Have Your Cake & Eat It Too!

This week was very busy and we didn’t slow down any on the weekend! I had two cakes to make and we drove up to Center to celebrate Jackie’s (Darren’s mom’s) birthday with her. It was nice to be able to celebrate with her and see everyone. I made a two-layer white cake on Friday for friend’s step-sisters baby shower and a single layer chocolate cake for Jackie’s Birthday. Here are some pictures:

10 Things I Love About Fall!

1. Leaves 2. Pumpkin Shampoo 3. Leather Jackets 4. Dark Nail Polish 5. Crisp Air! 6. Yankee Spiced Pumpkin Candles 7. Baking pies, well – baking anything. 8. Elections 9. Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Lattes 10. Shorter days and longer nights mean more cuddling!!

5 Things You Always Have in your Fridge

Today while screwing around online, I came upon this site called Serious Eats and found this discussion where you list the 5 things you ALWAYS have in your fridge. It was pretty funny to read some of the things people have in their fridges. Here is our list: 1. Eggs 2. Sour Cream (I think I buy a new container every time I go to the store). 3. A Pitcher of Tea (Darren always has to have some COLD tea). 4. Ketchup (Another of Darren's must-haves) - he eats it on everything!! 5. Grape Jelly - I love grape jelly, but I NEVER eat it, yet - when ours expires, I always make sure to get a new jar! Who knows!

PS: We cooked everything in the freezer before we lost it, when we lost power but I threw EVERYTHING away that was in the fridge. We have had power for 3 days and guess what - everything on that list is back in the fridge! ;)

Darren's New Toy!

Of course, after a natural disaster, comes clean up. With so many trees and limbs down all over town, there is not a chainsaw to be found! Darren and I talked about it and decided that if we were going to buy one – we only wanted to have to buy the one – ever! We want a brand that we know and trust, so we decided on a Stihl (seriously, is there any other kind!?). I called every Stihl dealer that I could find, and no luck! So, I called Darren’s dad in Center, and had him check with a man up there, to see if he had any. He doesn’t have the one that we were looking for, but he has one a little bigger than it. Of course, that was a-ok with Darren. So, it was purchased today, and Pops UPSed it to us, so that we can get it tomorrow and Darren can get to work on the backyard. If all goes right, and Darren has all of his arms and legs when he gets through, I will post some pictures of his hard work. For now, you can see a picture of his new toy! Stihl MS 250 Chainsaw

Let There Be Light!

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, "Let there be light!" And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. ~Ellen DeGeneres Just an update - our power just came back on!! Woo hoo! We were "in the dark" for six days - just continue to pray for the families that still have a week or more to go before they get power back. Also, pray for the linemen and their families as they cope with 16+ hour days, while they try to get all of Houston and surrounding areas back up and running. Things are beginning to get back to normal (somewhat).

The Aftermath of Hurricane Ike!

Let me start off by saying that Ike was horrible! We all came through unharmed, and were really lucky. We had some damage to the fence and some trees down but no damage was done to the house. Here are some pictures: A section of the fence that is down. A un-obstructed view to our neighbors! The front yard. This is from the back door, looking out to the yard. This is from the backyard, looking toward the house. The left side of our backyard. This is from the corner of the yard. This is the fence between us and our next door neighbors. Another spot in the fence that is busted. Darren and I are back at work (how I am posting this), and Mom will go back to work tomorrow. Schools have been closed all week, due to the amount of damage that was done to them, as well as so many people and business are still without electricity. We lost power at 8 on Friday evening and are still in the dark. We are being told that we might have power by Monday. We're hoping, but know that we are a lot better off that a lot of people. We are blessed enough to have running water and a gas stove, so we are doing good. Continue to pray for those who are struggling to find food and water. God Bless! -M