Cupcake Crazy

I am cupcake crazy! I don't know what it is about the tiny little yummy cakes that make me so happy but they do! I also have a serious problem with buying the little liners that you use to make them. They are SO stinkin' cute and I have a really hard time stopping myself when it comes to buying them which is made so much worse by the fact that they are usually less than $2 a package....seriously....how is a girl to resist! Supposedly there is a Sprinkles that has either just opened in Scottsdale or is opening soon and I do believe a pilgrimage is in order! Nicole is just the type of awesome friend to not only understand my obsession but also to encourage it on random late night Wilton online ordering. Now that's a friend! These are some adorable liners I bought at Sur La Table...again...so stinkin' cute!! Also, a cupcake book I could not resist at Williams Sonoma....that store is SO bad for my budget....so many great things including Sprinkles cupcake mixes I may add!

Quiz

Name: Amy Ferguson

Four jobs I have had in my life (other than current job):
Bakery Worker (tarts all day every day)
CCRA (processing tax returns for the Canadian government)
Nanny
Children’s Party Entertainer (painting faces, making balloon animals)

Four movies I would watch over and over:
The Notebook
Amelie
Little Mermaid
Pride & Prejudice

Four places I have lived:
Capreol, Ontario
Ottawa, Ontario
Sudbury, Ontario
Holbrook, Arizona

Four TV shows that I watch:
Jeopardy
LA Ink
GREY'S ANATOMY
Survivor

Four favorite places I have been:
CALIFORNIA
Rocky Point, MEXICO
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Utah

People who email me (regularly):
Nicole
Angela
Kimmy

Four favorite foods :
Crab legs
Sushi
Pizza
A really good salad

Four places I would rather be right now:
Home
Movies
Canada
Sleeping

Four friends I think will respond:
Nicole
Kim
Angela

Things I am looking forward to this year:
Going to LA
Nicole coming home
Seeing Wicked
Going to Disneyland

A Quote (and other randomness)

" I must learn to love the fool in me - the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human alivemess, humility, and dignity but for my fool." - Theodore I. Rubin, MD





Love that quote and these are my babes. Ariel (the calico) and Abby (the Tabby). We adopted these little fuzzballs last year right around Thanksgiving now that you mention it and they are an ENDLESS source of amusement.I shall make a list of amusing facts.

Ariel:
*wants nothing to do with people food...you could lay down a steak and she won't touch it.
* adores water out of anything other then her water dish. A glass of water is not safe in the house.
*eats cat treats really slowly...Abby usually steals them before she can eat them because she's so slow.
*will sleep anywhere....including on her cat bed or right next to her empty cat bed on the dresser. Seriously.
*fetches earplugs, hair elastics, pens....almost anything.
*doesn't mind getting a bath as long as you don't ger her face wet.

Abby:
*would sell her soul for a cupcake...she wants human food...all of it....any time day or night...which is wierd because we DO NOT FEED THEM ANYTHING BUT CAT FOOD.
* is afraid of the broom.
Eats cat treats at the speed of light. She's addicted.
* Also will drink water out of anything but her bowl.
* has an un-natural fascination with cotton swabs, she will come into the bathroon and beg for one if she hears me open the glass jar where I keep them.
*farts when scared.
*hates when we try and bathe her.

It's funny because you think of cats as just being house pets and not being that intelligent or having that much personality BUT THEY DO!
My friend Jaquel thinks that we are highly intelligent people (not sure exactly where she got that from although I do have a freakish way of answering the questions on Jeopardy but i'm pretty sure I hide that pretty well) and is always telling people that we have the perfect pets for us....freakishly intelligent cats. Go fig!

Yummy Rolo pretzels!

Ok so i'm hoping I get the formatting figured out on this and am able to add all the pictures. Starting from the top. I made these YUMMY pretzel things this week to send to Eldon's school. You take a pretzel (I like the square ones) put a rollo on it and pop into a 350 degree oven for 4-5 minutes. When they are a little melty and look glossy take them out and press an M&M into them. Let them cool and enjoy. My little neighbor CeCe ate about 15 of them Friday night.



I also spent some "quality time" with my iron this week and whipped out some onesies for a friend who had a baby! So cute. Nicole helped with some of the ideas but because I couldn't open the formatting correctly I had to play around a little with the designs. So fun!




This is my neighbor CeCe. (Old picture from 2005) She's a blast. Her mom was going out of town shopping with her two sisters and she chose to stay at home and hang out with me because Eldon was away coaching. She's such a fun kid and we had a great time making Rolo Pretzels and playing Wii. I think she thought the best parts of the night were watching "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" and eating at Denny's. She got a rush out of ordering off the adult menu.


This is a picture of my new hair. I got it cut two weeks ago at Dolce and i'm not really sure if this is a good picture of it or not but I tried to snap one before work on Wednesday. Upon review I really don't think you can see hte style much at all. I will attempt to take better picture tomorrow after church.

Today was good. I chilled with Katie in Flagstaff while Eldon was at chess and got a bunch of errands run. After that I got to talk to Nicole for awhile and that always makes my day!

