A Handsome Pirate, Some Candy, and a Stupid Hoop Skirt

Reasons why I like Halloween are as follows:
-Candy
-Ya get to dress up (and who doesn't love a fun costume?)
-Candy
-The opportunity to get together with friend who also like candy and dressing up in fun costumes
-An excuse to eat insane amounts of candy
-The opportunity to use accents
-Did I mention candy yet?

This Halloween weekend was especially fun :) I went to a costume party with Ben.....who's Ben you ask? Only the most awesomest, handsomest, sweetest guy ever! *refrains from gushing further*  We went to the RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) costume party at his college. He was Jack Sparrow and I was Elizabeth Swan.....see?

Ain't we cute? :) We won Best (couple) Costume and I won Prettiest Costume. The RUF leader's little daughters were smitten by my dress and followed me everywhere.I borrowed the dress from my friend Carmen and her sister Gen provided the hoop skirt. Have you ever worn a hoop skirt? I pity you if you have. They are ridiculous! I couldn't fit through doors, or crowds of people, and getting in the car was quite an ordeal. We won't go there. Ben's costume was courtesy of local thrift stores at the last minute because he had no idea I was coming....I love surprises. :) I had already bought the long Jack Sparrow wig at Wal-Mart which was kinda scary seeing him in long hair, but it definitely added to the costume. He had a nerf sword already and one of his friends helped us rig up a scabbard made of duck tape...huzzah for the nerd college. We also scrounged up a jar of dirt (movie reference), however he dropped it in the parking lot before we even had a chance to get to the party :P But it still looked really cool with his costume. Anyway, the party was super fun and the other costumes were really creative. There was a Death Eater, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Mayhem from the All State commercials, Cardinals players, a lady bug, and Tinker Bell and a bunch more I can't remember. The guy who was doing the costume judging had a judges robe and an awesome white wig made out of cotton balls. It was super fun and we ate lots of candy and danced and took pictures and just generally goofed off. :)

Best Halloween party EVER. I vowed to never wear that dress again, however, I'm breaking the vow tonight to give out candy to the kids in our neighborhood, but after that.....never again.

Addicted to Candy,
JRae

On the Menu

We have potluck at our church every Sunday. I'm planning to make these in addition to my weekly traditional meatballs. I have a feeling I'll be able to add these to my list of "Stupid Good" foods. O and did I mention it's a Pioneer Woman recipe? She's my hero. Follow the link to see why.

Happy Eating,
JRae

Whew! I just customized the look of my blog. That's tiring...or maybe I'm just a wimp? At any rate, it's way more interesting than before. I love the font! Makes it look like I'm typing to you from an old, awesome, type writer, :) Hope you like it! Aaaaaaaand, for those of you who may not have noticed, on the left side of your screen is a cute little link for a FREE owl calendar. *squeals of joy!*  It's from this super amazing owl blog that I'm addicted to. I downloaded and printed the 2011 one and I can hardly wait to take the time to make my 2012 calendar. There's all this beautiful, creative, owl artwork to choose from and you can decide which picture goes with which month. UH-MAZING! I heart owls.

Owl see ya later! (hardy har)

-JRae

Mr. House Robe

I have a best friend. I always travel with him. I have him handy at all times. I would be lost without him. His name..is Mr. House Robe. He is fleece and burgundy. He is warm and cozy. He is always there when I need him, when I'm cold and want a blanket but don't feel like carrying a blanket around, Mr. House Robe, is just like a blanket to me. Every morning I wake up, I yawn, stretch, pop my collar bone (don't ask me why it pops but it just does), I roll out of bed, and I walk to the hook on my bathroom door where Mr. House Robe is ready and waiting like a faithful friend. Come to think of it I go find Mr. Robe before I go get Mr. Coffee....wow...Mr. Robe is even more important than I realized until now....
Mr.Robe has his flaws, don't get me wrong. He has no pockets and the tie isn't adjustable, but I still love him. :)

