Maryland

So I am finally back blogging... I really need to get better at sitting down and posting something. But I have the same feeling as my wonderful husband.... is my life that wonderful to blog about and do people really want to read about it? But for you suckers that are out there that sit down and think your are going to read something wonderful on our little blog here it goes!
For Easter I heading east to Maryland to visit my sister and her husband, Blake. Blake moved about to Maryland about 2 years ago and when they got married last July she made the move. I have missed her so much so it was so nice being able to get out to see her. Jennifer is a 5th grade teacher for a private school and she was on spring break the week of Easter so it was the ideal time to head out there. If you are a follower of our little blog, you may say well "I thought her brother was at her house". Yes you are right my brother and his family left Wednesday morning and Thursday morning I was at the airport at 5 a.m.
When I landed in Baltimore Jen picked me up and we went to lunch then shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We got back to the house and Blake got home then we just hung around waiting for Blake's brother Brian and his wife to come. Brian and Katelyn were driving down from Canada. We ate dinner in which was soooo good! By the way Jen, I need that recipe.

Friday morning we headed to D.C. for the day. I was pretty excited to see the city again. It was nice that we just wandered around and went in the museums that we wanted to. We went to a Mexican restaurant call Laurel Plaza, it was so delicious.

(us at Laurel Plaza)
It was a sweet place on a corner that had outside seating although we didn't get seated outside it was still a wonderful place to eat. We were going to hit some other museums before we headed home. Us girls went to the Natural History Museum and the boys headed to the Air and Space Museum. As we were walking towards the car we noticed that it wasn't there. At first I thought we went to the wrong building but NO! We got all the way down where we parked the car and sure enough we parked in a no parking time zone!! So this was a first for me... I never had to deal with a car being towed. We were handling this well but Jen. Her knee was so swollen you couldn't even see her knee cap. No she didn't fall down as she usually does. We think it was caused by all the walking. So instead of walking to the impound we haled a cab. All five us cramped into this cab and the cabby acted like he didn't know the address. But we were in his hands so we all sat in completed silence. As we got closer to the impound I was quite as mouse... which is SO UNCOMMON... I was praying to the good Lord that we wouldn't get shot at. I was kinda thankful that I was sitting down low in the cab because I didn't want to catch a bullet! We were in the GHETTO so to say. The cab driver dropped us off and took off. We were standing outside this building and to the looks of it no one was there. We were all standing between the little gate and the window with bars on it. I stayed close to the building and low... I watch crime shows! I wasn't taking any chances! Soon enough we saw a car come around the building and the driver pointed us in the right direction. We picked up the car and we all decided it was time to go home!
Saturday Jen stayed home due to her knee and the rest of us headed out to Mt. Airy for a day of wine tasting. I am not much of a wine drinker but it is always fun going on tours. Well it was rainy so we skipped the tour and went straight for the wine! The first place we got to taste 28 wines because we got a cheese tray. They gave us these crackers also and I thought they were "The best crackers I have ever had" (right Blake) so I had to buy them. The next place was really neat and for $20 you got 5 glasses of wine and chocolates paired with it. Katelyn and I were all for the chocolate, so we sat down and so enough we were feeling fine!

After a stumbling walk to the restroom we headed home. On the trip home I begged Blake to stop anywhere, I just needed a bathroom yet again and some food. So we ended up at Burger King. I can't believe I am going to telling you this! I went to the counter to order after Katelyn placed the BK crown on my head. I was so proud that I was the new announced queen, I didn't take that crown off till we got up the apartment!


Well Easter morning Blake, Jen and I went to church then we got back to the apartment to eat breakfast then we were off to Annapolis for the day. I loved Annapolis, the weather was a bit chilly at first especially by the water. The first thing we did was take a boat tour, it was so neat to see the Navy Academy right by the water. By the time we got off the boat it was warming up and we just walked the streets and shopped. Annapolis is just a charming town and I would defiantly go again. For lunch we ate at this Pub... I forgot the name of it! It was super good, I had fish and chips. I have to say I have some of the best food on this trip! But isn't that what you are supposed to do... eat a lot of great food????? Well I am going to stay YES!

