time out, take two

so my dear hubby let me go to "time out for women" again! he even took all three kids to their soccer game and basketball game all by himself! let's give him a pat on the back. i got to go to pittsburgh last weekend with many good friends. there were several inspirational speakers and musical artists. i laughed, i cried, i ate lots of yummy girl food, went to ikea, and i came home renewed. this trip was just what the doctor ordered! here is a picture of tara and i with one of my favorite christian singer/songwriter's...hillary weeks. {tara and i both hate this picture of ourselves...oh well}. you get what you get, and don't throw a fit is what G would say to me.

here are some youtube videos of her songs. enjoy:

LAUNDRY



HE IS

we got the beat

our church had a dance this weekend and the theme was "high school reunion". it was so much fun {1} because i had a hot date and wasn't worrying about whether or not i was going to get asked to dance, and {2} because matt and i had no inhibitions and danced like maniacs with some awesome friends. i even made it to the last round of limbo and lost to my friend who is just under 5 feet...figures! i might have even karaoked to proud mary with 3 back-up singers. what a night!

spring has sprung

To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.

ecclesiastes 3:1-8

i'm so thankful for spring. it feels like the earth is reborn with a fresh start. not only that, but i feel like me again. there's nothing like the beautiful blue sky and blossoming loveliness all around me. the chirping birds are music to my soul. i found all these blossoms and spring time growth in my little town over the last couple of days and i had the hardest time choosing just one! so i picked 15...enjoy.

i had fun with some texture overlays today. click here for a tutorial on how to do them. i got my textures from flicker. just search "texture overlays."

some bunny loves cupcakes!

our easter treat is all ready for our egg hunt tomorrow! can't wait!

i just used a box cake mix,

butter cream frosting that goes something like this:
1/3 C softened butter
3 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
milk to desired consistency

i cut {with scissors} the big marshmallows on the diagonal and then dipped them in the pink decorating sugar {b/c it was all nice and sticky}

i used pink jelly beans for the nose
blue jelly beans for the eyes
little marshmallows for the cheeks

nutella (plus) strawberries (equals) perfection

so i get the kids in bed, work on some homework, and sit down to enjoy my favorite treat. it's the best! my mother introduced me to nutella, and i became more addicted during my semester abroad in eruope when i was in college. now they sell the stuff at costco in two honkin', huge containers...and i don't feel silly at all at the checkout stand with two huge crates of strawberries and my nutella!

i just turned in a super huge paper/project (all 54 pages)! wheww!! now i can enjoy my easter weekend.

Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake

{one of my friends introduced me to this site...yummy treats! this cake was soooo yummy! i loved the chocolate whipped cream frosting!}

Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake

1 Angel Food cake, baked and cooled completely

3 cups heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar
½ cup cocoa

1/2 cup toasted, slivered almonds

In a large glass bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Carefully add the powdered sugar and cocoa gradually and continue whipping. I find the best way to do this is to place the bowl in the kitchen sink and whip with a hand mixer so that when it splatters, it doesn't get the entire kitchen messy. The cocoa will look like it is separating and lumpy but continue to beat until stiff peaks form and by then, the cocoa should be evenly combined. (If you are worried about lumps you can sift in the cocoa and powdered sugar with a fine mesh sieve.) The frosting should be thick and spreadable - but not overly whipped or it will look a bit curdly. Just beat to stiff peaks.

When the angel food cake has been baked and cooled completely, cut the cake in half to form two round circles. Lay the top half to the side and gently remove pieces of the angel food cake to form a ditch in the bottom portion of the cake (taking care not to dig all the way to the bottom of the cake, you want a layer of cake on the bottom underneath the ditch). Spoon frosting into the ditch you made and lay the top circle of cake back on top. Frost the sides, top and middle of the cake. Top with toasted almonds. Refrigerate until time to serve. A serrated knife works best to cut the cake into slices.

Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe (melskitchencafe.com)

the other pillow was lonely

so last night we rented the blind side, and it was so refreshing to watch a good, uplifting show! it made me think about the people that will come into my life that God will want me to help and hopefully i'll be in the right mindset to do so. also, a song came into my head that i sang in my teenage years at a church meeting about service called we are his hands. God can only work miracles through people. i'm glad to know there are still good people out there.

well, now to get off my tangent...while watching the movie i decided to try my hand at crocheting a pillow for the little couch. i did 24 rows of double crochet with the orange, and then created a giant mum with my base pattern from yarncat.com

this is why i can't sleep at night b/c i'm thinking about all the things i want to be making!