Back in the Swing

So, last week while at the beach, I didn't do any grocery shopping or menu planning. So I am now back in the swing of trying to spend the least amount and get the most amount of stuff. First stop-Walgreens.
2 Febreeze Noticable starter kits
1 lg Febreeze fabric refresher
1 sm Febreeze fabric refresher
1 15 ct Cascade
coupons used:
2-$5 off Febreeze noticables
1- free sm Febreeze with purchase of lg
1-$.50 off Cascade
1-$3 Register Rewards
total OOP: 11.04
received a $5 RR

Then yesterday, while Kent and I were watching the race, I planned our menu. I asked Kent if he had any suggestions and he says, "Nothing new. I don't like new stuff." So, we are going to have tacos, meatloaf and hashbrown casserole, flank steak with broccoli and cheese, and red beans and rice. I did a Publix run today and when I got home, I had totally forgotten to get the penny item. Bummer!! Oh well, I think I did really good, especially since I had to buy some meat. My loot:
1 flank steak
2 pkg hamburger meat
1 pkg sausage
1 bag Lays
sm tub sour cream
lg tub cottage cheese
2 pkg Dole fruit cups
1 pkg linguinie pasta-free after my coupon
2 cans red beans
1 loaf wheat bread
1 lime
1 tomato
4 Campbells Select Harvest soups
oatmeal
2 pkg Hebrew National hot dogs
2 pkg fresh express salad
1 pkg butter
12 eggs
6 pkg Green Giant frozen veggies
2 pkg Ritz toasted chips
4 pkg Chex mix
Coupons used: $11.00
Adv Special Savings: $30.83
Adv Buys: .50
In Store Special Savings: $4.8
Total Savings: $47.13
Total OOP: $60.79
Since the meat that I bought cost $18.49, I think that this is great!!! We are going out to eat on Friday and Kent is in charge of the weekend meals, I only had to plan for 4 meals. I also took advantage on a lot of the BOGO sales.

I'm Back Part 2

Over the last 3 maybe 4 years picked up reading. I never read anything that I was supposed to read in school, nor ever read anything just for the fun of it. My mom owns close to a thousand books, but I thought that it was too boring. Well, apparently getting older, and living by yourself, you start to pick up new habits. One of mine-reading. I started out reading just some chick lit. Anything by Jennifer Weiner, Emily Giffin, Kristen Billerbeck. Then, I started reading Karen Kingsbury. I have fallen in love with her books!!! I found that I really enjoy reading series of books and her Baxter books have been wonderful. The last book about the Baxters came out Tues so on the way to the beach, we stopped at Books A Million to get it. I read it in less than 24 hours. I am going to miss them. After 14 books, you feel like you are a part of the family. I also got another book that I had been wanting:

I really like to read a book that they turn into a movie to compare the two. OMG!!! I was sitting in the bathroom floor crying my eyes out while reading the last few pages. I also read this in less than 24 hours.

There is nothing like laying out, sitting on the balcony or by the pool reading a great book where you can hear the ocean in the background.

I'm Back-Part 1

Well, back to the land of the living. We had such a good time on our beach trip!!! The weather was perfect!! I am not going to be able to post any pics for a couple of days. It's been a little hectic around the house since I got back. My grandmother is doing remarkably well. We went to see her on Sat as soon as I got home. She said that she's not in a lot of pain and the only reason for that is because of all of the people that are praying for her. Continue please!!! All 20 nodes they took came back negative. Praise God!!! But she has about decided to go ahead with some therapy due to the family history. The docs have left it up to her, so she asked me to pray that God would lead her to the right decision. Also, pray for my mom. She is doing a lot of the care for her and is very stressed out.
Here's part of a run down on the beach trip...
What do 3 girls, 4 nights and 1 car equal? Too much luggage!!!! Heather, Jillian, and I rode to the beach together on Tues. Since I live the farthest south, they picked me up at my house. We packed it tight!!! Had to leave one beach chair behind, but everything else made it. I got a phone call when we were about 1 hour out from Jennifer-screaming her head off because the condo was so nice!!! WOW!!! It was great!!! Our first night we went to Bahama Bob's to eat and the shrimp was fab! The next day, we had to attempt to get our tan on...Can you say burnt!?! Not too bad, but red that's for sure. Wed night we all went to Lulu's to eat. Yummo!! I had the crab melt and some L.A. caviar. Our table over looked the water and it was so pretty. I really like going this time of year because we didn't even have to wait on a table. Thurs night, most of us stayed in and ate some frozen pizza and watched the Grey's Anatomy premier. I am a huge Grey's fan!!! It was nice to get to watch it when it actually came on. (The DVR is such a marriage saver.) Friday, we chose to lay out one last time. Then we headed to the outlets!!! I love the outlets in Foley. Boaz and Bessemer have nothing on Foley! I needed (wanted) to spend the rest of my White House Black Market gift card and got a great shirt. I bought my niece a really cute dress from the Tommy outlet for $10. Then we went to the Coach store to see what kind of sales and items they had. Well, let me tell you...we spent about an hour in that store. They had a promotion that if you donated $1 to the Breast Cancer Research, you got a coupon for 25% off. You could get up to 5 of them and use them all there. Christmas shopping complete for some members of the fam (who will not be named :)). I also got a great purse and a passport cover to match. I know that's not really "frugal," but I couldn't pass on a real Coach for that cheap-for a Coach anyway. OMG!!! I love it and have already gotten compliments on it on day 2.

