One Totally Awesome Birthday!!!

That's right. Everyone's favorite Candice had her *Gasp* THIRTIETH Birthday yesterday!!!

What, oh what did I do for this enormous milestone, you might ask?

Well...Tyler and I packed the chiddlers into the van and we all headed to Salt Lake for the Utah Arts Festival. If you've never been to an arts festival before, FIX IT NOW!!! All the vendors are so interesting, and all of the displays are absolutely worth seeing, even if you don't plan on buying anything. It's one of my favorite events in the summertime.

Anyway, we got there just after lunchtime, and began the epic journey through the entire fair. There were painters and photographers, weavers, woodworkers, leather-workers, metal-workers, and just about every other kind of artist you can possibly imagine.

Ty told me before we got there: "We'll go through and see everything, and then we'll go back to your favorites and you can pick out your birthday present."

Is he the best husband ever, or what?

Yes. Yes he is.

In the end, I found several booths that I LOVED, but the one that I decided I wanted to buy something from was called "Sugar Post". They work with metal, and the stuff they do is GENIUS!!! Every time I turned around and saw a new piece of their work, I doubled over laughing. I got two small pieces from them.

This one represents my son, CT (A superhero, with a cape and everything!):

This one represents my daughter, AJ (A fairy, with a flowery magic wand):

They make all kinds of designs. If you want to see more (and I highly recommend that you do), you can go to their website, here. Seriously, I smile every time I look at these little guys! They're the perfect blend of adorable and evil. :)

After four glorious hours at the festival, our family went home to cool off from the summer heat and get cleaned up for dinner. Then we headed off to the Olive Garden. Dinner was sheer fabulosity, and since we had an errand to run, we went over to Target. While we were there, I decided that I wanted to get a couple of new colors of nail polish. One silver, and one purple.

Once we got home, and the chiddlers were in bed, Ty and I just hung out and vegged in front of the TV for a couple of hours, winding down from the most epic day EVER.

OH, and just to top off the night, I decided that my toenails needed to be purple.

Then this morning, AJ decided that her toenails needed to be purple too.

Oh yeah. Life is good. :)

Post 111. That's Right, the VIDEO BLOG!!!

Oh yes, my dear friends. It's finally happened. I actually did a REAL video blog post, as promised! Woot!
It took me at least 5 tries to get this thing to work, on several different devices. I finally figured it out on Ty's laptop webcam, but it's been such a ridiculous nighmare, I'm SURE I'll never do it again so enjoy it for what it is. (**Cough, Cough...Crappy...Cough...**)

Anyway...here you go. Don't get your expectations up too high, now!

Mynx: For the answers to the two questions that I didn't address in this video, here are the links to my previous posts.

How I met my husband.

The catalyst behind my decision to go back to school.

Chanel: Here is the recipe for the world's most exquisite cookies.

Just be sure that when people ask, you tell them exactly where they can find it! :)

Applesauce Cookies

WARNING!

THESE COOKIES ARE EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE. BAKE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK. ENJOY!

First, Cream together the following:

1 cup shortening (But, if you're a trans fat hater like me, you can use 2 sticks of butter)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

Then mix in:

4 cups flour                 ½ tsp cloves               

1 tsp of each:               2 tsp. baking powder

cinnamon, salt,            2 cups applesauce

baking soda,                Preferred amount of SEMI SWEET chocolate chips (NOT milk chocolate!)

& nutmeg.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes

**Note: The batter for these cookies is NOT good, but once they are baked, you'll be in HEAVEN!!! Just be prepared for the exquisite aroma that will fill your kitchen as these are baking. 

Also, be sure that you are very selective about WHO you feed these to. Once a person tries these cookies, you may NEVER be able to get rid of that person, no matter how hard you try! They will come back, just HOPING that you will give them ONE. MORE. APPLESAUCE COOKIE!!! 

Remember: With great power, comes great responsibility.

Alright, I'll end this craziness now before I REALLY go off the deep end. However, I feel like I have made a tremendous accomplishment here. I hope you've all enjoyed my first (and ONLY) video blog post.

Have a nice day! (Or evening, or whatever...)