Spring is in the Air

Sun. Blossoming flowers. Birds singing. Butterflies. Gorgeous sunsets. Warmth. The list of what I love about spring could go on forever. There are so many wonderful things about the transition from winter to spring. Since starting a new job and being gone for training several days this week, I have really enjoyed relaxing this weekend. And the amazing Easter weekend helped to top what was already perfection. After church yesterday James and I went to our local (and did I mention free?!) zoo to have some fun and enjoy the weather. Lots of people were celebrating Easter with their families at the park and zoo. I snapped some pictures while we were there and then a few more when we got home. 

The kitties are definitely enjoying this weather, having fun chasing butterflies, catching bugs, and hanging out with our ground hog. Yes, ground hog. He is living in the old school house in our backyard. He comes out and chows down on the grass several times a day. The cats are always stalking him or just chilling and watching him. I think they are all becoming fast friends. I tried to snap some decent pictures of the kitties and ground hog but any time I started to get too close that thing would waddle out of sight. Oh well. He's a cute, fat and chubby guy!

Below are some spring pictures I've snapped over the weekend. 

It's definitely not the best picture, but I had to post it. Check out the baby Wallaby in the mamma's pouch!

Hanging out :)

Whatchu looking at?

It's warm and I am happy!

Reminded me of home--had to take a picture :)

Rain's lookout. He loves the roof of the old school house

I see you.

These two playing around

Indy catching himself a bug

Pretty little flowers :)

ThrowBack Thursday

(Click on the picture to see a larger version)

Wow, this picture was taken almost 5 years ago! This is from a Gym Master homeshow my Sophomore year at Southern Adventist University. The start of a girls trio  routine. I miss gymnastics and acrobatics so bad. It was such a fun way to stay in shape, form lifelong friendships, and witness for Christ. 

I can still remember this routine like the back of my hand. Awesome music, choreography, and acrobatic moves. The umbrellas were also some awesome props for parts of the routine. And Alex's fun facial expressions cannot go unnoticed either. :) What a hilarious dude! Life was good.

Pin that Party

I guess Pinterest parties are the "in thing" right now. And it totally makes sense seeing as how addicting Pinterest can be. :) My friend Regan had a birthday last week and we wanted to have a girls' night to celebrate. So this definitely made the perfect excuse to host one at my house. We tried out some new recipes and also did a cool craft. We did Italian and boy, let me just say, the food was amazing! If you want the recipes go to the Recipe tab for more of the delicious details. I'll post some pictures below of the food.

Sliced tomatoes with olive oil drizzled on top, a little mozzarella cheese, and some fresh parsley, broiled in the oven. Mouth watering!

To die for French bread with a fresh garlic, parsley, artichoke, butter spread. So good!

Lasagna rolls!

For our pinterest craft we decorated glass cups. The cool thing is, was that we could all do the same craft but they would come out different and you can use them for multiple things. I was the least crafty and artistic person at the party but I do have to say, I had a blast! This easy craft could be a candle votive, something to keep q-tips or other supplies in, or use for other decorative purposes. And did I mention that it was super easy?! The only supplies you need are q-tips, some paint brushes if you want to get really crafty, spray on mod podge, and acrylic paint. Once you're done decorating and let the paint dry, take the cups outside and spray the mod podge and let dry. I would suggest to spray in the grass :)

One of my crafty crafts!

Regan's perfect glass

Leslie had some skill too!

Both of my glasses

Some of our supplies

Regan and her fancy "Laylee Bug" glass for her baby girl Laylee

I do have to add, not all of Pinterests ideas are successes. We had one failure. Brownies. We attempted to follow what was suppose to be a "super easy", quick brownie recipe that you make in a waffle maker. Umm, yea. Did not work. Whoever came up with that idea did not know what they were doing! Check it out...

I do have to say, it cooked through all the way and it tasted good with some whipped cream and strawberry topping! So, in the end we did get to enjoy the chocolate goodness!

Over the Hill--It's a New Decade!

So, James's birthday was on the 25th and it wasn't just a birthday it was his 30th birthday! So, of course, I had to plan something to celebrate the big occasion. The day of his birthday was a Monday so I knew I probably was not going to be able to do something on his actual birthday (which I was okay with, because I don't think I would have been able to pull off a surprise!). So, I took him down to Tulsa, OK (about an hour and a half from our house and the biggest town close to us). He loves Carrabba's so I took him out for some dinner. I had also blown up some balloons and put a "Happy Birthday" banner up that morning before he woke up. Which, not very surprisingly, James didn't see the banner til like three hours after he was out of bed! What can I say, he's oblivious to some things, and that's one thing that I love about him and makes me smile :)

Sorry, couldn't help but add a picture of the kitties helping James celebrate!

The birthday boy on his birthday!

So, for the celebration I planned a surprise party and had it at one of my friend's house on the Saturday night after his birthday. We told James that their family was having a get-together/game night and that they wanted me to bring my fruit pizza bites (look in my Recipe tab for the recipe!). I wasn't sure whether or not I would be able to pull it off but we totally got him and he was surprised! When we pulled up to the house my friend Regan came to the door and was talking to us as we walked in. We both kinda stood back and talked while James went through the door and BAM! He walks in to everyone singing Happy Birthday!! 

From there people starting eating and hanging out. I, on the other hand, had something up my sleeve. I passed around a notebook and pen and told everyone to write down something funny or embarrassing that they wanted James to do. What I didn't tell them until I got the list back was that they were the ones who were going to perform for the birthday boy :) Mwahahahahaha! Man, did I get some people! Their faces were priceless! I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to but I got some good video footage (still trying to figure out how to edit and stitch the videos together...). Here are a few of the things people put on the list for "James" to do:

• Hold your nose and sing twinkle twinkle little star
• Imitate you wife (yes, this guy imitated ME!)
• Sing 3 rounds of Old MacDonald
• Say the alphabet backwards
• Do a gymnastics move
• Rap
• And a few other fun and embarrassing tasks :)

Another fun game I had planned was asking James personal questions. If his answers didn't match up the answers I had previous gotten from his sister Trish and his mom than he had to eat a bite of cake. Ok, you're probably thinking cake? Really?! REALLY! My friend Regan had a little fun making a cake with lots of yummy ingredients: vinegar, cayenne pepper, some nasty seasonings, BBQ powered stuff, etc. I originally wanted to use marshmellows and have him stuff one in his mouth for each question that he got wrong but I kinda forgot to get them from the store...so the cake it was. Here is a picture of the tasty treat. Don't be deceived. That thing smelled awful! It looked like a spice cake, though, inside so that was pretty cool :)

But don't worry, I got a real cake too. I wanted to upload a video of the cake eating/question asking fun but Blogger is being weird tonight. Maybe another time. Anyways, here are just a few pictures from the party. Like I said, I didn't get a chance to take too many. We finished the night off by playing some fun group games like Trifecta, Mafia, Psychology, and some others. Not everyone stayed til the end but we had a blast until 12am.