Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tuesday tidbits and a thankful heart

Do you ever wake up in the morning when the alarm goes off and feel as if you've only just closed your eyes for the night minutes before? Ugh that's how I felt this morning when my alarm went off. It probably didn't help that Mr. A and I went to a Redhawks game last night and didn't get home til late. The Redhawks is Oklahoma City's minor league baseball team. It was fun but chilly. The weather outside in OKC wouldn't suggest that it's almost May. Speaking of where is 2010 going?! I feel like the year is just flying by and I wish it would slow down just a little bit.

Tonight is another Thunder/Lakers match up which means another late night for this girl. but I'm so excited for the game should make for a fun night :D

Friday night I'm so excited the women from our Sunday school class are getting together for a fun night of crafting and girl time. I can't wait to spend time with the awesome women that the Lord has blessed me in friendship with.

I have to say that our church group is the most accepting group of women I've ever met. Sometimes you can automatically feel the tension of competing women in a group setting but not with this group everyone is accepting and loving and it's such a great group I never feel like I have to worry about childish drama with them and it's such a nice feeling to know I'm not being judged and I'm not afraid of failure because I have a band of sisters to help me pick myself up and keep going when I fall.

I've always tried not to based my self worth on my own feelings or even the opinions of others the only opinion that matters is that I am being a good steward of the time and talents I've been given by God. Sure I have my ugly days and days where I wish I had different ears that didn't stick out like dumbo or hair that doesn't have a mind of it's own or not such a squeaky voice but overall I'm happy with who I am.
I have never understood why women must tear each other down we're sisters in Christ and we are to build each other up and be each other's support system. I love that after years of searching for that type of friendship I found it in the women of Oasis :)


That's it for my random Tuesday tidbits.

Later Alligators....

Mrs. A

Monday, April 26, 2010

randomness...

Our weekend was awesome but seemed incredibly short. I hate to admit this but I'll be happy when the children's musical is over so I can have my Sunday evenings to myself again.

Friday evening we visited with Mr. A's parents for a while and then headed out to our favorite little hometown spot called Lush Berries it's a frozen yogurt place and it rocks we met our friends Mr. & Mrs. G there.

Saturday we spent the day working in our back yard and I'm happy to report the planting is finally completely finished. So we'll move indoors to work on things this week. We ended the evening in quite possibly the most awesome way ever we watched our OKC Thunder NBA team beat up on the Lakers to tie the play off series 2-2 we're looking forward to another great game Tuesday night. Although I must admit the NBA play offs are messing with my sleep schedule.

Sunday was a typical busy day and now here it is Monday morning and I sit wondering what the heck happened to my weekend :( I need a few days of quietness in my life and I don't think I'm going to get them this week maybe next week.

I have more to write about but I can't quite organize my thoughts so for now you get randomness :)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.


Later Alligators...

Mrs. A

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Wedded Wednesday: the why not edition









One of the reasons I adore Mr. A is because he is such an encourager to me. He is constantly encouraging me to follow my dreams and I try very hard to do the same for him. Just yesterday I was bemoaning having to be in the children's musical I said that people would wonder why I'm in the musical because I can carry a tune but I'm no Idina Menzel, he just looked at me and said "but why not you"? Of course Mr. A is guilty of the same feelings of not being worthy and I often ask him the same question "why not you"

So in our marriage we often say to each other "why not" when one of us starts to think we're dreaming too big. Why not dream big we all have purposes in life and whose to say we're not supposed to be the exact thing we think we'll never be. God's plans are so much bigger than our own and we should remind ourselves when we start to think "oh no not me I could never do that" instead just stare your dreams straight in the eye and say to yourself "WHY NOT ME? I am a child of God and I am worthy"


Later Alligators....

Mrs. A

Monday, April 19, 2010

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was jam packed but full of fun.

Friday evening we played it low key we had plans to work in the yard but it was raining so Mr. A worked on some writing and I started sorting through the mass of instructor manuals that have taken over my coffee table as I prepare to start teaching cake decorating classes in May. My schedule is officially on the calendar and I am so excited!!

