A New High

Ever know that you really, really shouldn't step on the scale? I have officially gained back all the weight I had lost last year plus one pound, making it a new record high for me. I am not too happy with myself. I fell hard off the wagon when I got my wisdom teeth out, anything that sounded good that I was able to eat, I did. And that lasted for a few weeks, thoroughly breaking all the good habits I had in place. Anyway I am hoping to start fresh on Monday, not counting the fact that Monday is our wedding anniversary. We will probably go out next week Friday or Saturday to celebrate. We would go this weekend, but Matt has been pretty sick and I have a touch of something too. We will wait until we both feel 100% to gorge ourselves on the wonders that is the Melting Pot.
Also I gave Matt a list of camera's that I want. I would like a new one before we go to Maine. Yeah!

Twilight

I watched Twilight today for the first time, and I must say, it is super great. I had never understood the appeal of Robert Pattinson (Edward), but I kinda get it now. I actually wanted to re watch the movie right after watching it. I also had a great desire to run out and immediately buy all the books and read them right now. I did end up running out and buying the first book and may read the whole thing before I go to bed, but I do know how it ends, so I don't feel the compulsion to stay up as late as necessary like I do when I usually start a new book.

I also watched some of the special features and the one-on-one with the author, Stephenie Meyer, was really insightful. It also made me want to write a book.

I'm Addicted

I stumbled across the greatest brownie recipe a few weeks back and I think I am officially addicted. They are sooooo good. I have had a number of requests to make them again, so it's not just me. :) I have been putting in chocolate chips and maraschino cherries. I'll see if I can get a good photo to post, I am having camera issues. I will be sampling the batch that just came of out the oven. :P

"Whatever Floats Your Boat" Fudge Brownies

* 1 cup butter, melted
* 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 2 cup sugar
* 4 eggs
* 1 tbl vanilla
* 1 cup flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT:

* 2 (or more!) cups chocolate chips (semisweet, white, butterscotch, peanut butter, mint, etc.) and/or raisins, chopped maraschino cherries, chopped nuts, M&M's or Reese's pieces, miniature marshmallows, etc.


Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line 13 x 9 pan with Reynolds Parchment Paper: TURN pan upside down and press a sheet of parchment paper over the inverted pan. FLIP the pan over and drop molded sheet of parchment paper inside pan, pressing folds into corners to fit inside pan.

In a medium bowl combine melted butter and cocoa and stir until cocoa is dissolved.

Add sugar and mix well.

Add eggs one at a time and stir until well combined.

Stir in vanilla, flour and salt until you no longer see any flour (do not over-mix!).

Fold in "WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT"!

Spread in prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

DO NOT OVER-BAKE - your brownies will come out dry. Adjust time/temp accordingly for your oven. If you do the knife/toothpick test, it should come out with moist crumbs, not clean.

WHEN cooled completely, lift out of pan by edges of parchment paper; place on a cutting board. Fold back edges of parchment paper; cut into squares.

You can 1/2 this recipe and make it in an 8 inch square pan - bake for about 25 minutes.

Recipe from bakespace via karen

Nice Weekend

So we had a really nice weekend. Friday was (after work) naps, mac n' cheese and a whole lot of nothing. Saturday we cleaned out part of the garage and I had my first successful experience giving stuff away on freecycle.com. People were clamoring for my old junk that we haven't touched in years and didn't even know if the stuff still worked. Then we went out for dinner at Outback. Watched Kung Fu Panda and went to bed early. Matt got me up early for church with the promise that we'd go out for breakfast afterward. I got my first experience participating in a Lutheran communion. Kinda odd, and Matt kept laughing at me. Some poor kid threw up two rows behind us. And all the kids there for Palm Sunday were very noisy/disruptive. The Pastor kept talking louder as the sermon went along to try and drown them out. It didn't work. Then we went to Omlette Shop for breakfast. So good. mmmmm Back home for more naps. Now I am typing this blog because I don't want to work on my research paper that is due Wednesday. I'm a procrastinator.

