Wedding Week

Hey all!


I realize that I haven't updated in a while (despite promising to do otherwise...).  Sorry about that!  It's been a little crazy at my house lately.  Here's what went down last week:


Monday

• Work
• Helped Mom with piano group lessons
• Eva (sister-in-law) and nephews came in from Ohio

Tuesday

• Work
• Hospital
• Helped Mom with more group lessons
• Turned pages and played a duet at Mesa High's choir concert
• Breathed a little {just a little, mind you}

Wednesday-Saturday

• Worked extensively on making wedding food/watching children while Eva made wedding food {except for Wednesday, I think we stayed up until about 1:30 or 2:00 each night}
• Clayton (brother) got in from Ohio Friday afternoon {instead of Thursday--gotta love those flight delays!}

Saturday

• Seth (my brother) and Jaimee got married!!!

This, my friends, is the real reason for all of the craziness.  Not only was our family in charge of the luncheon (you know, groom's duties and all), but Awesome Chef Eva made all of the food for the reception.  And I do mean all--wedding cake, sheet cakes, pasta, appetizers, etc.  (OK, so she didn't make the cheese and/or crackers from scratch, but you get the idea.)  Notice how she got in on Monday night?  Yeah, we're only slightly crazy.  But, everything turned out in the end, with the help of an army of family members and friends.  Lots of people really like us, it turns out.  

Of course, summing everything up like this means that you're missing out on some of the best stories.  (You all know how much I like my stories!)  But, there's simply not enough time to write them all out.  So, if anyone is curious, the next time you see me ask me about blow-drying strawberries and warm potato salad.  And possibly flavored popcorn (although that will require video and may not be as fun for you as it was for me--just sayin').  

Up next: Adventures in Algae!

It almost looks good enough to eat...

...you know, except for the fact that it's made out of yarn.

Yes, my friends, I can now crochet waffles!  Why you ask?  Well, I found this pattern the other day to make a waffle-y thermal scarf.  But, since I live in Arizona and already have too many scarves (well, relatively), I didn't really want to make a whole scarf for myself.  I just happened to have this awesome orange yarn and voila!  Le waffle!  

Good thing the nephews have a play kitchen in need of some breakfast foods...

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, everyone!

Trial and Error

A few weeks ago, I was hungry and feeling slightly vegetable-deprived, so I decided to give this a go:

Doesn't it look inviting?  And...healthy?

My opinion of V-8: Disgusting.  

(No offense to those of you who like it.)

I could only drink about 1/3 of it before I gave up and had to eat a mellowcreme pumpkin to get the nasty taste out of my mouth. 

Just in case any of you were wondering about my feelings on the subject.

My Birthday, in Pictures

In case any of you were wondering what I did on my birthday, this post is for you.  And, since I'm feeling a bit lazy and have a lot of pictures, I'm just going to put them up and tell you the story of my day that way.  Enjoy!

These were on my door when I woke up.  (I heard Sarah putting it up when I was only semi-awake and thought "Who's rubbing my door and why on earth are they doing it?  Is Dad trying to wake me up nicely or something?")

The present I got early to wear around Arizona Mills while my mom and I wandered around.  Ah, Crocs, I do believe I am addicted.

Ok, so this picture isn't the greatest, but this sweater is seriously the cutest thing ever.  I broke down and bought it for myself even though it wasn't on sale (and it's the middle of summer in Arizona...don't mock me).  Seriously, how could I resist?  It's my favorite color and everything!

This is a cheater picture (a.k.a. from last year), but I still took it myself.  My mom and I went here for (my) free lunch.  Mmm....

In the fine tradition of watching movies that I know are going to be horrible but that I secretly want to see anyways for my birthday, Sarah and I went to this.  We were definitely the only ones in the theater.  Yesssss.......

Birthday Krispy Kremes.  {The extreme close-up picture with us wearing the hats and eating the doughnuts is now a birthday tradition.  Only usually Zachy is in the picture with us. :'( }

Umm...my hair looked good.  What can I say, I'm a bit vain.

Part 1 of my birthday haul.  I think I made out pretty well.

Part 2.  I love having crafty sisters.  (Yes, my sister made that herself.)  And hey, it matches my new sweater!

Here's to being one year older...and hopefully wiser, too. ;)

What can I say, I'm a sucker

This:

Plus lots of:

Plus:

= HEAVEN!

(Thank you McCormick and Wikipedia for the pictures!)

Just Add a Little Mayonnaise...

I just saw a headline on the MSN homepage saying to add mayonnaise to a chocolate cake to give it a "flavor boost".

Gross.

"Oh, it's just a fat," my mom said.

No, it's gross.

It's chocolate cake! You don't ruin something as good as chocolate cake with something that smells as nasty as mayonnaise! Blech!

That is all.

Top of the Mornin' to Ya!

In the fine tradition of Kailei/Jenny Tuesdays, we had a spring break event last night/this morning. Yes, we had a sleepover. (Yay!) It consisted of:

California Club pizza...mmmm....



A quick trip here...(for some ice cream)

(With said ice cream--but not a whole 12-pack, don't worry. Blergh--that's a lot of Oreos.)

(1 1/2 times...hehe...)


(Why yes, those are green chocolate chip pancakes. For St. Patrick's Day, yo. I mean...matey......umm, apparently my Leprechaun is a little rusty.)

Thanks again, Kailei! It was an awesome night!

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!

*Images courtesy of cpk.com, barnesandnoble.com, walmart.com, and amazon.com (no, they are not mine)*

A Rainy Day with the Carpensteins

Ok, originally this was going to be a short post about how some birds pooped all over my car at work today. And I mean ALL over. See?

(That's just one view. There was lots more.)

And then I went inside and more interesting stuff happened. So, let's see where this post goes.

It all started with my little brother. Here he is.

About 30 seconds after I walked in the door, Zach says "Let's go ride bikes." Being the wonderfully spontaneous *ahem* person that I am, I say yes. (I can't even remember the last time I rode a bike, so this is bound to be an adventure.) After lots of staring at the air compressor and one phone call to the daddy, we got some tires pumped up and Zach's friend Spencer joined us for our ride.

Ah, the memories that came flooding back riding down our street on the way to the park. (Only this time it was cold.) Seriously, I was worried I wouldn't even be able to stay upright on that thing. But, turns out the whole "just like riding a bike" saying is true. We pedaled our way through the neighborhood and made it to the park (even with the wind almost knocking us over). I wish I'd had my camera with me once we got there. I may have to go back tomorrow and take a picture of Lake Emerald Park. Gotta love that rain! :) After looking at all of the water, we rode back home so we could feel our faces and hands again. Here's us in the garage after our ride.

(Sadly, this was the best picture of me with the bike.)


Zachy really likes our old school bike.


Admire my wind-blown hair!

After we warmed up, my parents left for some scout dinner, leaving us children ("the three younger ones", as we used to be called) to feed ourselves. Scary, I know. Want to know what we came up with? Well then, you're in luck, because I took *pictures!* (That's my sing-song voice, in case you wanted to know.)

We had:

Leftover beans and rice from Chino Bandidos


Fish sticks and Totino's pizza rolls

And I had salad and carrots.
(The other children did not want rabbit food.)

Moral of the story: the three younger ones need more cooking lessons.

This is Dr. Carpenstein, signing off.