Going all Martha Stewart and shit

         I feel like I haven't written in forever, and it has been quite awhile. Maybe I'll catch up on all of that, but for now a bit of my current world. Apparently lately I've gone all Martha Stewart. By that I mean I have been all about cooking and some crafting.
         Last Christmas I made my sister a wreath, and I think it turned out pretty awesome.

See that, Pretty awesome right? She actually has it hung up right now so she must like it. (Or she doesn't want me to feel bad, whatever I'll take it) Anyway, when my brother saw hers he said that he wanted one, so I've started working on that. I've also been working on some scrapbooking, I am so far behind on that, but my running scrapbook is pretty up to date so that's cool. I've also got a few other pinterest projects that I am working on, hopefully soon I will get them done. Also, very soon I am going to need a new medal holder. Ashley and I decided we are going to make a holder specifically for our Dopey Challenge medals. So I gotta get on that because there isn't a lot of time left.

     As for chef Martha Stewart coming out in me, at this moment I have some bbq ribs in the slow cooker. I have never made ribs before so we shall see how that turns out. But even bigger, I am currently making my first ever batch of homemade pasta! I'm talking make the noodles from scratch by hand pasta! My dough ball is currently resting for a bit so I figured I'd get a little blogging done since my laptop was already on the dining room table. (Watched some you tube videos on the pasta making, ain't no shame in that!)
     I love to cook and after I finish my actual college degree I would love to take some real cooking classes to learn how the pros do it. I'm not very creative, I always follow a recipe because I am never sure if this ingredient and that ingredient will work together and all that good junk. Plus I'd like to learn some fancy knife work and plating techniques. I love the little fancy touches that pro chefs use. Or maybe I will just watch more you tube videos... Maybe it's a left handed thing, are there left handed chefs? 
      Parker and I discussed the Christmas tree today. He is really pushing for a real one, he thinks our fake one is too much work because you have to assemble all the parts. I say a real one is out because I can't keep a simple house plant alive, a tree doesn't stand a chance even for a month. With having two new kittens this year I'm expecting the tree to get knocked over and ornaments to get broken. The dog never took out the tree, but these kittens get into things.
     Speaking of kittens, hey, did you know that I got two kittens? I have wanted a cat for like ever, but Brian is very much allergic to them so I just never thought it would happen. Well there was a situation at his dad's house and he had to get rid of his outside cats, and their kittens. There was this one that I was  very fond of and I was sad that he was going to be going to a farm and I wouldn't see him again because he was just the cutest little fluff ball! So on the day we went over to help my father in law round up the cats, Brian told me to take that one home. Then he picked out another one because he didn't want the first little guy to be lonely getting taken away from all the other cats.

  So here we have our newest zoo members. This is a more recent picture so they aren't really that small anymore. The black and grey striped guy is little chubby. He got his name because he was this tiny ball of fur and he was so chubby when he was small it was just soooo cute. Parker has recently suggested we change his name because he really isn't chubby anymore, and he feels Dave is a better name. I'm not sure why but he thinks that he looks like Dave the minion from Despicable Me. The orange and white one is Vector. Named after the villain in Despicable Me because he wears an orange and white track suit. Vector is actually a girl, but we won't tell her that she has a boys name. Little Chubby is flat out a little shit head. He is the one that gets into things and uses his claws all the time, of course I picked the naughty one. Vector has turned into our little snuggler. As you can see in the picture, she likes to cuddle.

     On a sadder note, our zoo  lost a member a week ago. Steve, Parker's guinea pig passed away. He was old and we knew it was going to happen but it still sucked. The worst part was having to tell Parker. He was at his dad's house when it happened so at least he wasn't the one to find him, but he still was pretty upset that Steve is gone. He was Parker's first pet that was all his own not a family pet. Actually all our other pets are pretty much mine, they wouldn't be here if I hadn't convinced Brian that we just needed them. Parker did make a joke and said that at least Steve lived longer than any of his fish have. For now I think our zoo isn't going to grow anymore. 2 kittens a dog and a tortoise are plenty for awhile. On the bright side, ShelLdon has a life span of 80-100 years so she may outlive me!
    My pasta dough ball is done resting now, so stay tuned for the final outcome!!!