All You Can Eat

Went to Watermark for dinner today. Had a BOGO coupon. Got the all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta with salad and pop included for $8.95. So good. Ate too much. Got another BOGO coupon. *sigh* Want to go back. Such a good deal. Not good weight loss food.

Band drama sucks. Not even in a band. No one wants me. Karaoke rocks. Maybe I'll just be a karaoke queen for the rest of my life.

Monkey Babies

So there is a baby boom going on in the world and my family is no exception. My sister-in-law, Mary is due April 11. My cousin is due April 28 and Matt's cousin-in-law is due in May, I believe. We had my cousin's baby shower today and I made some really cute monkey cupcakes for it. Her theme is monkeys. She receive lots of monkey themed gifts to go in the nursery, especially since they don't know if it's a boy or girl, waiting to be "surprised". All this just to post pictures of my cute monkey cupcakes. (I had also made Key Lime Cupcakes.)

This is Why You're Fat

Free Beer and Hot Wings (radio show) were talking about this website the other day because of the new 5/3 Burger at the Whitecaps ballpark, and I feel the need to post a link. It makes my arteries hurt. But I'm quite sure I'd eat some of them...



Featured: Taco Town Taco

Saturday Night Live-inspired: crunchy beef taco with nacho cheese, lettuce, tomato and southwestern sauce wrapped in a soft flour tortilla with a layer of refried beans in between, then wrapped in a corn tortilla with a layer of Monterey Jack cheese in a deep fried gordita shell with guacamole sauce baked in a corn husk topped with pico de gallo, wrapped in a crepe, filled with egg, griere cheese, sausage and portobello mushrooms, all wrapped in a chicago-style deep dish pizza wrapped in a blueberry pancake and finally deep fried with spicy vegetarian chili dipping sauce.

Maine Attractions

We have decided to go to Maine for vacation in May. I am sooooo excited. I found a great cottage right on the ocean. See here. The only bad part is the 18 hour drive. But still exciting. Is it May yet?

This will be our big vacation for the year. I was hoping to do a group vacation with friends and/or family, but I think this is not the year to do it. People are low on funds and other such things. We are still quite slow at work, so I understand how people feel. Hopefully this Simply Fun thing will pan out and help bridge the gap of missing income I will have until things pick back up. I changed our webpage to http://mattandaprylcherry.simplyfun.com for a better fit.

Simply Slow

Things at work are slooowwww. I am almost completely caught up on everything I could possibly do. To the point that I have a L.O.W (lack of work) day tomorrow. Which sucks, but I would hate to be there and not have anything to do. I'll go back Friday and do all of Thursday's and Friday's work and than probably sort customer files for the rest of my time. Fun. Not.



On the lighter (hopefully) side of things, Matt and I have decided to become consultants for a company called Simply Fun. They sell games, kids games, party games, logic games and all other sorts of games. It's kinda like selling Tupperware or Pamper Chef. Hosts throw a party, we tell the people about the games and we all play the games and than people order them through us. It's great to be able to play the games before buying them. I know we have played games for the first time and wished we hadn't bought them, because they suck. Check out our personal website. http://aprylmatthewcherry.simplyfun.com And book a party if you want. No pressure....

O - M - G Burrito-zilla

I saw this on Man Vs Food the other night and totally freaked out. Holy Freakin Cow.

Kittens by Kittens

Since Sarah didn't post this....I did. :)

-4 to Wisdom

I final went and got my wisdom teeth out. I have been over due to get them out, and I guess being an adult means I need to get it done. The process itself wasn't to bad. The doctor injected some medicine to knock me out and cause memory lose and it worked great. I did not want to remember a thing, and I don't. I am missing large chucks of time from going under to getting home. I remember bits and pieces of coming home, like stepping down into the parking lot, but not getting into the car. Apparently we stopped for gas on the way home, and I remember Matt handing me a lotto ticket and pulling away from the pumps, but then we were home. It's an odd feeling.