I'm Out

I am off to Cullman to visit my grandmother this morning before heading to the beach. She did great during surgery. The doctors didn't find any surprises so we just have to wait until the pathology report comes back on Wed. She said she wasn't in much pain last evening, just uncomfortable. She has to lay with her head elevated and she is not used to that. Today is really not going to be fun for her though. They are going to start getting her up this morning and moving around, so please continue to pray for less pain as she starts becoming more active. Thank you all for your comments and prayers. I will be back on Sat. Until then...

Prayer

This morning my grandmother (the one on the left in the teal) will be having a masectomy. She has to be there at 7:30, so if you remember, please say a quick prayer for her this morning!!! (This is the only pic that I have that I can access right now.) She was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer a couple of weeks ago. I spoke with her last night and she knows that everything in under God's control and that no matter what, everything is going to be okay. She is very inspiring!!! The Annual Race for the Cure at Linn Park is on Oct 11. It is a run/walk. So if you want to join me in the back of the pack-walking-let me know and you can join in with me on my church's team. We all need to join in together with the fight to find a cure and do what we can to help.

Deals

So I got a coupon from CVS emailed to me for $5/$30 purchase that expired today. So I had to go and spend it. I decided to do the Clark deal, if you spent $25 you got $10 ECBs. Here's what I got:
4 boxes Kleenex
1 Mega pack Huggies (not preggo, for a gift:))
1 12 pk Aquafina
1 Crest Pro Health Rinse
1 12 pk Cottonelle
Coupons: $2 MFC, $5/$30 CVS, and $11.98 in ECBs
Total OOP: $13.84
Earned back $12 ECBs for Clark products and Crest

I also had $6.50 in Register Rewards from Walgreens that expired today, so I went after church. I really wasn't that impressed with the deals and really didn't have a lot of time to just browse. We had a very hectic night at work and I needed some good church before I went to sleep. Needless to say, I was tired!!!
I just decided that since we needed milk, I would get that and if you bought that with 2 boxes of Nabisco cookies, you got $3 RR back. When I went to check out, the lady asks me, "Can you use both of these with one transaction?" I had 2 different RR coupons. Honestly, I really didn't know, since these were the first ones that I had ever gotten. She scanned both and I only paid $3.19 OOP. Not too bad for some milk and cookies. Kent can drink the milk and I will be taking the cookies to the beach. :) FYI: I am super excited about my upcoming all girls trip!!!!!

Our First Menu Week

Well, my first week at menu planning is over and wasn't quite as successful as I hoped. I had decided to try two new recipes and one got thrown in the garbage the minute I tasted it. It was NASTY!!! We started off good. On Monday we had mini meat loaves and corn on the cob. Tues night, I made my sister's Chicken Parmesan recipe. I really enjoyed it. Kent informed me that it was okay but he's "not that big on that much marinara sauce." He ate it, but I don't think that he would like me to make it again. Wednesday, I put the ingredients in my crockpot for Tuscan Chicken and Wild Rice. The recipe said to cook it on low for 8 hours. After 6 hours, I just thought that I would check it. It was on the verge of burning, so I quickly turned it off. I tried the rice...GROSS!!! I tasted like lemon mush. That new recipe was thrown away never to be made again, and the Chick-fil-a was awesome!! Thurs night I was supposed to be eating with some friends, but instead had to go to the funeral home in Pleasant Grove, so we had to get something quick again. Friday night I had planned on making some hamburger steaks, but Kent didn't eat lunch until after 2 so he said that he wasn't going to be eating. He doesn't like Taco Soup, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make it. I took the leftovers to work, and we all enjoyed it for our 2am meal. I don't really cook on the weekend, that's Kent's thing. All in all, I really liked the concept and will continue for a while before I make my final decision. I am leaving for the beach next week, so I won't be planning anything, but I will keep you posted.

