Today is.....

National Take Your Dog to Work Day!!

Too bad it wasn't when I had my parents dog.. but isn't this puppy adorable? If I had the time to have a dog, this is exactly what I would get. I love Yorkies! Unfortunatly, Cody doesn't.... But I'm sure he'll change his mind with a little persuading. :) Who can resist that cute puppy face?

Happy Birthday Mom and Nate!!

Happy birthday Mom and Nate!! This week, my mother-in-law turned 50!! ( she's gonna kill me for telling..) But I just wanted to give a shout out and tell them I hope they had fun! Mom, now that you're 50, I hope you don't start driving like this.....

Or I might have to revoke your license :) just kidding! I love you to death!!

And Nate, I found this birthday cake for you, I'm sorry I couldn't get the real thing but I think that you'll enjoy it.....

Have an awesome day!! Love you both!

Phobia

I absolutely hate spiders! I freeze everytime I see one and it sends me into panic mode. I can't move, but I want to run away. I can't talk, but I want to scream. I can't breathe, which is definitely required to do anything. And I want to smash it, but like I said earlier, I can't move. It's a vicious cycle.

Today at work I was sitting there reading, minding my own business when I look up and suddenly there is a spider falling from the ceiling right in front of me. It happened to land on a binder at my desk, and I swear it was staring at me, waiting for me to make the first move. Well, I couldn't move and then all of a sudden, I started feeling all itchy and creepy, crawly, like they were all over me! What's a girl to do? Well if Cody had been there, I would have screamed for him to smash it, after I got up the courage to speak that is. But he wasn't there. I could've called my boss to come over and squish it, but he was on the phone. Ugh! So after about 5 minutes and a lot of manuevering of the binder, I got enough courage to squish the darn thing ( about 20 times I might add) and throw it away.

One down, 5 billion to go...

The day I don't have my camera...

My parents are yet again out of town for the weekend. Parker is playing in the summer games down in Cedar city this weekend! Good luck! So Cody and I got the job of watching the dog, Rudy. He's a little yorkie and I absolutely love him! He's a big baby ( which I still love) and is hardly ever left alone. But we both work full time and Cody's got school so it poses a bit of a problem. When I left this morning, I just put him in the bathroom with food and water and his favorite toys. He kept barking and crying and it was more than my heart could handle, but I was running late for work so I had to leave him. I came home for lunch and let him outside to play and potty and then while I was eating lunch he came and just curled up next me. So cute! Then he crawled on my lap and fell asleep, poor thing. I felt so bad for him! So what did I do? Well I brought him to work with me. I know, I know, but I couldn't handle his sad barking anymore! ( and I'm sure our landlords couldn't either...) so he's on a leash or on my lap the rest of the day. I tied the leash to a chair so he wouldn't wander and potty somewhere and I look down and he's sitting there pulling on the leash with all of his might so try and get it off! Poor little guy. And he has the sad puppy eyes to match. I'm a sucker i know but you would be too if you had to look at those sad eyes! If only I had my camera...

Parker the Baseball Star...

My parents are in San Diego for friends wedding this weekend and Cody and I have to take care of my brother and sister. Parker is involved in sports and had a baseball game Thursday night and a soccer game tonight. I really enjoy watching him play and last night was the first time that I'd ever been to one of his baseball games. It was really fun! Parker plays shortstop and he seems to love it! He's always been a sports fanatic so he's always really involved in the game. In fact, when I still lived at home, I would wake up on Saturday mornings to find him watching the Sports Channel. Not cartoons, not a movie, but the Sports Channel. This was when he was 7! He's a funny kid. If you ever need to know any fact about any sport, he's your man. But back to the baseball game.... On his first turn up to bat, he hit a home run! Whoo hoo!! I was proud to be his sister :) They're team ended up winning and they were so excited! Here's Parker after his game... I couldn't turn it again! sorry!
Parker's the one in the middle
And here he is up to bat!

I forgot to mention that his best friend is on this team and currently has a broken left arm but still played! He swung one handed ( and managed to get a few good hits) and was the pitcher for the rest of the game. At this age they have a machine that does the pitching but they still put a player in the position. He actually caught a ball and got another player out.. one handed! He acted like he never even had a broken arm. Way to go!

Needless to say, I'm very proud of my lil' brother and of all the activities he's involved in! Way to go buddy!! Love ya!

Cooking

So, I'm not much of a cooker or baker. I'm all for the fast and easy macaroni and cheese in a box, or hamburger helper. Anything frozen that I just have to pop in the oven is fantastic! But I've decided to change my ways and start cooking good, healthy meals. It's been so fun and so hard! First of all, it's way cheaper to buy ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese than it is to buy other stuff, and they're way easier to make. But I'm learning to buy cheap brands and stuff that I can use in everything. I was surprised to find that even though I seem to be buying more, my grocery bills have almost decreased. And me and Cody feel tons better about what we're eating. We eat more salads and spaghetti and chicken and rice, you know, stuff I should always be making cause it's easy and healthy! Well, Cody's mom gave me this recipe for buttermilk biscuits and they turned out great! I was very proud of myself so here is a picture of the finished product. :)Don't they look delicious?

I have also been recieving the Kraft foods magazine and I absolutely love it! They always have really good recipes and are really easy to make. I especially love their summer and fall issues because they always seem to have the best recipes. Cody is a huge barbeque sauce fan so I'm always looking for good recipes that include some barbeque sauce. I found these really good hamburgers in the Kraft magazine that have barbeque sauce in them. I kind of revised their recipe but they are so delicious! We make them a lot now. At first Cody was really skeptical but now he asks for them alot.
All you do is take 1lb of hamburger meat and mix it with 1/4 of an onion, a 1/2 c. shredded cheese ( any kind you want, I use chedder cheese) and 2 to 3 T. of barbeque sauce. ( we really like the Sweet Baby Rays brand, actually, Cody won't let me buy any other brand!). Then you shape them into patties and cook them. I actually cook them on the stove because we don't have a grill. While I'm cooking them I put a little bit of barbeque sauce on the top and then turn them over to cook on the other side. Then I put more barbeque sauce on that side. Then you just put them on a hamburger bun with lettuce and enjoy! They are so delicious! I know they sound really easy, because they are! Remember? I'm all about easy. Anyway, if anyone knows of any more easy, really good recipes, please let me know! I'm sure I'll be posting more of the recipes that we really love! So, give it a try and let me know if you like them!