You know what the best gifts are?  The thoughtful ones.

Like moisturizing hand soap from my friend Jamie.

I wash my hands so much when I do cake that they crack and bleed.  Dish soap probably isn't the best thing to wash them with anyways, so she got me this!  It smells so good!!

 And a hide-a-key from my friend Kira.  Because I lock myself out of my car about once a month.

These girls might have saved my life.  Or at least my hands from cracking and locksmith fees.

deceber 27

Today is my little sister's birthday!  Her sweet 16!!  She is really little, right?  I am the midget of the family.  I can't believe she is already 16!

I dropped ZaeLia off for her surgery this morning.  I left the vet just before 8:00 and cried the whole way home.  My anxiety was out of control so I went running because I figured that was better than taking a Xanax.  It helped a lot.  Now I am just sitting here, wrapped in my electric blanket trying to get motivation to work on my next cake.  I am a little sick to my stomach though and I don't want to really do anything until the vet calls and lets me know she is out of surgery and ok.  I can't go get her until around 4:00.  It's going to be a really long day.

I tried out my Vibram shoes this morning!!  My knees don't hurt and I didn't even wear my brace!  I am pretty excited about that!  The bottoms of my feet are a little sore and I have a small blister on the left foot, but that is normal with any new shoe when you are breaking them in.  I am really excited about them!!  I am either getting used to their weirdness or I am losing my mind because I am kinda thinking they are cute :-)

Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is over already. I swear it's the fastest day of the year!!  I got to spend it with lots of family and we got way too spoiled!!  Right now I am blogging from my new laptop from my MIL.  She also got me the Harry Potter series!!  I just borrowed them when I read them so I have been wanting them for years.  My mom got me my Vibram five finger running shoes.  I love them!!  We even got a new printer and gun safe.  That thing is already FULL!  We have so many guns.  How was your Christmas?  Leave a comment with a link to your blog with your Christmas story so I can check it out!!
I can't believe it's almost 2011.  This year flew by.  So many good things have happened this year.  We got married, visited Hawaii, I finished cake classes, registered for school, Josh got two promotions, we went hunting together for the first time, I got a lot closer with my in-laws.  I LOVED 2010 and I am a little sad to see it end.  I hope 2011 is just as geat!

Merry Christmas Eve

I gave up my romantic Christmas Eve dinner to spend it with these girls.  And I couldn't be more excited.  My sisters are my favorite!!  And I might have cried when my lover said it was fine if we did dinner with my family instead.  I really love that guy.  I avoided cleaning my room this month because last time I called my sister crying... we always had to clean our room together if we wanted Santa Clause to come.  Last year I did it alone and called her bawling because I missed doing it together.  I maybe have a hard time not living with these guys anymore.  I will probably always be five.  I hope you all have such a Merry Christmas!!  I will talk to you all next week!  Say hello and tell me your plans tomorrow!  Pretty please?  I love hearing people's different traditions.

new cake

Go HERE to check out more pictures of my latest cake.

I might have fallen down the stairs today.  Twice.  And ran my leg over with a car.  Don't you hate it when it hits that tendon??  Ouch!!

that time I called them Rio Speedwagon

Last year I pierced my little sister's belly button.  She wouldn't stop asking and I am basically pro.

When I was about 11 I was looking through my parents vinyls.  I really like the record player a lot.  I laughed when I found roll paper in the Cheech and Chong album.  I sang "Hey Jude" when I found The Beatles album.  And then I asked who Rio Speedwagon is.  They laughed for like a year then told me it is REO Speedwagon.  My bad.  I didn't think it was that funny.  But I fell in love with them.  My ringtone is "Time For Me To Fly."  I love, love, LOVE it!!  Well every time REO is on the radio my family thinks it's funny to say, "Hey, it's Rio Speedwagon!"  Ah ha ha ha... funny guys.  I thought I might have finally outgrown this.  It had been a while since I had heard it.  And then I got home from work and my lover was watching an REO concert on DirecTV.  And I asked why Ellen DeGeneres was playing a guitar...  I might never live it down.  Facepalm.

lacking motivation

My baby sister on Christmas last year.  Isn't she cute!!  People always think she is mine.

I have so much Christmas spirit.  I am dyyyying for Christmas.  Mostly I am just dying for time away from this place.  I think we need a time out from each other.  All we ever do is fight.  I used to like my job, but it has really gone down hill.  I have so much Christmas spirit that I don't have any room left inside me for motivation.  And I am swamped.  I have so much stuff that I really need to get done.  Yet here I am, blogging.

Do you know where I will be spending Christmas eve?  In a strip club.  Yeah.  It's my brother-in-law's birthday Friday, and we always stop and Josh has a beer with him between doing our Christmas eve festivities.  This year he chose the strip club.  I guess I will finally get to see what all the fuss is about... I am a little nervous.  I won't hesitate to punch a stripper for lookin' at my man.  Seriously.  It's going to be a good night though.  We are going to my mom's to open our jammies, then to dinner at one of our favorite places.  Then the naked lady place.  And then CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!  That is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.  I usually go a few times, but I just haven't had time.  I am dying to see zoo lights.  I LOVE the zoo and I LOVE Christmas.  Both of them together... What?!?  Next year it's on.  At midnight my lover and I will do our gift exchange.  This year I am putting the camera on the tripod to get pictures of it.  Josh will love it.  Just kidding.  But he will play along to make me happy, and that is what Christmas is all about ;-)  Playing along, and Jesus.  After we stay up until two in the morning, I will be getting up at the butt crack of dawn.  Also known as 6:00 am.  I am responsible for bringing coffee for everyone so I get there around seven.  And then the madness begins.  I don't even see my lover til late afternoon on Christmas.  Divorce and remarried families = MADNESS on Christmas.  It's about to get crazy people.  I can't wait!!