Have you seen my brain?

So I went to CVS the other day so that I could buy the Excedrin and the Aleve Cold and Sinus for the ECB deals. Of course now, with all of the many extra curricular activities that one can do with sinus meds, you have to show your ID to the pharmacist before he will sell it to you. That's fine, no problem. I look in my purse...NO ID!?! What in the world have I done with it? I don't even remember the last time I had it. I asked Kent yesterday and we know that I had it while we were in Bristol at the race, but since then...I have no idea. That was like 4 weeks ago. After turning my car, house and purse upside down looking for it, I just decided that I should just go and pay the $18 and get a new one. I am going to the beach next week, so I don't think that it would be smart to go without one. I didn't have to wait long, there were only two people in front of me. When I got my temp card-Are you serious!?! That lady should've said, ma'am, "You should run your fingers through your hair." Or maybe they should have a mirror hanging on the wall beside where you have to stand so that your hair isn't flipped over in the wrong direction on top of your head!!!!! Really!! My license will expire in a year, so that isn't too long to have to live with that dreadful pic. Oh well! Oh yeah, to update you on the neighbor who always mows like half of our yard-I mentioned to him last week while he was mowing, that he didn't have to mow all the way to our house. Their property ended halfway between the houses. To which he says, "I know, I just get so mower happy, I just can't stop." What!?! I didn't know how to reply so I just said Okay. Weirdo. He's mowed twice since then and is still mowing to our bedroom window in the back and 4 mower widths in our front yard.

Ridiculous

I just received an email from my Chase credit card customer service representative. I had emailed this morning because the past few days, I had tried to pay my bill online and kept getting an error message. It ended up I finally paid my bill which was due on 9/16 at 5am on 9/17. I was concerned about getting charged a late fee and since it was about 5 hours late I thought maybe they would be okay with it. NOPE!!! The friendly customer service rep apologized for my inconvenience and then proceeded to let me know that I did incur the $39 late fee and let me know the other 15 ways to pay my bill!!! So thank you Chase!! I will totally be recommending you and Please God help me pay off this debt so that I can be done with these people!!!!

Suggestions???

Okay, so for the past 3 weekends, Kent and I have been attempting to make some homemade ice cream. We started the day that football kicked off. Kent decided that we needed to make some. Well, we got an ice cream maker when we got married as a gift. It's one of the counter top kind that the bowl has to be frozen at least 6 hours before you start. We didn't have this much time. Kent had a cheapo model he bought at WalMart for like $20. However, the motor and the bowl were in the garage, and the rest of the parts...who knows. Ice cream maker heaven!?! We went to WalMart to get the stuff and hopefully an ice cream maker. Guess what? Apparently in Sept. no one has the cheapo ice cream maker. WalMart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, the only one that was in stock was the wooden old fashioned one which costs a whoppin' $60. Kent is adament about making some homemade ice cream so we purchase one. I think this is going to be the best ice cream that the world has ever tasted. I mean, made in a wooden maker that costs $60. Seriously!!! Well, our first attempt was okay. We ate it, feeling as though we should try to improve the recipe. The maker never actually stopped churning after 2 hours, but it tasted like a milk shake. Second attempt-inedible!!! This is also the time that I poured the salty water in our flower bed. (The night Gus had a hay day in the neighborhood.) Third attempt-I used our countertop maker. I was prepared. I left the bowl in the freezer overnight and used a recipe from the booklet that came with it. I got it churning and we ate our dinner. I didn't think about the fact that this maker does not shut off by itself. By the time I checked it, it was whipped cream. Don't get me wrong, I like whipped cream. But I wanted ice cream!!!! It got thrown out too. Fourth attempt this weekend. A lady at WalMart and a friend I work with shared the recipe for ice cream just like a Wendy's Frosty. Three ingredients-fool proof-so I thought. It churned for 2.5 hours. I finally just take it out-LIQUID!!!! Poured it right down the sink, along with the salty water. No flower beds this time. :) Therefore, I took myself right to WalMart and bought some Eddy's Slow Churned Mint Chocolate Chip and Kent some Starbuck's Mud Pie. Apparently it is not meant for us to make any homemade ice cream in our $$$$$ maker. If anyone wants a new "old fashioned" ice cream maker. I think that I will retire mine. And I might even cut you a deal. Only used 3 times. :)