I didn't swell up to much. People at work were surprised I actually came in on Monday and didn't look to bad. I probably helps I slept for 16 or so hours each on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I would wake up long enough to eat alittle and take more Vicadin. Vicadin makes me sleepy. Monday at work was rough though. I almost didn't make it. I started getting a fever in the early afternoon and was really not feeling good all day. I can't really take Vicadin when I am driving/working.
.

Now I'm just sore. Really sore at some points, but things are feeling better. I keep playing with the stitches in my lower back jaw where they actually cut out my wisdom teeth. Apparently I had really large lower wisdom teeth, which explains all the trouble I was having with them. I take ibuprofen during the day and Vicadin at night, at least until they are gone. So I am still sleeping alot. I like sleeping. And my kitties nap with me too

Also I have noticed that people all said it would be fine and not a big deal, but once it was done, all these horror stories come out. They didn't want to scare me. JD ended up having 6 wisdom teeth, my boss woke up half way through his, two other guys at work were not knocked out at all, by choice and really wish they had been, our accountant's son had pieces left behind and had to go back and her daughter got dry sockets. I had already looked up everything that could go wrong, so knowing these things would not have made me feel any worse.

Thinking of Summer

There has been talk of possible renting a cottage on a lake somewhere in the summer with people. Possibly random people; otherwise known as people who may read this blog. I found the neatest rentals. See link HERE. There are multiple options offered by this owner (click on Other Vacation Properties on the site) and check them out. Just throwing it out there to see what people think. I like all 7 of the properties available and I think the prices are reasonable for sleeping up to 14 people. Particularly if staying on/after September 12.

I Think I'm Allergic to Arizona

Our trip out West was fun, more fun, and busy. We got to AZ and couldn't check in until 3pm, so we headed to Zac & Teresa's cute house to meet up with Zac and Zac's dad to get some lunch. (Dan joined a little later too). Had some of the best tamales ever, a crazy drunk guy to talk about, and free guacamole. After that we went to check into out hotel and got some free check-in cookies. Super sweet! Our room was nice, two double beds though. It was a handicap accessible room so the shower had no door and opened right into the bathroom, which was kinda weird. But the oddest thing to me was the lack of a TP holder. In fact, there was no TP in the bathroom at all. I found a roll in the closet and stuck that in there to use, but I found it quite odd that there was absolutely none. We than laid down for a quick nap before heading out. I awoke with a very red, itchy, swollen eye and horrible congestion. I think I got something under my contact and rubbed it in my sleep or something of the sort. But since it didn't clear up for a few days and got worse outside, I think I might have been allergic to something in the air too. I was congested the whole trip as well and it finally started to clear up on the plane ride home.

After our quick naps, I went to Teresa's bachelorette party and Matt went and hung out with Zac, Dan, and I think Zac's dad at Golf and Stuff, and then they went back to Zac's until we got done with the bachelorette party. The bachelorette party was fun. We went to Kon Tiki, which had really good drinks, and then went bar hopping..

Teresa had a few to drink and was feeling good, especially at the gay bar. At the last place we stopped a band, 80's and gentlemen, was playing that was fun to watch


Friday Matt, Dan and I went to the Tucson Zoo. Also know as Reid Park Zoo, which was right down the street from where we were staying and Zac & Teresa's house. A small zoo, it didn't take long to go through, but nice. Zac had suggested we go to The Desert Museum, but I didn't realize they had animals there. We will defiantly hit that next time. Then we hit Beyond Bread with Zac, Teresa, Dan, and Danielle for lunch. Then the guys and I went to Bookman's, which was practically next door. Bookman's is a really cool discount book store. I could have bought alot of stuff there, but flying it back would have sucked. Then back the room to nap. :) I like napping. Matt had to go to Zac's bachelor party that night and I hung out with Teresa, Danielle, Jaime, Jenna, and baby Jack for a little while and had some eegee's subs and frozen drinks. Quite tasty.

