Best Happy Meal Toy EVER

McDonalds has miniature Barbies again!!!  I love me some Happy Meal Barbies!  I collected them when I was little.  When Barbies were out we ate at McDonald's weekly cause that's when the new ones came out.  Even Mom and Dad would have a Happy Meal if there were multiple ones already out.  Number 8 up there, she was my fav.  I also loved the year that they did international Barbies.  Spain was my favorite that year.  Ah, memories.  Did you collect any of the Happy Meal toys?  I collected the mini Beanie Babies too.  My grandmother would literally stay up, drive to McDonalds and wait in line til midnight when the new mini Beanies were released.  That is some dedication right there.

Now I'm trying to convince myself I don't Need a Happy Meal!

52 Weeks Ago Today...

I had been married for three and a half hours!  Time is funny isn't it?  It feels like I've been with Josh forever.  I can't remember what I did with my time before my life stopped to watch Holmes on Homes or before I had someone to put my cold feet on.  At the same time the year has flown by and I can't believe it is already our first anniversary.  It seems like we have done a lot of living in the past year, honeymooning, moving, new job, etc.

I have to take this opportunity to talk about what I've learned in this first year and how awesome my husband is.  Josh and I got married nine months after we started dating so we were almost strangers, but we knew immediately knew that we were meant for each other so we jumped!  I didn't know that Josh wouldn't eat grapes if they weren't refrigerated.  I really didn't know anything about being a wife!  Here is a little secret about me:  I am basically a selfish person.  I don't mean to be and I work at not being, but I like things my way.  I like things in my timeline.  This year I have had to begin to learn to put some of that selfishness aside to accommodate Josh.  I think I'll probably spend the rest of my life learning to not be selfish but it's all cool, what else have I got to do?  Definitely the hardest thing has been to try and decide where I am supposed to be submissive and how much opinion to give.  I know, I know it isn't a popular viewpoint to hold.  You don't have to agree.  Submission doesn't come naturally to me!  Part of that selfishness I guess.  I'll probably be working on that til I die as well.

I have learned other things too.  I've learned to cook.  I cooked very little before I got married besides occasionally baking.  I've had some interesting mistakes but overall we haven't starved and I actually enjoy messing around in the kitchen when have the time.  I've learned how similar Josh and I are in the way we think about life stuff but so very different in the things we are really passionate about.  I learned that I could be a "toucher".  I HATE to be touched as a general rule but with Josh, nothing makes me feel better than to come home from a crappy day and let him hold me.  In the night I find that sometimes if I've had a bad dream I'll reach over in my sleep to feel for him, just to know he's there to protect me.  I've also learned that my husband sometimes stops breathing in his sleep which causes me to wake up and jump such that my fingernails implant in the ceiling.  After I get them out I stir him so he'll breathe.  I'll probably spend the rest of his life doing that.

I am so blessed to have the husband that I do.  He takes incredible care of me.  He thinks I'm pretty with no makeup on.  He has grown too this year.  He is really taking to the whole husband thing.  He makes me feel like the Wonder Woman to his Superman!  And did I mention he is Hot?!?  Cause he is!

Here are some pictures of our super small wedding and a picture of the rose Josh got me.  One rose for one year.  He also wrote me a few pages about what all we've done this year.  It's a chapter of our life.  He says he'll write me one every year so we will basically have a book of our life.

Because I Have No Shame

 My cake class teacher canceled class yesterday after I had already made my cupcakes and icing.  So today before Josh got home, I messed around with what she would have taught.  Here are the results.  I only show you because what is a blog for if not to show your less that stellar cupcake decorating skills?

This is my makeshift icing bag.  I used up all I had and there was no way I was going out just for that.  I made it from a ziploc bag with a little slit cut for the tip.

I put red raspberry jam in my cupcakes.  Why has no one every told me how wonderful red raspberry jam is????  You people who knew about the wonderfulness and did not tell me, I hold you personally responsible for my life not being as happy as it could have been.  Shame on you.

