- CELEBRATION -

I wanted to wish a Happy 2nd Anniversary to two of the greatest people in my life! John & Jen, I am so thankful for you both and am so, so, SO, SO, glad that you guys are now here in Cali! Love you much!!!

- Exciting News! -

Just to let the cat out of the bag....

NATE AND I ARE PURCHASING A HOME!

We are so excited and will start posting photos soon. Escrow is supposed to close on August 9th so keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly! We are ecstatic and are so thankful for this opportunity!!


And....NO this doesn't mean that little Nate and Lynns will be on their way! ;-)

- Ventura -

Life has been rather crazy lately and I apologize for not blogging. Nate, John, Jen and I rode together a few weeks ago on Friday night to Ventura. This was our first year at Pacific Coast Camp and we really enjoyed it!



The weather was perfect! Not too cold and not at all hot! We stayed out late Friday night and slept in Saturday, and stopped by the beach before heading back home.



Now I just wish I was back in Ventura enjoying that weather again! ;-(

- RECIPE OF THE WEEK -

RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.

Cook's Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip.

- Scrapbook Expo -

A few months back my mom had mentioned that there was another scrapbook expo coming up in Pasadena. I was thrilled and couldn't wait, but this time I was even more excited because my mother in law and Jen were coming for the first time. We got them hooked before the 2nd day was over!



We left late Thursday night after work and after a quick bite to eat we went straight to the Westin. What an awesome hotel and what an awesome price we were able to get on priceline! It is the only way to go! The hotel was super nice and we had chauffeurs every where we went. You should of seen all the luggage that those poor men had to take up to our room then back down when we left (with more bags from stuff we had bought).



The expo was held at the Pasadena Convention Center. Only a few blocks from the hotel, which was really nice for us! We had several classes during the day and after the last one we would go have a nice dinner and then head back to the hotel to scrap in our jammies.








While the four of us took some scrap classes my sister had enrolled to take some photography classes and learn some new techniques. After one of our classes we hadn't eaten anything (but a free skinny cow) and Amy kept dragging us all around the area to snap some shots. I was the party pooper and was NOT very thrilled with the idea! lol Amy took a few shots of those moments but I won't share them... he he.



We had a really great trip and are looking forward to the next expo!!!

- Dear Mr. Obama -

Dear President Obama,

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.


- Originally written by Lou Pritchett. Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat. Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated "open letter." “I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.

- Dad's trip to Lima, Peru -

Click here to check out my dad's latest trip to Peru and the work they did there.


LIMA, PERU