Saturday was also rainy but we didn't let that stop us from attending a BBQ Festival in Oklahoma City with our friends Mr. and Mrs. S we had a blast although I was freezing the whole time. We all agreed we wanted to attend another one of these events when it wasn't raining. Afterwards we helped Mr. and Mrs. S move a hutch to their house it had been offered to me free of charge but I didn't really have room for it and I knew Mrs. S had been on the hunt for one so naturally she was who I called. We helped them set it up and later she had pictures up on FB and it looks fabulous I'm so happy that I was able to help her get a piece of furniture she'd been wanting :) Saturday evening I was supposed to attend a bridal shower but decided instead to attend the Mrs. Oklahoma pageant with Mrs. G and support my good friend Sasha who was competing. Sasha did great she placed in the top ten and won contestant's choice and the ambassador award.


Sunday we had Sunday school class and church, then after church we went and spent some time with Mr. A's mom his dad is in Florida so she is all by herself. She made a beautiful hand upholstered ottoman for us and presented it to us for our new home yesterday I'm giddily excited about it. I'll get pics once our living room is presentable right now it's over run with boxes of cake decorating instructor materials.

After we visited with Mr. A's mom we headed over to a furniture store we'd been eyeing and checked out their dining room tables Mr. A and are in the market for a new table as ours is about to fall apart it was mine from my apartment in college and it's been through heck. We found one we like and will hopefully be purchasing in the next few months. We understand that waiting to get what we want instead of purchasing something to fill the space will make us more satisfied with our purchase so for now it will wait.

Something I don't think I've mentioned on here is that I took on the adult role in the children's musical our church is putting on May 2nd. I've been busy memorizing lines in my spare time and I think by the time the performance gets here my co-workers will be sick of hearing the musical playing on my i-pod at work :)

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.


Later Alligators...

Mrs. A

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Gardening=therapy for the soul

I had a craptacular day yesterday everything that could go wrong did and everyone that could say something to make me feel stupid said it. Just a horrible no good very bad day. But then something amazing happened I went home into old clothes and got to work in my garden finished planting the beautiful gerbera daisies around our mailbox, and finished putting the mulch down in the front flower beds. By the time I finished and came in for the evening my heart was happy and my mind quiet. Sometimes some good ole manual labor like gardening or cleaning can do wonders for a troubled spirit.

Anyway here are some pics of our hardwork.



the flower bed in front of our house with celosia, and moss roses.
flowers 2

flower bed around our bradford pear tree with begonias.
flowers 4


gerbera daises around our mailbox post. This was our first home improvement project the post used to be ugly unfinished wood and it held a plastic beat up old mailbox so we painted the post white, and added a new metal box it makes such a difference in curb appeal :)
flowers 5

close up of my gerbera daisies they are my all time favorite flower.
flowers 6

this cheery geranium sits on our front porch.
flowers 3

and this little guy greets guests right by our door he's housing blue eyed grass.
flowers 1

and just for cuteness purposes here's Missy in her new doggie house I think she liked it after we finally got her to go inside.
Missy Dog house

and here's us in our backyard ignore the paleness we are both sporting :)us in backyard


Mr. A and I've found we really enjoy working in the yard. Now ask us again in 6 months or so and you might get a different answer.

Oh and as for the clog in our shower it's gone and we did it ourselves with a coat hanger and a plunger :)

Later Alligators....

Mrs. A

Monday, April 12, 2010

weekend recap

What a busy busy weekend.

Friday started off with a trip down memory lane as I attended my high school friend's mom's funeral and saw people I haven't seen since the summer I graduated high school. It was a a little awkard to go back to a town that hasn't changed in the years I've been out of school and I've changed so much such is life though. That evening Mr. A and I attended a wedding of a family friend.

Saturday my mother in law came over and surprised me with a trip to purchase flowers for our front and back yards. Mr. A and I had decided we weren't going to do much landscaping other than a few potted plants this year and we'd work on getting our flower beds in shape and ready for next year but my mother in law wouldn't hear of it and bought us our flowers she is so sweet and I seriously couldn't be more blessed with fantastic in laws.