Saturday Matt and I went to the Tucson Mall and shopped. Or I should say, I shopped and Matt tagged along. I found a nice dress for my FIL's wedding this weekend and a very pretty turquoise necklace made by the Native American Indians, which I wore to Zac & Teresa's wedding. We got lunch in the food court and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding..

It was a very pretty wedding on the only green grass I saw the whole time we were there. The weather was perfect, the ceremony interesting, and Zac & Teresa were very happy. On to the reception, with an open bar (Thanks!!), great food ( the chimi's were the best), and fun people

The interesting conversations outside with Mia continually trying to get Dan to dance and the insults that came from her failure were classic. Even drunk, Dan was NOT going to dance. It was a great wedding.

Sunday Matt and I were going to In-n-Out Burger, no matter what, so we got there at opening (10:30am) and got breakfast burgers. Soooo Gooood! Best Breakfast all week. Surprisingly we were not the first ones there. There were people waiting for it to open in the parking lot and drive-thru. After breakfast we headed to Zac & Teresa's to say good-bye and everyone was there watching them open all their wedding presents. Then we sadly headed to the airport to head home. We wish we could have stayed another day, but with the Tucson Gem Show in town, all the hotels were booked and expensive.

See more photo's here.

Mini Vacation - AZ

I am so totally excited for our upcoming trip out west. I can hardly stay in my skin. Work tomorrow is going to drag and school is going to suck even more than normal. But then only hours till I'm flying away from here. I can't hardly wait! Even the warm weather and sunshine is sounding good about now. We only got a few hours of sunshine in January this year, I kinda missed it. Matt's got his shorts all packed for the hot weather. I've got him practically cured of the socks/sandels combo, so hopefully it won't be an issue at the wedding. :) Just kidding. We are packing proper wedding clothes too.

Dumb Philosophy

I started my new class the other day, Business and Technical English 2, and yes, it is exactly as exciting as it sounds. My new teacher doesn't seem to be as good at communicating as the guy who taught Business and Technical English 1. She is even borrowing the syllabus from another teacher, so she is actually trying to teach someone elses ideas. The worst part is that all in-class homework must be typed. So at the end of class we all trudge over to the computer lab and type and print on CC's computers. Which means, I need to pay to print. 10 cents per freakin page. I am not to happy about that. I need to put money on my school account. And I am not looking forward to the extensive research paper she says we will have to do in the next half of the semester. I hate school.

Taco Bell Freaks

Oh my freakin goodness.

2009 Goals - Year of the Ox

I think I will stick to trying to complete the two from last year that I didn't finish and add a third.

1. Lose Weight - I still need to lose a good amount to be in the healthy weight range for my age and height, so I will shoot for losing 30 lbs this year.

2. Learn Basic French - Still working towards finishing the program of the Rosetta Stone and will try to finish it this year and hopefully get the next set for Christmas.

3. De-junk house - We have too much stuff. I need to make all of our rooms in this house functional and not just rooms to hide stuff that I don't know where to put it. Including the garage and hopefully Matt's game room and toy room.

That is all.

Fine...2008, Half a Failure, as Planned

Here's my recap on last's years goals.

1. Learn basic French - Started. Got a good start, but life gets busy and the program is installed on the upstairs computer, and I get too lazy to go up and do it if I'm settled in the basement.

2. Lose Weight - Lost about 10 pounds. Not enough, but a good start I guess.

3. Start taking buisness classes at GRCC. - Check complete. Yeah me!

An Apple A Day

I hate going to the dentist. I had an appointment today to get some cavities filled that they found a few months ago. But I had to wait for the new year to qualify for more dental coverage through my insurance. It was a horrible visit. The dental hygienist was new and didn't know what she was doing. The first set of shots in one spot didn't work as I found out when he started drilling. So I had to get more shots. Then they found more cavities when they started, so I had to get more cavities filled than I planned.
I hate going to the dentist. 8 hours later and it still hurts. And I'm hungry and I'm scared to eat, cause it still hurts.