Random Differences between Canada and “The states”

• No Swiss Chalet in Arizona! I lurve this restaurant!!
• No caramilk, aero (the caramel aero especially), wunderbars, crunchie or crispy crunch in Arizona. (There are more these are just our faves)
• Total lack of good deli meat and cheese in Arizona …it’s all processed and kinda not so tasty.
• No good bread in Arizona! I’m not talking sandwich bread….i’m talking a great baguette which you can get and any independent grocer baked fresh and cheap!
• Ditto bagels!
• Thanksgiving is freakishly late in “the states”….the end of November is WAY too late…it runs right in with Christmas….and as a side note….if it’s always the third Thursday in November how come it’s the 4th this year? Think about that one for a minute!
• Due to above my birthday often falls on Thanksgiving or somewhere around there….as does our anniversary. Not ideal for planning a getaway because Eldon’s family is big on Thanksgiving.
• Arizona is much too far from Ontario….it takes ages to get there and that means no random weekends visiting friends in Ontario….you have to go and visit for two weeks and still feel like you didn’t get to see everyone you wanted to see.
• No one in Arizona has ever heard of cabbage rolls! (I’m making these for dinner and so it’s on my mind) This may be specific to the south western part of “the states” but still valid!
Ok I will think of more of these.
Commenting on my last post I think I have a plan to cook half as often. Whenever I make something for dinner that can be frozen make twice as much and throw half into the freezer. This way I spend less of my weekend cooking and still amass a nice little stockpile of stuff to cook when I don’t feel like cooking.

I’ve been super stressed lately. It seems like there is no way to get everything done that needs to get done in any given day. It's manifesting itself by freaky dreams about work (three this past week) and other random ways. At the same time I have been really trying to take time out for myself and not lose my mind.

(ok I am typing this at work and troll woman just walked up behind me REEKING of cigarette smoke. GAG!)

So this past weekend I had some fun things planned with friends, Eldon had a chess tournament out of town so I was on my own from Friday mid-day till Saturday afternoon late.
On Friday night I went to a scrapbook group that meets once a month and just chills and scrapbooks and I was out until about 3:30 am.

I woke up at about 9:30 when Eldon called and spent the rest of the morning talking to Nicole and cleaning (Hi Nicole!) her son Caleb was doing the cutest thing while we were on the phone. Nicole asked if he wanted to talk to me and put the phone up to his face and he starts repeating "ELDON" over and over. It was super cute....Eldon said that that must be his new word that he is in lurve with!

I have this obsessive thing about cleaning my house on the weekends. I have certain tasks that I just never seem to find time to do during the week and they all stack up to be done on the weekend. Which really sucks when Eldon is not around to help, I try and leave him some tasks to get done but I usually end up doing the majority.

Anyways so on Saturday after cleaning and talking to Nicole (pretty much the best time of my day) I went to this card class that I do monthly. It was really fun....we always make about 4 really cute cards and 2 of each and it's just a fun little class. I went back home and commenced cleaning and then had my first belly dancing class that night!

My sister in law and some of my friends have been going to belly dancing for a few months now and really loving it so she bought me a hip scarf as an early birthday present and I’m belly dancing now. I have to say that my muscles were really sore on Sunday so it must have been working.

Ok before this becomes a LEGENDARY EPIC post I will end with a question. Any great ideas for food that freezes well or other non freezable winter fave foods. I'm going to try to get into the habit of then Eldon is in school cooking about once a month and then having things in the freezer. Any suggestions? I did a little of this last year but I'm looking for more variety. Crock pot recipes also very much appreciated.

Ok. So it's been almost a year since i've blogged.
My friend Kimmy posted a challenge and tagged me to list 10 things I am happy about.
So here goes....

* I am happy to have Eldon in my life. He makes it better every day.
* I am happy to have so many wonderful nieces and nephews (especially Kaity) It's nice having kids around.
* I am happy that Abby and Ariel love the cat bed I made them so much. (pictures to come).
* I am happy that Nicole is my friend. She is such a good one and that has been in short supply for a few years!
* I am happy that i'm finally starting to feel like fall is here and be in the mood to make yummy treats like gingersnaps and cider.
* I am happy that Nicole should be coming home soon. I miss her!!
* I am happy that chess is almost over for the season....I have been one lonely housewife!
* I am happy I am almost done scrapbooking Eldon's mission....huge project and i'm almost done!
* I am happy that Eldon's family is getting on board for Canadian Thanksgiving....it makes being away from home a little easier.
* I am happy that Eldon and I will be going away for our FOUR YEAR anniversary and seeing WIcked/going to Disneyland....SUPER EXCITED!
* I am happy I have an ipod...otherwise known as amycrack.
* I am happy I finally got started with makig christmas gifts!!
* I am happy I am getting skinnier even though my clothes are all too big.
* I am happy that all I have to show from being sick on Sunday night are two semi-black eyes! I was mondo sick and broke some blood vessels...but it could have been worse right!

Ok so that's more than ten things....and since no one reads my blog I am going to tag
NICOLE! (Love you!)