easter with my family

headed up to kansas to see my family for easter

it's always so much fun to hang with the fam

and i laughed so hard i cried so many times over the weekend
and they're off
to find the eggs

the kids are getting old
so we had to hide them extra tough

on the drive back home i took a detour through oklahoma
to stop at miranda lamberts store
there's some great photo opportunities on the way

and, again, just because he's such a cutie...

i found them!

remember the chopped party post of just a couple of days ago?
remember how i didn't have a single picture of the baskets
or the final dishes?
well i found them!
apparently i took those pictures with my phone instead of the "real" computer
appetizer (the winner)

main dish

dessert

chopped party take 2

you may remember our chopped party from last year
appetizers
main course
dessert
well, we were back at it this year
with a few changes to the rules
this year you had to include a beverage in the basket
and had to make a cocktail to go with the course
that made for some extra fun!
i didn't do a very good job of getting anything captured during the evening
and the camera settings were all jacked up so the pics aren't very good

appetizer - what would you make with...

yes, that's hard boiled eggs
vienna sausages
cheese whiz
peeps
and miller high life

entree - what would you make with...

enchiladas
frozen blackberries
frozen edamame
vanilla ice cream
red grape hibiscus vodka

dessert - what would you make with...

pound cake
yogurt
sour patch kids
bacon
tequila

what would you put in a basket for a chopped party?
and just cuz he's such a cutie...

and in case you're wondering
the appetizer won!

2013 word of the year

my 2013 word took quite some time before it finally came to me

thankful

adj: aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful

i know i have a lot to be thankful for

but i have taken it for granted lately

and i've already put it into action

i had ordered something online for store pick-up

it was a store i HATE going in

but i did it anyway

and as i stood waiting to pick up my packages

three different employees asked me if i needed something

but then proceeded to tell me they would have to get someone else

i started to get really irritated

and then i remembered my word

and decided to take a different approach

i reminded myself that i was thankful for free shipping

and immediately my mood changed

and i walked out with my packages and a smile on my face

so i'm excited to see what else i can be thankful for this year!

2012 word of the year review

it's time to reflect on what 2012 brought
you may remember that instead of resolutions
i decided to pick a word of the year
my word was discover and boy did i discover a lot this year
as I read back through what i planned to discover
i had no idea just how things would turn out
i won't bore you with all that i discovered
but point out the highlights that really surprised me

discover what makes me happy - i decided i really do enjoy photography, took a class to learn how to photograph newborns

discover what i want to do with my life - little did i know i would get laid off which would force me to really explore this

this was a trying year but i'm still very excited to see what 2013 brings!

christmas

we spent christmas with my family this year
as i was working on our christmas cards
i realized we never take family photos
so i took one - or rather my mom did

i also attempted to get a cute picture of duke
he doesn't like hats...

and just cuz these are such cute pics...

so that's the quick on our christmas
how was yours?

under construction

we had a baby shower for some friends expecting
since they're having a boy we knew it had to be construction themed
everything had cute little names related to construction

and everyone constructed their own cupcakes

and we constructed a story about the birth

duke loved having all the laps to occupy

and then was the after party
where we enjoyed some wine, self-portriats

and constructing our own babies