Birthday Present

One of my nieces made these bookends for me for my birthday. Aren't they cute?

Cupcakes

This is a delicious recipe that I got off of another blog and changed (hopefully made it better). They were great! I served them today at my birthday lunch with my family.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup sweet butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp mint extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Ingredients for the Icing:
1/3 cup sweet butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp mint extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place 18 paper baking cups into muffin pans. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Set aside. Beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl until smooth. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Add the egg yokes and beat well. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the flour mixture gradually, stirring until well combined. Gently stir in the egg whites, then add the mint extract and chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.

To make the frosting, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar in a small bowl until smooth & creamy. Stir in the mint extract and add chocolate chips. Put the frosting into the food processor and blend until frosting turns a light brown.

Officially a Fan

My brother-in-law showed us this today and we thought it was hilarious!

Narrowing It Down

The boy and I have it down to two cars right now, the Volvo S40 T5 or the Audi A4. These two both have turbo engines which makes them fast and powerful (which is one of the boy's requirements) as well as better on gas mileage. They are also both extremely safe (which is one of my requirements). The only thing left is to decide or find an amazing deal on one or the other. I am not holding my breath, that's for sure, because with the boy, this could be awhile!

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday, which was really extremely exciting since I didn't have to work! So what did we do? Actually nothing too exciting, since I still had to work on grad school and we are having family over today, which means that house needed to be cleaned touched up. However, I did make some delicious from scratch cupcakes and got a icing dispenser to help them to look beautiful amazing when I go to put them on the cupcake tree (thanks Mrs. Boxell). I did get to go shopping and spend some of my new birthday money, don't you love shopping? Then we went out to dinner downtown at Handsome Harry's. Hopefully tomorrow I will be getting these Oakley's...but I guess we'll see!

What happened?

Dear Life,

Where did you go? Did you get lost somewhere between China and the beginning of the school year? I am hoping to find you sometime soon. It would be very nice to have you back. I miss you!

Love,
Mrs. Jones

My Favorite Complaint

So, now that I am back in grad school for the fall semester, you get to hear all about how much I don’t like it….again. Lucky you! What do I have to complain about this time? The fact that I have to teach class this week…you got it…I get to do the professor’s job for her. Just incase you didn’t know, I am not a professor, I don’t want to be a professor, and it is not my job to teach anyone over the age of seven. Therefore, it doesn’t seem logical to me that I am going to get a grade based on being able to teach some women that are twice my age (with two that are slightly younger). Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture…because I definitely do!

Pop Quiz

What happens when the boy gets restless?

A. He decides he wants to teach himself how to play the guitar.

B. He decides he wants to teach himself how to play golf.

C. He decides that we need to think about moving.

D. All of the above.

The answer....D!

Don't ask me what the boy is thinking...I am just married to him!

The best bag ever?

I was hoping...but now I might never know, because it is completely sold out. Guess I will be searching for it on ebay...wish me luck!