One Year and Counting...

One year ago today was the first day Kyle and I woke up in our new yellow brick house. It's so hard to believe that already a year has flown by - it doesn't seem like that long ago. This year has been full of excitement and challenges. We have grown a lot, and I think that's why it's been one of our best years yet.

As I think back to what the house looked like when we moved in, I'm reminded of all the projects we haven't gotten around to yet. Our house is far from perfect, but I think that's part of its charm. Just like us, it's a work in progress. If it were brand new and everything was perfect, it just wouldn't feel like home.

For someone who is the queen of buyer's remorse, I am glad to be even more happy about our decision to buy the house today than I was a year ago. I look forward to many more memories made and anniversaries celebrated here! I hope you all had a great Memorial Day. Below is a recap of our weekend.

The Reveal
For those of you who don't know, last weekend Kyle flew to Arizona with his friend Mark to buy a Camaro. He has had his eye out for the perfect car for months now, and he finally found one he fell in love with. It's a 2001 black SS Camaro and he is so happy to finally have a sports car again. I didn't post about it last week because he wanted to surprise Tom with it this weekend when he came down. Mission accomplished, he seemed pretty shocked.

These were taken just after Kyle got home with the car.



I was already ready for bed, but I insisted he take me out for a spin!

Cleaning up the car for Tom.

I think he liked Kyle's new wheels!

After taking the car for a joy ride, we went out to dinner and then saw The Hangover 2, which was much better than I expected. Usually I have such high hopes for sequels, so when they aren't very good, I'm pretty disappointed. But unlike Sex and the City 2, I was pleasantly surprised. It's not as good as the first, but still pretty funny if you like that kind of humor.

On Sunday, Kyle mowed the lawn with his "new" mower. His Dad traded him mowers a few weeks ago and ever since then, Kyle has been SO excited to mow the lawn. He's even mowed the neighbor's yard a few times! :)


After yard work, we went to Kurtis and Amanda Mason's for a barbeque. We had a great time! I work with Amanda and she and Kurtis were on our volleyball team. Now Kurtis and Kyle are playing softball together. Their last game is this week, and I'm sorry I'll be at a conference so I have to miss it! :(

In other news, I did a little baking this past weekend. I made junior mint cupcakes (see photo and recipe below). They were pretty good and I was proud of myself for making the icing and everything! Kim and I are going to be taking a cake decorating class in June, so I'm sure there will be many more photos of sweet treats coming your way!

Junior Mint Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix (I use Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
1 1/3 cups water
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon mint extract
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
18 junior mints
18 mint leaves (I didn't have these, so I added an extra junior mint)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place heavy cream and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes
4. Place 24 cupcake liners in two 12-cup cupcake pans
5. Combine cake mix, water, oil, eggs, and mint extract in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on low, or mix by hand for 2 minutes
6. Pour batter into prepared cups, filling each about ¾ of the way
7. Bake your cupcakes for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
8. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool completely in the pan for at least 20 minutes
9. Finish your icing: remove the bowl of heavy cream and sugar from the fridge
10. Pour the heavy cream and sugar mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer (I added vanilla extract at this point). Beat on high until stiff peaks form
11. When cupcakes are completely cool, place a tablespoon-sized dollop of icing on top of each cupcake
12. Garnish cupcakes with 2 junior mints and 1 mint leaf each

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