I LOVE a Good Bargain!!

Even when I am not on a budget, which I am on a serious one right now, I love a good bargain!! Most people get excited to tell others how expensive something they bought is. NOT me!! I love to tell people when I got something for cheap!! I have this super cute pair of shoes and everyone always compliments me on them when I am out an about. My favorite thing to say is, “they were $7.00”!! I get very excited over this and nobody ever believes me.

My absolute favorite store is Target; I mean you can get EVERYTHING there from cleaning stuff, shoes, super cute clothes, milk, gifts all the way to dog vitamins and all at a reasonable price.

Well back to my bargain. The other day I was just cruising through Target, not looking to buy anything just there for the entertainment (yes I consider strolling down the isles of Target entertainment, remember I am on a budget) and I find this SUPER cute pink sweater!! Score #1, its pink and Score #2 it was $4.68!! It was originally $16.99!! I even saved the tag so I could tag a picture but I don’t remember where I put it. Hehehe.

I tried snapping a couple pictures of me sporting my new sweater with out a ton of success, but you get the idea!

Pretty cute, uh?

Like I said I am on a budget now so this was perfect for me!! I got a new shirt in my favorite color and barely spent anything! It must have been my lucky day because any time you can get a sweater for $4.68 you are having a great day!! So my advice to you, shop the clearance/sale sections at Target, I ALWAYS find good deals.

WOW!! The Land of Magical Things!!

The other night when we were out to dinner with friends it just happened to come up that I thought Danny’s World of Warcraft character looked a little gay…

Just in case you aren’t familiar with what World of Warcraft is I will give you a quick run down of the game how I understand it. For those of you that are all too painfully aware of what the game is, shout out to Melissa and Sheila; just skip down a paragraph. WOW is an online multiplayer, role-playing game. It is often referred to as World of Warcrack and the wives/girlfriends of the players are called WOW Widows. So an addictive game to say the least. I asked Danny for a brief description of the game but he gave me the technical run down and that isn’t what I wanted. So you get the game from Heather’s view (which is far better but maybe not as accurate)! It is a bunch of guys with a random girl tossed in here and there running around in a magic world, speaking magical talk, fighting in raids, building up different characters (all with magical names…dwarfs, elves, trolls, mages, warlocks and warriors) to a level 70 (the highest level you can be). They quest, go to the auction house to buy magical stuff (what else would they buy) and I think that about covers it! So you totally understand the game now, right? Hehehe.

Often times the group will get together and have LAN parties. What is a LAN party you ask? It is where they all bring their computers to one house, set them up and play in the very same room! As opposed to when they play at their own houses where they use super cool headsets to talk to each other, I mean warlocks and warriors need to stay in constant contact, right? (I do actually LOVE to host the LAN parties though…any excuse for having a party and being the hostess!!) In fact a couple of weekends ago we went to our friends Melissa and David’s house…Danny and Dave were playing in the same room but still the headsets were a MUST!!

I make fun of Danny for playing it but, seriously I know that if I were to give it a try I would be hooked. A couple years back I got SIMS Online and I was crazed about it!! I would run home from work, race past Danny (toss a quick kiss his way) and plop down at my computer and hang out with my SIMS till all hours of the night!! It was great!! Plus my SIM was HOT!! Hehehehe!!

So back to the point of Danny’s character looking a little gay…I mean do guys wear Capri pants? I am pretty sure they don’t but Danny’s WOW guy did!! But hey…I guess it does go well with his pony-tale (postioned DIRECTLY on top of his head)!! It was decided at that dinner (thanks for your support Tom and Sheila), that Danny's character needed an update.So here is the official debut of Danny’s new character (Stabjack)!! What do you think??

“Nutritious” and Delicious!!

I am really focusing hard on eating healthy and staying fit!! So when it came time from my afternoon snack at the office this is what I selected!

Sugar Wafers and Diet Coke SCREAMS nutrition!! Hehehe…hey most of the time I am good about eating healthy. It is Friday and Fridays are made for diet breaks, right!?!?! Hehehehe!!

Flag Football and the Return of the Regulator

So this Sunday marked the start of Danny’s “Adult Flag Football League”. Well I guess I shouldn’t say the start since they did have their first game last weekend and I was just “unable” to make it (a whole different story that involves me being smarter than Danny in some regions of the world and my “good girl” headband…don’t ask). I guess I just think things don’t really start until I am there (hehehe).

