Sneaky Children

J and I have PRIDED ourselves on having really behaved cats. They are by far the best in using their litter box than any other cats we know. The only two accidents were our fault. One time we accidentally locked boy cat in the garage. Poor little guy didn't have a choice!

However, the older they get...the more MISCHIEVOUS they get.

One example is the recent fascination with cotton swabs. I went in our guest bathroom one day and notice 10-12 of the cotton swabs were on the floor. I thought J might have tipped the container over and forgot to pick them up. I went back in yesterday and saw the REAL reason as to why they were on the floor. Apparently, our girl cat has learned to dip her head into the container and pick them out one by one with her teeth. I simply watched in astonishment before stopping her...

She's either really smart....or really special. We certainly love our cats, so this is more humorous than anything.

Here's a picture of her when she was still INNOCENT!=)

First Trip to the Ballet

Months ago, J mentioned that the ballet here in town would be performing one of his favorite ballets, "Carmina Burana." I ordered tickets as soon as possible. I have always wanted to go watch a professional ballet performance. This sounded like the perfect opportunity to go.

The music was performed by the local symphony along with vocalists from one of the local University choirs.

It was such a neat experience! J and I had a great date at the ballet yesterday!=)

Here is a video clip of another symphony performing one of the songs we heard yesterday. The ballet opens to this song. Try to imagine the choir up high with a dramatic ballet performance below...

Raspberry Brownies

I found this brownie recipe online at allrecipes.com and made them on Monday. They got rave reviews from J, his co-workers, my co-workers....etc. Credit is due to the Baker's Chocolate company for posting this recipe on allrecipes.com

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Decadent Raspberry Brownies

SUBMITTED BY: BAKER'S Chocolate to allrecipes.com

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READY IN	2 Hrs 25 Min
Original recipe yield 32 brownies

INGREDIENTS

• 4 (1 ounce) squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 6 (1 ounce) squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup whipping cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil. Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir sugar into chocolate mixture until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour until well blended. Spread into prepared pan.
2. Bake 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan.
3. Spread jam over brownies. Microwave semi-sweet chocolate and cream in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until simmering. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Spread evenly over jam layer. Refrigerate 1 hour or until chocolate layer is set. Lift dessert from pan, using foil handles. Cut into 32 brownies to serve.

FOOTNOTES

• Bake and glaze brownies as directed. Remove from pan; cut into diamond-shaped bars. Garnish each bar with a fresh raspberry.

Baby girl Sophia!

A few weeks ago, we took our little boy cat, Vit, to the vet because we were concerned he was too thin. The Vet looked at him and said, "Out of a 1-10 scale, this cat is 11. If you are comparing him to your other cat, I think we need to see her soon and discuss a diet." SO, we took her in on Saturday and they said she is OK...but she's not practicing healthy eating skills and could end up with health problems if this continues. I now have to monitor how much she eats and separate the cats when they eat so she doesn't eat his share. I don't mind it as long as they are healthy! We love our little guys!

More Wedding Pictures...

We are still working on three rooms in our home....SOOOO....here are some of the pictures we put in our wedding album=) We just got it back a few weeks ago! Yay!! We had the most beautiful wedding! What an amazing day! Thanks again to Mom and Dad!

I can't believe it's been over 7 months! I look forward to saying, "I can't believe it's been 50 years!"

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Mom putting on my veil. We all loooooved that veil! I nearly put it back because it was kinda pricey, but Mom and Angela insisted that I get it (I really did love it!). I'm so glad they did! I adore that veil! It has been preserved along with my wedding dress and other items=)






I love Dad's face here!



During the prayer in the ceremony...look at all of those candles!



Husband and wife! Look at his sweet smile!



Cutting the cake! J is so handsome!

"So fascinating...."

We are knee-deep in paint at this time. Sooo....here is a new pic of the cats!=)

Den Update and Kitchen "Before"

Here is the new paint color for our den! We chose Ralph Lauren "Old Violin" because it was dark enough for J but was also neutral for me! Again, please pardon the mess. We ARE renovating!=) We are very pleased with the color. We are looking for furniture for this room. We hope to find cream colored (or something lighter than the carpet) sofa and chair & 1/2 for the room. We'll use an existing chair currently in the living room as an accent chair as well. We still have to correct the trim where paint got around the painters tape. We are looking forward to decorating this space!

***Next...the kitchen! We will also begin painting the kitchen later this week. We will continue the chocolate color on the bottom half of the wall. We'll then paint a lighter color on top. I hope to have pictures soon!

This is the the wall that connects the kitchen to the dining room. We are probably going to paint the color currently in the dining room on the top portion of the walls in the kitchen. You can see we went ahead and painted a section of the wall in the chocolate color.