Be Grateful #7

We were at this concert last night, which is why I didn't get to post.  I'm just giddy over the panorama option on my new (Zach's old) iPhone!

1)  I'm so thankful Zach and I got to travel to Tulsa and Kansas City this weekend.  I'm thankful we got to go to the zoo, see some friends, eat some good food, and hear Florence + the Machine live!  I also have to say I'm thankful that we got our hotel room for free by joining a rewards program that awarded 80,000 points upon enrollment AND that we got upgraded for being a member of said rewards program AND our hotel only cost 20,000 points...so we can get more free hotel stays when we travel again.  :)

2)  I'm thankful Zach (or was it Terry and Adriane?) introduced me to World Market.  I love that place.  I would die if we had one.  I just wish they hadn't gotten rid of Crunchies.

3)  I'm thankful we will be halfway through the semester next week!  Next week, one class is taking their midterm; this week, another class is workshopping papers, turning them in next Tuesday, and beginning the new unit, which is my FAVORITE; after next Thursday, I'll be done at Phoenix.  :)

4)  I'm thankful for my two students who were sincerely disappointed when they found out I was teaching Composition II in the spring because they wanted to take me again.

5)  I'm thankful for places that offer sweet tea.  Mixing sugar into iced tea is not the same, and non-sugar sweeteners are GROSS.

6)  I'm thankful to have a home to which I can come home.  (Can you tell I've been teaching grammar for three hours this evening?  Woof.)

7)  I'm thankful it's the holiday (and candy!) season!  We have to get some candy corn M&M's; I tried them tonight, and they taste like cake batter!!

8)  I'm thankful for new episodes of shows on Netflix.  Time to catch up on Parks & Rec...

Be Grateful #5

I love my furry brats!  They enjoy getting inside the hampers we use to tote laundry up and down the stairs.  It doesn't matter if the laundry is dirty and wrinkled or clean and folded.

1)  I am thankful for the IHOP coupons we received this week--two free Fresh 'N Fruities can't be beat!  Going to IHOP definitely takes me back to college and reminds me of Black Friday shopping.  I can't wait for the holidays.  :)

2)  I am pleased as punch when it comes to the weather we are having in these parts.  Ah, fall, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways (and bake autumnal desserts to show you)...

3)  I am happy that I have finished the big chunk of mentor training for this semester.  Oh, five hours of training wears me out...

4)  I am grateful my first Phoenix class went well, even if we fell behind a bit.  ;)

5)  I am so excited to celebrate THREE years of marriage and FOUR years together with Zach on Wednesday.  He is cooking me dinner, which is a big deal if you know him.  We are going to watch Parenthood and hang out.  I hope he likes my present!  My husband is one of my greatest blessings, and "we" makes me a better "me."

6)  I am blessed to have had today "off;" I think I worked too many hours this past week, and I was so worn out, I decided to work from home today.  I may have not been as productive as I had hoped, but I got a lot done on all fronts!

7)  Yep, I'm gonna have to say praise Jesus for funny shows like Community (even if they aren't exactly wholesome and politically correct).  Yep, I'm obsessed.

8)  And it doesn't make me mad to listen to Christmas music as I run errands.  Too early?  Not if it puts me in an excellent spirit!

9)  Thank you, Lord, for my brown sugar Cadbury chip cookie-baking talents.  I baked some "NWACC" cookies for my mentor training--I used green and white M&M's--and I only brought home 2 of 42 cookies!  I love baking, and I am so thankful I am a good cook for my husband, our family, and our friends.

10)  I am grateful for the week and weekend ahead.  It won't be as busy as last week (I hope!).  :)

Photo a Day in July #23

23.  Mirror

Zach and I had a lovely little shopping trip today.  :)  We both slept in, but I got up a bit earlier to finish his cake.  After he got up, showered, and dressed, we head to Arby's for 64 CENTS roast beef sandwiches!  Over the weekend, they sent out a coupon for cheap sandwiches to celebrate their anniversary.  (I guess the business was founded in 1964?)  We split a large fries, and it was more than enough because these were the full-sized sandwiches.  I like Arby's every now and then.  :)