choosing to be happy

I get e-mails sometimes of people saying that I either live in a dream world because nothing is perfect or that I am lying and hide all the bad pieces of my life.  Or I hear people say they hate blogs because nobody's life is as good as they make it seem.  My life really is this happy, but because I choose to be happy.  Yes, bad things do happen to me.  The world isn't made of marshmellows (wouldn't that be cool though??)  I had a horrible childhood.  I helped raised my two sisters, I got beat, and some other really bad things happened.  I learned to move on and not let the past ruin my future.  Sure, sometimes I get sad, but only for a minute because I realize how good things are.  I wouldn't take back any of those things either, because every single one of them made me who I am today.  And I love me.  I like the person that I am and the person I am becoming.
And no, my marriage isn't perfect.  We have our problems just like everyone else.  Like my husband snores and wakes me up.  But you know what, I elbow him in the face when I sleep and that wakes him up too.  I break things.  A lot.  But I fix it.  He spoils the end of about 80 percent of books and movies.  He rushes me which bugs the crap out of me.  I am always running late which bugs the crap out of him so he has to rush me.  I do stupid things like leave the hose on in the back yard and don't notice for six days.  Or leave the truck in drive because I am used to my stick shift.  He hates that mouth noises drive me crazy.  He makes mouth noises sometimes when he eats.  I am messy and leave things all over the house.  He is too nice and can't say no to people.
Everything isn't perfect, but sitting around complaining doesn't make it any better.  So blogging about it is pointless.  You learn to deal with things and not get mad.  Learn to love that your husband snores--don't just deal with it or it will always bug you.  I learned to love to lay in bed and listen to him snore.  It's the sound of him breathing, the sound of him living.  Put a happy spin on everything and you will be a lot happier.  Life is rough and nothing will ever be perfect.  But look beyond the imperfections and CHOOSE to be happy.  Choose to not let things bug you.  Only you can make yourself happy.  Happiness is a do-it-yourself kind of thing.  Happiness is in the little things.  Like melting peanut butter on toast after a horrible day... something so small is all it takes to cheer me up.

i love my life

I told you I am kind of obsessed with taking pictures of things with my ring.  I just really love that thing.

Is it just me or do weekends go by WAY too fast??  I wish the weekends lasted as long as work days.  I swear they last five years sometimes.  Like when I leave, I can tell my hair has gotten longer since I got here.
Yesterday I got up at 7 a.m. and worked on cake until 10:30 last night.  My lover even helped me!  He always helps by doing like dishes, or going out to buy me a new mixer in the middle of the night because I burned mine out.  But he has never actually hands on helped with a cake.  It was getting late and I had a lot left to do so he scrubbed up and helped me make "beads" to go around the base of the cake.  It was fun because he got so excited.  "Babe, look how round this one is!!"  "Look how well I marbled this one!!"  "Chili, yours are not nearly as good as mine."  See, helpful. I love that guy.  He calls me Chili Bean.  Or Chili.  Or Bean.  But Chili Bean because I am "spicy."  Yes, I am blushing because I told you that.  I think by "spicy" he means mouthy and strange.  Love me through it.  He is such a good husband.  Wanna know what kind of wife i am?  Either the best for letting him, or the worst for not making him something for dinner because he ate chips and salsa for dinner.  Poor guy.  At least he loves them.  I had ice cream for dinner.  The ice cream that he went and got at 11:00 on Saturday night because my throat hurt.  Ice cream for dinner... hey, it's the holidays.  And I'm busy!  AND I start school in two weeks.  I am terrified.  I am so so so excited for ten days off of work.  It will be ten days of cake, cleaning and I have two photography sessions scheduled.  And Littles gets surgery.  So I won't be any less busy, but I like my busy life, excluding this place.  Between mixing a new batter, taking a cake out of the oven, turning it out, getting a new one put in... I got all of our Christmas presents wrapped.  I wrap my in-laws too because my lover hates wrapping.  He isn't very good at it.  Apparently Zypper likes Scentsy because he snagged a block of wax from under the tree and unwrapped it.  I am glad I caught him before he ate it.  One time he ate the lights off of our Christmas tree.  Glass and blood everywhere... he didn't even care.  Something is wrong with that dog.  Seriously.
How about them Raiders??

it was in the wedding vows

I finally washed my hair.  I had to.  It was Josh's work Christmas party.  We had a lot of fun, and Josh spanked me at pool.  I suck big time.

Don't you hate when you push the button to retract the cord on your blow dryer and it flies up so fast that the plug gets crazy and whacks you in the face?  I hope I don't get a black eye.  I also got smacked in the head last night  with a bar light... I have the worst luck.

I am starting to crave a new tattoo...  I want something this time that represents my family.

When my lover says ridiculous things, like he refuses to wrap my Christmas presents next year, I always tell him he has to because it was in the wedding vows.  Honor and cherish means wrapped Christmas presents, right?  Besides, it's not my fault I am such a good guesser.

I finally uploaded my cake from last weekend, and even the one from this weekend.  Check out the football helmet, and the John Deere cake!