My Sweet Valentine's Day present

I just had to share my present from my wonderful husband today:

{Yep - made me cry}

He enlisted the help of a co-worker to get the right address for work since he was still our in the field this morning.

And the tulips were such a great choice! Especially since we've been having very spring like weather here! Ok so maybe Valentine's Day isn't too bad

Thank you Hubby!

Issues

I'm having some issues with Blogger at the moment. I'm not in love with this new Template Designer...so for now I'm going to turn it off and just leave it for another day. Or at least until I can figure it all out again.

Ah, technology...its a love, hate relationship.

Valentine's Day Dinner

As I mentioned before, I'm not really all that into Valentine's Day so when my husband mentioned that he had bought something for me, I knew that I needed to get him something but I didn't know what. Last year I made him this frame with our picture in it that has all the things that I love about him handwritten around the mat. And I wasn't sure if I could top that this year.

And then I thought, "Well why do I have to do something different from what I do every day? Isn't there something that he loves that I could put a little extra twist into to show a little extra love today?" Cooking! My husband loves my cooking.

"Hunny, I'm going to make you and extra special meal for Valentine's Day. Anything that you want. I'll even skip my lunch and come home an hour early and make it. No matter how hard it is. Whatever you want."

He pondered it for a bit and thougths were running through my head too..."Is he going to want steak...or maybe a roast." And then he stopped...

"How about lasagna?" I was blown away. Lasagna? That's an easy one! "Well yeah. I haven't had lasagna in a while and that sounds really good to me."

So that's what we're having tonight. Lasagna. It's the simple things that make my husband happy - and that's one of the biggest reasons why I love him.

Happy Valentine's Day!

True Life: My Dog Has a Blankie

No I'm not kidding. And just like Linus, she totes that thing around the house making sure it's always in her sight. Don't believe me? See for yourself...

I'm not sure we'll be able to take this away like we might be able to take a blanket away from our future children. Then again, she is slowly eating it (yes, she bites off little pieces and chomps on them and then swallows them...I would hate to she what her insides look like) so we might not have anything to worry about.

For now though, we make sure that it is always in her kennel when she goes in there and she makes sure to pull it out of there when she comes out. It's quite amusing to watch actually.

Go ahead watch it again. You know she's hard to resist.

Heritage & Craft

I am in awe of this new business that I came across while reading one of my favorite wedding blogs (yes, I've already done the wedding thing but I still love a good wedding related read).

Heritage & Craft is a company that rents out vintage finds (and they will even do a custom piece if they can't find what you're looking for) for weddings, photoshoots, parties...or anything else that you can think of. And Erin, the owner, is currently my hero. I mean who would have thought of taking your vintage finds and renting them out to the masses? Not me, but boy do I wish that I had!

I just wish her shop was here in Montana...I could get lost in a place like that.

Head on over to check her out! Her stuff is great!

Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

So I thought that I would share a new favorite recipe that I made for a birthday here in my office. I highly dislike cake. There is just something about that frosting and the way that it tastes that isn't appealing to me. I will however eat cupcakes. (Yes, strange...I know) 

I think that you can make them much tastier and the frosting choices aren't that sugar strung store bought stuff. So everytime I find out what someone likes, I try to turn it into a cupcake.

And this time it was banana cream pie. Now I didn't come up with the recipe on my own but they were cupcakes from scratch so I was very proud of myself and they were quite delicious. I highly recommend them for your next gathering!

Better-Than-Banana-Cream-Pie Cupcakes

Recipe from Delish.com

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cup(s) flour

1 tablespoon(s) baking soda

1 teaspoon(s) cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon(s) salt

1/2 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup(s) granulated sugar

3/4 cup(s) packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup(s) plain yogurt

1/2 cup(s) chopped walnuts (I left the walnuts out because I forgot to ask about allergies)

Filling:

1 package(s) instant banana pudding

2 cup(s) milk

1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

Frosting:

1 package(s) instant vanilla pudding

1 cup(s) milk

1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

1 container(s) (8-ounce ) extra-creamy whipped topping

1/4 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar

Garnish:

2 cup(s) crushed cinnamon graham crackers

Banana slices (optional)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, with electric mixer, cream butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar until light. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with -bananas and yogurt, mixing on low speed just until moistened. Batter will be lumpy; do not overmix. Gently fold in chopped walnuts if you are using them.

2.Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in pan, then remove cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.

3.Meanwhile, prepare filling and frosting. Mix banana pudding with milk according to package directions, adding vanilla. Chill for at least 30 minutes. For frosting, mix vanilla pudding with milk and vanilla; fold in whipped topping and confectioners’ sugar until frosting is creamy. Chill for at least 30 minutes to set.

4.Once cupcakes are cool, insert a paring knife into top of each cupcake, making a small hole in the center. Spoon filling mixture into a zip-top plastic bag. Snip off a small corner of the bottom. Squeeze about 1 tablespoon filling into the hole in the top of each cupcake. Swirl frosting on top of each cupcake; sprinkle with graham-cracker crumbs. Top each with banana slices as desired. Keep chilled.

They were so moist and tasty! I hope that you enjoy them like we did!

Thanks for reminding me

So I got this in the mail yesterday:

A gift? For me? You shouldn't have!

And got super excited because it said "Our Gift to You!" on the outer envelope. So I ripped it open and found this:

Isn't that bag on there devine? I want that one!

OMG! $100 to Coach?  This must be my lucky day! Enter the fine print...



Full priced Coach Store? But we don't have any full-price Coach stores here in Montana!!!! (although I never thought about it really until this just reminded me) What is that all about?! Don't you know I have to shop for things like this on the Internet?

Maybe next time this Mike guy should just save the 44 cents he spent on postage and not get my hopes up.

 
Oh well...it wouldn't have fit into my new budget anyhow : (

Oh Valentine's Day

Hearts and roses, chocolate and cards and a day to say show everyone around you how much you love them. Who wouldn't enjoy a holiday like that?


You're looking at her...ok you're not really looking at me but I would be the first one to raise my hand if someone asked that question. Some people (mainly women) don't understand why I don't get all giddy school girl when it comes to Valentine's Day. Why?

Because I don't need a holiday or a card or a box of chocolate to tell someone that I love them.


My husband - I probably tell him I love him more than 30x a day. And no it's not just the honeymoon phase. My family, my friends - I'm constantly saying I love you when I end a conversation with them or I send them an encouraging word when they're having a bad day.


And most of all, I highly dislike the decorating for Valentine's Day. Now Christmas? I get antsy without the decorations as you saw in this post. But all that pink and red stuff around my house? No thanks - definitely not a priority of mine.

So maybe there is something wrong with me but I bet there so many others out there that feel the same as I do. Of course I will do something special for my hubby (I have some cute, meaningful ideas up my sleeve) but it's not really a necessary holiday for me. Sorry Hallmark.

Fly

I couldn't help but share this wonderful quote that a fellow blogger posted the other day. It totally sums up my life in the last 2 years. I've gone out on so many limbs and have been able to do nothing but fly. My risk this year is taking this house that really is only ours for a short time and turning it into our home. I only hope that I can get to that flying part sooner rather than later!



How are you going to fly this year?