Tasty Coffee Cake!

I just made this and WOW! is it good! I won't go into how many eggs and how much sugar and oil is in it. Just know it is SUPER good! Here's the recipe from Allrecipes.com. I used one pack of vanilla pudding and one pack of pumpkin spice pudding (not sure if it's sold anymore. the pack said "limited edition"). I also added dark chocolate chips. Have you ever had the pumpkin and chocolate cookie from Starbucks? That's how I figured this would taste good together. I knocked my own socks off with this one!

Hope everyone is having a nice Monday. It's Spring Break for me so instead of going to classes, I get to stay home and...write 2 page paper and a take-home midterm to do instead. Hello!? What part of Spring BREAK do they not understand?

Well, the laundry is done, the dishes are done, I've caught up on all the blogs I read...time to hit the mall, er, books!

Here's an old pic of me that I like. I wish I looked like that right now.

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net">her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did NOT find out that my husband read my last blog entry only when he tried to use/twist /misquote what I wrote in order to prove he was right.


Him: This Spring weather has been really wierd.

Me: It's not Spring yet. Not officially. Those things have official dates.

Him: Well, I'm talking generally. Anyway, didn't you write that it was Spring in your last blog?

Me: Oh, you read it! I love that!

(I'm thinking to myself, 'He wouldn't call it Summer in October! You can't just redefine seasons!!!' *and on and on because that's how a woman's brain works, right sweetie!?)

Him: (smiling because he likes to make me happy)

Me: But if you notice, I wrote it was "almost spring".

I love you, Brian! Keep reading, quoting, correcting and enjoying my blog!



I did NOT make a chocolate muffin for my husband to eat in the mornings with his coffee. I do NOT spoil him like that. I would only feed him healthy stuff like oatmeal and bran.
That muffin batter did NOT turn out too liquidy so I made a cake out of it. And all of the chocolate chips did NOT sink to the bottom. I did NOT make this horrendous looking muffin-cake-gone-wrong.





I did NOT discover this:



I did NOT drink 4 of these in 2 days.



I did NOT go with my husband to get a DVR after begging for many days. I did NOT encourage him also to buy GARMIN (GPS system). I am NOT that spendy/impulsive/demanding when it comes to obtaining new technology. I am NOT excited like a kid at Christmas about these new toys!


I have NOT recently decided that since we don't have a dog or a baby, that my husband will be the substitute.

I do NOT sit around staring at him because he's "so cute!", rubbing his belly, kissing him and feeding him. NOT me!

Wordless Wednesday...Almost Spring Again!

Ten Small Things

I'm not a blog-originalist. I'm a blog copy-cat. It's just that there are so many great ideas out there that inspire me to blog. Here's another one based on a list that Amanda did that I thought was cute and a good way to share about me and my life. That's kind of the point of this, you know.

These are "10 Small Things" that make my life enjoyable and manageable.

Organization:

Don't hate me because I have a huge walk-in pantry....

I don't follow recipes well, (except for baking because that's a science) but I do love measuring cups and spoons. So much so that I need this on my counter. Seriously, I use measuring cups and spoons many, many times a day. I'm weird that way.

Phototgraphs:

I put them everywhere...Facebook, my blog, laptop background, photo album on coffee table, on the walls all over the house, photo albums on my laptop.

I get mine printed exclusively at Ritz Pics.

I couldn't do it without my awesome camera! Brian has taught me how to use the manual settings and now that's all I use. How did I ever take decent pics before this little guy? This camera rocks my world!

Cleaning Items:

I love the smell of these. Found at Sprouts. I keep them both on my sink all the time. Can use the countertop spray everywhere and the freshness and matching smells makes it okay to be cleaning and doing the dishes all the time.

I love my dishwasher! We picked it out and Brian installed it. I got to pick out my own dishwasher! That was one of our first married projects last year. I love how it looks like stainless steel inside. (it's not, but it sure looks sharp!)

