CUPCAKES

The past two months I have made a lot of cupcakes!

For Laurel's shower I was in charge of the food. Sarah helped me make cupcakes. I wanted three different flavors so ended up making three boxes... 72 cupcakes (technically 96, but Sarah was responsible for burning a batch). We made chocolate with yellow icing, vanilla with green icing, and strawberry with pink icing.



For Mother's Day/Mom's birthday I got her some Sprinkles cupcake mix while I was in Dallas. We made them this past weekend. Yum!

FOUR things for TWO days.

As JP's brothers finish up a drive cross country and my sister prepares for a summer as a counselor at camp, JP and I are beginning to miss the summers that came with being in college.

Although we have no summer vacation plans due to JP's work (fall vacation possibly?), we still find fun and laughter in just the things of everday life. We laugh a lot, even over the smallest things. Here are the top 4 most noteable things that have occured in the past 2 days.



JP: I have that shirt?
Me: What shirt?
JP: I have that shirt that's on "What Not to Wear!"
Me: I wouldn't take pride in that.
JP: I wore that shirt that's on "What Not to Wear" on our first date!
*i've determined that since it was purchased for and worn aspart of a costume it doesn't count as a bad fashion choice*

JP found an engagement ring in his car. I know, right, who finds an engagement ring in their car? He thinks it belongs to one of the ladies that he work for. He thinks it must have fallen off when he was driving them from cash control up the hill to the offices. He just found it yesterday so I don't know if the owner has been found but I'm sure there is some woman out there freaking out!

We had some tortilla chips from a mexican restaurant that were only a few days old but had gone stale. So, JP decided to heat them up in the toaster oven to make them taste less stale. Please learn from this mistake, do not put tortilla chips in toaster oven for more than 2-3 minutes. Otherwise you will have flames and smoke coming out of the toaster oven and blackened chips that were in better shape stale!










Last night we enjoyed an evening of tv compromise. We watched American Idol followed by Death Wish. I'm sure you can figure out who picked what but in case you are stumped I picked American Idol and JP picked Death Wish (which wasn't nearly as bad as it sounded). I've watched about two episodes of AI this season before last night but have heard everyone talking about it. After being a faithful follower last season, I just had to watch the final 3! JP enjoyed making jokes throughout the entire thing. Afterwards, he was excited to find Death Wish on tv because he had "been waiting for this movie to come on late night tv for so long!"

All from a bag of donuts...

As I pulled up to WalMart the other day I noticed that the Retirement Home bus had just arrived. I spent my afternoon shopping with these retirement home residents. It was quiet interesting to observe them shop. One lady apparently found it necessary to purchase 10 boxes of some sort of cream! As I was waiting in line, the lady in front of me, who was one of the retirement home residents, said (in summary), "I hope you don't get my bags of donuts mixed up with your stuff! I've been waiting so long to get these! I just love chocolate." For some reason that just made me think how much our list of "things we want" changes throughout our life. The way this lady talked, the #1 thing on her list that day was a $2 bag of donuts.

When I was a child, there were always things I wanted. From Barbie dolls to soccer balls to moon shoes. Yes, I remember moon shoes... because I never got them. As we get older our lists seem to evolve into a list of much more costly things. However, as we get older I do believe we begin to appreciate the things we obtain much more.

So, I've been thinking of the top 10 things I want to obtain or do by the time I'm 30. I'm only 23 so I have a good amount of time to get these things checked off. Yes all of these items are much more expensive than a $30 pair of moon shoes, but all will probably keep my interest much longer than a pair of moonshoes which would have probably ended up in a give away pile after only a few weeks if I had gotten.

TOP TEN THINGS I WANT TO OBTAIN OR DO BEFORE AGE 30

10. Flat Screen TV- I don't have much of a preference, but JP does so I might as well just like the one he wants which is a Panasonic (he could tell you the model number) 50" tv.










9. A Hanging Bed: I've wanted one of these after seeing them in a Southern Living. I would probably spend hours with a book on one of these. Porch... that would be another thing I want.












8. New Couch: Have you seen my current couches? haha. Although they work just fine, I would like a new one though. JP and I have decided to try our best to keep the ones we have though in an extra room so when we have kids these couches can be theres and it won't matter if they get spills, stains, etc.






7. Bedroom Set: I think I will feel more grown up if I have one of these.















6. Trip to NYC: I LOVE big cities and this is one of the biggest so I need to go!











5. Run 1/2 Marathon: My sister and JP don't think this will happen. I'll prove them wrong. Something about accomplishing that is appealing to me...








4. New Camera: I really want a super nice camera like this one and to learn how to take cool shots (you know like when the background is blurry). Probably won't be getting this anytime soon. Whenever we have kids, which also hopefully won't be anytime soon, I'm pretty sure I will want to take a zillon pictures.








