Sunday Afternoon

Hello, Hope everyone has had a great weekend! Today started Monday and this is usually my dreaded day of the week but, actually Wednesday is a day I am not looking forward to! Wednesday I return back to school from a well appreciated summer break! Don't get me wrong I am more than ready to get that degree but, I just dread having to replace my mornings of sleeping late to waking up early and days of nothing to school all day and not to mention the drive of almost an hour to Jacksonville. Oh well ready or not here it comes! Yesterday after church and lunch Blake and I went back to my house and spent the whole afternoon. My nephew Clay came over and joined us, he looks up to Blake and Blake is so good and patient with him! They played disc golf together and then they decided to take the paddle boat on the pond behind my house. After that they decided to grab their fishing rods and go fishing. I am by no means a fisher nor have I ever been interested in it but I was a good sport and just sat in the back of the paddle boat while they fished and took photos and played on my phone to entertain myself! After that we ate supper and then rode bikes and climbed trees! The weather yesterday was fabulous! I don't think I even sweated at all which was wonderful! The crisp weather for fall made me excited for football season! I am so ready for some Alabama Football! Roll Tide!

While I was attempting to take this photo I got a little off balance and almost fell in! Thankfully I recovered and Blake and Clay never realized anything had happened! haha

He caught one!

I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to blog and it has been quite a while too! To recap the weekend, Blake and I babysat The Blackwell children Saturday and they were very good and always fun! Serah the oldest was going to the Jonas brothers concert for her birthday Sunday. So I helped her make a poster for the concert! I love artsy stuff so that was right up my alley! We had glitter on us and all over the kitchen! Thankfully I cleaned it up before Mark and Candi arrived home! Her poster says "I'm Paranoid over Nick! The poster referred to their song "Paranoid" and the youngest member of the group Nick. If your not familiar with the Jonas Brothers they are three brothers who sing together and pretty popular with tweens and teens.


Then Sunday we went to church and after eating lunch I went home with Blake. We went with his parents to Desoto Falls. The water was very low but it was still pretty and also very humid!





My life jacket had been at Blake's house ever since we went rafting and Blake and I got the idea to put it on Julio his dog last night! He looked so funny and we laughed and laughed at him!

Today I slept late and then went to the grocery store and bought ingredients to make a homemade strawberry cake! I have the photos below to show my steps! I spent like two hours making this cake and I really hope it tastes as good as it looks! I will have to let you know how it tasted!

In the oven ready to bake!

It is a strawberry cake but i wanted to be sure and get double antioxidants in it so I added blueberries too! Besides it made it more colorful to decorate!

Finished product! I was so proud!

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY CAKE
CAKE:
1pkg plain white cake mix
1pkg strawberry gelatin
1 cup mashed strawberries with juice
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
4 large eggs

FROSTING:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1 stick of butter
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 cup mashed strawberries (drained)

Preheat oven to 350F

Lightly grease two 9 inch round pans. Set pans aside.

Place cake mix, strawberry gelatin, mashed strawberries, oil, milk, and eggs in large mixing bowl and beat on low speed for one minute.

Strawberries should be well blended.

Divide batter among pans and place in oven.

Bake cakes until lightly brown (about 28-30 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool for 40 minutes.

PREPARE FROSTING:
Combine cream cheese and butter and mix on low speed for a minute. Add sugar and strawberries. Blend frosting on low until sugar is incorporated.

To assemble, place one cake layer on plate and spread top with frosting, add another cake layer and frost the top, add last cake layer and frost the top. Use remaining frosting for the sides of the cake.

Optional: Place fresh strawberries on top of frosting for decoration.

Today was my mom's first day back to school and it was wonderful to not have to wake up early this morning and have to get ready for school! My time is soon coming for that though! I begin August 26 and I am not necessarily dreading school in particular just having to drive back and forth to Jacksonville everyday! I usually try my best to schedule my classes all on the same day on either Mon, Wed, Fri or Tue Thur, but that does not always happen like with this semester they will be Mon-Fri everyday! After I woke up this morning I went to Blake's house and helped him do some yard work. While he mowed I trimmed some hedges and trees around his house. Crazy me decided to do this in the heat of the day! Let me tell you I got soooo hot I thought I was about to pass out! My clothes were soaking wet and my face was as red as a tomato! I immediately took a cold shower to help me cool down and feel much cleaner! There are a group of young guys who get together and play basketball at our new family life center at church Monday nights and, my neighbor Luke who plays invited Blake to come play with them tonight. We went and while he and the others were playing I worked out! In June I started working out everyday at church and had decided it was going to be a daily routine for me because I felt so good afterwards. During the week of bible school I was unable to work out and thought okay Ill start next week after bible school. Finally in August I decided to stop putting it off! Oh my goodness was I tired! I am the type that needs a work out buddy to help motivate me and to talk to! I think I have Nikki talked into coming with me some! After I finished my workout and Blake finished playing basketball we headed to his house to eat supper where his mother had a yummy chicken stir-fry waiting for us! I am pretty sure the workout was no good because I ended up eating more than Blake and to top it off I was still hungry! So I then finished a box of vanilla wafers and even added peanut butter to them! Ugh! What good is it to go work out when you do that?! I am determined to keep my routine up even after school starts but first lets just see if I can manage to finish out this week! ha!

