Sleepover

This little cutie is going to be sleeping over for the next 3 nights! Look at her hamming it up for the camera!

The book she has is called Bella's Secret Garden. It's actually my book from when I was little. The bunny's name is Bella, so that was a favorite of mine when I was younger.

I'm glad I still have it!

Well, this will be good practice for us when we have kids one day.

Without further ado...

...some pics from the weekend

Ava and Colin (she lost another tooth!)
Ava and her straightened hair...she look so cute!

Colin and Ava kissing...too cute!

Look how long her hair is!

Auntie Bella (titsi!) and Colin

The following pictures are compliments of Ava (can you tell?!) when we were at dinner for Mother's Day:

Me :-)

Me Mum

Adam (my brother)

Ava and Morgan (my sil)

Sunday equaled Relaxation

Sunday was a day of total rest and relaxation. I was originally supposed to be doing something regarding getting us a new car (my grandma's), but that fell through. So I had a FULL day of nothing! The Mister left at about 9:30am to go finish up recording. Yes folks, recording for his band. I can't wait for the day when he's a big superstar and I don't have to work anymore! Ha! I took a shower, went over to my friend/coworker/neighbor's apartment...she lives like 2 buildings down. I went over to see her wedding dress which she ordered off the site I was thinking about ordering off of. Note: I found a different dress (go figure) and I'm ordering it TODAY!!! I can't wait!!! It's what I've been searching for! Then I ran to the store and bought two new work out dvds:

We'll see how they work out (ha! pun intended!). Whenever I buy exercise dvds, I do them a couple of times here and there and then get bored! I hope that doesn't happen, I really need to start exercising. I am sore from cleaning on Saturday though!

After that, I came home and laid on the couch watching tv all day long! I watched a lifetime movie and then just random garbage that was on the tele. I don't know why the weekends go by SO fast and the week days just drag on SO slowly! It's just not fair!

I did make us a really good dinner last night. I got one of those 'mini' chickens that is already seasoned and in a bag, you just have to put it in the oven. I made that, stove top stuffing, and some mixed veggies. So that's what is for lunch today too! Such an eventful weekend, I know...but it was well worth it and I just love those days where you really don't have to do a thing!

Thursday Night

(You're welcome E! for the advertising)

I'm going to see this hysterical gal on Thursday night with a couple of the girls... I can't wait! It is going to be hilarious!

Cake

1. No, this is not our wedding cake

2. I haven't eaten ANY cake today and it's been sitting over by my desk!!!

Aren't you just SO darn proud of me? I sure am proud of myself! I have been at this diet thing since Monday mornin' and have done great, except for last night, when I allowed myself to have 3 pieces of pizza (the square kind). I only ate the crust on 1 1/2 pieces of it and just ate the cheese on the other 1 1/2 pieces (you have to live a little!). I don't like calling it a diet though, that makes it sound like I'm eating unbelievable BOring foods. It's not like it. I mean, sure, I'm not eating pancakes and doritos, etc. But I am constantly eating, which is a good thing (at least I think so). I haven't had many cravings for all the sweets that I used to LOVE to eat. Believe me, I would love to be chowing down on chocolate right now, but that's just not healthy to eat all the sweets that I'm used to eating. We had a little going away party for one of the guys at work (it's really not as big of a deal as it was made...he's going to the department down the hall). There were subs, pasta salad, chips and homemade cake. While I did contribute money to it...I DIDN'T EAT ANY OF IT!!! And it's sitting right by my desk! I wasn't even tempted really!!! I just thought I'd gloat a bit! Thanks for listening.

p.s. tonight is my first night taking the dog outside since the incident...wish me luck :-)

Not that great of a morning

I woke up this morning, kind of groggy but ready to face the day! My Mister had to drive up to Wisconsin for a class (for work) and so I was going to take the dog out and start the car for him. I went and opened up the car and EVERYTHING from the center console AND glovebox was tossed out and around the car. I went around to the other side of the car and there was a cape (for cutting hair) and my bodyspray and some sunglasses out on the driveway. I looked back and noticed that MY BACK TIRE WAS FLAT TOO!!! I was starting to get upset. I went and looked over at Ryan's car and noticed his one back tire was flat too. Then I noticed that whole bunch of people's back tires were flat! I ran inside to tell Ryan what happened, and I started feeling all shook up. We called the police and they came and took a report. They said they had been at our complex in the middle of the night because someone called and said that they heard people outside. I then remembered that Mason was growling in the middle of the night. We don't remember exactly what time it was, somewhere around one am. We just told him to be quiet and go back to bed. I will NEVER EVER tell him to do that again! Apparently, according to the police, there were A LOT of people in the complex that had either a) their cars broken into b) their tires slashed or c) both!!! It's not joke, we saw it as we were driving through to take our cars to the shop. Luckily, my spare tire was a full sized tire. Now the back of my car just looks stupid w/o a tire on it, but oh well. Poor Mister had to get 2 new back tires!!! That would be fine, but he was in the process of getting a new car...what a waste! Hopefully this doesn't happen again though. I just don't feel as safe taking the dog out at night when it's dark out. Especially if my Mister was gone and wouldn't know if I came back in or not. I just pray this doesn't happen again! Today is hump day, if you get through today, the rest of the week should be smooth sailing, right? Right?!