Then we headed over to the Promenade, stopping in for some serious cereal sales at Target and for some iTunes gift cards that were on sale at Bed, Bath, and Beyond before going to Old Navy.  When I went on my shopping frenzy a few weeks ago, I got some Super Cash--$10 off $25.  Zach has needed some more shorts for awhile, so he looked for them while I tried on their colorful skinnies.  I have been in the market for some for awhile now, but I missed them when they were at F21.  I really want some RED ones.  I think they will be perfect for the fall!  I tried on one size larger than I usually get since they are Super Skinnies, but those were too small.  So I tried the next two sizes; thankfully, the next one up fit.  My only concern is they may shrink awfully fast with my Skinny Long Legs (this was my cousin's nickname for me in college).  I have seen some at Walmart (L.E.I) that I am going to try, too, and I may see if F21 has them in store again since both theirs and Walmart's are around $15.  Old Navy's is $30-ish, but they have 31 (THIRTY-ONE!) different colors online.  I had to try on the emerald green ones because they didn't have the size I needed in red.  I did like these a lot, too, but since I am out of fun money for the month, I will have to wait until August to buy.  That's why I want to make sure I have the right ones because we only get $30 each in fun money, so I could get two pairs instead of one depending on where I go.  *lol*  I also found two dresses (one purple striped one and one pink buttery one), a cute grey and yellow flowered shirt, and some yellow polka-dotted leggings for Briley's fifth birthday.  (This is my best friend's little girl, so she is my best niece. :)  I'll probably add another thing or two to her present--some kind of toy or book.

Finally, we popped into Petsmart to get Dinah a birthday present--she's ONE today!  We got her a Martha Stewart catnip mouse that rattles; it's in the cutest purple plaid material.  We didn't get it just because it's cute though; she is TOUGH on her toys, and we needed something she wouldn't chew through.  We also grabbed some Sunchips on sale at Walgreens, stopped by the credit union, went through the carwash, and came home for a piece of cake (I did promise a picture, so here's a few!):

This was right after I started assembling the cake--I had unwrapped my Kit Kat's and gathered everything I would need (except for the homemade whipped cream that was in the fridge).

 side view of the ice cream cake

I didn't do a very good job of leveling the ice cream in the cake pan.  *lol*  Thank goodness for icing/whipped cream to hide that!

 I had him close his eyes for the big reveal.  I needed to touch it up a bit because somehow it melted a bit in the freezer after I decorated it!  He was so surprised by how I decorated it! He is a HUGE fan of Kit Kat's!

 up close

Here, you can see that it is a little rough around the edges.

Happy birthday cake day, Baby!  I love you!  Now let's go collapse into a sugar coma!  (We quickly learned that a two-wafer-wide piece is the limit.)

Photo a Day in July #22

22.  Upside-Down

Zach's birthday is Wednesday, and every year I make him a scrumptious cake.  Usually, he requests Black Forest, but this year he wanted an ice cream cake.  (He requested it about two months ago.  *lol*)  I have never made one of those before, so I got on Pinterest to look for some ideas and made  a game plan.  He also asked if I could have it ready a few days sooner since we have a busy afternoon Wednesday (orientation session).  I decided to make it today since we are both off on Monday and could enjoy it then.  However, Dinah attacked Zach's foot last night--it bled quite a bit, was sore throughout the night, and made him hobble--and I woke up with a headache, so we missed Meeting this morning and had a very s-l-o-o-o-w start to our day.  I finally headed to the store at five this afternoon to pick up a few things I needed so I could get the ice cream ripening and cake baked.  (It's best to make the ice cream batter and refrigerate it for awhile before freezing.)  I made homemade chocolate chip ice cream, and then I made a homemade Black Magic (chocolate) cake (minus the marshmallows plus instant coffee).  This is the cake upside-down!  It was cooling on the rack, and I decided rather than being upside-down or placing an item upside-down or holding the camera upside-down that this would work for today!  I'm going to assemble the cake tomorrow, ice it with homemade whipped cream, place Kit Kat's around the outside, and top it with green M&M's (from a previous post).  I should be back tomorrow with a picture...

(I just realized that he is getting a Black Magic cake when he usually gets a Black Forest one.  There's something about those "black" (chocolate) cakes, I guess...)

I can't wait to try it!

Photo a Day in July #10

10.  Your Favorite Color (I really wanted to spell it "favourite" the way the calendar does ;)

All of these beauties are MINE.  *ahahaha*

We had an orientation session tonight, and my mentoring organization's table was next to alumni services, and they had a big bowl of green M&Ms.  (Green is the official color of our school.)  Now, I had a green necklace on and a green cardigan on, but they aren't the right shades of green.  My favorite color right now (well, one of them, with mustard and sapphire blue) is kelly green, and these are about as close as I can get today.  :)  I told the lady running the table I was going to take a picture of the M&M's for my blog, and when the orientation fair was over, she told me to take all of the leftover M&M's!!!  (I just have to bring her bowl back.)  Holy smokes, it is A LOT!  This was a HUGE bowl.  I filled a ziplock baggie I had, but I donated the rest to the Advising Center to snack on.  :)  I think I am going to use the ones I got for the top of Zach's birthday cake...  (*shhhhh* Don't tell him!)

P.S.  This is my 101st post.  Wow.

EDIT:  When I returned the bowl, I asked her how big the bag is.  It was a FIVE pound bag of green M&M's!!!