Cycling & Warm Weather

Hey everybody, this is Deric. I haven't written in our secret public journal for a long time because I have been writing over at my other blog. However, I thought I would stop by for an update. Things have been going well this spring for Amanda and I. As you have probably read, we have had quite a few visitors in the past several weeks. I think all of the visits are done for now, so it will be back to the normal grind for a while. We will probably head north in the next few months, but we haven't made any plans yet. Here in Arkansas the weather has really improved in the past couple weeks. This week has been our best of the year by far. Yesterday Amanda didn't have to work so she spent the day outside planting flowers. Our landscaping looks good, I am sure we will post some pictures shortly. Our grass still isn't green though. It takes forever for the Bermuda grass to green up, but at least I haven't had to start mowing yet. I am sure I will have to mow in the next couple weeks. While it is still brown you can see each and every weed in the yard, so I have removed or killed them all. It is nice to know there isn't even one weed in the yard, it gives me a sense of accomplishment.
The nice weather this week has finally allowed me to start consistently cycling. I am probably going to join the Tyson racing team this summer, though I don't plan on doing any actual races. Joining the team will give me a group of people to ride with, and hopefully give me a lot more motivation this year. I rode 4 out of the 5 days this week. I was planning on doing a 30 mile ride today, but my legs are pretty sore from the week, and it is REALLY windy out today. I decided to wimp out and stay home. I took the dogs out for a long walk this morning for my exercise. The rest of the day will be spent relaxing, doing laundry and cleaning up the house.
-peace

More Vistors

The Saturday before Easter my brother, his wife and their 4 kids came down for spring break. Now you may say brother? Yes I have 2 brothers, Steve and Chris. The boys are from my dad's first marriage. We didn't grow up in the same household but as we all got older my brothers came back into our lives.
Kimmie, my sister-in-law, called a few weeks before spring break to see if they could come down to visit. They have never been down to see us and haven't taken a family vacation either. So this was the perfect opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone". Chris and Kimmie drove through the night on Friday so they made it to our place on Saturday mid morning. I was at work but Deric brought them up to the salon so I could get all the hair cuts done. I was so excited to see the kids, we haven't seen each other since July at my sister's wedding. They have 3 boys, Riley (8), Tyler(5), Kraige(3), and baby Lexie (1). It was the second time I had seen my niece so that was really neat to see how big she had gotten.




Those boys are defiantly Mimi's boys when we are all together (My nickname when I was little and still used is Mimi). I like to think that the boys and I have this special bond that nobody else has with them. They want my attention all the time. It is quite sweet.
Sunday was a special day because Mr. Tyler was turning 5 years old. We have missed a lot of birthdays with all of our nieces and nephews so this was so awesome that I got to throw Ty a little party. He had requested a Batman cake so when the boys were sound a sleep I starting making my first Batman cake! I had made the fondant on Friday so I didn't have to worry about doing that. Ty woke up wanting to see his cake right away. It was so nice to see him get so excited about it.





That night I took all of them to "Jump Zone". It is this warehouse full of huge blowup slides and moonwalks. It was SOOOO FUN! Even us grownups get to play. We had 3 full hours of running and jumping.... that equals total exhaustion!





Monday Chris and Kimmie went out exploring the area and I had the day off so I had all the kids for the day. We played games and just hung around the house till Chris and Kimmie got back. Once they got home we took the kids to Target so they could spend their birthday money they had been saving. We met Deric at "Fast Lanes" that night for dinner and bowling. That place is really neat. It has bowling, arcade and laser tag, however we just bowled in the cosmic room and ate dinner.
I had to work Tuesday so when I heading to work the boy were "taking a nap". I say it like that because I guess after a few hours of them just laying there, no sleeping was involved. They hung at the house then went out for Mexican that night and got home and went to bed because they were leaving Wednesday morning when I left for work.I was heading out to see my sister in Maryland for Easter and had to be at the airport at 5 a.m on Thursday, so they left early so I could get ready for my trip. Details and pictures of that trip to come in the next blog! But for now here are a few more pictures. I was trying so hard to get a really good picture of me and the kids.....








This was the best one of I think 10! They are such funny kids!

Spring Break

Spring break is happening everywhere in every state. Arkansas spring break was this past week and all my clients were talking about where they were going. Although we didn't go anywhere, Linda and Nikohl did. Deric and I spent the first part of last week with his mom and niece. We had so much fun! It was nice just having the two of them come down to see us.
The forecast was looking good for Sunday so we decided to head to the Tulsa zoo for the day. Right after we picked them up from the airport and dropped their stuff off we got back in the car and drove to Tulsa. Deric and I have never been to the Tulsa Zoo and only been to Tulsa one other time. We borrowed our neighbor's GPS, which turned out to be a great idea. That thing is awesome. We relied on it the whole trip. We have to get one! We all had a good time and the weather was great! Monday, I had to go into the salon for a few hours but that afternoon when I got home Kohl wanted me to teach her some belly dance moves. Okay just side note, I have been belly dancing for about 7-8 months now. I Love it. I am in a class and a troupe that will be performing in a few months. After I gave Kohl a lesson it was time for the two of us to go to practice with my troupe. She thought that is was pretty cool and had a lot of fun. We made her work... she had to dance with us, it was super cute!


