An o"fish"ally Cute Thank You

I wanted to do something for my co-workers for my last day of work (which was supposed to be this Fri, but I am going to come back and stay with Greg's uncle and work the last week of camp..need the $). I knew all my baking stuff would be packed so I wanted something cute and low cost.

I got this super cute and clever idea here on a blog post for teacher appreciation gifts. All I bought were the fish and the clear pillow pack envelopes (they were $7.00 for 50-so I have extra for I don't know maybe a ... baby shower ;) I went the cheap route and just used some ribbon I already had (I pictured using a thick red and back poka dotted ribbon) and I had left over printable labels from Drews Fire Truck cookies. I had to make quite a few for the big bunch so I tried to turn them vertical and use the ribbon/label as an optical illusion so you wouldn't notice it wasn't filled with fishies.

I have met a lot of great teachers and friends at this school-they have been a source of support, resources, laughs and joy and I will miss all of my new friends, but will hopefully keep in touch !

A long week ...& another one on the way.

I took this Tuesday through Thursday off of work so Greg and I could go house/job hunting in Redding. Our day started off on Tuesday with some very very VERY exciting news! I am going to be an AUNTIE! I still almost can't believe it (I mean I knew they were trying), but my sister is going to be a mommy! I am so anxious I almost feel like it's me having the kid lol. Heather and J.d are going to be amazing parents and raise one cute and cool kid. It won't hurt that the kid is going to have a stellar aunt right? ;)lol.

I will admit it is a little bitter sweet me going so far away now. I wish I could be around to see my sister's belly grow and hug the lil bundle of joy once a week (gulp-holding back the tears I'm a wreck lol) , but I am going to be one determined auntie I have a title to uphold...world's greatest aunt ;)lol

The past few days we have seen a lot of houses and a lot of Redding lol ( I wasn't trying to be picky-just a lot of the houses in our price range were outdated like 60's 70's outdated and Greg knows how much I hate wood paneling so we kept on searching lol). When morale was low we stumbled on this lil dandy. It's in the south of Redding a lil bit out of town (lol it's going to be funny to say I have to go into town, but Target is really only 10 minutes away lol).

When we went to sign the lease we forgot the camera so all I have are phone pictures, but I'll do a post move in blog lol.

front.




living room

Master bath...so glad we have two baths...and two sinks in ours yeah!

Kitchen. I already decided the cabinets/counters to the right are going to be my baking nook lol. We just need to get a cheapo used fridge.

Guest bath.

We are heading back up for good the 30th it's coming so fast! We think we will be ok up there it has some nice views and it has a smaller town feel...there's only like one of everything kinda weird for a socal girl lol

Next box to check off is a job for me, I did get cleared to sub while we were up there and I have/had some interviews so we will see..

Pick-Me-Up

It's known that things have been busy here and a lot of things are in the unknown lol, but my sissy cheered me up this week by sending me a little gift. Look how cute, this little cupcake pedestal and bag totally made my day.

Not to mention I got a card from my mom and sister in the same day , so I was feeling awfully loved thanks for making me feel better ladies!!

Heaven on Earth

It's no surprise that I love this place and I am sure anyone could see why, but this long weekend was just what the Dr. ordered. We went up to McCloud on Friday after work and never wanted to leave. As pretty as it is in the snow, summer brings lots of fun to this place especially when we got to share the weekend with Greg's brother Drew, his girlfriend Tana and Uncle Jack.

Greg and I really got to De-stress and have fun and honestly not think about anything besides eating and putting sun block on. lol

Lots of cherries on the tree in the side yard.

Look at all the snow on Mt. Shasta.

I love getting to take the brown owl out (the boat) and seeing the amazing sights of the lake! It was hot and the water was sure refreshing...since it comes from that snowy mountain brrr.




Tucker even got to come on the boat.





Uncle Jack took it for a spin.







Tucker's and mine sight...not too shabby huh?





Swimming time!

This lake is amazing our own little piece of heaven. The water amazes me every time. It's clear, emerald green and smooth as glass.

Look at that color!

The sights off the lake are equally as impressive.

tree hugger!

I could never get sick of this place. It seems like every time we come up here it's the perfect time and it relaxes you the instant you start creeping up the mountain.

Look what we found at the truck.

He came so close to us! so cool ;)

The only downer :( my favorite sandals broke...all of the 3 stores in McCloud didn't have flip flops so I had to sew it lol. Ghetto , but it held up all weekend.

I taught Tana how to play hand and foot while the boys were fishing. She was a quick study and beat me the second game. Had good girl time with you missy!

Tube Time.

Our days were filled with eating (duh!...our favorite), swimming, boating, sunning (burning), tubbing, drinking, gabbing, reading (finished my book in 3 days), lounging...and then started the same thing the next day- amazing!

lol Greg looks like he is posing for the cover of cabin life magazine lol.

Don't worry my legs didn't leave that white. he he...

Lots of yummy food. Tana made a tortelini salad I will definitly duplicate and blog about and I tried making Fried olives. You can stuff the olives with whatever you would like (the recipe suggested blue cheese), but we stopped at Granzellas to get yummy sandwiches and I got a jar of garlic stuffed olives. Just dredge in the order flour-egg-bread crumbs and fry in oil. They were yummy, but my favorite is we fried some zucchini too yum!

The weekend was absolutly perfect we never wanted to leave...we almost didn't. lol It makes me grateful that we have many more opportunities to relax up there and start some future Heydeman traditions ;)

The traveling cake

I love bundt cakes! Why because you can make so many different kinds (my favorite involving the alcohols Kahlua and Amaretto) and they are so easy to transport. Most of the time there is no fuss with frosting's and you just cover real tight in plastic wrap and it stays moist until it's time to cut and go.

This weekend we went to one of my favorite places on earth, McCloud. It's cabin living so I wanted a no fuss dessert for our sweet tooth's, so I chose a chocolate bundt cake and it was yummy.

Here is the recipe:

Clasic Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. plain chocolate cake mix

1 pkg (3.9 oz)chocolate instant pudding mix

4 large eggs

1 cup reduced fat sour cream or vanilla yogurt (I like that you got options depending what's in the fridge)

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips (I used the swirled chocolate chips that were milk and white chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, mist a bundt pan with spray and dust with flour (I use the baking Pam that already had the flour). Mix all ingredients together except for chocolate chips. Once mixed fold in chips. Bake 55 to 60 minutes let cool on wire rack 15 to 20 minutes . Run a knife along edges and invert cake to wire rack and let cake cool completely.