3. MBA and New Job: I am very thankful for my current job, but I don't really like it. Hopefully getting my MBA will open the job field to a job that has more room for growth... and higher pay!














2. House!: This will happen... it's just a matter of when. I mean I have to have somewhere to put number 10-7!








1. DISNEY WORLD: I know, I know... you're thinking, "really? I thought you said 30 not 10." But seriously, this has been on the list the longest. Ever since I was like 10 I've wanted to go to Disney World with just me and my husband, and well I couldn't very well do that without a husband... so now I can! You probably wouldn't understand my obsession with Disney World but just the thought of it makes me happy. I can't wait until JP and I go! (And we will... it was somewhere in our vows I think... something like "I will honor, and cherish, and go to Disney World) :)

That's what HE said...

This was a random comment that really came out of the blue...
JP: You wouldn't make a very good thief.
Me: Why?
JP: Because you're short.

This occurred while I was going through our bank/credit card statments...

Me: Where is Brighton, AL?
JP: where? i don't know.
Me: Well you went to a McDonald's there.
JP: When? *In a "I did not" tone*
Me: On March 6. Did you stop there on the way to see your grandparents?
JP: Oh yeah.
Me: Well that explains it.
JP: No I just went to use the bathroom there.
Me: Well then when did you spend $5?
JP: Maybe someone stole my identity! I knew it!
Me: So you are telling me someone stole your identity to spend 5 bucks at McDonald's instead of just asking you for $5?
JP: Yeah probably.
Me: Ok just checkin'

*After further research we determined that Brighton AL is near Bessemer and JP stopped there after he dropped me off at the airport real early. He was talking to is Grandpa and he went see them that evening so we weren't too far off!*

What we've been up to...

I'd say 90% of our time is dominated by three things...

1. We have started looking for a house. After many months of internet searching we finally contact a realtor and start taking a look at these houses. We've spent many hours already looking and I can imagine many more. It does not surprise me that we will take a while to find a house. I think we spent more time looking for our honeymoon location than we were actually on our honeymoon. We hope to have a house by July when our lease ends so we have some time.


2. JP has been VERY busy with work. Alabama Adventure opened today and they have been spending a lot of time getting ready. This is the first time the new company that bought the park has had an opening day (they bought during the middle of last season). They have made a lot of changes from the way things were done before. In the long run it will make things easier but getting them started is taking a lot of time. Yesterday he worked about 15 hours. Today he's at 14 hours and counting.

3. I've been very busy studying accounting and working on my marketing project. The end of the semester has been very busy with tests and projects. It will be over very soon though! Accounting ends in a week and Marketing in three. I will have a month off until summer classes start.


Although we have been both very busy we have found time to do some fun things.

I got to go see Wicked! I went with my friends Laurel, Jennifer, Casey (Laurel's fiance), Kathryn, and Justin. I have been listening to the soundtrack since my senior year in college. I love singing the songs all the time... I can't say JP loves hearing the songs all the time haha. It was so great to finally see the whole story. I loved it!

The few free moments JP has he has spent reading this book. We went to my parents for Easter and JP read a whole lot because he finally had time to.


This week JP surprised me and took me to PF Chang's. We went Wednesday after my class so we ate pretty late. We enjoyed a 4 course meal. We both got Egg Drop soup, we shared lettuce wraps, JP got Mongolian Beef, I got Honey Shrimp, and we both got mini tiramsu desserts.

Using Quotation Marks

This conversation occured after I told JP I wish he had gone to see Wicked with me and he said "No way" and after I had asked him the name of our pastor's daughter because I couldn't remember her name.

Me: If we have a little girl someday and she is a broadway star are you going to come and watch her perform?
JP: I guess.
Me: If we have a litte girl someday we could name her Caroline. Do you like that name?
JP: Not really, it reminds me of that trainer I hated.
Me: Oh yeah... what about Katherine?
JP: Well, it's kinda long.
Me: Yeah that's right. You are used to a two letter name.
JP: Yep
Me: How about Al? That's two letters. We could name our child Al Kaal.... oh wait, we can NOT name our child Al Kaal! It's sounds too much like alcohol!

That's what she said...

I've decided to start putting quotes from JP and me in this blog. A lot of times they will probably be more entertaining in person and may just sound dumb if you weren't there. But, I will enjoy looking back at them one day because I will always remember what it was like LIVE!

After looking at this terrible house that neither JP, I, or the realtor liked...
JP: The only remotely good thing about that house was the neighbors dog.

While we were in a house that was obviously occupied by an elderly woman...
Realtor: I think this might be the case where she passed away and the kids are trying to sell it
Me: Don't tell me that! It makes me sad and I want to buy this house now just because I feel bad for the family.
Realtor: Ok, we'll just say she moved to a nursing home.
Me: Yeah, she's probably one of my patients