(Kohl at the Zoo)





On Tuesday I took the whole day off. I told Kohl she was going to help me bake that day and we were going to use fondant to cover the cakes. First we went to the salon and did their hair then the store. While Kohl and I ran in real quick Linda stayed in the car. Turned out that Linda was the smart one as soon as Kohl and I got in to the store we heard rain pouring down. I mean it was solid rain. Linda meant us right outside the doors but when we got to the car the doors were locked. Let me remind you, the rain was coming down so hard I could hardly see. I am screaming "UNLOCK THE DOORS!" to Linda who replied "I can't find the button". Then I yell back" PUT IT IN PARK!!!" The doors unlocked and I jumped into the truck soaked. Meanwhile Kohl got her door open but the wind was blowing so hard she couldn't get it closed until she stuck half of her body outside and pulled the door shut! It looked like she jumped into a lake that is how wet she was!! Once we got home I fixed Nikohl's hair once again then we made the fondant before we went to lunch with Deric. We ate at this really cute coffee cafe called the Iron Horse C.C. I went there with my dad and uncle but it was the first time Deric had gone. After lunch we made our cute little egg shaped chocolate cakes covered in fodant! BOY, they were sugary but good. Deric made dinner that night while Linda and I took Kohl to the new target and she got some new clothes.


(Kohl poring the cake in the pan)



(She is now tinting the fondant, it was a mess!)







I had to work all day Wednesday but Deric took half a day off and they all went shopping. Linda made dinner that night while I was at work. After I got home the girls all ready had their bags packed for the flight out in the morning and we just hung out at the house. It was so much fun and so glad they got to come for a few days. Thanks again Linda for flying you and Nikohl out to see us! We sure did have a great time!






We have a week break then my brother Chris and his family will be here for their kid's spring break! But we will have many more people here, 2 adults and 4 kids! Wish us luck!

Warm Weather Brings Vistors

Two weeks ago we were having temps in the high 70's. When I talked to my parents I told them of the great weather we were having and it must have made an impression on my dad. It was probably two days after I told them about this unheard of weather, my dad told me that he and my "uncle" Jim were coming down for a few days. I say "uncle" because he really is just a great family friend who has become an uncle figure in my life. We haven't seen any family since Christmas so we needed some guests. My Dad and Jim got here on Tuesday night and came up to the salon because I was still working. The next day I planned on just driving them around so they can see the area. When my parents and in-laws have come in the past we never just drive around so it was nice to be able to do that. Jim loves to go into the downtown areas to see where the cities started out like. Deric and I have never stop in downtown so it was as new to me and it was to them. We went to the Daisy Air Rifle Museum that I didn't even know was there! It was pretty neat to see how the Daisy company started and where it is now. We were walking back to the car and I saw one of my clients and she told us where to eat. It was so funny; it was like I was a tourist in my own town! I didn't even know where to eat! She told us to go to the Iron Horse Cafe. It was the cutest little coffee and sandwich shop. I am sure Deric and I will have many more visits there. Then we went to "Junk Shops", which was a lot of fun. It was nice to do that with them, both Dad and Jim love to look at places like that.
On Thursday we had lunch with Deric and some of his coworkers then back out to explore different downtowns. First we had to stop to get a part for our freezer. Good thing the guys came when they did. The evaporator fan motor in our 2 year old GE decided to stop working... it was making this annoying noise that kept get louder and louder. But Dad and Jim fixed it and now you can't hear a thing. So quiet, so nice! After we picked up the part I took them over to a store call Oops. I love Oops. It has everything you can think of. We bought our ladder shelves and a tall vase there a while ago. It is a hit or miss kind of store, but it is still fun to go. After that we headed to Bentonville, which is Wal-Mart town. The headquarters to the biggest retail store is about 10 minutes from our house. I took them to the first ever wal-mart but back then it was called "Walton's Five and Dime". This now museum sits on the Bentonville Square. Once again I forgot my camera but we bought a disposable one for Jim to take pictures. This was our last night with Dad and Jim so I made homemade pizza which was super good! Then I baked cookies for the drive home.
I took some pictures but they were all taken that last night the guys were here. Thanks again to Dad and Jim! We loved having you here! Come back soon!



