PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

I did it!  I made the pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving!  I'm so proud of myself and it looks so delicious.  I can't wait to eat it tomorrow evening.    Here are a few pics of the evening.  Mr. KU was a big help!

All the prep work before I start to bake

The yummy streusel sprinkled on top of the pie

It's cooking at 350 for 50 minutes.

The end result! 



What are you making for Thanksgiving?

I'm Thankful For.....

1.) My family being healthy
2.) Mr. KU and I having a supportive, loving relationship
3.) Having such wonderful and supportive friends
4.) Having a steady job and income in this economy
5.) Our armed forces overseas protecting our country
6.) My puppy Ellie
7.) My car being paid off in 1 more month!!!!!
8.) Only driving 30 minutes to work instead of an hour and getting some of my night back to do things I love to do - work out, watch TV, make dinner...
9.) My grandmother coming in town for Thanksgiving
10.) Being off work for a few days and enjoying time with the people I love!


What are you thankful for?

Its a short week - only 3 (well 2 1/2 days) of work.  I'm so excited.  My grandma is coming in town, I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family as well as Mr. KU's family.  I'm excited to see his family's traditions and have him join in on mine.  I love traditions especially around the holidays.  I think its important to keep them going and make new traditions with your own family.

This past weekend was too exciting -- did a little shopping, got lots of much needed sleep and relaxation, worked out a little bit and watched the Eagles beat the Giants!  It was a great game and soo worth being tired on Monday morning.  Which I had to be at work today at 6:30am..it was not fun.  But I think this is going to be a weekly occurrence from now on (more to come on that later). 

Tomorrow night Mr. KU and some of our friends are going down to the Sprint Center in Kansas City to watch Kstate play in in the CBE Classic!  We have 8th row seats in the corner which will be awesome!  Look for us on TV.  (ha)

Hope everyone else has a nice short week at work and enjoys the holidays with their loved ones!

Zzzzzzzzz

No - that is not me sleeping...its Mr. KU.  He is completely pooped folks!  IT is only 9:24 pm on a Saturday night and he is out cold!  He will probably not be too happy that I'm writing about him right now but oh well.  He fell asleep on me so I'm calling it fair game.
Today was such a productive day, went Christmas shopping, ran errands, grocery shopping and even bought a few things for myself - I bought some new skinny jeans for myself with a sweater from Old Navy...






Love them!  So excited to wear them.  I also bought some new shoes from Payless.  Check out the website or stores in your area - tons of boots and fun flats.  Plus its BOGO so buy one, get one half off!!  (Yes I just did a plug for the company that I work for).  But I did just buy 2 pairs of shoes...so I practice what I preach!

I also bought a few Christmas presents and was able to get a workout in and go tanning.  Yes, tanning, which I know most of you probably aren't happy with, but its my secret love.  I enjoy being tan, I hate being pasty white!  But I'm also in a wedding in 3 weeks and I need a little bit of color so I don't blend in with the white dress of the bride. 

But back to my original statement - MR. KU is asleep.  We were supposed to hang out, enjoy a few beers, watch some football and poof -- he's asleep!  Oh well -- I'll just keep shopping online, poking around on facebook and keeping myself occupied until I'm ready to go to sleep. 

Hope you all are enjoying your Saturday evening!

Almost Holiday Time!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

It is almost that time of year - Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I am getting soo excited!  I ordered mine and Mr. KU's Christmas Cards today from Shutterfly.  Because I'm a blogger I was able to get 50 Free Holiday Cards.  Check out their website for the promo!

Its also only 6 days away from my FAVORITE HOLIDAY!  THANKSGIVING!!!  I love turkey and mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and of course PUMPKIN PIE...which I am in charge of this year -- so wish me luck.  I'm trying a new recipe.  I'll post and let you know how it turned out.  

Plus, my grandma is flying in from Florida where she lives with her boyfriend, yes my 82 year old grandma has a boyfriend and lives in Florida.  I hope I'm that spunky and active when I'm 82 years old.

And this weekend also starts off my Christmas spirit -- I'm going to see the Rockette's with my dad, his wife and my sister at the Sprint Center in KC -- it should be an awesome show and I've never seen them before.  Plus I'm starting my Christmas shopping tomorrow -- gonna hit up Kohl's, Old Navy, Gap, Bath & Body...whatever else I can find in Lawrence this weekend.

Have a great weekend!!

What a weekend!  It was jam packed with big events Friday and Saturday night but I had a blast!

Bachelorette Party on Friday evening for my friend Beth.  Her wedding is in December and I am a bridesmaid for her and John.  It was a great night with all my girlfriends - sexy lingerie, yummy drinks and food, and great dancing at a bar on the Plaza in KC.  We really had a great time!

Saturday was my friend Kyle & Nicole's wedding.  It was so much fun!!  I really do love going to weddings!  All of my high school friends were there which was great to see people I haven't seen in a while!  They also had a photo booth at the reception which was hilarious!  I've never been to a wedding where they had a photo booth.  Everyone got to keep one strip of the pictures and then the 2nd strip of pictures went into a book that turned into the guestbook for the couple.  It was such a great idea!  I want one at my wedding (which lets face it won't happen for a while).  But I did look up how much they are - very expensive ($1,000 for 4 hours!!!)  Other types of photo booths can run up to $2,000 or $3,000!!!!  

Both Mr. KU and I truly enjoyed ourselves!  My mother picked us up at the end of the night so we didn't have to drive -- so nice of my mother!  There was TONS of dancing, yummy food, good drinks and great company!  Here are a few pics of the night:

Before the wedding at my mom's

Morgan (Ben's GF) and I at the reception

My Brother (not really but close enough)

Attempt #1 - kinda looks creepy!!

