Birthday: Knox style.

What, this old thing? I made it.

Birthdays are pretty awesome in my mind. One day a year a person gets everything their way. This past Friday/Saturday we celebrated my husband. His day included a new kindle, surprise balloons at his school, and a chipotle/movie/ice cream/telephone pictionary party with friends.


The next morning he got french toast breakfast in bed (a family tradition, which is one of my favorites). I would have included the picture of him but there was too much armpit hair for the internet.

My parents have this set of dishes which is the "celebration set" which we use for all breakfasts in bed. I figured we'd carry that on, so the birthday plate (which you can't really see) was a gift from my bff she had handmade for us.

A Public Declaration of How Awesome My Husband Is On His Birthday

Today my husband is turning 24. And I would like to take the opportunity to share with you just a few of the reasons is awesome.

• He fired me from doing dishes. I may not use the most sanitary tactics and upon seeing me do this he simply fired me. Awesome.
• Speaking of the kitchen, scrambled eggs are his forte! they're the best when he makes them
  
• He eats all of the stuff I make him, even when I put green bell peppers in it....
  
• Seth is always up for adventure i.e. our first backpacking trip together, camping, water gun fights with friends, new restaurants!
• He tolerates me, even when I'm exhausted after work or prancing around the house in my tights.
  
• Family is incredibly important to him, both his family and my family.

• He is willing to do all the driving.
• Bottom line, he's incredibly attractive.
  
• He's super tall. I can put anything is any cabinets in our house and I don't need any sort of stool or ladder!
• He is definitely the leader of the marriage. I come up with the crazy ideas, but he okays them.

To you today, Seth, Happy Happy Birthday! I hope this is the first of many I get to spend as your wife!

Carrot Cake or I'll take any excuse to use cream cheese icing

When one pictures carrot cake don't you think of those crazy little pieces at the grocery store with the tiny frosting carrot on top. That stuff is gross. I honestly had no idea I liked carrot cake until college when my cousin made this recipe.

Here it goes:
1) Mix 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp allspice and 1/2 tsp salt
2) Add 4 eggs, 1/4 cup oil and 1 tsp vanilla
3) Stir in 3 cups of shredded carrots
4) Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees in greased 9x13 pan


Finally:
5) Blend 1/4 cup softened butter, 4 (give or take, I add more usually) oz softened cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla, about 2 cups of confectioners sugar. Spread on top. and then lick the spatula and bowl.

I would have taken a picture of a piece of the cake but I had to bring it, intact, to our small group to share. :)

Homemade Corn Dogs

So this one time, I made corn dogs. Baked, not fried. I have a fear of frying things in my house, the splattering and hot grease and what not. Baked it is. The other thing is, I didn't buy skewers.

Here is the recipe I used: Homemade Baked Corn Dogs

Neck Fat, Cancer & Whales: Book Reviews

I've been a reading machine.

I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

I love Nora's movies. In fact I just got When Harry Met Sally and made my husband watch it. My mom had read this book awhile ago and said it was pretty funny so I thought I'd pick it up. Ephron expounds on being a middle aged woman, hating her neck and about how she hosts. I did chuckle out loud a few times but overall think I would think it would have been funnier if I were 45.








When God and Cancer Meet by Lynn Eib

Lynn is herself a colon cancer survivor and she writes about other cancer patients and how they encounter God in the midst of their struggles. I thought it would mostly be stories about people, but it was more of a guide for cancer patients on how to seek God. Unless you have cancer, or are an oncology nurse I don't really recommend just picking this one up for fun. It did give me a good perspective on how to interact with my patients though.













Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

I've read a few other books by Picoult and enjoyed them. In this book she chronicles the journey of a woman who leaves her husband, drives across country and hangs out with her brother at an apple orchard where he works. Her daughter comes along for the ride and her husband, a prominent whale scientist, follows them. The story line isn't the most compelling, but it was a quick read and I finished it in 3 days.

