Happy Halloween!

Don't eat too much candy!

Brrrrrr

It seems the days of sandals and capri pants are over. It has gotten chilly here! I woke up this morning and it was 47 degrees. This prompted drastic measures...I had to go shopping in my closet! Luckily, I found a pair of jeans and check out these cute shoes. I think Mom bought them for me as a little happy when we were out shopping last year.



Thomas is in Austin for a few days and I went out to run a few errands on my only day off this week. I also stopped by and voted. It felt good to get that done and I'm going to proudly wear my sticker all day!



Enjoy the day,
Deana

Passionate about Pumpkins

I wanted to take a trip out to one of the pumpkin patches in the area and found an address of a church that runs one non-profit. We never seemed to find the time and I think Thomas really didn't want to go since he knew that I'd bring my camera and snap pictures the whole time. We passed by this little area all decorated with pumpkins and hay and I looked over to Thomas.

Me: "If you go with me to get a picture taken I won't make you go to the pumpkin patch."

Thomas: "Let's go!"



The weather is finally cooler and I'm excited about fall and the upcoming holidays. This little cutie is on my door and Thomas scored huge bags of candy at his last food show. We are ready for Halloween!

State Fair FUN

Mom and Dad came to Dallas for the weekend and we spent the entire day on Friday at the Texas State Fair. We walked for miles and miles, watched a cooking demonstration with a famous chef (Nikki flirted with him and received a free pot holder), and pigged out on food that can't be found anywhere else! Here's a few pictures from our great day:


It's Big Tex! He’s 52' tall, a bona fide Texas icon, and he’s the official greeter and ambassador of the State Fair. He gave us a big "Howdy."


Just arriving at the fair and ready for some fun! And food!


The auto show had all the new 2009 models. We had fun shopping for Mom's new SUV. She liked the new Honda CRV the best.


Dad stood there for many minutes completely entranced by the Dodge Charger. I think we also saw some drool.~


Our first snack was the famous Fletcher's corn dog!


It's time to eat again! We all ordered something different so we could share!


This was my pick, Fire and Ice. It is fried pineapple ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream. Yumm!


Thomas' pick was the fried peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich. When he ordered it, the guy yelled, "Gimmee an Elvis!"


Nikki's pick was the fair favorite, chicken fried bacon.


All tuckered out and ready to head home.

10 Things that make me Happy~

I read Stacy Julian's blog where she challenged you to "Give yourself a Present." The idea was to:

• Snap ten or twelve photos of your life right now. Or find recent photos that you've already taken.
• Compile these photos in a mini album
• Keep or carry this album with you, tucked in your purse or desk drawer for one full year.
• Promise to glance through the album every time you stumble upon it or pull it out.
• On October 1st, 2009, create a scrapbook page about your experience.

I wanted to do this challenge, but I didn't have a mini album so I shelved it in the back of my mind. When my Cocoa Daisy October Kit came in the mail and included a small Creative Imaginations Mini Book, I knew this is what I was going to do with it!

I finished it and here's how it turned out! It's pretty simple as I didn't want to use too many bulky embellishments since it was going to be in my purse for a year. I carried it around yesterday for the first day and whenever I even dug around into my purse and just saw it, I smiled!

Our weekend

We spent almost the entire day on Saturday getting ready for the University of North Texas football game. Thomas has been running the sausage booth there for their home games for the past 4 years. I'm usually working on Saturdays, but I went to help out for this one. Even though the game didn't start until 6:00, our day began around 2:00. It involved a lot more work than I anticipated! We loaded up all the equipment and sausage and then stopped by the grocery store and picked up the hoagie rolls. Everything then got unloaded and set up at the stadium. I was in charge of slicing the haogie rolls and cooking the onions and bell peppers.



Thomas cooked all the sausages. The game wasn't too busy since UNT hasn't been winning, but we had a great time!



We finally wrapped it up around 8:30 and stopped at Cracker Barrel for a quick bite. Today we did errands and then some chores around the house. My parents are coming up this weekend, so everything has to be super clean!



Huggles, Deana

Almost Friday!

This one I can be happy about since I'm off this weekend. Thomas gets back from Oklahoma tomorrow too. He's been gone all week and even though I secretly enjoy being home alone sometimes, I hate having to do all the chores. Tomorrow is trash day....icky. Oh, and both cars need gas. Thomas loves how I can run one car out of gas and then the other before he gets back from a trip. I'll do the trash, but I'm not going to get gas. Yes, I'm spoiled.~

One of my favorite blogs to read every day is Emilie Ahern. She is also the founder of another blog called Scrap Faith. I just recently came across this site and have enjoyed it just as much. Plus, all the ladies share fabulous scrapbook pages. They posted a challenge for October and this is my layout that I created.



I love you, family. I pray for you every day. Special huggles to Dad today.

In Loving Memory

Over the weekend, KittyBitty's condition worsened and Monday night she left us. After being with us for 9 years, I caught myself looking for her many times today. She truly was a great cat, definitely irreplaceable. I will miss her so much.

I planted a new rose bush in the backyard today in her honor.

Chocolate Mug Cake

My mother in law, Margaret, emailed me this recipe and I tried it tonight. I typically never use my microwave to cook. I believe microwaves were created only to warm up leftovers! It turned out pretty good for a fast and easy snack.



5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug
4 tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) some nuts (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well . Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT!
(this can serve 2 if you want to share!)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

The latest

Happy Friday! Except for me, I'll be working all weekend. Thomas has the North Texas game on Saturday so he'll be working some as well. We're both off next weekend but he has another football game to work. I committed to helping him and I may get a little scrapbook spending money out of the deal.

A few of layouts that I've been working on lately. These were made for the Bad Girls Kits - Top Designer Contest. I have been eliminated (sniffle) but I'm still doing the weekly assignments for fun.

*Happy Dance*

Oh yes, it's the little things in life that make me happy! I went grocery shopping tonight and found two new light yogurt flavors! They already had such great flavors like key lime pie, apple turnover and white chocolate raspberry...and now they have these!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and Strawberry Shortcake! Yummy!