That's the Brian I know!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY FRIDAY!

IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY!!!  This week feels like it has lasted forever!!!  And it's going to be such a fun filled weekend I'm so excited!

Tonight is a friend's Bachelorette Party - so a night out with all the girls.  I think the last time we did this was at a wedding back in September or something crazy like that.  It will be a much needed break from work, moving and everything else.  Of course there are your typical bachelorette party themes - fun straws ;), games, sushi and sangria for dinner and then out on the town in KC.  

Then Saturday I have another friend's wedding.  Kyle and I have been friends since 3rd grade.  We were in the same 3rd grade class and tomorrow he is marrying his high school sweetheart!  I'm soo happy for them.  They are truly an adorable couple and compliment each other so well.  It will be a great night to spend with all of my high school friends!  I think this is wedding #8 out of the 12 Mr. KU and I were invited to this 2010 year!  We already have 4 for 2011 planned.  But back to this weekend -- it will be up north close to my mom's house so a free place to stay and cheap cab ride to add!  Makes me happy!

And yes - I'm writing this blog update at work - still no Internet, trying to figure it out still.  Internet/cable in Lawrence is ridiculously expensive so I have to see if I have the right equipment stored at my mom's house before I can sign up for this cheaper rate.  I'll keep you posted!  But it's my lunch break and I need a break from the work that I'm doing at the moment - a little monotonous.  

Memoir Monday will be a great update full of pictures and stories of the weekend.  Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend yourself.  I think its finally starting to turn winter in KC so hopefully the weather holds for all my events this weekend!

Christmas Time Already?!?!?

I was listening to the radio on the way to work today and I came across...you guessed it, Christmas music!  In my mind Christmas music should not start until after Thanksgiving.  I understand people have to start thinking about Christmas Cards, getting gifts, travel arrangement, etc...but really, Christmas music right after Halloween....sorry just not my thing.

I was reading my friend's blog the other day, Ruby Red Slippers and I came across a promotion : 50 FREE Holiday Cards exclusively for bloggers!  This is awesome.  All you have to do is click HERE and fill out the form!  It's easy!  Take a look at all of their awesome cards.  Here are some examples.  Other great things you can do on Shutter fly include: Thanksgiving Cards, Wall Art, or or fun Christmas Gift Tags.  Tons of fun and creative ways to celebrate Christmas or any other Holiday for that matter...

Take a look, check it out and have fun being creative!  Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away and Christmas will be here before we all know it!

My New Apartment!!!

Alright everyone!  I know this is what you have been waiting for.....pics of my new apartment.  This post isn't going to be too exciting -- here's a peak into my new home.  Enjoy!

View as you walk in the front door

My HUGE bedroom (he he)

The kitchen

View of the living room from my bedroom.

Bathroom

Funny story (not really) about the bathroom-- is that they could have made this room in the apartment much much smaller and added a little bit more space to the bedroom or living room, but no...the bathroom is HUGE!

Closet - completely crammed with all my clothes and stuff!

Utility Closet - not technically supposed to be a closet, but I made it one!

Well - that's it guys.  Hope you enjoyed!!!  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

First night in the new place...

Well...this is my first official night by myself in my new place.  Its been such a crazy week with moving, work and trying to get everything organized I think I just finally crashed! I'm so totally exhausted right now.  I went to dinner with my mom for her birthday, stopped by to pick up El Dog at MR. KU's house and came home and am now writing this.  This past week I've been at MR KU's because my house isn't in order yet, but tonight I just wanted some piece and quiet in my own bed by my self! 

I'm also the type of person who likes all the doors closed (bathroom/closet) before I go to sleep -- well, in a studio apartment there are not doors to the kitchen or doors to the living room, everything is WIDE OPEN!  This should be interesting.  I tend to be the kind of person who has a scary dream and then can't go back to sleep because I'm trying to keep my eyes open the rest of the night so I don't  dream again...

I will be posting pics soon of the new place.  The plan for Saturday is to clean, run some much needed errands, get some grub, and finish all of the last unpacking and organizing.  I think once that is all done, its finally going to feel like home and I'll actually start spending some time here. 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz  sleep tight!

I know I'm not doing a great job at keeping everything updated.  I've just moved and I don't have internet yet, so I'm having to update everything at work .... which I can't really be updating my blog all day at work, have to get some things done!  But here is a quick peak into my weekend.  It was filled with my best friend coming in town, Chief's Football Game, Halloween Party, and moving...and yes I cram way too much into 3 little days!
Friday night was filled with my friends engagement party.  It was held at her parents's house and we just had a blast.  Oklahoma Joe's BBQ (AWESOME!), good beer, and good friends.  Here are a few pics:

Saturday night was a Halloween Party which I don't have pics of...but it was a Space balls Themed Party and I went as one of the Dink Dink Characters.  It was fun, but I was so exhausted from the move I left early and went to bed.
Sunday then we all headed to the Chief's Game!  Had a blast.  Got there early to tailgate, enjoy a few beers and watch a very good game which went into overtime!  I wish Miss Atlanta and her boy (fiancé) would just move back to KC already, this whole living in Atlanta thing is not making me happy! :(  Here are a few pics of our fun day at the game: 

Yes - that is Buddy the Elf!!

Mr KU and Mr Atlanta

New pics of the apartment will be coming this weekend after I get everything all settled and organized!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and a great week!  ADIOS!