So Mr. A spent saturday mowing the grass raking leaves up from the front yard that don't look like they've been raked in several years, and I went shopping with my mother in law and we got lots of pretty flowers for all the flower beds. She even talked me into trying a small herb garden. I've got rosemary, cilantro, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, and sage. I'm excited! I think I will just try the small herb garden this year and maybe next year I'll try my hand at veggies and fruits.

We decided since our mailbox needed replacing we would paint the ugly wood post it was hanging on before we did so we spent Sunday afternoon finishing up the flower bed prep and painting our mailbox post. Tonight we'll hang the new mailbox and plant all the flowers. I'll be sure and take pictures when it's all finished.

I love having a yard to make beautiful and thanks to my generous and wonderful in laws it will have pretty flowers this year instead of waiting a year.

But our weekend wasn't all fun we had our first "we're really homeowners" moment yesterday our downstairs shower is clogged so we'll be trying home remedies to fix the problem Tuesday probably and if that doesn't work we're calling in the experts. Ahh such is the joy of being homeowners. Oh well we still love it!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

FRIDAY!!

First off thank you all so much for your sweet comments yesterday while you all see pretty cakes I see every flaw in each one. I'm going to be making a display cake soon and I promise to post pictures of the process. Also some were asking about fondant and I thought I'd share the marshmallow fondant recipe. So here it is for your enjoyment. This is my cake instructor's recipe and it is awesome to work with.



Marshmallow Fondant
16 oz (1 pkg) mini marshmallows
2 Tablespoons water
2 lbs (8 cups) confectioners sugar
* optional 1/8 Teaspoon candy flavoring and decrease the water by 1/8 Teaspoon.

Microwave the marshmallows and water for 20 seconds or until it is soupy. At your option add flavoring and mix. Add the sugar until most of the sugar is incorporated and it is no longer sticky. Take it out of the bowl and knead with spoons or your hands (if not hot) until soft (will take 5 - 7 minutes). Keep covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

by popular demand....

after posting about my part time teaching/cake decorating gig I had a number of comments asking to see some pictures of my cakes. So here's a few for your enjoyment :)


course 1 final cake: let me preface by saying I abhor the buttercream icing rose I am awful at them and would prefer gum paste or fondant roses any day of the week!
course 1 final cake

course 2 fondant bow cake: this was my second attempt at that silly bow my first one the fondant was so so greasy I couldn't even use I went home after class crying and decided I had to try again.
course 3 fondant bow

course 3 final cake:
course 3 final cake

course 4 practice cake:
course 4 cake

course 4 final cake:
course 4 final cake

cake I did for a ladies lunch event:
cake for ladies lunch

and a small tiered cake used for an at home reception after a destination wedding. Bride and groom wanted traditional cake cutting pictures.
small wedding cake

So there you have it. I hope to have even more cake pictures soon as I'll be kicking decorating into high gear with a wedding in the fall and of course teaching will inspire me to make different cakes.

Thanks for looking

Later Alligators...

Mrs. A

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

New opportunities and old connections....

Hi Bloggie world,

My house thanks you for the love it has received and all the comment compliments. Mr. A and I just love it and still get giddily excited when we turn the corner into our housing addition :) There's a lot of work to be done and we decided we're painting our trim in the whole house so stay tuned for house project updates. Exciting things and sad things have happened since I last wrote so bare with me this will be a hodge podge kind of post.


First off I got offered a job teaching cake decorating part time I am so excited about this opportunity and a chance to turn something I love and adore into a paying gig :) I'll keep my full time job for now but Mr. A and I both agree that I could easily transition in the next few years as young ones come along into only working part time. I can't help but see God's hand in the offer I received as it came from no where after I'd had a disappointing rejection from a job I'd applied for and really wanted. Obviously God had different plans and His Will is always perfect and I think He's working on perfecting that lesson within me. I am so thankful for this opportunity and beyond thrilled at the chance to work in a field that I have fallen in love with.

Now on to the sadness I received a text from a dear old friend I hadn't actually spoken to other than through FB yesterday and he told me that a woman with whom at one time I had been good friends with lost her mother over the weekend. I am so sad for her and am sure she is hurting. However what my friend said next shook me he said "it's a shame that it takes a heartache like someone losing a parent in order for old friends to find the time to reconnect" how true are those words?

