Butter Sculpting

For FHE (Family Home Evening) a few months ago we did some butter sculptures. Everyone had 20 minutes to make something out of the butter. Then we named them and voted on our favorite. They turned out really well I think. 

Here are some pictures of the sculptures. It is hard to see the details of them in the pictures because it is all the same color but you can get an idea of the awesomeness.

Mutt Cuts made by Richard. Inspiration: Dumb and Dumber

Statue of Liberty by Daniel. 

"I don't know what it is" by Jason. Though I would have named it "Bread and butter" This won the most like butter award.

"The First Vision" by Luis

"Cadillac" by Josh

The first place winner was "Tutom (or Totum) of America" by Deanna.

Second place "Turtle for Dinner" by Amanda

Third place "The Building" by myself. Can you figure out what building?

The guys with their art work.

 Another shot cause Luis was being shy with his. And cause it makes me smile.

 Here are the winners of the competition.

 Josh decide to take a bite out of his butter car.

 After the competition, the guys decided to cuddle on the couch. Except Jason wasn't so eager to participate. He needed some persuasion.

Tutu Party

Well I have been busy living life instead of blogging about it so I am a bit behind. But I'll try to catch up just cause the pics are awesome and if I don't share them here they won't be seen.

My dear friend, Deanna, turned 22 a little bit ago and she had the brilliant idea to wear a tutu for her birthday (get it 2-2). Well, myself and some of her other friends wanted in on the fun so we decided to have a Tu-2 party for her. We encouraged everyone to come in tutus and was surprised how many did.

Here is the crew that wore tutus minus one who left early. There was a lot of glitter everywhere after that.

  For those who did not wear a tutu I provided this tutu for them to stand in front of to feel like part of the party.

 Here are some photos of those who didn't have their own tutu.

 Everyone got to be part of the tutu party!

 Luis did acquire a tutu by the end of the night and wore it the rest of the time. He was also brave enough to let me take a picture of it. Proof he wore a tutu.

Deanna got some great presents. She loves guns so here she got a gun mold for ice...

 and jello!

 It is actually a very detailed mold. I kind of want one now too.

 Check out this cool cake card. It sang, too, as I remember.

 Are you noticing a theme? Not the typical gifts one would receive at a Tutu party. But that's what makes it so fun.

 And the adorable minions!

 And a yummy smelling candle!

One of the things we did was have a balloon tournament.

 You know where you can't let the balloon touch the ground.

 Look at their focus!

 It was a lot of fun!

I am so proud of how the cake topper I made turned out.

Isn't it cute? Looks really god by light of candle I think.

Make a wish!

 I know what you're thinking: "Why'd she post this? it's so blurry!" But check out the flames as they are blown out. They look so cool!

Happy birthday Deanna!! I'm so glad you turned 22 so we could have a tutu Party! And I'm so glad you gave into our ways and let us through you are party. Admit it, you had fun. See it's not so bad.

Confessions of a Honda Fit Lover

Do you remember this...

 My super cute 2007 Honda Fit that I bought back in 2011? Yep, this is Hollie BeeBee, my adorable car that fit my needs and personality so perfectly.

  Well, then this happened....

 It happened last Tuesday Feb 11 as I was leaving Wal-Mart after I stopped to purchase Austenland. (Have you seen it yet? So good!) When the light turned green I started to proceed through the intersection as one would normally do. There was a truck that was in front of me who had waited for the light as well and he made it through fine. As I was in the middle of the intersection just before I reached the median I heard the screeched of breaks from my left side.

 I had no time to react before a Red Dodge Pickup truck crashed into the side of my car and turned my car to face the lane he had just come from. He immediately drove around my car and then peeled out of there as fast as he could.  There was a lady in a van who witnessed the accident and followed him and got his license plate number. Thank heaven for her!

I, fortunately, was not injured beyond being sore from the impact and a stiff knee from hitting the dash. My beautiful Hollie BeeBee, however, did not fair so well as you can tell. And I got the word a few days later that she was totaled. :`( That was the most devastating part of the whole thing for me because I really loved my car! I love Honda Fits and felt so fortunate to be able to find one I could afford and that fit my personality so well. Here are some things I love about Hollie and Fits in general:

• Hollie is a Honda Fit Sport (that little spoiler in the back makes such a difference in the look, so cute!)
• the ease of putting the seats up and down for transporting cargo
  
• how much stuff you can hall in a Fit! Seriously for how small they are on the outside you can get so much on the inside. People are always amazed with the stuff I can unload inside my car.
• Along with that the roominess around the seats. My long legs are not crammed in like they are in other cars. I've had people ask how I can fit in it because I am so tall. It is like the Weasley's tent from HP and the Goblet of Fire or Mary Poppins bag, small on the outside but so much space on the inside.
• the back seat is not attached to the floor so I can store stuff underneath it and still have passengers sit there and have leg room.