Sunday morning we packed up the kids (and by kids I mean Aspen and Gracie…don’t get excited anyone thinking that all of the sudden we sprouted some babies) and headed to the field. The field is super nice!! It has fake turf and stands for all the “fans” to watch…the only thing that is missing is the snack bar! I freakin L-O-V-E snack bars!! I think they may be one of my favorite things on the planet…and if you know me you know I am not kidding!!

So back to the game. Danny’s team is pretty funny; their name is FOG which I THINK stands for Fat Old Guys or something close to that. They aren’t really old…they are all 30-40 years old but I guess some people think that is old. Come to think of it, they have been practicing for the last 2 months and it always seemed that at least half of them were at practice with injuries, so maybe they are old…hehe, sorry guys…but I can say for sure that you aren’t fat!!

Right before the game starts Danny comes to the stands to grab his water bottle and was all pumped up. He said, “Look at who that is! It is Warren G!! He is on my flag football team!”. So me with my super cool skills look at the big tall white guy and say, “who?” Danny who is totally used to me lack of cool music knowledge said, “Not him, you know Warren G, the rapper!” Hehehe. So anyways Warren G is on Danny’s flag football team!

With the game under way I am designated to take pictures. Aspen and Gracie are left to entertain themselves; mind you I have the best dogs in the world! I take them off their leashes and they just hang out greeting anyone new to the stands and in general just being cute!! Gracie was sporting her brand new collar and matching leash…pink polka dots of course!!

Here is a shot of Warren G (he is the one on the right,with the white thing on his head):

Danny said something about Warren leaving his assigned coverage and making them lose the whole game. That darn Warren G. always causing trouble.

I made friends with one of the players wives that was there, she was super nice but I forgot to get her name so I will call his Mrs. #14 (her husbands #). This was her first game also so it was fun for both of us to see the guys play. There was this one guy on the other team that CRACKED us up. Every time he did something good in the game he would say, “That is right, I am the play maker. Just call me the play maker!!”

This is the play maker and Danny trying to stop him from making a play…hehehe:

Here is a shot of the games MVP the one to the far left…but maybe I am partial:

They had some strange rules in the game that I didn’t understand…like you can’t jump. Your feet must remain on the ground at all times. I don’t understand that but ok…a rule is a rule.

The guys put in a great game but didn’t win this time around; the final score was 20-6. I hope it wasn’t me because last weekend they won 21-0. I guess we will have to see how this weekend turns out. Now if only their were a snack bar all would be right in the world…

February 14th!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Love,

Danny, Heather, Aspen and Gracie

Little Bites of Heaven...Otherwise Know as CUPCAKES!!

I have recently become obsessed with cupcakes!! Well I guess that I shouldn’t say recently. I have always loved them and baked them for family occasions, work and friends birthdays… I even have a pair of cupcakes PJ’s. BUT the obsession that has started recently isn’t necessarily about getting them to taste better (well somewhat it is…my cupcakes are pretty yummy already) it is about expanding my cupcake repertoire. Yes…I said it…my cupcake repertoire!!

One of my cupcake books!

My new apron!!

I want to be able to make prettier cupcakes, the kind that everyone looks at and says these are too pretty to eat!! What is my plan of attack on expanding the cupcake repertoire? To date…I have purchased a cupcake apron (I will need it for all the baking I plan on doing…practice makes perfect), two cupcake books (research is key), frosting supplies, fondant supplies and I am currently eyeing three other cupcakes books…yes I said THREE (remember research is key)!!

This is what my cupcakes of today look like:

This is what I want my cupcakes of tomorrow to look like:

So if you have a birthday coming up let me know and I will send some cool cupcakes your way (I love giving gifts custom made to people’s personality)!! But remember this is the beginning of my cupcake empire…don’t expect miracles!!

Richard M. Nixon – Our 37th President

So with everything that has been going on in our lives (for those of you that know me, you know what I am talking about) Danny and I finally had some time on our hands to start doing stuff for us again. So this last Saturday we went to the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace, I know this might not seem like fun to a lot of you but I LOVE this kind of stuff. I was giddy from the moment we pulled into the parking lot…it was the same feeling I get when I go to Disneyland.