So far a great weekend

So far, so good...it's been a good weekend! My Zizi Nikki came in from New Jersey and on Friday after work, we went to Kaiser's for some pizza. I let Ava take the pictures that are posted below. She said it herself, she loves to take pictures!

my dad and mum
Ryan and me

My cousin Cody

Cody's roommate Dennis and Cody's dad's wife Kathy

Cody and Zizi Nikki (his mum)

Me and Ava (she lost a tooth! can you tell?!)

The whole table (minus Ava and Ryan - he got cut off...oops!)

Then on Saturday the crew came over to our house to hang out for a bit. I bought a DVD Recorder about 2 years ago and could never get it to work and burn shows to a dvd. Well guess what?! This little techy (yes, that's me I'm referring to) got it to work yesterday! Yay! How exciting...well it is for me :-) Today, me and my Mister are just hanging out at home and relaxing. What a great day. Tomorrow...here we come Wrigley! It's the Cubs home opener, and as we have in the past 2 years, we are going to OPENING DAY!!! It's supposed to be in the mid 50s but thunderstorms :-( hopefully they don't come or they come in the early morning and then stop! I'll post pics after the game tomorrow! Hope your weekend is as nice as mine!

They come in three's

3 nicknames you go/have gone by:
Bells, Bella Burpee (my dad), Bebe




3 screennames you have had:
buteefull143, bellahitzke, something with sun in it (don't remember!)




3 things you like about yourself:
my eyes, my sometime sense of style (ha!), my giving personality




3 things you don't like about yourself:
my ocd when it comes to cleaning, my love for sweets, my BAD willpower




3 of your ethnicities:
italian, german, unfortunately polish (no offense)




3 things that scare you:
snakes, death, losing the ones i love




3 of your every day essentials:
coffee, tylenol, blowdryer




3 of your favorite clothing articles:
my comfy green hoody, pretty much anything black :-)




3 of your favorite songs:
such great heights (postal service), have you ever really loved a woman (brian adams), rubella (smoking popes)




3 things your love about your significant other:
his willingness to help me clean even though he knows how i am, he tries (and can) to make me laugh when i'm in a bad mood, his love for all things politics




3 truths about yourself:
i love the color green (and black), i had 2 hernias (and surgery) when i was 3, i want to work with animals




3 of your favorite hobbies:
going for walks in nice weather, reading magazines, baking




3 things you want really badly right now:
a laptop, photoshop, to win the lottery and not work




3 careers you are considering/have considered:
animal shelter owner (wouldn't that be the best!), nurse, stylist




3 places you want to go on vacation:
australia, jamaica, the bahamas




3 kids names you like:
jack ryan, madison (maddy for short), Kayla




3 things you want to do before you die:
have a family, find a career that i truly enjoy, understand politics :-)




3 things that make you a steriotypical girl:
i have to have my nails painted, i have to do my hair, i like to decorate

Dips, brownies and babies

Whew! It's only Saturday night and it's already been an eventful weekend! Last night, we had our usual PIZZA FRIDAY! Then we went grocery shopping for some of the fun stuff we were going to make this weekend. I did some cleaning and then made a homemade spinach and artichoke dip for today. Two of the girlfriends came over to just hang out and have an appetizer day. This morning, Ava (the little niecey) came over at eight o'clock in the mornin'. We made some brownies and then the girls came over. One of my friends has a little girl who is a little over 1 year old (she is SO darn cute!). We just hung out and it was really a great day! Now...I'm just blogging :-) and watching a Lifetime movie. The Mister had a show tonight. I was just so exhausted after today that I had no energy to socialize (ha!). I am getting good at remembering to take pictures. I have always wanted to have more pictures but never remembered to take any...so I'm trying to be aware!

Hope your weekend is great so far!

These are my ingredients for the SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP. I don't like when recipes have too many ingredients (I don't know why, it's weird, I know, but it just bothers/annoys me :-). This recipe is really very simple. For the recipe click here.

This is the finished product. I forgot to take a picture of it while it was heated in the crockpot...mmm...SO deliscious! Seriously, it was even better than getting it at a restaurant, so fresh! We also had bread with spinach dip and a veggie tray and some brownies (can't forget the chocolate!).

