Random Ramblings – Sweet 16

Dang y’all!  It’s been almost a month since my last Random Ramblings post.  So much has gone on this past month, but I try to limit my “non-food” posts to once a week or less (since this is a food blog and all), so I had been holding off on this post until now!  So I will be catching ya up on life lately, lots of pictures, a work update/eating disorder recovery update, and did I mention lots of pictures??

Welcome to edition #16 of Random Ramblings!  I can’t believe it is already May….time has been flying!  I am ready for the Spring weather, but not the allergies that come with it.  Ughhhh.  So Easter happened since my last Random Ramblings post, so I have to share the cute pictures from our Easter celebration with the family!

I made these cupcakes for my nieces daycare family Easter party!  Wendy said everyone loved them 🙂  But really…what’s not to love about a cupcake topped with a Peep??  I used my tried-and-true Funfetti Cupcake recipe for the cupcakes!

The whole family got together to celebrate Easter at the Booth Farm!  I love going over to my sisters house.  They have 10 acres and are slowly adding more animals to the farm (not that my sister and bro-in-law don’t have enough going on already!).  So Wendy got baby chicks!  I am so excited for some farm fresh eggs to bake with in the near future!

And aren’t my nieces the cutest?!?!  I love Miss A and Miss G 🙂

And that’s Ethan with his overflowing Easter basket (which is what happens when you put me in charge of making his Easter basket.  Oops I went a little over board!).  The girls loaded up on sugar and then proceeded to run through the house screaming.  Makes for interesting conversations between the adults hehehe.  What did you say???

It was me and James’ 3-year wedding anniversary on Easter, so we didn’t really celebrate our anniversary, since we were busy with family stuff.  We are trying to find a free weekend to maybe go take a trip.  James says I need to do another travel post for the blog 😉

We made it to Mission San Juan Bautista so Ethan could do his research for his California Mission project!  We took a ton of pictures for Ethan’s project and report….it was a fun little day trip.  It had been awhile since we had all gone and done anything like that.  Plus it’s always good to escape Modesto!

We were lucky it was such a gorgeous day when we went to the mission.  I will be sharing a mission-inspired recipe with you guys soon too!

Miss G and Miss A at the rodeo parade…eating Cheetos.  This picture just reminds me so much of me and my sister #bestfriendsforlife

Cheetos dust (or crumbs??) EVERYWHERE.  Hahaha.  Good thing they were outside 😉  This might just be the wallpaper on my phone now.  I mean how can you not smile at this picture?!

So what did you guys think of #RecipeMakeover week??  Man o man that was a lot of blogging.  But I had a lot of fun doing it!  If you missed it, click HERE for my Grilled Pork Tenderloin recipe.  In that post I included the links for the other healthy recipes I made, so you have all the recipes you need to make a “healthier” steakhouse dinner!

FEELING:  Frustrated.  I just got done making forty owl-shaped sugar cookies, cut out and iced in four different colors of royal icing, for Miss L’s 1st birthday.  I have done the desserts for the Davis family’s other birthday parties, which have turned out nice, but I was not at all happy with how these cookies turned out.  Four batches of sugar cookie dough, two batches of royal icing and 10-hours later, this was the outcome:

I told them the cookies were free because I could not charge anyone for those.  Wahhhhh.  My furry little owls.  I worked so hard on these, which is why it was so disappointing!

WANTING:  More patience.  My patience has been super THIN this last week.  And I have no idea why.  I think maybe I am frustrated with my progress in my eating disorder recovery.  I just want to be done with it and move on with life, but it’s like this black cloud following me everywhere.

WATCHING:  VEEP is back on HBO!!  Love that show.  If you have never seen it, you totally need to watch it.  It’s always good for a great laugh.  Also, I have caught up on  all the episodes of The Amazing Race so far.  I am not sure who I want to win yet….maybe the boys.  They seem like a strong team.  Anybody else watching??

CRAVING:  These Salted Caramel Mousse Rolo Cookie Cups from my friend Kim at The Baking ChocolaTess Blog.  Rolos.  That’s all I need to say!

