New Arts and craft desk

On February 13 I bought this really cool arts and crafts desk that a friends husband made. I saw it at their house like 7 years ago and told her if she ever got rid of it I wanted it.

Well, this month they are moving to California for his job. :(

So I bought the desk from them. I love it. Now I can do all my scrapbooking on it and have plenty of room for storage and work space.

The letters on top was made from a teacher at work who teaches shop. I asked him if he could cut some out if he had time. It wasn't any big deal and I'd pay him for it. I came in the following MOnday and there they were laying on my desk. :) Now to figure out how to decorate them.

The wood pecker

So I was talking on the phone with my Mother-In-Law and I looked out the back window and saw a wood pecker. I'd seen him before about a week or two ago but he flew away before I could get a picture. As soon as I got off the phone with my mother-in-law, I grabbed the camera (and zoom lens) and ran into the back yard, where it was pouring down rain. I was able to snap several pictures of him before he got away. So below is what the best of what I got. He was beautiful too. I couldn't believe how colorful he was.

The New Couch

On Valentine's day, my hubby had to work in College Station. So I was left alone all alone to celebrate the day by myself. So what does any lonely girl do?

I bought a couch, chair, and ottoman from Sams!! Thanks to my wonderful Brother & Sister-in-law, I was able to get the furniture home. They loaded up the chair and ottoman and brought it back to my house.

I don't know how I ever made it without them. They are so wonderful. I don't know how I could ever get some stuff done. They are always there to help out when asked........ or implied help is needed. 

After we got the furniture to the house it was time for dinner. So my Brother & Sister in law invited me to go eat dinner with them at a local mexican joint. We had a great time. I got to see my nephew enjoy a chocolate mouse dessert. It was cute to see him eat it and how excited he got over the balloon on the table. I couldn't have married into a better family.

Here is our living room.

David sitting in the chair watching tv.

The ottoman

Vince wanted to be in the picture. Every time I take a picture he's always in the way.

The chair.

My husband and Father-in-law looking at a map after bringing the couch in from the garage.

Sitting on our new couch. The dogs seem to like it a lot.

The new layout. I think it's a little tight but I'm liking it.

Destroying the House

So the hubby and I got home from church services tonight to find, the garbage can pulled out of the canister and the 5 pounds of hamburger meat I was thawing for dinner for tomorrow all over the house. I had some seasoning on the island in the kitchen that some one pulled off and strewed it all over the kitchen and living room. Here are the pics.


The mess in the living room. Boy were we not happy at all.

The 5 pounds of hamburger meat and the trash bag out of the trash can.

 Here is the seasoning in the kitchen.

Grandma Gudgel's Black Bottom Cupcakes

So I'm making Grandma Gudgel's Black Bottom Cupcakes. I was looking at the recipe and it looks delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
•  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter muffin tins and set aside.
2. Beat together the cream cheese, egg, sugar and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Batter will be thin.
4. Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with the chocolate batter. Top each one with a spoonful of cream cheese mixture.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 172 | Total Fat: 8.7g | Cholesterol: 19mg

I didn't have time to take pictures while I was making this since I have to get ready for church. But it was super easy.

I followed the recipe and then some of them I put the cream cheese goodness on top. Then on some I put one small scoop of filling in the cup and then put the cream cheese in the cup put a little over to kind of make them in the middle of the cupcake. I can't wait to see how they turned out. I can smell them and they smell great. I dont' have any frosting yet, so I'll do it after church tonight.

~Later

P.S. I love you...

Today, while I was in college station, I ran into Kirkland's while I waited for the hubby to get off of work. As I was leaving I saw this sign by the register and it screamed, "buy me". So I flipped it over and saw it was on sale ($7.98). So, I bought it. It is now hanging up over the master bedroom door. 

Yes, I know there was a book and then a movie made about this. Not sure if they made this sign because of it, but I liked it.

Saturday

Well, in case you didn't know.... today is Saturday!!! :) Thought I would pass it on. The hubby had to work all week (today too) at A&M, so I drove up to see him yesterday. By the time I got off work and got to the hotel, to see him, it was already 6 o'clock. So we went out for dinner. He took my to Cheddars. It was very loud, delicious food, and great company :)!! Oh how I missed him. While we were eating Dave made the comment about how this would have to be my Valentine's day dinner since he won't be home next Tuesday to celebrate with me. So after dinner we were going to get dessert, but we were too full. So I told him while he was at work today, I'd go out and spoil myself today with a cupcake. But where oh where do you find a cupcake place in College Station?

Well, that brings me to right now. Yes, right now. The moment that I'm typing this. :)

I'm sitting at a coffee shop on Texas Ave. called Muldoon's. It's actually pretty good coffee AND they just so happened to have cupcakes. Go figure. So what did I do? Glad you asked. I got a cupcake. Boy was that oh so delicioso. It was like this vanilla cake with banana pudding in the middle topped with a white buttercream frosting. It was really made my morning. Who knew a cupcake can shape your whole day. :)

SO with that note.... go make it a great day.


*********************************
Some things I learned from the hubby......

1. Always drive the right way through the parking lot. Don't cut through just to get to your destination quicker. You never know who else is doing the same and when the two of you will collide. :/

2. Don't run yellow lights.

3. Make your wife take the trash out because, you don't want to get "trash juice" on your hands. :)

4. Always drive the speed limit. If you can't, well then you need to leave earlier.



We are 3 weeks and 1 day away from our 1 year anniversary of marrying my best friend.

Wreaths

Last night some of my friends and I got together and crafted. Our theme was Valentine's. I wanted to craft a felt heart that I saw on The Idea Room's site but Michaels didn't have the heart shaped styrofoam I wanted. So instead I found this cool wreath on Crafty Little Beana, which I originally found on Pinterest. So here are some of the items I bought. Not pictured is the black polka dot ribbon and the spray paint for the wreath (everything was bought at Michael's for a total of $68).


So here is what I did. I bought a wreath and spary painted it some color green (I'll find out and repost).

Here are the paints I bought (3 from the Martha Stewart Collection).

I bought a pack of 4 piece wooden circles. I used a whole punch and punched a circle in the top (see the pink painted circle on the plate below).

I used the pink paint I bought to match the flowers and painted one of the circles.

Here's a bunch of the fake flowers I bought at Michael's and I couldn't find them in the red, like the picture, so I bought them in pink. Plus it looks springy.

Here is the almost finished wreath. After I cut the stems off the flowers, I hot glued them to the wreath so they didn't fall out.

Here's the close up.

I'm still working on the circle with the letter of our last name on it. I'll post that when I get it done (hopefully Thursday night).