As I had mentioned before, we made some brownies this morning. I, being the good aunt that I am, had to let Ava lick the beaters...

...and lick the bowl! We were all kids once and remember that being the BEST part! I still like doing it today!

This is the finished product. Aren't they so cute! I found these little heart shaped tins, so we decided to make individual brownies.

This picture didn't really turn out too well, which brings me to another subject...we need a new camera!

I think Mason was kind of bored today. I caught him not caring much here, just laying there, probably wishing that a) someone would just give him some scraps or b) he wishes everyone would leave so he could have some peace and quiet. Although, he was all tuckered out after they all left!

Oh and p.s. I did gather up the energy to go out and do some shopping tonight. When I got there, I asked myself what the heck I was doing?! The mall was SO crowded and it was just very unpleasant and stinky in there. Oh well, I got some cute shirts :-)

It's been a long week

We've had a LONG week here. Ryan (I think I decided we can use our real names from now on) has had practice and then shows starting on Wednesday and going through last night. So, with our overlapping work schedules, we haven't really seen much of eachother in the past week. I MISSED HIM SO MUCH!!! So today, Sunday is our day together of just relaxing and getting to spend it with eachother! I am SO excited!!!

I took quite a bit of pics of the weekend...so you have some added entertainment!

Friday night, I decided to be ambitious. We had our treadmill inside (in the box of course) and I WANTED it put together. So, I set my mind to it at about 9:00pm. And...as you can see below, I DID IT, I DID IT!!!

It's tucked behind the couch. Not so bad, wish we had a 'gym room'!

It took me probably about 2 hours-ish to put together. At first, I thought, what did I get myself into, but it wasn't that bad, actually. My hands were really sore after putting it together though! I finally used it this morning and it felt good. I only hope that I will stick with it. I get bored easily. I also feel bad about the people under us. I figure if I use it at 'normal' hours that it shouldn't be too bad, right?!

Ryan's dad was in town, so on Saturday morning we went out to breakfast with him, my future SIL and BIL, their cutest little baby boy and Ava (my niece!). We had her for the day, well I had her alone while Ryan went into work for a bit. She was so good at breakfast, just playing with Colin (the baby). It seemed like he really liked her, he kept smiling at her and watching her. They better get along...they are our Flower Girl and Ring Bearer!

Ava and I ran some errands after we were done with breakfast, but not before stopping at Grandpa's to change her clothes. She HAD to do it, really, she insisted that we stop there. You see, she spilled on her shirt at breakfast and this little lady is one for being neat. I suppose it's a good thing, right?! Another added fact, she HATES when she has 'flyaways', she even calls them that. So she will put uncountable amounts of mousse in her hair until she is satisfied. She also LOVES to stare at herself in the mirror...oh boy, I have a feeling her teenage years will be hellacious!

She had a fascination with my sunglasses and would not give them up. So we had a photoshoot! Too cute!

Then last night, I decided to make some Cake Balls, which I found the recipe on THIS girls blog, which is awesome! FYI if you don't know, I'm a self-admitted BLOG ADDICT! I some how come across blogs and like what I read, so I go through the whole blog and read it. I LOVE it though. It's kind of like, in some weird way, you know the person. There are some great people out there and some great blogs!

The recipe for Cake Balls is super easy though. I love anything with sugar in it and thought these would be awesome...and let me tell you, they are!

You just bake any flavor of cake that you like, as you normally would, according to the instructions.

Then, while it's still warm, crumble it up in a bowl and mix in a regular size tub of any kind of frosting you desire. I used yellow cake and butter cream frosting...it was SO hard not to just eat the crumbled warm cake sitting in the bowl...I had to remind myself I was making something with it!

Then you roll it into balls, maybe the size of a tablespoon. I used a measing spoon...I couldn't find melon ballers or mini ice cream scoops anywhere?! After that, I refrigerated them for about an hour so they would harden up a bit.

Then I melted a package of chocolate bark. You can use your choice of any flavor or bark you want! The chocolate hardened fast, I was amazed! Take a look at the finished product...can you tell that I got a little lazy while I was dipping?! I didn't have a good utensil to dip them with...so it got kind of annoying. They are AWESOME!!! I just stored them in tupperware and separated them with wax paper. I have to say, they taste better the next day! MMMMmmmm good!





I thought this picture was cute. It was last night, before I took Mason out to go to the bathroom. I kept asking him, "Does Mason have to go outside?" Whenever say a word of interest to him, he cocks his head to the side. It's so cute...and for once, I captured it on camera! Of course, he was doing it to the word OUTSIDE!!!