First I will start off by saying that I have the WORLDS BEST BOYFRIEND (don't argue with me that yours is better...I will win)!! A loonnngg time ago…I made a list for Danny of random things that I wanted to do such as going to the Zoo, going bowling and going to the Richard Nixon Library. I know, I am a girl with big dreams!! Hehehe. Next to each thing that I wanted to do I put the date that I had decided I wanted to do this…this way Danny couldn’t get out of it by saying it was something I had just asked to do…I am a smart girl! Well bless Danny’s heart he has had the weight of the world on his shoulders the last couple of years, just an insane amount of pressure. So one day I was sitting at work and I start getting all this calendar invites for the outings I had listed so long ago…Danny had taken the time to schedule each and every one of them (that were currently possible). I felt special. (I also was happy that I have a boyfriend who enjoys doing these types of things with me.)

The day at the Library was a great one. We got up early, took the dogs to the vet and the bill came to much less than I thought!! Off to a great start, then we headed home, dropped off the babies and it was off to the library.

I won’t bore you with all the details of the library, because I know some of you might not find it as fascinating as I do, but the library day went something like the following. We arrived at the library, got in for the student price=SCORE, looked around the lobby, then started the main portion of the museum. Side note: weekends are excellent days to go to museums…far less crowded. We quietly walked through this portion of the library, reading letters and looking at memories. Richard Nixon accomplished so much and lived a life with many “peaks and valleys”. In the museum they have a letter he wrote to a friend that suffered a stroke, expressing concern and offering assistance, just hours after writing the letter President Nixon suffered the stroke that would cause his death several days later. One of Danny’s favorite items in the library was this picture from Nixon’s funeral:


He said, “Those were the five most powerful men in the world, at that time, all sitting in one row…WOW!”

I so want to go into all the details of Nixon and his wife Patricia but I am realizing this post is already way to long for most people. After getting halfway through the museum portion, we headed back to watch a movie. This was great!! It was filmed when the library originally opened in 1990 and Richard Nixon speaks about his life as a president and as a man. My favorite part was a section where is talked about peaks and valleys, he said that he has been in some low valley’s in his life and that he believes it isn’t possible to be happy in life with out these valley’s because you would never be able to truly appreciate the peaks.

After the inspirational movie, I turned to Danny with “that” look on my face and he said, “what do you want?’ and I said, “can I buy a book today…please?” Of course Danny’s response was, “I knew that was coming as soon as the movie started!”

We headed back out into the main portion of the museum and finished up there. Again we learned some AMAZING things about Richard Nixon…I wish I could tell you all of them.
Once you complete the museum portion you head outside to see the burial site for Mr. and Mrs. Nixon, the last time I was here was just days after he was laid to rest. To me the greatest part of the library is that is built around the house that Nixon was born and raised in. They house holds many “original” items, including the bed that our 37th President was born in!

Just being able to walk in the house he walked in so many times is inspirational. He came from small beginnings and worked for everything he had.

They also have the helicopter, “Sea King”, which served Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. You are able to walk through the helicopter which is and added bonus…again I don’t know if I am weird but I seriously got the chills thinking about the men who walked into that helicopter before me. This is the actual helicopter President Nixon left the white house in, the famous shot where he turns around to say good-bye to his staff and displays the two peace signs.
I know I have bored you all to death and I swear that wasn’t my intention but I just get so excited about this type of stuff. I will end this posting with a few final thoughts.

I am fully aware of the fact that when most people think of Richard Nixon the first thing that comes to mind is Watergate and “I am not a crook.”…this is so sad for me because I think he was a great president and even more importantly a great man. He accomplished so many things like during his life. I believe that Nixon resigned his Presidency not because he was a crook but because he honestly felt it was the best thing for our county, he was willing to sacrifice. As President Nixon said, “I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as president I must put the interests of America first. Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.” Presidents before and after him, have done worse and not been as passionate about our country.

On a side note if I was in to the whole big wedding thing, I would have my wedding here in a heartbeat. It is so beautiful and full of AMAZING history.

Next on the list, Ronald Reagan Library…they have an Air Force One…how perfect is that!?!?

Yes I did get my book (remember I have the best boyfriend in the whole world), A Life in Full, Richard M. Nixon. It is just over a 1,000 pages and I have set the goal to read at least 10 pages a day. All in all a very humbling and inspirational day!!

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits. – Richard M. Nixon