my dad and I




Uncle Jim and I

Sweet Treats

I have been so eager to bake something. I think this feeling has been sparked by a new blog that my friend Val introduced me to. You can find the link on the side of our page. The woman behind "Bakerella" is hands down the best I have ever seen. She is best know for cake pops which she was on Martha for. She was the inspiration of the latest cake I baked.
Another stylist at work needed to get a cake for her little girl's 5th birthday. She is a single mom raising 2 children on her own. When she told me she couldn't find anyone around to make her daughter a "Littlest Pet Shoppe" Cake. I jumped right in. My brain starting filling with all kinds of ideas. I was just so excited that I could bake something and not have to be tempted by the sweet cake sitting around my house.
So when I got home I sat right down at the computer and started searching for cake ideas. I found a few cute ones but I wanted to come up with something original. So on Friday when I was done at the salon I went to Hobby Lobby to get a cute cake pan and went straight home. I had called Val and asked her to come over to help. We were really wanting to fondant something, but since neither of us had before we threw out that idea and stuck to butter cream! We had such a great time making this cake and I was so glad I got to bake and decorate something! Val and I make a pretty good team! Our very first themed caked turned out wonderful..... I think! Thanks again Val Pal!

Things are a little slick around here!

As of Monday afternoon I had my first auto accident.  My high school vehicle was involved in a hit and run accident while it was parked, but this was my first real accident.
I decided to go to the salon to pick up my schedule book that afternoon because we were supposed to get ice and snow that night. I wanted to go for a couple of reasons... the first was to get my book so I could call my clients if the weather got bad. The second reason I wanted to go to the salon on my day off was to see the new wall color. Yes!!! We finally got rid of the blue paint! No more blue hole for me!!! (sorry side note)
So after I told Deric that I wasn't going to go anywhere I got out on semi slick roads.  I also thought I would take the dogs with me since they never go anywhere except to the vet. I do drive a 4 wheel drive SUV but of course not thinking, I didn't switch it over to 4 wheel. We were heading to the salon and I have to cross over the interstate, knowing the road conditions weren't the best I slowed down at the bridge. I started to fish tail in the middle of the bridge then some strong force from somewhere whipped me 180 degrees to the left and I slammed into the guard rail just passed the bridge. Poor Divot got slammed into the passenger side door then continued to fly forward and hit his little head on the dashboard. I felt like the worse dog mom.... but on the other hand.... little Birdie was sitting on my lap safe and sound. Good thing the airbags didn't deploy.
After the accident I notice that the back end of my truck was in the middle of the road and the passenger side was encased in the metal rail! I backed up from the rail and got out of the way from the oncoming fishtailing traffic.
I called Deric right away and come to his surprise he didn't even know I was out on the roads! He was such a big help.  He called the police for me because I just broke down in the middle of our conversation. All I remember telling him " I don't know what happened, don't have a pen and I have the dogs, Help me!" I didn't have to sit in the car for very long, but while I was sitting there a few people stopped to see if I was okay. This one guy's conversation with me stands out....
He pulls up beside me in a sporty BMW and ask me " Are you okay..... what happened?" So I tell him through tears that I spun around and hit the guard rail. He says " Oh man, do you think it is safe?" Now I just sat there for a minute thinking did he really just ask me that?! I really wanted to reply "Here's your sign!" "Do you think if I drive in the middle really slow that I will be okay? Man, I really hope I don't wreck!" Here I sat alone with two barking dogs, a smashed car and he wants my advice on crossing!
So when the officer got there we filled out paper work and I was back on the road.... did I mention I had to cross over the same bridge. No worries I didn't wreck again.... didn't even slide. Deric ended up coming home early do deal with the car and to come check on me. I did take a pretty hard hit to my knees and my lower back was really hurting. I am feeling much better now. As the night went on the weather got worse. It continued to sleet and ice all night. We have now been stuck in the house since Monday afternoon. I have never seen so much ice in my life. Our tree in the front yard is drooping to the ground. I think it will make it because it is still a young soft tree. Here are some pictures that I took throughout the day on Tuesday.

This does not really show how bad it really is


This is kind of pretty





took this morning.... we had freezing fog last night and today



this truck is parked right behind our drive so we can't get out without fear of hitting it!