Life in cell phone pictures

I haven't been taking many real life pictures, so here are some from my cell phone camera.

Worst product name ever? I think so

This is how my family eats popcorn at the movies.
We smuggle it in my large purse. We also had root beer

Don't worry, I was at a stop light.
This sticker says "support zombies".

Adventure, laughter and happiness: book reviews

I may be cheating a little bit with this edition of the books I've read for 2012. 2 of these I started in 2011, but finished in 2012. If I make my goal of 25 books without counting these cool, if not, I'm counting them. Besides, this is my goal, not yours.

1) Pass the Butterworms: Remote Journeys Oddly Rendered by Tim Cahill

Cahill is a Montana based travel writer. His stories range from poignant tales of death in the Amazon to hilarious quips about his lack of ability to kayak. I liked this because I could read it when I was in between other books. So you should read it.








2) Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Gilbert is a psychology professor at Harvard. I picked it up after buying in on Amazon on a whim and thought I would be totally overwhelmed, but was pleasantly surprised. Gilbert discusses why we as humans fail to have enough foresight to do today what will make us happy in the future. He uses a lot of references to research studies, some of his own included, and as somewhat of a research nerd I totally appreciated that. He is also hilarious, so I liked that too. Again, I recommend it.










3) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

Let me start off by confessing I read this in 2 days and embarrassed myself several times in Starbucks because I was laughing out loud. Kaling is both an actress and writer for The Office. She basically writes about her life in a really hilarious, pseudo-self-depricating way. She takes about not peaking in high school, her play Matt & Ben (in which she and her bff dress up like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), and BFF and Man Rules among other things. I already sent this to my best friend to read, so obviously I recommend it.

2012

I think I've just now had some time to realize we are in a new year. Last year I had some major changes in my life and this year may be no different. I spent some time this morning reflecting on where I'd like to be by the end of this year and here are some goals I've come up with to get me there.

o Read 25 books (8 of which are fiction)

o Work out most days a week for 1 hour each day, do yoga once a week

o Evaluate purchases before I make them

o Successfully grow an herb

o Watch less than an hour of TV a day & spend more time outside

o Volunteer

o Devote myself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

o Figure out what it means to invest in relationships

o National Chemo Certification course

o Apply for grad school by 2012

I have more, which I don't feel like sharing, but these are some of them. Also, not all of these goals are well written (they don't have a time line, or aren't specific enough). oh well. Now here's to a new year!

2011

A look back at my goals/year:

1) Get married! - DONE. Best day of my life.
2) Refinish 5 pieces of furniture - Not done, at all. I did 1 though.
3) Get chemotherapy certified at work - DONE
4) Join the local Oncology Nursing Society chapter - DONE & I joined the national ONS
5) Give more random gifts - Sort of done, I can think of a few I gave randomly.
6) Embroider some stuff - DONE (a pillowcase & handkerchiefs for my bridesmaids)
7) Move into my first place with my husband and make it our home - DONE
8) Make some new traditions for our family and continue old ones - Sort of done
9) Travel to Cancun (helllooo honeymoon!) - DONE
10) Read 24 books (12 for fun, 12 to better myself) & write them down! (since i have a terrible memory) - 17 for fun (i.e. fiction) & 8 non-fiction = 24 total, 1/2 success. I'll count it .
11) Start saving for retirement and possibly going back to school - DONE.
12) Take more pictures - DONE?
13) Get involved in a church in TX - DONE, we're Members at Redeemer Lubbock, co-leading a gospel community & have made good friends
14) Keep my blog updated with things I'm doing- DONE

I also oriented people at work, traveled to San Antonio, Austin & Fort Worth, knitted some, did other random crafts, camped & backpacked with my husband for the first time, cooked a bunch, made some really good friends & was generally very happy with my life.

If I wasn't super lazy & on vacation, I would make you links to the blog posts related to these, but lets be honest, you've already read those (hi, Mom!).