Summer Project

So with the last days of my job quickly disappearing, I am planning everything I will do with my newly found free time. I have the basic list of keeping the apartment clean, cooking and baking more, finishing up projects that have been left by the way side and other such things, but me being the OCD person I am decided that this was not enough.

In order to guarantee that I would always have something to do I have added on yet another thing to my to do list, and it is taking care of my new vegetable garden. Officially I am not sure if it can be called a vegetable garden since there are only a few planters sitting on my balcony, but it doesn't matter. Regardless of the officially term for what I am doing, it should keep me busy for the summer. I have to tend to the plants, keeping them watered, fertilizing and then trimming them and making sure they stay healthy and hopefully produce some delicious vegetables.

Vegetable Plants: Two Tomato Plants, Cucumber and a Watermelon Plant (just for


My Herb Planter: Rosemary, Basil and Chives

I'm looking forward to taking care of my new garden and hopefully learning a lot about plants and gardening along the way. Should be an adventurous summer with many new things learned along the way.

Here's to hoping that this summer is the best yet and that the fun times continue to happen :-)

just what I need......a new hobby

Recently I have become addicted to baking blogs. Reading one is so much fun and then they gracefully link or reference to another which I just have to look at. I start reading that blog and get addicting and then keep blindly linking to more and more blogs. My google reader keeps me up to date on all the blogs but that is not necessarily a good thing. A lot of the blogs keep showing cookies they have decorated and I find them intriguing. So my new plan is start decorating cookies like the picture below.


It doesn't seem that difficult: just make royal icing, outline, let dry, flood with royal icing, let dry and then draw on the details. Sure I say that it is easy now, but just wait for my blog after I actually try it.

So my plan for the summer is to bake tons of generic sugar cookies in a variety of shapes and keep the in my freezer. I will then make royal icing and decorate to my hearts content. We'll see how much I actually enjoy it and how good I am at it, but it doesn't matter because I just want to try it at least once.

Anyways that is all for now, there will definitely be posts about either the amazing cookies I decorated or the chaos and disaster that ensue.

Here's to hoping that new hobby becomes a joy and new passion for me, and may all your passions consume your life and make you more than joyous than you could ever imagine.

Am I a Bakeaholic?

So I have come to realize that I have a slight addiction to baking. It is not so much that I want to eat the sweets, as I really just enjoy baking. I enjoy measuring, mixing, scooping, timing, and yes I do take a taste (or two) in the end.

Chocolate Chip Muffins
(with a little too much chocolate, if that's even possible)

I have recently started to bake at least 3 things a week. Saturday mornings are my ideal time because it is my one day off at home and I can bake before Kevin ever wakes up.

Needless to say I am well on my way to reaching my goal of baking 30 new recipes this year. In fact, I only have a few more recipes left before the goal is met. :-)

Homemade Oreo Cookies

If anyone ever wants a sweet treat, feel free to stop by because I always seem to have containers full of sweets with no one to eat them.

Here's to hoping that I continue to love baking and I continue to find other who are willing to eat my baking creations :-)

Is 99 years enough?

This past Thursday, April 8 2010, a wonderful man ended his 99 year journey through life.

Kevin's grandfather, Bop, was one of the most amazing people. He had a calmness and passion to just have fun. He lived a life that extended through the invention of cars, TV's, computers and countless other things, but it was the simple things he enjoyed the most. Bop loved his crossword puzzles, back massages, bingo, and simply spending time with family.

Bop ended his 99 years in life but will live on in our hearts and minds for eternity.

All I can say is 99 years is more than enough time to live life if you thoroughly enjoy every moment.

Here's to living your life and taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself to you, and if you are lucky enough to live 99 amazing years, you will have lived each year to it's fullest.

May we remember Bop for the wonderful man he was, the amazing family he and Buba raised, and the knowledge and passion he has passed on to everyone he has met. 0:-)

Waste of a Saturday?

So am I the only person that feels like noon on a Saturday marks the day as almost over. I am lying on the couch typing this blog feeling like I have wasted away the day. Kevin, as usual, is still asleep even though we were supposed to leave the house 45 minutes ago to go to the Campbell Easter parade. Considering it starts in about half an hour, I can conclude we will not make it.

Lying around doing nothing makes me want the day to just be over. I have already wasted enough hours, why not waste the rest of the day too.

Not sure if anything will get done today....the only thing I am sure of is that today feels like a waste and it is hard to change that feeling around :-(

Here's to hoping something gets done today.

EDIT: we ended up going to a 41 acre pakr in the almaden hills and taking a 2 hour hike....yep, something did get done :-)

A Whole New Wardrobe without Shopping

So this year has been a year of productivity for me. My goal list is keeping me moving forward towards the person I want to be.

Weight loss is probably the most common new years goal, and it is on my list as well. I am making a conscious effort to lose weight and so far it is working. I have lost about 15 or 20 pounds already without any major work. No I am not taking a diet pill or doing some sort of trendy diet or cleanse system. I am simply trying to live a healthier lifestyle.

I have decreased the amount of food I eat to a more normal amount. Trust me I still eat whatever I want but I take the time to decide if I am really hungry or if I just want to eat. What a difference that has made. I am now aware of what feeling full feels like as opposed to feeling stuffed and sick from eating too much.

An unintentional side effect of the weight loss is the fact that I have lost enough weight to fit into some of my old clothing. It is so exciting to be able to wear shirts that I have not worn in more than a year. It is like a whole new wardrobe. I hate shopping so this is the best system ever. I get new clothes without shopping....and I know that they will fit me because they were my clothes to start with. Oh how wonderful life can be.

Here's to hoping that everyone achieves the goals they have set for themselves and that you enjoy the journey of reaching them :-) (maybe I'll post some before and after pictures of my weight loss in the next couple of months :-). )

New Years Goals Update....

So as almost everyone seems to do, the New Year is the time to make resolutions to make yourself a better person. I'm not sure if I ever officially made resolutions in the past, but if I did, I definitely did not stick to them. This year I decided to do something a little different, instead of making resolutions I made goals. Goals that I could keep track of and feel accomplished each time I note them in my excel spreadsheet (yes I have a spreadsheet for my goals :-P).

Anyways my goals included things like losing weight (of course) which I am actually doing well with, 10 pounds down. Other things are to cook 60 new recipes, bake 30 new recipes, blog 30 times, complete 12 stained glass projects and last but not least watch every single Star Trek movie.

I'm sure there are more goals on my list that I have forgotten but whatever. So I have already seen 2 of the movies and blogged quite a few times and I have been diligently working away on my cooking and baking. Here are some of the fun thin
gs I have made (yes, Kevin did help with the cooking, not so much with the baking :-P ).

8 Layer Cookies (Adrienne helped with these)

Black and White Cookies (Adrienne helped with these too)

Valentines Day Breakfast for Kevin (First time I ever made french toast and bacon :-) )

Well I guess that's enough photos for this update, but you can definitely see all of the fun things I have made over on facebook. I hope that everyone has become a better person in this new year whether it be by making resolutions or simply by being your wonderful natural self.

Here's to an ever more exciting year in which we can all become even better people than we already are :-)