Fun With Cake

Tomorrow is Katy's birthday!!! Yea Katy! Welcome to your upper 20's! It sucks, but you're gonna love it! So, when deciding what kind of tasty treat to make for Katy's big day, I immediately thought of cake. Cake is something that Katy and I share a passion for. :)

I've been on a big cupcake kick lately, but thought I'd try something new. I found this recipe on my absolute favorite blog, the hyper homemaker. The blog has since gone away (I'm really sad!) but luckily I printed the directions for these yummies. If you've ever had cake truffles you know the concept. Its pretty much a cake mixed with frosting then shaped and dipped into melted candy. These just happen to be shaped like flowers then stuck on sticks. They make a super cute little arrangement and taste like crack.


Funniest picture ever! I swear, Ari did not get a bite! The best part of these treats is that there are a lot of "duds" that fall off the stick or break apart in the candy. That means I'm forced to eat the rejects! :)

I had to drop these off tonight since I wasn't sure they'd make it until tomorrow in that arrangement. We'll celebrate tomorrow too! Katy is my new neighbor so dropping in is super easy! I love PV! Everyone should move here.

Today also happens to be Ari's birthday! Check out the birthday festivities at my other blog http://www.kcdogblogger.blogspot.com/. Can you believe he's two years old today??? My baby is so grown up!

Would You Rather... Running Style

We are just hanging out being boring tonight. So I decided to steal this from the Skinny Runner blog. WYR is one of my favorite games!


Would You Rather…. run or cross train? Run. Is there anything better??

WYR…. run without a sports bra or without shoes? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't really notice if I weren't wearing a sports bra. Its one of the perks of being in the IBTC.

WYR…. have to take a GU gel every mile or drink a mini size can of Coke every mile? Blech. Both of these sound awful! I'm gonna go with GU since carbonation doesn't mix well with running.

WYR…. run in the rain or run in the dark? Run in the rain. I'm a total chicken when it comes to running in the dark! I've heard too many horror stories to mess with that! Plus, running in the rain makes me feel like I'm a "real" runner.

WYR…. run without music or without a garmin? I really don't listen to music much when I run. This probably goes back to the safety issue. I try to be aware of my surroundings! :) Plus I LOVE my Garmin!!!

WYR…. run hills or a track workout? Hills! I feel really tough when I run hills. I think living in KC pretty much ensures you will be a rockstar at hill running!

WYR…. run in head-to-toe wool or plastic? Wool sounds itchy, but plastic sounds sticky... I'm gonna go with plastic. I'd imagine I'd end up on You Tube or something if I actually attempted this!

WYR… run in the morning or evening? MORNING. I have weird blood sugar issues later in the day that make it hard to work out. Plus things come up, like happy hour!

WYR…. run alone or in a big group? Alone I guess. But ideally I'd be running with my fave running partner, Brooke! We start training in June!

WYR…. have to pee the whole run or fart out loud the whole run? OMG. Definitely pee. I always feel like I have to pee anyways, so this wouldn't be much different. The other option would definitely keep you from group running, huh?

WYR…. run trails or run in the sand? Sand! Anything that puts me near a beach is well worth my time! Although my answer might change if a bikini was required for the beach running.

WYR… race or train? Race. I love racing! Okay, I never actually try to go fast, but the atmosphere at a road race is fabulous!

WYR…. run a 5k or 25k? 25K. I'm gonna steal Skinny Runner's answer and say that I'm cheap and like to get my money's worth out of a race. I've run several half marathons and two fulls, but never ran anything shorter than that until this Spring for a 4 mile St. Patty's Day run in Westport.

WYR… blister your feet or chafe your boobs? Ouch! I choose feet. The girls are more delicate than the feet.

WYR…. run naked or get chased by dogs? Running naked sounds like my worst nightmare. I choose dogs. I feel like I they would catch up and decide to run with me rather than chase and hunt me. :)

WYR…. swallow a bug or step in dog poo? Definitely bug. I have a total fear of dragging dog poo into the house on my shoes. Plus the smell would totally ruin the rest of my run!

More Dogs In Clothes

I totally forgot to post pics of the doggies from this weekend's super fun event in Blue Springs. They were so excited to show off their Commerce T-Shirts to the other dogs! Check out Mya... her shirt is almost a dress! Now if I could only find a pretty dress in her size.


Ari looked so nice! The shirt was maybe a little tight... but it didn't stop him from having fun.

