Find Your Happiness

8.09.10 8.17.10

The cousins could care less about going to the zoo :)

Yesterday was my twenty-fifth birthday and we had a few friends over to help me celebrate my silver birthday. I cooked chicken lettuce wrap for dinner and since the food was gone quickly, I'm assuming everyone enjoyed it--but then again, we are talking about feeding guests that included Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines! For dessert, I made an ice cream cake since I have been craving one from Dairy Queen and the nearest DQ from us is in the next town over.  9-inch strawberry cake with strawberry ice cream Cream cheese frosting; chocolate chips and fresh blueberries While I was making it the night before, my husband was worried that the layered "melted" ice cream will make the cake soggy and we'll be eating weird frozen, soggy cake since it also has to be kept in the freezer. But it was very delicious, the cake was moist, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I also made key lime pie to balance out the sweetness of this cake. It was a very

Nathaniel is eight months old today! Nathaniel is finally sleeping in his own room and through the night (down by 8:30p; up around 7:30a)! Nathaniel is still not crawling but he loves to pull himself up although he is still requiring help with balancing. Nathaniel has four teeth total (three at the bottom, one at the top) and eating solids is a hit-and-miss--sometimes you can't give it to him fast enough, other days he clamps his mouth tighter than a vice-grip. All three of us are going to Indiana in less than a week and Nathaniel is looking forward to seeing his Great-grandma and Great-granddad Smith for the first time! He loves to growl!

In less than two weeks, all three of us are going to Indiana for nine days. I am very, very excited since my husband is joining us this time and it has been more than a year since he had been home. But I'm even more excited because Indiana's State Fair is going on right now! Dean and his family have been going since he was a little boy and this year would be my fifth time. Indiana State Fair has the sweetest corn, cream -iest milkshake, and yummy -est cheese I've ever had--and all are made from local produce! If I'm brave enough, I might even try the weird foods they are serving this year, which are doughnut burger (burger served between two Krispy Kremes) and deep-fried butter (frozen cubed butter with cinnamon and covered in funnel cake batter). I don't know how long Nathaniel and I will be able to stay because he will not fully appreciate it all yet and the heat won't help but I'm sure we are going to have a great time.