December is here...

Where in the world did November go?

Let's have a look back through my calendar, shall we? Oh, right:

-Babysitting John and Andrea's beautiful little Meredith and leaving her in her rocker because we couldn't figure out if we should lay her face down or face up in the crib.
-Dinner with a friend I hadn't seen in 20 years. We laughed, we ate, we drank, we caught up and we realized why our mothers had so much fun when they were our age.
-My sister Kirsten's performance of Zombie Brides (or something to that effect), in which she choreographed the dances.
-Chaperoning the AOII Woodser and learning that kids these days can make it work in a Portapotty.
-A whole slew of AOII meetings, advisor meetings, and recruitment meetings.
-Celebrating my third anniversary with my wonderful husband (see below).
-Painting pottery with my sisters and husband.
-Taking my first paid order for a cake and helping celebrate a sister's husband's birthday.
-USF Homecoming game against Louisville - we won! - and catching up with my favorite McKngihts.
-New Moon. Enough said.
-Baking two more cakes for Thanksgiving orders.
-Rubbing Syreeda's belly with a freshly made baby inside.
-Crocheting two baby blankets for friends.
(Seriously, enough with the babies!)
-Hosting Brooke, looking through old pictures and talking about politics with a Capitol insider.
-Speaking at the USF Panhellenic Awards banquet on the importance of keeping Ritual at the center of your life and all your actions.
-Driving to Columbus, Georgia, reading every single one of the Think Tifton! billboards, stopping at the Magnolia Plantation, eating lunch in Americus and driving through Georgia Southwestern State University.
-Eating Thanksgiving Dinner and listening to all the stories Uncle Donny and Aunt Sherolyn had to tell.
-Rooting on Alabama to a win against Auburn.
-Driving through the Fantasy of Lights at Callaway Gardens.
-Driving back home to Tampa in quiet and peace.
-Watching Christmas Vacation and Elf as soon as possible after Thanksgiving was officially over.
-Pulling out my Christmas decorations and christmas tree shopping with the hubs.
-Celebrating a birthday at my Ladies Group and talking about how good God is with some very wise ladies.

Well, that'll about do it. That's more than enough to fill up a month. December's not looking much better, but I at least hope to document it a bit more. Here's to January, peace and quiet and starting over!

3 Years and Counting!

Last Wednesday, also known as Veteran's Day, was our third anniversary.  We didn't plan to get married on a federal holiday, but it sure was nice having the day to ourselves and not having to work!

So how did we celebrate, you ask?  We had a fairly low key day.  Breakfast, movie, snack, and then a nice drive down to Sarasota and Siesta Key.  It rained on us the entire way down there, and I was afraid we would have to watch the sunset from the front seat of the car.

But, Mother Nature, she smiled down upon us and held off the rain for about 45 minutes.  We unpacked our blanket and our cooler and brought the umbrella just in case.  We sheltered ourselves against an empty tiki hut and pulled out the champagne.  This lovely bottle was purchased for 40% off at an Albertson's going out of business sale - the one time the poor economy worked in our favor all year!

Of course, we had to take lots of pictures to document everything, but we finally were able to toast to each other and to our future and watch the storm roll in.

We finished the night by eating sushi at a tiny little place in Sarasota with a delicious meal: mackerel, spicy tuna and yellow tail sashimi; rainbow rolls, salmon rolls, siesta roll (tempura shrimp with cucumber), and the Ringo - yellowfin, apples, and veggies with a peanut sauce.  Yum!

New Cake Posted

Check out my latest cake creation at www.caylascakes.blogspot.com.  

To our military heros

The Vietnam Wall Experience traveled through Brandon this weekend and Tony and I got a chance to see it today.  We went after church and made it right in time for the closing ceremonies.  In addition to seeing the wall, which is a 3/4 size replica of the wall in DC, we saw a military band, and the Last Patrol performance of part of the war.  It was a very moving experience.  We felt blessed that we didn't have a name to look up on the wall, that our Vietnam vets made it home.  We felt proud of our military heros and proud to be Americans.

Hello My Pretty!

I was recently informed that I would not receive a raise this year.  Bummer, right?  However, I would receive a bonus!  After taxes took almost half of my money, I had a nice little chunk of money.  We decided to be responsible with most and to splurge on myself with the rest.  

And this is what I got!  A beautiful Empire Red Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.  

Doesn't she fit in perfectly with the kitchen decor?  I think I'll name her Jane.

Jane can cream butter and sugar together like it's nobody's business.  Jane's pretty color of empire red inspired me to make a red cake.  See my bowl of red food colored cocoa in the back?  Can you guess what it is?  

I won't leave you hanging for long.  I'm icing the cake this afternoon (Jane gets another workout!) and will have pictures posted on Caylascakes.blogspot.com later today.

Happy Halloween!

A co-worker talked me into dressing up for Halloween at work this year.  He was Spock.  I went for Medusa.  9 Eels and a hundred bobby pins later, this is what I came up with:

Marley, on the other hand, was dressed up as a cow.  He didn't like the costume too much, and after pouting for a bit, he came around.  We took him to a party hosted by our vets on Friday night and he was a hit.  Though two weiner dogs came in later dressed as a fried egg and bacon.  If only I had pictures!

Our actual Halloween night was pretty low key.  We carved pumpkins and I baked a cake.  We planned to sit in the driveway and hand out candy, but my friend Andrea called us and asked us to come over.  Her husband was at work and had her hands full with her new baby.  Plus, Tony got to watch football!

On the Way Home

On the way home, we stopped at a pumpkin patch and produce market.  We're not ready to buy our pumpkin yet, but the cool weather just made us want to get out and look.  

So we had to get out for one more photo op. 

Stay tuned for our pumpkin shopping trip and Octoberfest, both coming to a blog near you next weekend.