Giving Thanks, Laughing, Crying, and so Amazed!

So many things to be thankful for! And this one takes the cake. Today has been one of the most incredible, beautiful, momentous days of my life, and for that, I can't give enough thanks. Andy and I are in our 10th week, going on 11 in a couple of days, and our ultrasound today was one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed. After the humdrum and annoying wait in the doctors office, the doc finally came in and listened for a heartbeat. Unable to detect anything, we were a little bummed, but Doc said this early, he has never been able to hear one, and recommended we go ahead and have another ultrasound since we were there. And unbeknown to Andy and I, our whole journey to this point would take on a whole new incredible meaning. We were expecting to see a picture different from the one 4 weeks ago, but what we weren't expecting to see was the Leader of a Marching Band! (Andy's adorable words) Our precious sesame seed has graduated on to becoming a wee little plum, and it was flailing it's little arms all over the place. When the doc would push on it, it would buck like a little bronco and flail those tiny little arms all over again, it was simply...amazing. Andy and I, are at a loss for words, this is simply one of the coolest things either of us have ever experienced, unsure whether to laugh or cry, or laugh AND cry, this is so cool! In the past 4 weeks, our little motionless bean sprout has become a moving, living, growing, breathing, marching band leading, arms flailing, little person! And pretty much the cutest little punkin' head I ever did see. So this Thanksgiving, I have many thanks, and not enough words.

In the picture, the head is on the right, and the little white spot above it, is a little arm. Legs to the left...Our Little Plum. =)

Have you ever...

Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods?
And everything there feels just as it should

You're part of the life there

You're part of something good

If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods

As the leaves changed their colors my feet sprouted wings
and up I flew all the way home

From The Sky

Exhausted beauty. This picture was taken from the plane on the way to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Flying over the ocean you wouldn't think you would see much, but in these parts there are little tiny islands all over the place. Everytime I looked out the window there would be another little island, some of them small enough you could probably walk around in 20 minutes. It wasn't even close to the beauty of what was to come however!

Why the exhausted part? We left Salt Lake International at about 1:00 am and we didn't arive in San Juan until about 2:00 in the afternoon. With a layover in Georgia and cramped plane seats, there wasn't much chance of sleeping. And anyone that knows me, knows I don't do well without sleep. This was the 'rough' part of the trip. But well worth it in the end. =)

I have never seen this on any of the other trips I have taken, but it was pretty neat to be able to see where you were at at all times. The picture above was taken about the same time as this one, so you can see where I was at over the ocean.

Finally decending into Puerto Rico. We were coming for our landing and I snapped a shot. The cloud cover was pretty neat!

Through my eyes

I have seen a lot of beautiful things, and have captured many of them with the lens of my camera. I was going through a bunch of photos and here are a few of the ones I like the most. I remember the moments as if they were yesterday, I smell the air and feel the breeze on my face. Aww, the beauty of it all...everything. No excuses...Carpe Diem.

Andy's Going Global

It's no mystery that I was lucky enough to marry one talented man, and it's about time that someone give him the recognition he deserves. So, it's official, Andy has gone global! He was approached by someone who saw his work and has been featured here:
http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/internet-barn-find-7-andys-pinstriping/

I get to see his awesome work everyday, and am always blown away by the lines he stripes, but now I hope everyone else can be blown away by this artform as well!

And, if I wasn't lucky enough to be married to the guy...check this out:

Fresh stripes on the back of my new ride! Woot Woot

Congratulations Andy!

destination lottery

I decided to take a trip to Malad today to try my hand at the lotto. It's something I used to do often that I haven't done in a long time. Here are a few pics from along the way.

Mint Morsels and Large Explosions

A cupcake a day keeps the doctor away. This weekend I didn't go the traditional 4th of July celebration route as a theme for my cupcakes. I opted for something easy, and this time, out of the box. Chocolate cupcakes with an Andes Mint surprise baked in the middle, mint frosting and some pink nonpareils. And while the cupcakes may have not fit the spirit of the holiday, the other photos should speak loud and clear. I hope you all had a happy fourth!