EDIT:Oops! I was wrong! It IS stainless steel! Proof that my husband is reading my blog! :)My splurge...yeah, maybe powder mix is way cheaper but I love these little guys. I'm sort of addicted to them. I can't imagine using anything else, ever. You know you want to try them...

Liquid Refreshment:

How to start my day...

And how to end it...


Saved the BEST for last:
My Sweetie. None of that other stuff really matters.

All I need is him to make my life enjoyable.

With these rings.....

I'm good on jewelery for awhile now that I have my complete ring set.

Why am I so happy?!

I may not have Photo Shop but....

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


I want to enlarge and frame this. I love the feeling it has. I just can't decide which one.

Any opinions?

Edited on 4/11/09 Here's how it turned out. The pic on the other side of the TV cabinet is from one of my first blogs about wine. These are 11x20 enlargments (if I remember correctly).

Wordless Wednesday

Valentine's Day

I got flowers and a trip to a chick-flick in the middle of the afternoon.

"He's just not that into you" is a movie based on a book by the same name.

I've read that book knew when we were dating so I knew that Brian was SO INTO ME. :)

I just loved the movie. He liked it, too. Everyone can relate to something in this movie.

He got a card, chocolate, a trip to Home Depot after the movie AND we watched a "man-movie" in the evening at home.

I made pizza for dinner, while that's not something unusual in our home, it never ceases to make him feel "loved".
It almost sounds like he got the better deal but then I remember, he did make the coffee in the morning.
That, alone, makes me the MOST loved woman ever! It was a nice day.
I love you, Brian.

1st Anniversary

It's our 1st wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful weekend together in Prescott, Az to celebrate what was started on this day one year ago. Here are a few pictures of that day.


Moment before becoming Mrs. Gaffney....

His view.... My view....
Their view....Whew!

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me! Monday

I'm joining the carnival ride of "Not Me!" Monday. It's a great idea and all credit goes to MckMama


I became "the girl who makes the most awesome cookies" this past week. Thank you, coworkers! I'm blushing. I almost don't even recognize myself since I've gotten married almost a year ago. In a good way! I've got mad domestic skills. Let me tell you, I'm a keen observer of store ads to find hamburger meat, bell peppers, and grapes on sale. I'm getting better at using the fresh produce before it spoils. I almost always manage to have an even amount of socks to match after doing laundry. I'm even starting to work on a budget because I know it's a good idea, not because my husband asked. I know, I should change my blog title to "Amazing Domestic Goddess" (think Bridget Jones Diary...you must see that movie!)


All that being said, I obviously did NOT forget to unplug the hand blender before pushing the eject button on the whisks, only to have my finger slip from the eject button and turn the blender ON. The result of that act would get chocolate cookie dough splattered all over the wall and fresh produce sitting nearby, I did NOT do that. It was NOT me who kept this event to myself in order to share it with my husband on my blog, in an effort to get him to read my blog more often. I do NOT ask him several times a week, "did you read my blog?". I am NOT looking for approval and praise from him like a 5 yr old kid. That's silly.

Being the "Amazing Domestic and Fiscally Responsible Goddess" that I am, I try to cut down on costs and shop at the local humongous bulk wholesale store for certain items. They have a decent price on what I like to call "edible gold"...lunch meat. $8-$10 per pound is crazy! So I try to buy it in bulk and freeze...sometimes that means a trip to the wholesale store when all I really need is lunch meat. But I'll do it just because I'm so fiscally responsible. I did NOT go there this week for just lunch meat and leave with a receipt totalling over $200.

I have NOT left the bathrooms go uncleaned since my last "Not Me! Monday" post.
I do NOT have a pile of dishes in the sink and did NOT leave my $1.88/lb hamburger out on the counter for the last hour so I could write this blog. I did NOT use spell check on this, only to find I misspelled hamburger and whisks. NOT me!