  

  See because the seats can lit up like this when the seat is down you get a good 6 inches or so of storage space you wouldn't usually get. I love that and use it all the time.

• Hollie's color!! (I get bored with the neutral color cars, I like that it was a more unique color. Plus finding your car in the parking lot is so much easier when you don't have a color that everyone else has.)
• the great gas mileage. I got consistently 31-32 mpg in my normal driving. And got as much as 45 on the freeway!
• the price range of the car. I love the affordable nature of Fits. They are one of the least expensive cars out there but are such a great value. It's practical and not extravagant which is how I see myself, not anything fancy but a good value.
• The look of the car. At first I wasn't as in love with the look of the car but now I adore it. I think they are so cute!

I was heartbroken because while I love Fits a lot, the color of Hollie was what made her unlike all the other Fits out there. That color blue is not offered in the newer Fit models. I decided I wanted to get another Fit (because seriously I'm in love with them) but figured I was going to have to settle for a boring color. To make the story short after some stressful days I found a Fit that took the sting of loosing Hollie away. One that had a beautiful color that I like as much and maybe more than Hollie's color. 

Introducing my new car, Cici. (Can you figure out where the name came from?)

The color is called Blue Raspberry which is a cool name, though I'd describe it as turquoise. Turquoise has started to infect my brain the last few months. It's just so pretty! So it's interesting that I found this color car.

I got a great deal on this car! It's a 2013 and was the price of 2010's with fewer miles. The redesign and improvements on the car are pretty cool I must admit. One fun thing that came with this car was a remote start system. I can sit in my house and start my car. I already used it this morning because it was chilly outside. My car was warm when I got out to it. :) 

Here are my Fits side by side. They sure are great cars.

In the end things worked out well. God always manages to do that for me, for which I am grateful!

Jane Austen Society Regency Romance Ball

 Saturday, February 15, I was fortunate to attend the Regency Ball. It was as amazing as I thought it would be. I had so much fun. A large part of it due to the great people I went with including one of my good friends and dance partner from High School, Jenny Christensen. The guys in high school did not know how to dance or those who did were few and far between so we used to dance together. My favorite was the swing. It seemed appropriate that we were reunited for the Ball so we could be dance partners again.

I really had a blast learning the dances from the Regency Era. And I didn't mind at all being the gentleman all night. I have to say we made quite the pair and picked up on the dances pretty quickly. It just made it so fun.

 After an hour and a half of dancing we worked up quite an appetite. They a yummy dinner for us. When you first arrive they give you a name card and you reserve your seat at one of the tables around the room.

This was the dessert we had, ice cream and berries. Delicious! By the time I got mine it was melted a bit but that is how I like my ice cream.

 Here we are eating our dinner. This is my brother-in-law Scott, my sister Karen, their son-in-law Jon, and daughter Julia.

 My nephew Jon and his wife Sarah and my sister LeAnne.

Here are the women in our group. Look at all those pretty ladies and dresses!

 This is the Ballroom while we were all eating dinner. The tables were on the raised areas around the side of the room. The Ball was at the Masonic Temple in Salt Lake City.

 The quartet that played during portions of the ball.

 This was during the costume contest portion of the ball. There were so many lovely costumes so I took lots of pictures.

 I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures of the costumes as much as I do. 

I was not only impressed with the dresses but them men looked very sharp as well.

 I love this gold dress. And the lady reminded me of someone I know.

 Here are some pictures of the dances we did. Such fun. It's too bad we don't do that kind of dancing anymore.

 This is Blair. I met her at the Ball. That is on thing I love about their dances is that you meet people and she is one I met. I loved her dress and she was so funny!

 This is the herald who announces everyone when they enter the Ball. I loved his costume!

 They occasionally threw in a Waltz (so scandalous, I know) as a break from the other dances. It is shocking how the dances can be tiring though they seem so simple. 

I had such a wonderful time at the Ball. I am so glad it worked out for me to attend the Ball. If you get a chance to go I would highly recommend it.