Let me back up and explain I grew up in a tiny town in western Oklahoma one of those towns that if you aren't careful you get stuck in. All I knew at the young age I was when I left was that I wanted out I wanted more for my life than to be stuck in that tiny town. So the summer I graduated highschool I packed up and left and swore I'd never look back I cut ties with relationships I'd had since I was 5 giving only a select few my contact info and eventually I even lost contact with those select few.

Even to this day I wouldn't want to live in that small town or have my children grow up there but as I look back I am ashamed and asking myself what gave me the right to decide that those people weren't good enough for me to keep in contact with because somewhere in my 18 year old brain that's what I had decided. I lost contacts with people I at one time truly cared about and all I can think now as I near 25 is how wrong of me to just wipe people from my memory. Sure I moved on in life and I don't regret leaving my hometown to attend school I do regret the way I left and the decisions I made to lose contact with people whether consciously or not.

I'm not sure what the point of my post was here except to get out what I have been feeling since that text and then later the phone call with my very dear friend. But I guess that's why we all write blogs to put into words what we're just not sure how to express.

Thanks for listening to my rambling today.

Later Alligators....

Mrs. A

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Blessed beyond measure...

The official post with pictures we finally found the camera cord in a box tucked away in the study at 10:45 last night :)

I just want to say that buying a house was one of the most stressful things ever. There was so much anticipation surrounding it and I often felt like my faith was slipping because I worried so much about whether or not things would happen the way they needed to.

I broke down the week before we closed and admitted to my husband that I wasn't sure my faith was strong enough to see me through this challenge and he told me to trust in God and not be afraid to admit my fears so that I gave it all to God through tear stained eyes. The next few days were a nightmare as we waited to hear from our loan officer and finally at 2:45PM on Thursday the 25th we got the all clear and the final numbers that we were anxiously awaiting and they turned out to be less than we were expecting I kind of felt like it was God's way of saying see Mrs. A I told you I'd take care of you. Mr. A and I chose to tithe a large portion of the left over funds we felt God made it possible for us to have that money and He deserved His share.

Anyway at 10:45AM on Friday the 26th we got keys to our home and drove straight there after closing we ran all through the house soaking in the awesome feeling of owning our home! Then our wonderful amazing friends helped us move and yes we really did do it in just about 2.5 hours. I think total we had about 10 people helping us and we felt truly blessed as we bought pizza and celebrated with our friends who were so geniunely happy for us.

Ok so enough chit chat on to the pictures these were taken the day of closing so I'll post pics as we get moved in too. BTW maybe you lovely bloggers can help Mr. A and I settle a debate I've said we should paint our wood trim to modernize the house and make choosing paint colors easier he says we should leave it we both could go either way. So what are your thoughts?


Here we are with our sold sign :)
home4

and again yes Mr. A is hanging in the tree someone told him to climb it so he did and no I don't have any make up on we'd been moving :p

home2


in front of our front door I can't wait to decorate the porch for Holidays!!


home1

the study AKA Mr. A's room and yes that awful red is going away!

IMG_1580

living room with fireplace
IMG_1581

standing in the living room looking up over the 1/2 wall into the kitchen which BTW I pink puffy heart!

IMG_1583

downstairs bathroom

IMG_1582

masterbedroom the ceiling fan has got to be raised I'm not tall by any means and I nearly hit it :(

IMG_1579

upstairs bath why yes that is dark turquoise paint and yes it's going bye bye.
IMG_1576

guest room 1 and Mr. A already in fix it mode :)
IMG_1575

guest room 2 AKA Mrs. A's craft area for now.

IMG_1574



So there you have it pics of our wonderful new home we're slowly getting boxes unpacked. I kind of feel like I have two jobs right now one at work and one unpacking boxes at home. Hopefully we'll get it all unpacked soon and then we can get to work on the little improvement projects like some paint over that awful red and even more awful deep turquoise blech. I'm not a fan of dark colors for walls so those will be changing.

Thanks so much for all of your kind words on my last few posts I've missed my bloggie friends and cannot wait to get caught up with your lives..

Later Alligators...

Mrs. A