New for me

This week, I have decided that I am going to start preparing a menu for us at our house. I think that I have just been inspired to do better at cooking and preparing after reading multiple blogs that include a "menu Monday." Also, I am a little tired of fixing tacos at the last minute because they are quick and let's face it about the easiest thing to make. So, I started today. We were given so many cookbooks for wedding presents and they were all spread out across my bed this morning while I was trying to make some decisions. One was a crock pot cookbook and I am thinking that trying these out on my week to work will be perfect. Tonight we had Marvelous Mini Meatloaves. It was a recipe that Trina had on her blog from last week. They looked good and easy, so I gave it a try. They were great! We have plenty of leftovers too for lunches. Tomorrow, when I get home, I will start Tuscan Chicken with Wild Rice in the crock pot. Wed night we are going to have some Chicken Parmesan, Thurs I am meeting some girls from my last semester small group for a "reunion," so Kent will just have to fend for himself. Fri night I have planned Hamburger Steaks and Hashbrown Casserole. I am not planning for the weekend because Kent loves to grill out for game days, so I will leave that to him. I had planned on making my first trip to Aldi today after I went to the movies in Bessemer with Heather. I apparently lost direction and headed the wrong way and didn't realize it until I was 10 miles in the other direction. With gas prices, I didn't turn around and just headed to Publix. I got everything I needed except for the hashbrowns. They only had the ones that had peppers and onions already in them, and I need plain ones. I spent just under $40. I am pretty excited to see how this will work out.

Update

So apparently while I was venting with my post yesterday, my grandmother got a call and scheduled her surgery. She will be having a masectomy on Sept 22. That's that earliest they could schedule and she chose that day. I will be able to be there. YEAH!!! They said that normally when people have the surgery on Mon they come home on Friday, so please keep all of our family in your prayers!!!

My life...

Apparently I got a little "blog happy" last week, then this week has been kinda a downer. So to give you an update... It's been a challenging week. Last week my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I've handled it pretty well up until now. I have been a wreck all morning. My grandmother, as does all of my family except one sister, live in Cullman. Which takes me 1.5 hours to get there. No, it's not that far, but when you don't have a car, you can't walk. Kent's truck is messed up; therefore, I have no transportation. My grandmother is a magnificent woman. Both of her sisters and her mother all were diagnosed many years back, so it definitely runs in the family and to be honest, I am scared. I know that she is in God's hands and everything will be alright, but what do you do in the mean time. I somewhat feel as though we are twiddeling our thumbs waiting on results, waiting on tests to be run, but "Get it moving!!!" is what I want to scream!!! She has appts on the 19th and 24th. Guess what? That's still weeks away! We did get some positive news that it's only Stage 1. She may not have to have treatments, but it's all a "wait and see" process. I'm tired of waiting. And I want to go see her, but I can't. I'm just bummed. I did have a good day yesterday. Heather drove me out to Dogtown to the hole in the wall furniture store. We'd never been there, so we didn't know anything about the place. I couldn't belive the vastness of NOTHING!!! I mean, I came from the good ole' Holly Pond and thought there couldn't be anywhere that small. I mean NOTHING was anywhere around. Heather has a GPS in her car and there was the road that we were on and the markings from a railroad track. Akins Furniture is the absolute highlight of that place. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it if you like that kind of land, but it's just def not for me. I like the fact that I am about a 5 minute drive from tons of restaurant options, WalMart, Target and other shopping options. I found a couple of other choices in furniture that I liked, but still haven't made the final decision yet. I will keep you posted on that. On the way home, we stopped and ate at Red Robin in Trussville. Talk about some choices of burgers. Heather, shockingly enough, stuck with the classic bacon cheeseburger. I chose the A-1 Peppercorn burger. WOW!!! It was huge!!!