These are my pompom flowers.  Eh, they turned out okay.  The one on the right has a border I like to call "what can I do to get rid of some this orange icing".  It's all the rage.

These are supposed to be shaggy mums and from a distance they kind of look like it.  I think they look like the flowers from Alice in Wonderland.  Do you see the resemblance?

 
The one on the left is what happens when you forget what tip is on your bag.  So then you put green around it and call it ivy!  The other is my favorite, rosettes are easy and it looks pretty nice.

So that's cake!  Saturday is my first anniversary (d'awww!) so I'll write about great Josh is later this week.

Troubled? Suck It Up!

I saw a bumper sticker on a car (yeah I know, way to state the obvious) that said "Troubled? Well, get over it.  Jesus loves you.  John 3:16".  This seriously got my knickers in a wad!  It is no wonder that people don't like Christians with that sort of flippant attitude about someone's problems in life!

Now I know the point they were trying to make.  That the love of the Lord overcomes whatever you are dealing with, trust in Him, etc.  And yeah, that would make for a pretty long bumper sticker.  But could they have phrased that much worse?!?  I mean "get over it" is not a helpful statement when you are sad/troubled/hurting.  I have had people tell me that at some of the lowest points in my life and I remember just looking at them thinking that was about the least helpful thing they could have possibly said.  Silence is better than telling someone to get over it.  Silence is better than a lot of remarks that people make, come to think of it.  So my first issue with this stupid statement is just the blatant lack of caring it seems to evoke.

My second issue is the use of that particular verse and Jesus Loves You.  Do you ever feel like Christians use that combo as a magic phrase, like bibbi-bobbi-di-boo?  Jesus loves you so it should be all better!  Yeah, that is comforting but come on, just saying doesn't suddenly make your troubles melt away.  It may put some perspective there but it doesn't magically solve your problems.  Plus, why is that the fall back verse?  If ever you need to say something spiritual but are at a total loss for something appropriate, that is the verse most people pull out.  It would be nice if we had a little more scriptural background to pull from.

I have a third issue with this which is the mass production of such a sentiment and what the says about a group of believers and their callousness but someone is walking around on my porch and I need to investigate.  Please fill in that portion of the soapbox yourself.  Summary:  don't be purposefully cruel to people who are suffering and don't use Jesus loves you like a magic spell.

My Anniversary Present

Do you know what my wonderful amazing husband got me for our first anniversary?  Do you?  He got me tickets to see Les Miserables in Knoxville!  I am in love with that musical, have been for some time.  I have the 25th anniversary performance on DVD.  I paid full price for it, if you know how much I love a bargain, you know this shows a deep love.

Our seats were literally as far back in the theater as you could get without being in the lobby, but at least you could see the entire stage.  I thought it was incredible.  There is just something totally different about seeing something on stage, in person that you don't get from watching it on DVD.  It's a connection to the music, a whole body immersion in the plot.  At least it is for me, not so much for Josh.  At the intermission he asked hopefully if it was over and was much disappointed that indeed there was almost half left.  At one point he actually sighed loudly and rolled his head in a manner that said "If they sing ONE more song, I'm going to leap over the people in front of me and run screaming from the theater".  Thankfully he repressed the urge.

I was one happy girl and have been singing the songs all day long in my head.  I think Josh is going to get a ladder for his present.  Yep, we're just a little different :)

That was the big excitement of my weekend.  I hope yours was great and your week is off to non-sucky start!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Josh's birthday.  Wasn't he a cutie pie?

I think so!  Course I still think he's pretty cute! 

We had great big steaks for supper and huge-o baked potatoes.  I made chocolate trifle too.  If you haven't had trifle then you are Missing Out!  It is brownies and chocolate pudding and whipped topping and chocolate sauce.  It's 7 million calories per spoon, but it is dripping with wonderfulness.  We went to Verizon and Josh got a new phone.  He's been playing on it all night. 