Cinco de Mayo might be over, but I think Margaritas are fine all year round.  And Lindsay from With Salt and Pepper knocked it out of the park with her Fresh Strawberry Raspberry Margaritas!  Throw away that artificial margarita mix and use Lindsay’s recipe!

I love me some coffee cake, and Kelsie from The Itsy Bitsy Kitchen took it to a whole new level with her Chocolate Chip Crumb Coffee Cake.  Mmmm.  Breakfast!

And I am craving more of my Super Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies!  Sooooo good!

BAKING:  I am currently recovering from my Sugar Cookie Owls that I made, and am still trying to get over that.  But maybe I will make a spin off the traditional lemon bars.  I have lemons I need to use and some Ballard Extracts Lemon Extract, that Foodlyn sent me, that I have been dying to try out.  I have a few other things in the works (Mother’s Day is coming up, so I am working on something yummy for mom!)…but if you have something you want me to make for the blog, leave me a comment below!

Soooooo work is the same.  I am still working on writing the new Field Training Program book.  It has taken me way longer than I thought, but only because I am on round #3 of the book.  POST is very strict on what they want.  And lets just say it’s a lot of me writing about stuff that I am not an expert in, which puts pressure on me, because the information has to be right.  I am talking about a whole section on the Anti-Lock Braking System in our patrol cars, the effects of fatigued driving and what causes slow reaction time, etc.  I know this stuff, but to actually write it and put it into words, is a whole different story.  When it’s actual police stuff to write up, it’s much easier.

Plus, if you know me I am pretty sarcastic.  So I REALLY have to stop myself from adding in sarcasm.  Like, “Why should you wear body armor while you are working?”  Well because if you get shot in the chest and aren’t wearing your vest, you might die and get blood everywhere.  Like duh.  But I can’t say that!  But anyways.  Besides it being a lot of work and research, I am excited about my project at work!  Plus I just love being at work and seeing everyone.  I would rather be at work than anywhere else sometimes.

An update on my eating disorder recovery.  Hmmmm.  This is kind of hard for me to say, but I keep it honest, so whatever.  I kind of lost motivation this last month.  I haven’t skipped any meals, but I haven’t done anything to make progress either.  I have just been maintaining.  I have lost weight the last couple months since going back to work (not much…like less than a pound at each doctors appointment).  But it’s the wrong direction.  I am trying to get back in it.  But sometimes I just feel like I am good enough where I am, and I don’t want to gain any more weight.  My only motivation to keep going is work though.  I know I have to gain a bit more weight before Dr. Knight will let me go back out on patrol.

I feel like some people read this and roll their eyes because they think eating disorders are a “choice.”  And I am sorry if you feel that way, but I would not wish Anorexia on anyone.  It is such a sad disease and I feel like it is something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life, which I think knocks me back a little bit.  I did not choose this and I hate every part of it.  I have lost a good seven years of my life to this.

Okay lets move on to funner things!  Rainbows, sunshine, unicorns and BASEBALL!  Yup…baseball is in full swing (hehehe did you catch that?).  Ethan plays on his school team and has gotten so much better since his T-Ball days!  He pitched for his team at his last game  and did a great job!  It is crazy to see how good the kids have gotten in just a few short years of playing!

And James is the assistant coach.  Every year (or every sport, since Ethan plays them all), James always start off telling me, “I am not going to do any coaching.  If they ask, I will tell them no.”  I always roll my eyes at him, because I know what ends up happening.  Every time.  He’s such a good dad 🙂

And that’s about it!  I am working on some deco mesh wreath candle holders for a Peace Officer Memorial event, I have my baking demo in a few weeks for the law enforcement wives and desserts for a Daddy-Daughter dance.  Busy, busy!  So what are you guys up to??  Leave me a comment below!  Or just say hi.  So I know it’s not just me reading this 😉

XOXO,

Kelly

Oh but wait!  Mookie got a new ball….so we are working on playing fetch and not “keep away.”  I think the only reason Mookie brings me the ball, is so he can wipe his drool on my leg.  Serious.

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