Obsessed,
JRae

Apple Cider, Birthday Girl, and Cardinals

Today is my niece's 1st birthday :) Hard to believe for sure. I went shopping for her present today....while she was with me. Great plan I know, but it's not like she'll remember what it is. I got her a sock money and an adorable owl shirt. :D For those of you who know me at all, that's not surprising since I am obsessed with owls. A quick looksie at my Amazon wish list will testify to that. On our way to the store for Ruth Anne's present, her momma and I stopped at a local coffee shop and she bought me a Caramel Apple Cider....Oy. The Bucks of Star ain't got nothin on these folks. It was, in a word, epic. Stupid Good at it's stupidest.
Have you ever tried going shopping with a ridiculously adorable 1 year old??? You get stared at like mad from people going, "OMG that child is so freakin cute!". It's rather entertaining.
Currently we're watching the second game of the world series...GO CARDINALS! I've decided that people are desperate these days for good commercials. Most of them are pretty dumb. Matt seems to really love the local commercials the best...Not. :P
This week has been super fun. I've spent the entire week with my Sis and my Bro-in-law, and my Niece. We've ate, we've drank, we've been merry, we've watched Lost, we've laughed, it's been fun. :) But, I miss my family and It'll be nice to go home and get back to normal life. :)

Later,
JRae

Snuggle Time

Can't believe she's 365 days old....She is just so darn cute.

-JRae 

Sittin' at Tae Kwon Do

Blog post written October 13, 2011:

I was right. The Mac N’ Cheese was epic. Mom added a bread crumb topping to it that added a nice crunchy texture to it  and just made it all the more epic. I like the word epic…can you tell?

I love being at home. I just recently quit my job at a local restaurant  and I’m so glad I did. If I didn’t want a cell phone or a car or shampoo, I would just stay unemployed and eat my parents food in exchange for cleaning the house. :P But I like my phone and my car so instead of another job where there’s drama and a schedule I don’t want, I’m going to nanny J This makes me happy. I heart kids. They’re so fun and imaginative and easily entertained and ….fun! The nanny gig is very part time so I still have a lot of time to cook, and bake, and clean house, and do fun stuff like plan church picnic games and go out to coffee with friends. I also love being at home in the evenings with my family, See, my family is kinda the best ever and I love spending time with them.

Today, was grand and productive and I feel the need to make a list of all the things I found myself being thankful for today. So today I am thankful for:

-Coffee with an old friend (as in we’ve been friends a long time…not as in her age)

-My organized mother

-Bowing our heads at the dinner table and hearing Dad pray over our food,

-A not so little anymore brother who isn’t your typical 14 year old that won’t hug his big sister

-Super yummy home cooked meals

-The opportunity to watch Ross at Tae Kwon Do…he’s really hard core

-Fun carved pumpkins lit up on our front porch.

-Mini laptops that I can take to Tae Kwon Do and blog while I watch my brother kick butt :P

-Clean bathrooms

-Seeing my phone light up with “1 New Message from Ben “J

-In Christ, I have everything.

Oy, my brother is taking swings at some green belt. I’m resisting the urge to shout, “Get ‘em Ross!!!”

I gotta go so I can watch this….catch ya later, Blog World.

-JRae

Middle Child Syndrome

I'm a middle child. I go through phases. All you middle children out there know exactly what I mean. The baking blog phase didn't last very long. Sorry guys. However! Do not despair. This blog shan't be abandoned. I'm turning it into a "post about whatever I feel like today" blog. Ya know, the kind where you write about a really yummy meal you just had, or about some cool outing you went on, or share a picture that's fun/cute, or about something funny your cousin said...about the stupid good stuff of life...which will undoubtedly include some recipes from time to time. So having said that, I must go so I can eat my stupid good dinner...Pioneer Woman Mac n' Cheese. It's gonna be epic. Later ya'll!

-JRae