Here are some photos of our new work out room in the family life center at church! We have two treadmills, two elliptical, one bicycle and then I just call it the do it all machine! Its like a bow flex that works everything on your body arms, legs etc.

I absolutely love getting dressed up and going somewhere on a date! I'm pretty girly and love to pamper myself! Last night Blake and I went with our friends Chase and Ashley on a double-date! We all four went to Bridgestreet in Huntsville. If you have not been there you absolutely must! It is set up like a little town and they have some fabulous shopping and eating places! I have always wanted to try P.F. Chang's so we made reservations and ate there last night. I loved the interior and atmosphere but we all four were not very impressed with the food. After we ate we went shopping and oh if only I had a credit card with no limits! I could shop till my little heart dropped! These are just a few of the stores there that I love, Bebe, Juicy Couture (my fav), Victoria Secret, Brighton, Anthropologie, Kate Spade, Mountain High Outfitters, Chocolate Crocodile! After shopping we decided to all four go on a peddle boat ride! They had a choice of Peddle boats that you peddled yourself of the electric with was work fee, and we paid extra for the electric and it was worth it! They also offer Gondola rides! We had such a great time with those two! We have already planned that next time were trying the Melting Pot which is all fondue type food! Sorry about all the pictures being blurry, I forgot to grab Blake's camera so all I had was my cell phone!

On the peddle boats

Gondola ride in action!

One year ago

Yesterday was such a bittersweet day. One year ago yesterday my Pawpaw Greer lost his battle to cancer. He went to the doctor in March of 2008 and was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was a total shock to him my grandmother and family. He was 80 years old, and I know when you hear someone is 80 years old you automatically think well that was pretty old anyway but if you knew or had been around my pawpaw you would have seen very quickly that he had the mind and body of a 65 year old. My pawpaw found out in March and passed away in August. He took chemo and radiation but the cancer had already spread too much. My sweet grandmother was so strong for him up until he passed. I knew yesterday would be difficult for her so my cousin Matt and I spent the night with her to help keep her company and keep it off of her mind.
Yesterday as I remembered those last few months from last summer I thought about how tough it was for me to go visit him because it killed me having to see him in that condition skinny, his hair gone from the treatments and on oxygen because I was used to seeing him out playing football with the grand kids, bush hogging,working in the garden or planning a trip for him and my grandmother to somewhere in the motor home.It also reminded me how happy I am that my pawpaw will never ever have to suffer anymore! After he was diagnosed with lung cancer he gave his life over to the lord! Thankfully me and my family can have peace that he is in heaven watching over us!

Here is pawpaw Christmas 2007. This was just 3 months before he found out and sadly his last Christmas to spend with us. This picture shows off his personality perfectly! Always joking around and cutting up! Someone had given him a red Speedo as a joke and he fooled us all by putting it on over his pants and dancing around! lol I cannot wait until I see him and my other pawpaw in heaven one day!

Yesterday morning I woke up and went and had breakfast with mom and dad. We then headed to the mall for me to look for a wedding gift and mom to look for a shower gift. After we found our gifts in the Belk home store we somehow ended up in the dress section at Belks! lol I love shopping for sales at Belks and mom and I are very good at finding some great stuff at awesome prices in there. I found a darling little Calvin Klein dress to wear to the wedding Blake and I were going to that evening. The price tag had $100.00 on it and I was not going to give that for it so I was really hoping it was on sale. Lucky me, it was and on top of that mom had a coupon! Woo hoo for coupons! I got the dress for $60.00 tax and all! By the time we finished shopping we were hungry and ready for some lunch. So me mom and dad tried The Flip Side Cafe that opened recently. It is in the same building that Taco bell beside the mall used to be in. They have totally redone the inside and made it so cute. They have basic sandwiches and croissants, paninis and the best part a bakery with all kind of yummy desserts! I got the chicken quesadilla and it was good. I tried my moms turkey sandwich. It was also good and had a cranberry mayonnaise on it which added a unique taste to it!


After we left there it was time to head home and let me get ready for the wedding Blake and i were headed to that evening. My friend Amanda Lacey got married last night. She and I know each other various ways. Her grandad was my pastor at my church for many years and was the one who baptized me. We had classes at Snead together and I also help babysit her cousins for her aunt and uncle sometimes. She and her groom were married at Mountain View Gardens and Ballroom in Springville, Al. It was gorgeous despite the rain! They originally were supposed to get married outside but the rain prevented that from happening. They moved everything inside and it still turned out beautifully! I wish them the best of luck on their new journey in life together!

You cannot tell very well from the photo but the ballroom where the reception was held was gorgeous!

The beautiful bride and her groom!