I have a confession about the phone.  I just don't feel like I'm being honest otherwise.  I am Horrible at getting Josh presents!  I am CRAZY about him, but getting him a present...I'd have better luck getting a gift for a stranger.  He likes car stuff and I am woefully out of my depth with that stuff.  He likes tools, yeah, I can pick out Craftsman stuff but otherwise I'll need supervision.  It's also kind of weird since we have joint accounts.  I feel like I'm using his money to get him something lol.  So, anyway, he picked out the phone.  He's happy.  That's all that matters.

Now we are chillin' on the couch, watching The Green Hornet.  I think he's had a pretty good day.  I hope so.  I love him tons so I hope it was good :)   

My Purse Isn't Produce You Moron!

This is one of the most loathed pieces of technology I have ever encountered.  Who exactly is this supposed to benefit I ask you?  This is how it invariably goes:  you have two items in your hands.  You are standing behind either a man who is trying to ask out the checkout girl or behind a woman who is giving the cashier her life story and she is only just to high school graduation.  You look askance, there it is, gleaming, promising a quick egress from this store.  You switch to the self-checkout.  This is where the trouble starts.  First you start to dig for your keys with your store card.  Your purse hits the scanner which it seems to take as produce.  The machine then demands you remove the produce, except There Is None!  But the machine Does NOT believe you!  It keeps asking you to now put the produce on the thingy to be weighed.  The attendant has to intercede.  Sigh.  Okay then you scan your two items.  The second doesn't ring up the right price.  You begin fussing at the machine:  "It's on sale!  I scanned my card, you should take 56 cents off!  Come on stupid thing."  You decide that the 56 cents isn't worth it, but now you are ticked cause that was the price of two pieces of gum wasted right there.  Then you slide your credit/debit card.  It doesn't work.  At this point you start to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness because you could have waited to check out and told the cashier Your entire life story by now.  Then the attendant has to approve your card and then give you the receipt manually.  So I ask you who did this benefit?  Not you, the shopper, you are ticked at an inanimate object that cheated out of some insignifcant amount of change.  It doesn't help the workers because they have to stand there and approve your card and make sure you are stealing bananas.  This was a wasteful and frustrating invention. 

I'm so glad that the internet is there for these moments of catharsis. 

Take away message:  Stay in your line, avoid the self checkout!

I'm an Icing Star

Tonight I started a four week Wilton cake decorating class.  It was pretty fun.  We made stars, lots of stars.  I am a cookie decorating fool lol.  I think I will really enjoy it.  I am not at all crafty.  I give a good effort but it just isn't there.  I'm not artsy either so I really didn't hold out much hope for this class, but I think I might have found my medium.  Seriously, icing is easier to work with than paint or clay.  I'm certainly not great (I've had all of one class) but it's fun and something I could definitely see fiddling around with.

I have two issues with the class though.  The one is that I have this kit and it is supposed to be everything you need for the four weeks, but then I get there tonight and it isn't.  I expected to have to buy stuff to make cakes (duh) and icing but I didn't expect to have to buy angled spreaders, turntables, and cake levelers.  It's kind of a Wilton trap, they've got you committed to the class so now you need to buy the stuff to finish.  I see your thought process Wilton, you aren't fooling me!  Some of the stuff I may buy, some of it I probably won't.  This is just for fun, it's not like I'm planning to open a bakery and actually do this.

The second issue is that I am about in the middle of the age range of the class.  That in and of itself isn't bad, but there are two inmature girls in there who were driving me Up a Wall!  They are maybe 10 and 13 and they were talking and giggling and then one of them answered her phone when it rang (loudly) in the middle of class!  Gah!  Respect people, R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  Everyone in there was just looking at them and shaking their heads. 

