Can you say, Yum?!

In an attempt to focus my energies away from stress and anxiety (from my new job) I have taken to baking. I have always loved baking but have limited myself to cookies, bread, and an occasional cake. Over a year ago, a friend of mine started eating desserts together once every week. By restraining ourself from sweets during the week we would reward ourselves with something extreme and delicious! It has been a useful tactic for me, but I am not always successful at restraining during the week! Anyway, when my friend left me high and dry by moving to Portland (not to mention jealous of her new environment) I continued the "dessert club" with some more friends. We have made some delicious desserts in the last several months and it is so much fun to get together and chat while eating something so yummy! I bought myself a Martha Stewart baking book for Christmas and this past weekend I made a Devil's Food Cake with Mint Chocolate Ganache. It was so much fun! I even put John to work making the chocolate mint leaves for garnish. I knew someone with the steady hands of a surgeon would be good at that and I was right! I think they are the most fun part of the cake (but not fun to make, which is why I enlisted John!) In addition to the mint chocolate leaves, John is the famous photographer responsible for the cake pictures! He got a new camera for Christmas and has really been jazzed about taking pictures of everything possible! Enjoy! Someday I will transcribe the lengthy recipe for those who want it!

Rapid Road trip to Pensacola Florida!

Over this last weekend (when it was John's birthday) we drove to Pensacola Florida to visit John's friend Lance. Lance's uncle has a ritzy high rise condo on the beach and he let us stay in it for free and for fun! Here is the view from our room! It was so pretty, but I would be a nervous wreck living there. The strip that all these houses are on is only about one mile wide and as you can see, at sea level - so beautiful until you imagine a hurricane coming through! AHHHH!

Observe below the levitating ears and hair! It was really windy while we were there, but not cold at all. It looks like it would have been cold because the sky is kind of gray, but are you can see I was only wearing a very light sweater!

Chester looks larger than life in this one...

I don't like this one very much, but John insists that it is super awesome.

The sand was so white. When I looked out from our balcony it looked like snow in places! It was really pretty. I would love to visit in the warmer summer months.....not that it was even close to cold, but too cold to swim that's for sure! As a matter of fact....the sand was so pure and white that even Charlie decided it was worthy of eating. For those of you who do not know, Chester has taken to eating sand and drinking sea water on a regular basis. However, Charlie has never practiced this habit.....until he met Pensacola's white sandy beaches. As you can see in the picture below he is guilty as charged. Just look at the guilt on his face!
On our way out of town we had brunch with Lance and his Dad. It was good to get to know people so close to John. He has a lot of memories in Pensacola and I got a little sneak peak! It was worth the overnight 8 1/2 hour drive (after working 12) in order to get there! You're only young once!

Merry Christmas trip to Pendleton!

Merry Christmas everyone! John and I returned from a week of fun and excitement with our families! I must warn you all that there are many pictures to view since we got a fancy new camera for ourselves for Christmas! Hope everyone is having a Happy Happy Holiday!

The pugs got another taste of snow when we went up to the cabin! They had a lot of fun and I couldn't resist putting these neck-warmers on them. I think that the pink suits Charlie quite well! On this trip we have made an effort to get more pictures of us together since we currently have very few! So here is us with our kids sitting on the couch warming up! The snow up at the cabin was perfect for snowballs and snowmen so John and Tim began making snowmen immediately! John made a snow-bear and Tim made a funny looking cartoon snowman! I think they had fun playing together! hehehe!

We got our "redneck" on by driving out to the country and shooting milkjugs filled with water. Here are some good pictures of us sharpshooters! Watch out everyone!

I had to live up the part a little more by putting this handsome bright orange cap on. We wouldn't want someone to shoot me on accident it was a safety precaution...yeah. Here I am acting the part of some kind of crazy war hungry lady holding some kind of a gun which my father referred to as a "mini 17" (I have no idea what that means but it was fun to shoot and I can count myself all the deafer for not wearing the earmuffs while rampaging).