And delicious might I add. I couldn't eat all of it. Then we did a little shopping at Old Navy and TJ Maxx. We were in search for a cute cotton "beach" dress. We will be there in less than two weeks!!!!!!! You have no idea how much I am looking forward to that trip!! The days are being marked off the calendar!!!

No Babies Yet!!!!

So tonight, Kent and I have further solidified the fact that we are not ready to have any babies!!! We were making home made ice cream (which was the worst possible ever!!!) and after 2 hours of churning, I just turned it off. Well, instead of listening to that voice that says "you probably shouldn't do this," I poured the ice in the corner of the flower bed. Well guess what, it's full of salty water. Salt water kills vegetation. Kent has a cow!!! So what do I do? Get the shovel and the wheel barrow. I dug about a foot deep and threw the salty sand into the woods behind the house. Afterwards, I come in the house and take one bite of some really gross ice cream that is immediately thrown out. I go about my business and get ready for work.
As I am leaving for work, my neighbor says, "Is Gus in the house?" I say, "Yeah, I think so?" All of the sudden, Gus comes barreling at me. No he was not in my house! He had been outside for over an hour and his poor mother didn't realize that he was gone. Who does that!?! Apparently we do. The one that families keep asking, "When are you having a baby?" Really, I think that this sums it up.......NO TIME SOON!!!!!!!
On a happier note, Gus was not traumatized by this experience, he comes and jumps all over us getting his rope because he wants to play. I am just very thankful that he knows what his address is.....

Frustration

I know that this might sound a little ridiculous, but I just left WalMart with a bad taste in my mouth. Yesterday, I tried to use my Visa Gift Card-denied. No one knows why since it still says it has $11.xx on it. Sorry :( Today, they won't accept my Purina coupon that I printed after filling out a survey. When I asked why, the cashier asked the man standing behind her, "Would you like to explain why to her?" He simply says-without even looking at me-"It's printed off the internet, and we can't accept those." The cashier explains in further detail that they are trying to straighten out the mess from all of the fradulent coupons that are circulating out there. That's fine and I understand that somewhat, but if your "manager" can't even look at me and tell me-really? I know that it's frustrating, but at least treat me like I am a person. Look me in the face and tell me. I know that my coupon is real and there's no way that you can figure that out, but stand behind your "policy" by looking at your customer!!! All of that to say, I really don't like WalMart today!!!

CVS trip

This morning, I went to CVS to pick up some prescriptions and thought I might as well do a little shopping. Here's what I got:
2 L'Oreal cleansing wipes $5.99
1 10 pk Irish Spring soap $4.99
1 Glade fabric refresher $2.99
coupons: 2 $1/1 L'Oreal
1 $1.50 Glade
1 $1.50 Irish Spring
ECB $5.99
OOP $11.xx (receipt is in the car and I don't feel like getting up :))
My OOP cost was more because I bought 2 of the L'Oreal products. You earn $5.99 in ECB limit one, but I was in the mood to try the two different kinds. I am not one to take that great care of my skin and am making a pact to do better. This is my start. I like easy and premoisten wipes are just in the ballpark I do believe. So I earned back $7.99 in ECBS for the L'Oreal and the Irish Spring. Then I had to go and spend another $13.23 on prescriptions. CVS is racking up on my cash flow this week that's for sure.

Furniture poll

Okay, I just wanted to get some opinions. We are getting new bedroom furniture soon and I thought that I would get some votes. I've gotten some opinions from the people that I work with, so I thought I would send it to the blogosphere. Here are the narrowed down choices.

1.

2.

3.

Disclaimer: I am going to be traveling to Dogtown next week, so these are subject to change. Let me know what you think.