This is Hannah's baby boxer named Bacon. How cute is that name?!? I want him & Ari to be best friends. He's coming to stay with us later this summer when Hannah goes to Washington DC for a triathalon (go Hannah!) so he and Ari will have lots of time to get to know each other.

So, we get home and Drew starts working in the back yard. Ari loves to play in the sprinklers... drink from the sprinklers actually. I don't even know how long he was out there but he was drinking the whole time... and apparently he was having so much fun getting muddy that he forgot to go potty. I got him inside and gave him a bath and after he dried off he proceeded to run around the house... peeing the entire time. I was in the bathroom giving Mya a bath, so I didn't witness it. I definitely saw it when I was done with Mya!

I thought surely it wasn't potty. Surely I hadn't dried him off well enough and he had just dripped water all through the house. So I grabbed the dirty towels and started a load of laundry. I look down, and Ari is standing next to me peeing on the floor!!! I chased him outside and he peed for like another 5 minutes. What the heck dog?!?! How much water did you drink?!?!

Will someone please be honest with me and tell me if our house smells like pee?!?

Longest. Day. Ever.

Okay, so my big exciting life changing news... I quit my job today! Big deal, right? I gave my two weeks notice first thing this morning. I know I'm kind of a drama queen, but I swear it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was so nervous during the whole drive to work. I honestly thought I might chicken out and stay a banker forever.

So, as many know, I started a little business venture some time ago. I'm so excited to give Four Paws Dog Running my full attention. I think its going to be fabulous! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please see my website www.fourpawsdogrunning.com and my doggie blog at www.kcdogblogger.blogspot.com. Then, can someone please teach me how to make links in this silly blogger thing? :)

Now, imagine telling your boss at an ultra-conservative bank that you are leaving your well-paying, steady, respectable job as a small business banking specialist to run dogs for a living. Then imagine telling the same thing to like a thousand other ultra conservative bankers the same thing over and over and over, all in one day. I can say with some degree of certainty that Commerce Bank as a whole thinks I've lost my mind. That makes for a really long day... and I imagine it will make for a really long two weeks.

The thing that struck me though was that when I told the people I'm closest to, they didn't look at me like I'm nuts. They were so excited for me and super supportive. This is totally what got me through the day... that and like a million phone calls to Sam (she quit her job too!). I had to remind myself over and over again that this is what is best for me, and that it doesn't matter if some stuffy old banker thinks I'm a nut job. The people who are most important in my life are right behind me whether I'm making commercial real estate loans, or picking up poo. Is it so weird that I would rather be picking up poo?

So, I'll save you the talk about following your dreams and doing what makes you happy. I'm just so excited to move onto something new in my life and so blessed that God has given me the opportunities he has and the wonderful supportive people to share it with. Thanks to everyone who helped me get to this point!

And So It Begins...

... wedding season! This wedding season is nothing compared to last year's summer of 10! We loaded up the pups and headed to Wichita for the Wagner/Hanneman wedding this weekend. The doggies usually love road trips, but Mya was being a space hog this time around and left Ari a little pissed off. See below.

That is one grumpy puppy! Mya stretched out over the entire back seat, so Ari tried out a number of different positions while trying to get comfy. Try as he might, he couldn't fit into the space under the back window. :)

Finally he convinced Mya to share some space and they ended up spooning the last half of the trip. Aren't they funny?

On to the nuptials... Caitlin was beautiful. As always. She was just radiating happiness! This was my first time meeting the new hubs, so I was pretty excited. I've known Cait for a while now, and I've never seen her this happy. I'm so glad that she's found someone to love her the way she deserves!!!

And, here's me and my preggo friend. I was so amused all night because there were a lot of people at the wedding that we don't see on a regular basis... people kept waiting for Sam to get distracted and they'd whisper, "Is she pregnant?!?!" I kept begging Sam to act shocked and say NO just to get a good laugh. :)

Imagine how shocked you'd be:

And here's my favorite hubby and me:

And Mr. & Mrs. Shocked and Knocked Up themselves:

I love weddings. I just get so excited for them. Then I walk in and see this... and the excitement level just sky rockets. This was the most elaborate candy buffet I've ever seen. I'm still salivating!

Me & preggers again...

And... me & the beautiful bride! I love you Cait!!!

Alright, me & Preggers got a little out of hand with the picture taking...

Her hair was gorgeous! And the hubs ain't so bad either! I found out they bought a house super close to us and made Cait promise to be my running buddy when she gets back from Antigua. So exciting!

Katie had lots of exciting new things going on in her life too... including moving back to Manhattan! So jealous.