Charlie stopped for a photo shoot here on this giant gravel pile.

Chester wrecked his motorcycle and wanted proof that he had one so he demanded that John take a picture of him next to it.

Here is the small crew we had for our Christmas dinner. Not quite like the good old days, but not too bad considering where everyone has to travel from! If you ask me, we are a pretty good-looking bunch!

Here is us with that sweet "little girl" Amelia Wendler (my brother's daughter). I am here with my cousin Bree and my sister-in-law Melanie.

We had a really great time with everyone! Thanks to everyone for being such a great family! We both love you all so much!

When We Were Young

This was a post that I started awhile ago and never finished! Couldn't let it go to waste! Warning: cute pug puppy Pictures ahead.

I was reminiscing today about the young ones and remembering how small they were. So, at risk of sounding like I think my dogs are children I will post these olds pictures so you can see HOW FAST THEY GROW . . . it seems like only yesterday . . . hehehe!

Notice the look in Charlie's eyes. "Are you actually taking a picture of THAT!"


Charlie was a cute little guy too! He was already 4 months old when we got him, so he wasn't as small as Chester was (since he was 6 weeks when we got him). You can see how Charlie grew into his eyes....!!!!

Camping!

Two weekends ago John and I both had a weekend off so we decided to go camping. It was a spontaneous decision (as are most of the things we do!) and we packed fast and took off. We got to the park and all of their campsites were booked so we got put on the waiting list...??....ever heard of a waiting list for a campsite? So we lucked out and they had a spot for us. It was really fun we went to Huntsville State Park a little more than and hour north of Houston. It had a big lake and our campsite was really closeby. Above is a picture of the lake by the sunset.

We rented a canoe and that was an adjustment for little Charlie. Being surrounded by water is far from his favorite place to be. His solution: hiding under my seat in the canoe. If you can't see the water, it can't hurt you.

Here we are in our campsite with the pugs! Take note that Chester is sitting on the center console of our camp chairs. He assumes similar positions in the car!

Chester was also convinced that the chairs were set up for his benefit!


Charlie and Chester helping build the fire....

Crazy John by his fire.


Charlie ate some swamp/mud/water hist entire mug was so filthy. This picture barely shows just how dirty he was. He was happy as a clam eating whatever nasty stuff he had found.


Me and Chester laying in the grass.

A Late Graduation Posting

I thought there might be some people who have not seen pictures of my graduation. So, I am posting them!

An Andrea sandwich (whole grain Parental bread guaranteed to make you believe in yourself)

Me and my sweet sweet mother who showed me how to be patient, compassionate, kind, and unconditional. Things that I strive to practice daily at work. Mom is a natural caregiver and I inherited what would be referred to as the "art" of nursing from her. I truly feel that the art of nursing is my strong point in this profession.

Me and my Dad who taught me to be humble, straight forward, hard working, and assertive. These are all traits that I am still working on and are indeed very useful in nursing. I think Dad's example is the reason that I can make it through 12 hour shifts with only one break day after day. He has a very strong work ethic and it rubbed off on me a great deal. He taught me by example the importance of responsibility in the work place - showing up on time, not calling in sick unless on death bed, etc.

Me and my husband who helped me so much while I was in school. John helped me to study for tests and made learning seem almost intuitive rather than difficult. He made me believe in myself when I was frustrated, tired, and not sure if I could go on. He was my number one fan.


Me and Jennifer. Jennifer and her husband are neighbors to us. Jennifer helped me a great deal. She gave me a ride to school a few times, cooked me dinner and dessert on numerous occasions, helped take care of the dogs and was a good stress reliever when I was frazzled! She would bring her daughter Grace over for study breaks so that I could talk to someone who was on my level, or at least the level my brain felt after studying all day!


On a more serious note - the cake was good.

Want some? It is good...

In his element.

Above, you see a water-dwelling creature in the wild.

This face captures Chester quite completely in my opinion. He is never happier than when he is stading shoulder deep in some muddy water.

Now THAT is a puggopotamus!