I was gonna post a picture of my cookies but they are all the way in the kitchen and the heating blanket is on high so pretend like these are mine.  Also pretend like I wasn't making those 30 minutes before the class started and, while you're pretending, pretend like they were made from scratch not an off-brand roll, k?  Thanks!

My Face

This is my face.  It's huge.  It's on a banner in the mall.  It's AWESOME!  haha  This picture has been on my mom and my friend's facebook page but my grandmother couldn't see it so here it is for her (or anyone else to see).  I don't go to the College of Pharmacy, never had a desire to.  This picture was taken when I was doing research as an undergrad.  A photographer came by to take some pictures for the Environmental Health website, somehow this picture ended up on the 100 Year Anniversary poster for the school and now on this banner.  I'm so popular lol!  It does make me feel cool to see my face even if it is advertising for something I have no part in.

Generation Me

I read this really intriguing book last week.  I have to go with intriguing as the adjective because good would be somewhat of a stretch.  It was thought provoking but also anger provoking.  Even with the anger I think it is a must read because it is so very pertinent to life.

The book was called Generation Me by Dr. Twenge.  It was basically about the changes in attitude and culture between the Baby Boomers and the generation afterward.  It doesn't take a degree in psychology to see that there are some pretty major differences in the way these two groups (I think generation is too narrow, at least two generations have passed since the Boomers) think.
  

Some of the stuff I could really get on board with.  One of the chapters was about self esteem and how pretty much every elementary school has a program to encourage self esteem.  What they are encouraging though, is self esteem for no reason other than the fact that the kid exists.  There is no emphasis on achievements and thus no reason to try anything difficult because the kids think they are already wonderful, so why should they exert effort.  I definitely have seen this and totally agree.  I think time would be much better spent encouraging kids to learn something than to spend time just reiterating how the sun shines from their pores when they grace the world with their presence. 

Some of the stuff was ludicrous.  There was a paragraph that attributed the lower crime rate seen in the 1990s with aborted children.  It claimed that these children, had they been born, would have grown up to become criminals, but because only "wanted" children were born, the crime rate decreased.  It was pretty much the biggest jump in logic I have ever seen in print.

Despite some of the bad things, I really encourage you to pick up a copy.  It is a super fast read and some of the statistics are really enlightening.  Even if (when) you don't agree, it's nice to know that that is how a Boomer views my generation.  Frustrating as it is, since I work with a lot of Boomers I think it's a good thing to see the differences in thought just so I can try to reach some sort of common ground or better see their side of the argument.  Pick up a copy and read it!

God-Things

So on Friday (maybe?  My days are running together) I wrote about my resolutions.  The first was that Josh and I need more Bible reading.  I was talking to mom about this and saying how I'd like to do one of the "Read Thru the Bible In A Year" but I get so discouraged because, inevitably, I miss a day here or there and then you are so far behind that it is easy to give up.  Additionally a lot of you know that Josh and I have been church searching for about two months.

So today we fell off the wagon so to speak, the church hunting wagon that is.  We had stopped going to this church that we loved because there had been a pastor/church issue that resulted in the pastor (whom we loved) leaving.  Since by then we had moved we thought we'd look for a church closer to home.  Well, today we went back just to see how that church is doing.  Turns out we still love that church!  Even though the pastor we respected so much is gone, their ministry is still growing and going and we felt like we had just come back home.

If I didn't believe in God-Things, then I would say this is ironic, but today the sermon was all about starting off the new year right and getting in The Word.  They even had a plan that let you read the Bible in a year but has built in days where you don't have to read.  That way you can get sick and miss a day but you aren't off track.

Tonight was our first night doing the reading.  Josh had to read because my jaws are still sore (and I might have talked too much for the jaws' taste this weekend, true story).  I love to hear and see my husband leading us in spiritual ways.  It makes me smile :)

So that was our day.  I call it a successful first day of the year.  Plus, I also already made a supper plan for tomorrow and have tentative plans for other days this week.  Yay for organization!