Sunday, March 27, 2011

my sunday adventure

ken's working this weekend
and
the weather is cloudy
overcast
not very welcoming
so
what's a girl to do?
i can only go to the gym so many times
before rumors start flying
and
i can only read so many books before my eyes hurt
and
i have no books left to read
so 
i bake
plus i have a new apron thanks to my daddy




today's baking adventure was 
courtesy of
mocha and dark chocolate reese's peanut butter cup
cupcakes
say that two times fast!
trust me you can't once you've taken a bite of them!!
now 
i had to modify this recipe
because 
i could not find dark chocolate anything
on base
and today is sunday
which means almost every store in italy is closed
so 
i used milk chocolate 
here we go!!
the key players:
now doesn't that look delicious! 
chocolate, peanut butter cups, and coffee
first you mix 
the cake batter,
chocolate syrup

oy the chocolate!
3 eggs,
the vegetable oil,
and
the brewed coffee
after pouring the batter into 
the cupcake pan
take one reese's cup
and place into the cupcake
even with the top of the batter
like so....
typically 
when making cupcakes you fill the liner 3/4 full
compensate for the peanut butter cup and only fill about half
otherwise they will spill out 
(trust me it happened to me)
bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit
(or approximately 178.8 celsius)
for about 15-20 minutes
depending on your oven
i use convection so it was closer to 15
yum.
while your cupcakes
are becoming
extra delicious
start on your frosting
you should have extra reese's cups
if you can't refrain from eating one
everytime you put one in a cupcake
then buy two 11.5 oz bags
it's very hard to not eat an open reese's peanut butter cup
take the leftover reese's cups
plus your bag of chocolate chips
and mix them together
joyous
bring your whipping creme to a boil
then pour onto your chocolate heaven
let it sit
and soften the chocolate
once the chocolate is soft 
mix together till smooth
then 
add your powder sugar
slowly of course!
by now 
your cupcakes should be done
pull those babies out the oven
let cool 
then top
with your chocolate decadence
then 
get them out of the house
give them to friends
neighbors
your husband's boss 
the stranger walking down the road
just get them out of there!
because you will eat them all!!!

happy sunday y'all!!




Friday, March 25, 2011

why worry when you have these?

i own big dogs
big
scary
dogs
really really scary
trust me...

i mean 
my dogs weigh more than me 
when put together
who's 
going to mess with me
when i take them for a walk?

but 
wait
my big dog 
looks 
like
this
when i take him for walks
yes friends
maik carried a kong
for his 
45 minute walk today
the italians
didn't quite know what to think
this big dog
walking with a toy in his mouth

and 
admiral
well
we all know 
a boxer
can never be taken
seriously
then 
you put the two together
and well
you have quite the pair
this 
friends
is my security system
two big dogs
with big tongues
looking 
more goofy 
than 
scary

honestly
though
i'm a-ok
with that!








you might call them weeds i call them beautiful

it's springtime in aviano
yay!
and flowers are popping up in my yard
well
some are weeds that bloom
but 
they fill my yard with color
and 
that i love
i know these aren't weeds
they are happy
smiling at me
yes they might be weeds but for now i love them
i can't wait till they all are in bloom!
 
even our tree
is starting to shed it's brown
and 
wear some green

this sunday 
we finally spring forward
and
the idea of spring forward
puts a smile on my face
spring is here
and 
life is blooming in aviano!!

happy friday ya'll

Sunday, March 20, 2011

purple flowers and pink lemonade

today
it's beautiful outside
a very welcomed site
due to the amount of 
{rain}
we had last week
 kenneth was off
&
it's our anniversary weekend
which 
proved to be key ingrediants
in a wonderful sunday
we 
started with breakfast at 
and when our hopes to play
were crushed
we 
decided to spend a little time with the pups
and
go hiking
we live at the foothills of a beautiful mountain
why not take advantage?
we set out
the path is littered with leaves
but amongst 
the leaves
and brush
were 
these delicate purple flowers
they speckled the ground
reminding me spring is so close!
i was distracted
by refreshing purple flowers
and
my oh-so-cute hubby
when
all of a sudden
bikers came
this is the last of them
as i was trying to recover
from my near hit and run accident
once we came home
we opened all the windows
and the air
was so fresh
you could taste it
we
worked diligently in the yard
picking up dog's mess
yes, that's dog poop friends
cleaning the mud stains
from our walkway
a nice gift from the rain
beginning 
our spring planting
and enjoying
a nice glass of
pink lemonade


may ya'll have a blessed sunday


Saturday, March 19, 2011

an anniversary post

our story is pretty normal
boy meets girl
girl meets boy
boy loves girl
girl loves boy

