It's Ellen's birthday

How great would it be for Lady Antebellum to serenade you like this for your birthday??

I have been published!

Okay so maybe not really... But I did put all my favorite recipes, some new ones and some from some friends in a cookbook with my name on it... Does that count :) I discovered this great website, Tastebook, from my cousin Tami that lets you upload your recipes and organize them into your own cookbook. I ordered it last week and received it in the mail today. I was so excited to open it and see what it looks like. I was NOT disappointed.

The box!
It was wrapped up inside. Presentation is everything!

How cute is that!

The outside cover, you can pick what you want.

The title

If you have any questions or are thinking about doing this, let me know. Such a fun gift and a great way to compile family recipes and then have printed for family members.

FEAR THE BEARD!

I have been really proud of the Kansas State Wildcats for playing their hearts out this basketball season. It seems to be a great bunch of guys who are just having fun, probably a lot to do with their success. I have been fortunate enough to go to many games... (Thanks Ken!) I love going to them, watching anything live is way better than watching it on TV, minus being able to pause the game and go to the bathroom. I especially love to watch Coach Martin, he is so... let's say animated. Every interview I read from one of the players always mentions how much they love and respect their coach, who they call just "Frank." Check out this picture of him after the game on Monday where we beat Texas!! GO CATS!!
After that awesome win Coach Martin was interviewed by Jim Rome. Click HERE to see the interview. One thing is for certain, Coach Martin is one class act and a smoooooth talker :)

Girls weekend

I have been a total slacker in terms of blogging these past few weeks. Totally my fault, I have not been taking a lot of pictures myself and have been relying on others to do it, shame on me!

So about 2 weeks ago 4 of my best friends and I got together in Tulsa, OK for our 30th birthdays. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, it was great! We were a little concerned when we first got there b/c they would not give us a roll away, we needed 5 spaces to sleep and had requested a roll away but they say it was against fire code? So after a few phone calls to the lobby from our original room, thanks Amber, we got upgraded to an amazing suite!

Here is the view from our door.
Down the elevator

The bedroom Lounging in the "living room"

The bathroom

Doing what I do best, texting or checking my email

Putting the yummy treats away in the mini fridge

Audra & Megan-no they did not plan the brown :)

Diving into the 7-layer dip

Getting ready for our photo shoot & being goofy, obviously

Before we went to dinner at Carrabbas Friday night

I found my knight in shining armour! After dinner we went back to the hotel and had birthday cake

Tulsa at night from the balcony

Saturday morning on our way to the spa

The spa. Getting ready to go to dinner Saturday night .

Laura & Amber

Laura & Megan

Me & Laura Me, Audra & Amber. And no I was not actually touching Audra's belly just looks like it :)

Audra & Laura

All of us before dinner

Waiting for a table, oh so patiently :).

At dinner, we at at Charleston's

.

In the elevator waiting area getting ready to leave the hotel :(

At breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Can you tell we plan our days around food?

Deciding what to get while we wait for the table

At our last shopping spot before departing.

We did some damage, good thing we brought the big car

Family Wedding weekend

This past weekend my cousin Jessica got married. Here are some pictures of her wedding and the night that followed.



This is only part of my first cousins, crazy how many there are of us huh?
me and my double cousin Stephanie. Do you think we look alike?

Taking shots with our AuntsBottoms ups :)

They were NOT good :)

Stephanie & me in Aggieville

All the ladies mmm... Belfasts :)

Prayers for Baby Makoa

When I was in Hermosa Beach I was blessed by living across the street from the "B" family. At the time they had 2 of the most adorable kiddos ever. Seriously, Kaialani & Nainoa are breathtaking, not to mention sweet. On January 4th they added a new addition to their family, Makoa Garrett, Makoa means "fearless" in Hawaiian. Baby Makoa was small when he was born and had he and his family need a lot of support and prayers. Please take a moment during your busy day and say a prayer for Baby Makoa and his family. His dad, Lindsey had set up a blog giving daily updates on Makoa's progress. Please visit Baby Makoa's prayer blog.

Weekend getaway

I am very excited about this weekend, it is one that has been on the calendar for what seems like a year. This weekend I am going to be with my 4 best friends, we are celebrating our 30th birthdays. There will be food, cake, shopping, movies, more food, shopping and spa time in our future. I can't wait. Next time if we do this in the winter I vote we hop on a plane and go somewhere warm!!! Guess I need to get packing, I need to leave in 40 min :)

I love candid pictures.