some sauteed mushrooms (we are mushroom people) and a few onions as well. It's the easiest thing to make, next to making a sandwich. She loved it so I knew she would eat it at Nanie and Pop's as well.

I'll have to post a picture of this tomorrow, I forgot to upload them before I left the house this evening.

I also packed some organic vanilla yogurt with blackberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries for her to eat after her dinner. My kid LOVES yogurt. Next to waffles, her first choice is "Mogurt."

On the menu tomorrow is waffles (again), leftover pasta from today and eggplant parmigiana for dinner. We'll throw in some yogurt and green apple slices somewhere.

Tonight is break night for me. I'm still not feeling great but I came up to tango anyway. I'm not sure if I'll get to sing at this show or if we will have to save it for the next show. We'll see. Right now the set list is up to like 50 songs or something. That's a whole lot.

I'm eating a veggie burger from Cafe Express and catching up on my calendar. It's nice.

Taggity Tag

Seven random things about me:

1. I'm an obsessive cleaner. I can't stop myself. I clean the dishes and the stove while I'm cooking and can't stand to have dishes in the sink. My husband also thinks it's strange that I wipe the water out of the kitchen and bathroom sink every time he or I use it. I hate water spots.

2. I was a bit of a groupie in my heyday. Well, I don't know that I would use that term to describe myself but I spent a few years traveling with bands and doing merch for them. It was a lot of fun but definitely something I'd leave for my early twenties (I'm 26 at the moment). I met my husband at a show so I can't complain!

3. I have a temper. I try to control it but it's impossible at times. I've gotten better with age but most people would describe me as a big ol' ball of fire. My husband has nicknamed me "kerosene." (I am one half of the extreme group, Kerosene and Gasoline)

4. I love to eat dry cereal late at night. It's a strange obsession I have.

5. I hate scary movies. I've never liked them and for some reason, people always try to get me to watch them. I hatehatehate them.

6. I never watch the news. I read it, but I never watch it. I think the news is over-sensationalized and when I see that a story about "how Crocs can injure you" is coming up at 10, I realize that I'm not missing anything.

7. I moonlight as a private investigator.


Okay, that last one's not true at all.

7. (for real this time) I get sick a lot. I've been this way my entire life. I don't think my husband knew what he was in for. Last year alone I was sick nearly 10 times. 3 of those times included acute tonsilitis. I had my tonsils removed when I was 25. I'm sick right now in fact. It's bad.


My late night snack last night were these deliciously tangy and sweet navel oranges. They're much better than regular oranges and good for you too! They also made me feel a little better which is a very good thing.




tagging anyone who reads this blog and has a blog.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

sicksicksick

I'm sick. I could tell on Friday that it was coming on but I told myself that it was only sleep deprivation. I woke up yesterday feeling pretty yuck but forced myself to take a hot bath/shower and complete the errands I'd scheduled for the day. We did get most of what I set out to do before the downpour set in and we decided to come home.

One of the things I needed to do was go back to the cake shop, which is apparently my new home. I got some things I needed for Rodney's birthday cakes this week and some fancy foil. I can spend money in that place so fast. And yes, it was my THIRD time in this week.

The Gruver-Hoovers got here around 4:30. Jess were off to do our shopping for the evening (and a little for ourselves) at Central Market. Central Market on a Saturday is crazy to begin with but Central Market in Southlake on a Saturday is pure insanity. Despite us trying to get through as fast as we could, it took us over 2 hours to do our grocery shopping.

We came back here and had to start on dinner immediately. Jess started on the guac, I made and got the cake in the oven and also made the Sangria. After the guac was made, she started chopping more veggies and I got the lime-cilantro rice started. We bought a few key west pinks (shrimp) and some cocktail sauce to snack on, along with some super fresh salsa from the salsa bar and some organic corn tortilla chips with sea salt.

The guac that Jess made turned it out great, it's Chipotle's recipe and we all gobbled it down!



For the main course, we made shrimp and corn tacos (corn tortillas) with spicy black beans and lime-cilantro rice.

I'm sure you can find the recipes for the tacos and the black beans here as I'm assuming she will post them this week.

The rice is a recipe from Martha that I use all of the time and just love. It's very easy and delicious!

Complete, with Red Wine Sangria to drink!



Everyone loved the food, it was great and I love cooking with Jess. Shopping was fun too, even if it was overly crowded. We used to grocery shop every week together when I lived just down the road.

After dinner, we talked and sat around for a little while. Rylee wanted to wear my headband and the boys did the dishes.




Working hard?


Or hardly working?


Jess will be a good mom...Someday.



We put Rylee to bed shortly after and started to play some games. Amidst the first game, I finished up the cake I was making and served dessert. This cake is from one of The Cake Doctor books, written by Anne Byrn. It's very easy, and very fast!

1 devils food cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 veg oil
1 box of chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except chips. Once mixed, fold in chips. Bake in a greased and floured pan for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

You're supposed to use a bundt cake pan but I typically use two loaf pans and it works just as great. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm. I also thew together a little whipped cream to go on top! It added just the perfect amount of sweetness!

Yum!




After we finished our cake on the back porch, we continued our game. Did I mention we played boys against girls? The first game we played was Shout About Music.

Boys:



Girls:




Yeah. We're kind of awesome.


We played Shout About Movies next. I didn't take any pictures of that one but we won 98 to 37. Or maybe they had 38, not sure. What I am sure of, is that we WON.

Gruver-Hoovers left shortly after that and I retired to bed. I was beat and my body was screaming for me to crawl under the covers. I woke up this morning feeling even worse than yesterday. I can't breathe, my body aches, I'm all sniffles, it's awful. We had some other things to do today as well, and I forced myself out again. I started to feel slightly better this evening but not much.

Coming up tomorrow: the whole wheat pizza I made tonight and hopefully shopping (if I feel better) for hub's birthday. Oh! and if I do feel better, I might be singing at Tango practice tomorrow night!