Reflections

First I would like to say: Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Mary Happy birthday to Me. Okay, so seriously the day is almost over. I only have 8 minutes to enjoy my birthday this year. My friend Frieda from work, just walked up and handed me 3 more gifts. She also gave me a bag of goodies last night. Too much!!! I love her!!! Anyway, on this day, I feel truly blessed as I have had so many phone calls and well wishes from my coworkers! We are having Olive Garden tonight to celebrate and I am really looking forward to that! It's been a really great day. It started of course last night at work. My coworkers are awesome and all wished me Happy Birthday as soon as the clock struck midnight. Frieda brought me a bag of goodies. Then when day shift started arriving, my mother in law comes in with my present, supercute green martini glass and some moohlah to go on our new bedroom suite. SWEET!!! Then my sister sends me a text message & Kent calls me on the way home and tells me that we are going out tonight to get up at four. While I was asleep, I had multiple calls and texts that I woke up to get & my friend Carla calls wishes me a happy birthday, but also tells me that she just found out that she is preggo!!! Congrats!!!
Kent took me to Fire + Ice in Southside which we have never been to, and OMG it was soooooo goood!! I highly recommend it. When we left, he drove down 280 and passed 459. Confused, I ask, "Where are we going?" He says, "To get dessert, at the Melting Pot." Be still my heart. My husband loves me!!!! Stuffed to the gills already am I . However, when you tell me that we are going to eat some chocolate fondue, I am totally game and will gain another 10 pounds from our dessert, and believe me, it's totally okay!!! We got the turtle fondue and it was absolutely divine!!! I LOVE HIM!!! I said thank you so much for all of my birthday stuff, and he says, "Thank you for being born." He is such a sweetie!!! While we were gone, I had several other messages from family and friends. Then I had to get ready and come to work. BOO HOO!!! And when I pulled out of my driveway, my friend called me from South Korea! I haven't talked to her since she left in May other than a few messages myspace. It was so good to hear from her and her adventures!!! This has been a wonderful day and I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family members to make me feel special on my special day!!!

CVS & Rite Aid

This morning when I got off of work, I went to CVS and Rite Aid. I bought 2 Outlast lip glosses by Cover Girl on sale BOGO and 2 Dawn liquid soaps. I had a BOGO coupon and 2 $.50/1 Dawn. My OOP cost was $1.94. My smallest ECB was $5 and since I didn't earn anything from this deal, I thought it was great. Then I went to Rite Aid and bought 1 Crest Pro Health and 2 Secret flawless deoderants on sale 2/$8. I had $.75 q for the Crest and $1/2 for the Secret. I paid $9.48 OOP but am going to get $4.47 back in rebates, so that cuts it down significantly. Then I felt bad when I left because Heather called me after leaving her CVS and said that they wouldn't let her use her BOGO coupon for the Cover Girl since it was on sale for BOGO. Sorry!!! My CVS is better than yours...HAHAHA!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

While I was in Cullman all day yesterday, my husband went shopping...for me :) When I bought my house 3 years ago, he bought me my coffee table. I had a really small living room and didn't have room for any of the end tables or sofa tables from my huge furniture. When I sold my house, most of my furniture just went into the garage and we kept his coffee table and end tables out. We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago about what we were going to do with all of the stuff packed into our garage, and had decided to keep my coffee table and get rid of his.Yesterday when I got home, he had gone through the chaos of our garage and switched out the coffee table. Then he takes me outside to his truck and says "Happy Birthday" It's your end tables!!! YEAH!!!! I love them!!! We put them together last night and I think they look fantastic!!! We have been furniture shopping the past two weekends so the hardwoods and new bedroom suite are next. I can't wait until we get all of this done. It's going to look great and feel more like our home that we have made together!!!

Birthday Lunch

In celebration of my birthday, I chose to go and eat at the Cheesecake Factory. My mom had been bugging me for a couple of days/weeks to decide where I wanted to go, so I thought that since everyone in my family was off for Labor Day that lunch would be perfect. Especially since Ashley could come since she lives in Auburn. This is my mom and two sisters:

There were 10 adults, plus a high chair for my niece. She was a little sleepy so she wasn't that excited about the high chair or the macaroni for that matter. All she wanted to do was make her rounds to everyone that was around the table. I had my favorite dish...Fish Tacos...

which my grandmother snarled her nose up when she just saw it on the menu. And then I finished it off with a piece of Dulce De Leche cheesecake that they brought to me with a candle in it with sprinkles and "Happy Birthday Mary" written in chocolate around the plate. It was mmmmm mmm good!!!!!!

mm

Happy Birthday Ava!!

Loni and I have been best friends since before we even knew what that meant. Our mothers grew up together and we started out as toddlers going to church together. Life happened...We live an hour plus apart but when we talk or get together, it feels like everything falls back in place. Loni and Todd have been married for over 5 years now and have a beautiful little girl. Friday was her first birthday and I had the privilege to go to her birthday party. We had a great time and I got to watch her open a ton of presents and eat some great cake. She only had four birthday cakes, it was kinda hard to decide which one to try. I was too busy taking pictures with Loni's camera that I only got one really good pic. This was right after she had her bath to clean up her icing mess...