Okay, so the wedding looks fabulous, right? But wait! We haven't even gotten to the best part! There was a photo booth for all the guests to take pics! More importantly, there was a box of props to make the photos more interesting. Here's me & Preggers being silly...

And here's Mr. & Mrs. Hanneman going in for their photo shoot! This was the best idea ever! After your pics printed, you could keep some of them, but they put some of them into a scrapbook for the happy couple. That so beats some lame guest book!

Her dress was amazing! And all the bling was SO Caitlin. :)

Such a beautiful wedding. After closing down the reception we headed to McDonalds for some late night snacking. Its so much fun having a knocked up DD! It would be rude not to let her indulge in some pregnancy cravings, right?

Ahhh... off to bed to get ready for another Manic Monday! Check back tomorrow for a very important life changing announcement!!! This is not a ploy to see if you are reading my blog... I really have big news! :)

Dogs in Clothes

Yea dogs in clothes! Drew doesn't normally approve of putting our dogs in clothing, but we signed up to go to a charity event that Commerce is sponsoring this weekend... so the doggies have to represent! One of my fave branch managers is in charge of the event and she went all out and had shirts made for all of the attending dogs! I was a little nervous about how they'd fit, so we had to try them on before the big day.

Drew's comments were something about Ari looking like a homo and that the shirt might as well be pink. Well, Ari seemed to enjoy it. The shirt did turn out a little small, but I think he looks handsome!

Strike a pose! This is a really big deal for Miss Mya. We have never found clothes that fit her before! She's a little... odd shaped... and broad chested. Please don't mention that she's wearing a 2XL. We told her its a Medium. :) They are super excited to strut their stuff at the Pooches in the Park event in Blue Springs this Sunday!!!

Fence Update & Breaking Out the Grill

The rain finally let up enough that we could start on the fence this weekend! Again, when I say "we" I really mean Drew and whoever will come over and help him. Tom was nice enough to spend the whole weekend at our house pouring cement, sawing wood, putting up posts, and all those fun things. They literally worked all weekend. I never knew how much went into building a fence!

This is the back of the yard and you can see the lovely neighbor's home who lives behind us. In the two years that we've lived here we have never seen her! Rumor has it that she's one of those people who weighs so much that they can't get out of bed on their own. Very sad, but Drew will still be happy when we don't have to look at her backyard anymore.

And... check out all that's going on in my garden! The curse must be broken because look at those awesome pepper plants:

Okay, just kidding. After the garden was flooded I broke down and bought some pre-planted bell pepper plants to transplant into my garden. Now all I have to do is not kill them. If you look in the very top left corner you can see the one lonely sproutling that survived the rain. Yep, that baby is the first and only veggie that I can claim as my own. Now I can only hope she produces some cucumbers. Come on little buddy! You can do it!

Ari kept watch over all of the backyard activities. This is after all his fence! And trust me he is more than ready to get back to his yard!

Since I'm not much help with a nail gun or table saw, I decided to show my support in the best way I know how... with food! It was gorgeous out last night so I took the opportunity to break out the grill for the first time this season. It also gave me a chance to try out my fabulous new grill pan; an Easter gift from the Gibsons. Thanks Tom & Cheryl! I decided to grill some potato spears:

This was my first time using the grill on my own. Drew is usually the griller, but since he had other priorities I took the reigns. It wasn't too hard, especially with the help of our Weber's Cookbook! Drew was treated to a yummy dinner of grilled steak and asparagus:

And of course some delish grilled potato spears! They were super crispy, almost like french fries. I love my grill pan and can't wait to use it for other veggies (hopefully home-grown!) this summer!


Drew says if the rain holds off we should have the fence finished in the next couple of days. Keep your fingers crossed Ari!!!

Proof

So... you thought I was being a little dramatic about the whole black thumb thing, right? Well, now I have proof! About a week and a half ago our whole office went to the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce Administrative Assistant Appreciation Lunch. It was super fun and very girly... my kind of thing. At each person's place was a tiny plant in a tiny pot that was painted by an elementary student. So cute! The box of extras was left next to our table so as we were leaving we helped ourselves to a few extras... you know, to brighten up our offices!

Fast forward to today and this is what I've got...

Dead! Plant heaven! Yes, I watered them. Yes, I gave them lots of sunlight. Yes, I gave them lots of love! Maybe it was just the pot, or the soil, or maybe the plants were doomed from the beginning. Everyone's plants probably died within a week, right? Nope. Check out Julie's plants below.

Same plants, same pot, same soil, same office... WTF?!? What is wrong with me?!?

Its not me. Its the thumb!