boy and girl get married
and
so
today
seven years later
boy and girl
celebrate
marriage
it's the moments
inbetween
"i do"
and
today
that
make our marriage
ours
the good moments
the bad moments
what i call learning oppertunities
the deployments
the homecomings
and
all the normal evenings
spent on a couch
watching
"house"
or whatever tv show is on
this is our marriage
and
i'm so grateful for it.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

thankful thursday...things that take you back

we were at the local bakery
and 
kenneth
exclaims
"look they have kinder eggs"
my first response
besides almost jumping out of my skin 
due to the fact
kenneth rarely gets excited
was
"oh that's nice honey"
followed by
"what's a kinder egg?"
well 
folks
you would have thought
i just told my husband
i killed his favorite dog
his heart was visibly broke
he almost shed a tear
then 
he stepped back with a look 
of shock 
and disbelief
and 
almost as loudly as he exclaimed the first time
he said
"you don't know what a kinder egg is?"
politely
realizing i'm treading on 
a delicate matter here
i responded
"no honey i am sorry 
i don't know what a kinder egg is"
i grew up 
in a town where we got crimson and creme slushes
and root beer with hot tamales
(trust me its fabulous!)
turns out
this is a kinder egg
turns out 
it was all the rage
during kenneth's youth in germany
but
they were at one time
illegal in the states!
chocolate illegal in the states
with our obesity rate!
can't be true!
i digress...
what's so special about this egg
that has cadbury running for the hills?
from the naked eye
nothing
it's an ordinary chocolate egg
but
what's this?

that doesn't look like creme filling to me!
a little plastic container
and 
inside
he was so excited!
a toy!!!
turns out the toy caused american kids to choke
enough kids choked that 
kinder eggs became illegal!
i guess the kids missed the plastic piece..thought it was creme filling.
after some assembly
and
some instructions
we had our first kinder toy
a little man
that you could
manipulate to
give a thumbs up
if you liked something
or 
a thumbs down

                                 

if something wasn't to your liking

but the best part 
was seeing kenneth's face
as 
we embarked on our kinder adventure
the kinder chocolate 
brought back 
found memories of childhood
that we often forget 
in the hustle and bustle of our days
and 
that my friends
is what i'm thankful for
look you can see his dimples!!
that's when you know he is really smiling!

love from aviano!









Tuesday, March 15, 2011

raining in aviano

because 
it looks like this
outside
and it's looked like this for a few days now
and 
our rain bucket is 
overflowing
it's not supposed to stop raining
till 
friday
and 
kenneth has been off for two days
 we are going a little stir crazy
we 
decided to get out
to brave the rain
and scary conditions
kinda creepy
huh?
and
site see locally
if you can see at all in this stuff
we headed 
to 
a map
for you visual people

we had heard great things
about maniago
the shops
i found this picture online
it was much to rainy to take pictures
but trust me the shops were great!
the people
the knives

this is what kenneth was very excited about
and
it's charm
another picture i found  
but even in the rain
the center of town was beautiful

our drive
as scary as it was
had moments
of
pure beauty


love from aviano!











Saturday, March 12, 2011

a 7 list

in seven days
i will be married
for 
seven years
since i am feeling slightly sentimental
it could be the cold and sinus medicine 
i'm taking
and because
seven years of marriage
is
something to be proud of
every year of marriage
is 
something to be proud of
i decided to post
seven
wonderful pictorial
memories
of the last 
seven years
chickasha lights 2003
so 2003 is when we were dating
but
anyone who is from oklahoma
knows 
chickasha is the place to be
around 
christmas
and we've had so many good memories
during 
christmas
and 
enjoying the lights at chickasha

our first home 2004

stationed in colorado springs
was 
my first introduction to 
military life
i look back at this duty station
and
think
"wow how our marriage has grown" 
and
"couldn't they just give us sod?!?"
that is a totally different story

2006
was 
our first deployment
and that lead to 
our first homecoming!!!
our wedding
in 2008
yes 
i know 
we've been married seven years
we waited to have our ceremony
wanted to make sure it was 
'worth the money'
just kidding...
it's a military thing... 
don't worry about it. 

we bought our first home
in 2009
that same year we got a blizzard
yes, oklahoma gets blizzards
she handled the snow drifts
quite well


enjoying ou football
in 2010
enjoying sooner football 
is one of our favorite past times
over the years
and finally
falling in love all over again
in italy.

so there is our life
in seven
well eight 
but 
deployments
need 
homecomings
pictures
it was very difficult 
to just choose seven
well eight

in seven days
we will celebrate 
seven years
and
i couldn't be happier

enough mushy stuff for the day!

happy saturday ya'll!