Little things.

Little things all around, growing into big things. Life is a splendid and beautiful thing, and comes in all shapes, colors and sizes. Andy and I planted a big garden in our backyard this year, and it has been so fun seeing things take shape and grow. I imagine it is much like watching a child grow in some ways. Day to day something just a little different. So here are a few snapshots of the 'little things' from around the yard.

She dreams in hues of Lavender

Just Like Peas in a Pod

Master of my Own Domain

What's the Dill-e-o

In a hurry

Has anyone seen where I put my brain?

So, it has been a rough couple months. Work has been insane and there has been no time to come up for air. Day's come and go, and quite frankly, as of lately, I don't seem to know the who's what's when's and where's outside of work. Needless to say, I did the one thing, I hoped I would never do. The one thing I am always hounding my brother about doing a better job at! I FORGOT MY MOM's FRIGGEN BIRTHDAY! The most awesome woman in the world, the female I most look up to, the best Mom a person could ask for, and I totally spaced her friggen birthday! If it had not been for her being the most understanding person I know and dropping me a hint, I am afraid to say, I probably wouldn't have recognized my ignorance until who know's when. She knew I was on another planet (metaphorically speaking) and she sent me the cutest e-mail letting me know, but assuring me, that it was no big deal, for she knew if I recognized my error a month from now, I would have been mortified! So, I took her special request and made her lemon cupcakes to make up for it. Unfortuneatly I don't have pictures of them, but they were lemon cupcakes, with Lemon Pastry Filling in the middle, Lemon Frosting, and to top it off, white chocolate flowers with mint chocolate leaves for decoration. She said that they were her favorite so far, and dad liked them too. Ah, Sweet Redemption. So, Since I don't have a picture of the cupcakes, I will post a picture of the two of us from a while back. I love you Mom.

This picture was taken a few years ago on our trip to Vegas to see INXS play. 'Twas a blast! **What the Eff is 411** ha ha ha, oh man, good times.

Birthday Flop!

So, there is a reason why I make cupcakes...it's because real cakes are not my bag. I attempted to make a kick ass cake for my Brother's Birthday, and well, it just didn't turn out. The middles kept sinking in, the possible causes of which were endless, and I was out of time. I should have known that morning the whole process was going to be a challenge, why? you ask... A) My mixer quit working in the middle of preparing the batter and B) the microwave BLEW UP! Like as in ZAP! BANG! BOOM! 'OMG there is a fire' sort of blew up. Needless to say, I had made plenty of batter, so after several failed attempts at making the tiers for my cake I resorted to what I know I am capable of...little miniature delights, it's a cake aint it? They were chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream frosting, topped off with a milky way mini. I had all the best intentions of making a phenominal first cake, but hey, what can you do? These little things turned out tasty enough, and the bro liked them...the most important part.

So here is the failed attempt at the 'cake'

And here is the 'cake' as it ended up. =)

Would you like one?

Latest Creations and Goings-on

I was really hoping for some sunshine to take this picture in, but it doesn't seem as though that's going to happen. It seems like all it does is rain around here lately. But, this here is my latest cupcake creation. It's strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting dusted with pink glitter and nonpareils. I also made the rose on top out of fondant and then coated it with pink luster dust, sadly the picture doesn't pick that up very well. This weekend I will be trying my hand at my first tiered cake, so we will see how that goes. I think I might go for a topsy turvy theme, and I am a little skeered about it, hopefully it wont be a complete disaster.

And on another note, here are a few pics from around the yard over the past few weeks. I think this ladybug was doing more than just hitching a ride. =) I can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like this, it was pretty amazing watching them zoom around on the rock like that.

Saint Jude watching over the garden. Poor guy has an aphid in his beard. On some of the other pictures it was on his forehead and then on his mouth, I didn't even notice it until I had the pictures downloaded.

And last but not least, how about some blue skies with Iris'. I sure would love to have blue skies back! At least with a picture, we can pretend.