Plus I'm getting my wisdom teeth out next month. Fun.

2008 Quizes

You Remember 90% of 2008

You were paying attention during 2008. And you remember what happened really well. You'll be able to talk about 2008 for years to come... Even when most people have forgotten what went down.

How Much Do You Remember 2008?

Travel Horoscope for Aries

When you travel, you literally want to see a whole different world. You want a vacation full of adventure, exotic sights, and tons of variety. You should travel to: India Kenya New Zealand Brazil Thailand

What's Your Travel Horoscope?

Your Thinking is Concrete and Sequential

You are precise, orderly, and realistic. You tend to get to the point and get things done. Difficult, detailed work is easy for you. You take things step by step. Time limits aren't a problem for you either. You work well with deadlines. What does drive you crazy is any sort of task that isn't precisely laid out. You don't like anything to be ambiguous. You prefer to deal with the facts at hand.

What Kind of Thinker Are You?

Christmas Cookies 2008

Cookie Baking 2008 is done. Early, I might add. I did 9 different cookie batches this year. 2 recipes of which I had made previously and the others were all new. I did burn my fingers during the 6th batch. Stupid me wasn't paying attention and grabbed the pan I had JUST taken out of the oven because it was in my way. Still hurts, but is going away. If that hadn't happened I would have done at least one more batch, but it is annoying to have your fingers hurting, so I lost my concentration. Now I just need to box them up for giving to their respective recipients.

The list and pictures for anyone who cares.

Iced Lemon Cookies
Fudge-Filled Peanut Butter Cookies
Turtle Shortbread Cookies and Regular Shortbread Cookies
Chai-Spiced Cookies
Peanut Brittle Cookies
Big Soft Ginger Cookies
Candied Ginger Cookies
Apricot-Sage Cookies
Monster Cookies

Church Window Candy

It appears hardly anyone knows what Church Window candies/cookies are at my work. I've seen these for so many years I thought they were universally know. They are tasty and easy to make. A girl at work had asked me for a recipe for no bake cookies or candies and she knew exactly what they were. When she brought some in the share today, most people asked what they were and I was very surprised. Here is the recipe I gave her. There are a couple ways to make them..

Church Window Cookies
No BAKE! And they only take about 10 mins to make up!
1/2 cup butter or margarine
12 ounces chocolate bits
1 cup walnuts, chopped
10 ounces colored marshmallows
14 ounces flaked coconut
Instructions:
Melt butter and chocolate bits over low heat. Allow to cool slightly. Stir in nuts and marshmallows. Spread coconut on wax paper. Divide chocolate
mixture into two rolls. Roll in coconut. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours. Cut in 1/2-inch slices.

Pretty Cake

Kyndra's 4th birthday was celebrated Sunday with yummy tacos that Nisi made and pretty cake that I made. I think that's a good combo.

Halloween Party

Mythbusters Clip

A little too quiet

Things are a little too quiet on the blogs these days. Does everyone have as boring of a life as I do? Or is everyone just soooo busy they don't have time to update the world with all the super excting things that happen to them daily?

My eldest brother Matt has gotten himself engaged to his super great girlfriend, Mary. They got engaged in Las Vegas a day after he made her cry when she asked if they were ever going to get married and he said NO, don't plan on it. He didn't want his plans ruined, but it was a bit jerky of him. I am excited for him. Hopefully this will be a great new start for him. With the economy the way that it is and her family mostly in Peru, they will be having a very small wedding, I believe. It still should be good. Nothing wrong with a small wedding. I'm going to talk to him and see if I can get them to have a big party reception, maybe at my parents? I'll be talking to him on Saturday at the latest, at the annual Dykehouse Christmas Party. At least the party is after Halloween this year, though not by much. I think almost all my cousins will be there this year. Should be a big, ever growing, group.

