CANDY!

I love candy. Alot. In fact I love it so much that I'm working on an entire "candy" album for the upcoming Stampin' Up! regional season. I spent this afternoon looking for pictures of my favorite candies for the album. And, I had so much fun, I decided to post them here too. It was really hard, but I've come up with a list of my top ten favorite candies. Da - Da Da - Dum... here they are......

10 - Junior Mints (But only if they're frozen. They really only have two consistencies; frozen and melty - no inbetween - and melty is yucky.)

9 - Circus Peanuts (Although, I never could figure out why they made an orange peanut that tastes like banana - whatever, I love them! )

8 - Jelly Bellies (Juicy Pear is my favorite flavor, but part of why I love these so much is having all the flavors. Then you can pop one into your mouth and be totally suprized by what flavor it is, or you can mix and match and come up with delicious combinations!)

7- Black Licorice Bullets (I discovered these in Australia. They are most addicting thing ever - so delicious! It's a piece of black licorice covered in chocolate. I haven't been able to find them any where here, so if you see them let me know.)

6 - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (They have to be the big cups, not the miniatures. I eat off all the chocolate first, then eat the center. I used to have one for lunch everyday in Jr High....I guess if you're going to eat candy for lunch, at least these have some protein.

5 - Sour Gummi Worms (I don't know what is is about these, but I really love them. They're so soft and sweet and chewy. You know how you eat cetain kinds of candy when you do certain things? These are my taveling candy. I always take a package with me to keep in my hotel room.)

4 - Swedish Berries (These remind me of the candy store at Bear Lake, and Bear Lake is one of my favorite places in the world...so many good memories! Swedish fish are good too, but there is just something about the berry shape that makes these better.)

3 - Peanut Butter M&Ms (These are so yummy. I am such a fan of salty and sweet combined. You know, like french fries dipped in ice cream? Peanut Butter M&Ms have just the right amount of salty peanut butter with sweet chocolate. They are so good!)

2 - Toffee (Heath is the best. It's a little bit softer than Skor. And, as you can tell by my list, I'm not a big fan of hard candy. I love the flavor of toffee. It's so rich and creamy. I love it plain, and in ice cream, and in cookies, and in any dessert really. I never get tired of it. I've been looking at candy pictures all day today, yet right now, toffee is the only thing I'm craving!)

1 - Twizzlers (Strawberry when I'm in the mood for fruity, and brown when I'm in the mood for chocolate. And, speaking of chocolate, they changed it a little bit this year. It seems even softer than before so you should try it if you haven't yet. There are lots of reasons why Twizzlers are my very favorite. They remind me of my Dad and they are low in fat grams. I also like candy I can play with...I separate my m&ms by color, I make secret flavor combinations with jelly bellies....with Twizzlers - you can make a straw! Try the chocolate ones with milk - it's good. And, if you blow really hard through them, they whistle. Most of all they just taste really yummy!)

So did I make you hungry? What are your favorite kinds of candy?

Lagoon

We went to Lagoon last weekend for the Stampin' Up! company party. It was crowded and hot, but we had a lot of fun. It was the first time I had been since I was in high school, and although a lot is the same (the old roller coaster is still my favorite ride, the log ride had the longest line, and we ended the day on Dracula's Castle) I still couldn't help but notice how much difference the Lagoon experience is for a mom vs a teenager....

• I used to be able to ride the Scrambler over and over again, now I feel sick on all the rides that spin around.
  
• I used to be able to be able to stick a few dollars in my back pocket - and that's all I had to carry. Now I have to carry a camera, cell phone, credit cards, sunscreen, water bottles, plus all of everyone else's stuff.
• I also have to make sure that everyone is wearing sunscreen, well hydrated, and not hungry.
  
• Maybe it was just me, but the lap bars and seat belts on all the rides sure seam a lot tighter than they used to. :)

It wasn't all bad though. It was so fun to see the smiles and feel the excitment of the kids.

And, as a teenager, one of the goals of going to Lagoon was to find all the cute guys. Now I have my own! (and, we totally made out in Dracula's Castle!)

Here are a few of my favorite photos of the day:

Convention was Awesome!

