Engagement pictures and a piece of cake!

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to be crafty and creative. Maybe that's why I am a cosmetologist, scrapbooker and crafter. I just love it all and want to try it all. So I decided "why not add a few more things to that list" and I started taking an interest in cake decortating and photography. I have always been interested in photography (ever since I started scrapbooking 10 years ago) but I have always only had point and shoot cameras. Until a few weeks ago when my amazing husband got me a Nikon D5000 SLR. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I'm still getting use to it (there is a lot to learn) but I have really enjoyed taking pictures and trying out all the cool features. My sister-in-law (Andy's sister) is getting married in August and I thought what better way to get in some practice then take their engagement photos. So we went out a few weeks ago to down town and here are a few of my favorite shots. (keep in mind, I'm still learning).

















I have also been busy making cakes. I have made cakes in the past but never for other people... other then family. A few of the girls that I work with asked me if I would make cakes for them for graduations and birthdays. Here are a few pictures of the ISU graduation cake that I made for my co-worker Diane. Her daughter Jana is graduating and I think that the cake turned out pretty good!

Pella Tulip Festival

Andy and I went to the Tulip Festival in Pella yesterday. I had never been and Andy had not been since he was little. It was SO cold (it felt more like October then May) but we went anyway and I am glad we did because it was a lot of fun.

There were so many people there and most of them were wearing wooden shoes. Andy and I went into a lot of the little shops around the square and almost all of them had wooden shoes for sale. (no, I didn't buy any) They were VERY heavy..... I don't see how anyone could walk in them. Not only were they wearing wooden shoes, they were all wearing Dutch outfits. I snapped a picture of a women in her Dutch attire :) (she was also walking around with a broom sweeping the streets, a lot of people were. It must be a dutch thing).

Pella had a ton of Junk stores (woo hoo for me, not so much for Andy) we just had to check out. Andy doesn't really enjoy looking through old junk like I do and he usually just follows me around. But occasionally I will spot him checking something out :) He always tells me that we should just live in a barn (I would LOVE that) and I always tell him the old saying "One man's junk is another man's treasure". Our house is FULL of treasures :)


You can not go to Pella and not get Dutch letters. They are SO yummy. People were standing in line at the bakery for hours to get them and they were buying them by the bag full.
I wanted to go up into the windmill but the line was way too long so I just settled for taking pictures. Because of the weather being unseasonably cold the tulips were not the best. A lot of them were welting but they were still pretty.



What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with my hubby!

Very Busy Week ahead!

I have a very busy week ahead of me! Monday I am taking a class at Memory Bound Scrapbook store (where I work). It should be a very fun class and I am looking forward to it! I am also starting my "week in the life" project! I'm sure all of you scrapbookers out there know who Ali Edwards is. If you don't you should check out her website at www.aliedwards.com. She has done a project called the week in the life. Its where you document a week in your life by taking photos of the things you and your family do in a normal week and journal your stories. I wanted to do this project last year but I never got around to it. Well, I am determined to do it this year. I will be using a 8 1/2 by 11 3 ring scrapbook by We R Memory Keepers and the new mama ratzzi line from Bo Bunny. I will post pictures to show my progress. Wish me luck! I also have to make a Iowa State graduation cake for a co-worker. Diane's daughter is graduating and she asked me to make her cake. I have some great ideas in mind! So I will be coloring and rolling fondant a lot this week. :) I am also working on another special project that I can't share right now but I will post photos when I can :) I am enjoying my day off and this nice weather. I have all the windows open and I am loving it! The only bad part is I have laundry galore to wash and fold :( Not my most favorite thing in the world to do but it has to get done. After laundry I am going to get out in the yard and pull weeds and water my garden. Our vegetables and flowers are starting to pop up and I am so excited. There is nothing like fresh vegetables! I hope every one gets a chance to get out today and enjoy this beautiful weather! And remember to take time to stop and smell the flowers!

"Date Night"

Tonight Andy and I had "date night". We went to KC BBQ (one of our new favorite places to eat)! and then we were going to go to the library. "romantic, I know"! I decided to try something new and ordered the italian sausage. I thought it was a little wierd to see italian sausage at a bbq place but I ordered it anyway, and that's when date night went down hill. I didnt really care to much for my food when I got it (just wasn't what I was expecting). Andy couldn't help but laugh at me because I seem to do that a lot when we go out to eat (not like what I order) and I couldn't trade with him this time because he ordered the same thing. Thats not the worst part. I ended up spilling half of my sandwich on my shirt :( I wiped it up as fast as I could, took a quick look around to make sure no one saw what I just did and then continued eating. You would think that was the worst of the night and so did I until I dropped fries covered in ketchup right into my lap! Yep, that really happened! needless to say the library was out of the question and date night was over. Oh well, better luck next time!

Our new blog!!

I just love blogs!! There are several blogs that I visit daily (mostley scrapbooking blogs) and I can't let the day go by without checking them. So I decided to start my own family blog. I am in the middle of two different blogs and I am trying to decide which on I like better. I have heard good things about the blog spot and I have several friends who have blogs here so I thought I would give it a try :) I wanted to start a blog so I can keep our family and friends updated on whats going on in our lives and eventually I want to post photos of some of my projects. (scrapbooks, cakes etc.)