Who Needs Money When You Have Kitchen Supplies?

I just got the call. I am soooo excited. I applied for and received a seasonal job working at Williams-Sonoma. I absolutly love this store and often ask for birthday or christmas presents from here. Now with a great discount, I will be spending large chunks of my 'extra' paycheck here. At least that is the plan.

Woot!

So Sarah told me about woot.com the other day. One day deals and the such. Which is pretty cool. But I think I like shirt.woot.com better! It's a sister site and if we had more money, Matt would have lots more T-shirts. Though they have them in womens sizes too. I'm not really a "t-shirt" person. We'll see. :)

Losing my mind.

I mean I lost my keys. I got home from work Thursday, and now I can't find my freakin' car keys. I was ready to go to work Friday morning, got in my car and couldn't find my keys in my purse. Ran inside franticely throwing things around on the countertops, tabletops and dresser. Still nothing. Look on floor. Freak out. I'm going to be late for work if I don't leave NOW. Luckly I had a spare set stashed that I could grab and figured I deal with it when I got home. Matt and I have looked everywhere. Can't find them. Very frusterating. I don't know where else to look. I guess I'll just use my spare set until they show themselves, if they ever do.

Cats are Great

A Few Highlights

A few pictures from our party last Saturday.

Ted and JD always do something odd.

Tom doesn't want me to steal his soul. (take his picture)

Yes, JD is sleeping.

Ted singing on Rockband and Dave on Guitar. Isn't Dave looking good?

What was so funny?


It was a really fun party and we had alot of people actually show up this year. I'd say 20+ people. The meatballs were the big hit this year. I'll have to make even more next year. And not let Sarah knock over the slowcooker! Good thing all the meatballs were gone and just the messy sauce left to spread all over the carpet. It's mostly cleaned out, but I still want new floors so maybe I'll leave the rest. :)

Sidenote: I booked our tickets for Tucson. AZ here we come!

Mason's 1st B-day

I was surprised to see that Nisi had not posted pictures of Mason's Birthday party, even though she forgot her own camera. I'm sure once she gets pictures from friends and family, she do a birthday post for him. But anyway, here are pictures of Matt and mine's gift to Mason. The cake.

Updates?

Hmmm. I noticed I have not given any real updated since May or so. Not that I'm the only one slacking in blogger world. They cut down all our pine trees in front. A few weeks ago 4 of the 6 were gone, and when I came home today the last two were gone. It's sad really. I really loved those trees.

Matt and I did go to Wizard World in June again. It was nice to have a hotel connected to the convention center. Lots less stressful for transportation. Matt got to the finals in the Heroclix competition, but was out in the first round. So we got to wander around Chicago a little before heading back. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory twice and the Gibson's twice too. Biggest lobster tail I have ever seen at the Gibson's. We got the smaller one that was only 14oz. And the desserts! OMG!! They serve things family style there and a piece of cake is approx. a quarter of a 18" cake with 4 layers! Holy freaking cow! OH, and the martini's are great too. I think I found my new favorite restaurant.

We are leaving for Silver Lake Sunday for two nights. Which will be nice. Matt's dad rents a cottage up there and we all pop up for visits. It's nice and laid back. Very relaxing. Should be fun. And we have small wine opener in our car now, so hopefully this won't happen this year. (Opening wine bottle with screw and pliers)


Also Matt made the GenCon finals for HeroClix too and we will be heading to GenCon in Indianapolis this August. Just the weekend for me though. I can't take any vacation days at that point because other people in my department at work already have time off and two people aren't suppose to be gone at the same time. The cool thing about GenCon as compared to Wizard World is that there are events for the "gamer widows". Some pretty cool classes are being offered, though it looks like the pole dancing classes are full already. I'm thinking I'll just see what is still open when I get there and then plan better if we go next year.

Oh, and our yearly summer party is coming up August 2nd.