It's been so long since I've posted anything, I don't even know if I remember how. Part of the reason I've been too busy for blogging is that we've been preparing for our annual Stampin' Up! Convention. This was our 20th anniversary year, and it was bigger and better than ever! I can't believe that it's over. I was lame and didn't take any photos, but I have awesome friends who shared some of their's. So, here are some of my favorite moments:

It was so much to see all of our fabulous demonstrators! I am so lucky to have made so many great friends, and to be surrounded by so many creative and enthusiastic people. Here is just a small glimpse of the crowd. There were close to 6000 people there.

The crowd was waiting to get into mainstage where we make all the big announcements and show really cute projects and ideas. This year we opened the show with a big production number of our theme song. The singers were fabulous, and I got to be in the back-up choir. I thought singing and dancing on stage would be dumb, but it was really fun! There were fireworks and everything! I couldn't find a picture of the choir, but here's one of the set. It was so cool!

Here's a photo of me and Shannon at awards night - which is always a highlight. It's such an inspiration to hear the accomplishments of such amazing women. It's also fun to get dressed up and go out for the night.
I worked with some of the cutest demonstrators for the class I taught. I got to share their awesome ideas for new kinds of workshops. I taught the class 12 times over three days - and loved it! But, the real teaching highlight for me came on the last day when I made my convention mainstage debut and got to present on for all 6000 people at once. My presentation was all about projects from the kitchen. So here I am on stage in my Stampin' Up! apron. Can you tell how nervous I am in this photo?

And, finally convention ended with a free stamp set give-away from UPS. I have never felt excitiment like I did when we got to hand out the free stamp sets. There was screaming, confetti, running, jumping, and even crying. It was an amazing experience!

I have the best job ever!!!

Fourth Of July

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend! We went to Bear Lake with my family and had such a fun time! I've gone up there every fourth of July since I can remember, and this year we carried on some of my favorite traditions.......

Huge Family Picnics:

Roasting Marshmallows:

Doing Sparklers (We had special extra-long sparklers this year!)


Sitting on the beach to watch fireworks:


Gathering all the "treasures" when the fireworks are over:


It's the perfect way to celebrate Independence Day!!

Father's Day Coconut Cream Pie

Jake's favorite dessert is coconut cream pie so I've tried and experimented with lots of different recipes. I think we've finally found a winner. This was really easy to make, and tasted really yummy. I'm still trying to learn all the settings on my camera, so the photo's not the best, but I tried to make it look pretty. Give this recipe a try and let me know how you like it!

Jake's Father's Day Coconut Cream Pie

• 1 premade graham cracker crust (9-inch)
• 1 package cream cheese, softend (8-oz)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 package Jell-O instant pudding mix, cheesecake flavor (3.4 oz)
• 3/4 cup flaked coconut (I toasted mine a bit first)
• 1 container frozen whipped topping (8-oz.)
• whipped cream or extra frozen whipped topping for the top
• extra flaked coconut for garnish

Beat cream cheese and coconut milk with an electric beater until smooth. Add pudding mix; beat until blended. Stir in coconut; fold in frozen whipped topping. Spread mixture into pie crust; cover and chill 2 hours or until set. Before serving, top with whipped cream or frozen topping and garnish with flaked coconut if desired.

Retro Day

This is the last month of school for the girls. (We do the year round thing.) So every Friday is Spirit Day when the kids get to do something fun. Today was Retro Day. They were supposed to dress like they were from 50's, 60's, 70's, or 80's. I think they look pretty cute - and it's easy to guess which one goes with which decade!

PS - If you're a stamper, notice the flower on Anna's cheek....Water Color Wonder Crayons make great face paints!! I just wet the tip of the crayon with water and painted right on her face. It gives you a lot more control than a paint brush, and since it's not oily or greesy it's easy to wash off when you're done.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

One of our other Memorial Day activities was to plant a little garden. We live in a townhouse so we have only a tiny space, but I have to show it to you all because I am so proud of it! I have never been able to grow anything! Then last year I bought a few small herb plants. And... not only did they grow, but they grew back!! (Except for the basil and rosemary, but I hear that's normal.) So, this year along with new basil and rosemary, we planted tomatoes and lots of peppers (jalapenos, habeneros, anaheim, sweet, and more.) The other herbs growing are mint, oregano, taragon, thyme, and sage. My backyard smells so good, and I am going to be able to make the best salsa ever this fall!