LeSara Cupcake Bar! I know right??!! YUM

We are getting settled in Colleyville which a charming little suburb. I immediately looked up the shopping in the area and found the LeSara Cupcake Bar. Its less than a mile from our house! LAAA!!!! We went TWICE today! Hey don't judge, the second time was for mom!
SO the cool thing at this "bar" is you get a couture cupcake! First you pick the cake then frosting and last the toppings!! My cuppy was strawberry, cream cheese frost, heath toppin's! Can you stop drooling long enough for me to tell you the others we ordered, geez! Shannon got chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip, it was soo good, you could really taste REAL strawberries in the frosting, not artificial flavor. SOO GOOD. Mom isn't a dangerous as I am, she enjoyed vanilla, cream cheese and pecans.

Speaking of moms, they have matching mother/daughter aprons! Oh so many cute cuppy gifts. Needless to say "I'll be back"

Grandma

My grandmother went to the Baylor ICU yesterday because she has yet another case of pneumonia. This already happened a couple of months ago and when it came on then it came on fast. If my cousin Brianna hadn't been there visiting grandma, we don't know if she could have sought help in time. It was very scary then. But this second episode had us especially doubtful because she was still on medication for the first case. Yesterday after her blood pressure dropped to about 5o (they were on the brink of resuscitating her), she pepped up within the hour! Since then she is weak and tired but I believe that God heard the mass of prayers that were being said about grandma. We still don't understand half of what she says and the conversations we can decipher are just coming from somewhere random in her head. We are still praying and my wonderful Aunt Sandy has been sitting with her almost the whole time. The ICU nurses are great and are so gentle with her, I am touched at their kindness.

Yard, Tag, Rummage, Garage Sale, whatever you call it, this one was awesome!

Looky looky what I got!!!! As me and Shannon where driving home from babysitting my blonde boys it stood calling my name from the curb. "Alicia! Here I am! Your first antique! I'm only $25! Take me to Dallas with you!" SO I did!
It was made in 1934!! My mom's is a 52 I think so HA! Mine's even more awesome! I'm thinking about using the drawers as frames/shadow boxes or creative storage or something like that and then put some faux drawer faces on the table with cute knobs.

I just need an apartment to put all my awesome stuff in. This will look PERFECT next to my antique dress form! Can't you just see it? All tucked into some corner, my dress form with a string of pearls on her and a belt or something standing next to my machine, with Embroidery hoops on the wall? AHHH! I need a house, well, a job to pay for the house, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Charlemagne

Once upon a time, a sophomore Alicia sat next to a sophomore Megan in World History with Mrs. Wooten. We were learning about King Charlemagne who ruled over France and Germany. I'm not an expert on him but I am getting there. He was basically the hero of my heart. He is responsible for "a revival of art, religion, and culture" in the middle ages. A warrior for the Lord and art! *Sigh* Now, the whole be a christian or we will kill you and your village is something I turn a blind eye to cuz his heart was in the right place, right? Maybe he just didn't have the social skills to witness the right way. But since that class, I have called my soul mate "Charlemagne" and named my bear after him. Meg and I got our bear for Christmas our sophomore year from a close friend, Heidi. Megan's bear is a darker brown and named "Puck" after "that merry wonderer of the night" who is also her code name for her future hubby. A certain youth pastor and his groupies have found it quite humorous to kidnap Char during camp and compromise his safety. Kenneth I'm talking to you! :) Many a battle between good and evil (girls vs boys) has been fought in Char's honor. Charlemange has lost his "bloom" over the years thanks to my extreme sleeping. My own sister wont sleep with me due to my tendency to snuggle. :) I love my Charlemange and still, as a lady of 3 and twenty, can't sleep well with out him.

Hometown Blues Pity Party

Having a tough time getting excited about the move back to DFW. It has happened every year for the past like 3 or 4 years it seems. After high school I moved to Arlington in 2007, Killeen in 2008, Highland village in 2009, back to Van last summer. I have had 13 "homes" or places I officially lived, 4 Jr Highs, and a partridge in a pear tree. I know I'm just feeling sorry for myself here but I want to vent a little. I can't imagine living in one building for years on end, do people really do that?

So, I love Van. Van is more my home than any other place I have lived and I truly want to raise my family here one day. Of course it has it's short comings but the values here are something to be admired when you look at other towns. My life has rooted here over this past year, against my will. When we moved here last August, I had planned on only being here until Christmas break, well that didn't happen. And I am soooo thankful God changed my plans. But this change is a little hard for me to understand.

Why is my path leading away from all the opportunities and relationships I have here that have just began blooming in the past few months? He must have some plan/blessing/lesson for me that is worth me leaving all this behind. I have been teasing that I will be married in the next year and since the eligible men here in a town of 2,000 are non-existent something must be done!

I think my Charlemagne (I'll explain that one later, but for now, thats my soul mate) will be the only reason I would give up East Texas, lol. My crafting has taken a turn for the best here with embroidery, many custom orders, potential consignment sales etc. Hopefully when I move myself back here I can pick where I started craft wise.

BUT the whole point of this way too long post is that I am having trouble putting my faith in this move when what I am moving to and away from don't make sense, but thats the point isn't it? To put out blind faith in His plan and know that He will take care of it all in the end.

The Snow's Brush with Death

At 4:20 am on my mom's birthday, Aug 5th, I wake up to the smell of roasting marshmallows but, no...thats not right. Someone must be burning leaves, wait no, it's the middle of the night so probly no one is raking. Omigosh its smoke! I turn on my lamp to see if there is smoke in my room (which I share with my 13 year old sister) but there was just clear air but I know I definitely smell smoke in the house.

Jumping up and grabbing my phone I shout, "Shannon GET UP there's SMOKE!" Remembering my elementary school lesson, I tap the door knob to make sure its not hot (signifying fire just on the other side, thank you very much!) which it wasn't. So up to this point my mind is going 300,000,000 mph but I'm not scared or frightened, I just know we HAVE to get out of the house NOW.

Stepping into the hall, I see the white smoke and I think, "get down below the smoke" and "white smoke means no flames so thats good I guess" I call my brother, who doesn't hear me, and instruct Shannon to, "Just go outside now". Again, she was the only thing I was thinking about, God kept my head clear and calm, just processing what needed to be done.

So it took me a while to wake up my parents which alarmed me for a fraction of a second, but after I pounded on the door and calmly but loudly said, "Mom Dad you need to get out, there's smoke, I smell smoke" they got the hint. My dad is the worst person to wake up, no matter what wakes him he jumps up like a scared cat, so needless to say he started going a little nuts saying FIRE! But I said calmly as I jumped out of his way that I only smelled smoke. Shannon and I stayed outside after I went back for my Mac, I know I know, never go back in right, or you may be thinking what about my brother? Some big sister I am, but again, God kept me calm and I just knew he was fine (which he was), divine guidance you could say.

So I ask if I should call 911 and Dad says yes so I dial and hit send, but before it rings I hear my dad bellow, "AWW MAN!!!!!" He found the source so I quickly hang up hoping they don't call back, what would I say? Sorry, I thought my family was on fire but we're good thanks!

What happened was my brother was making his nightly cup of tea and you know how they say Green Tea is so good for you and all that jazz, well the Snows are here to tell you Green Tea Is Deadly!! Every night he boils the water, bags the exotic tea, and ads the sugar, lets it cool and enjoys! Well, every night except this night, he did all of the above minus letting it cool. He said he went to watch tv or play a video game or something and just fell asleep so the tea boiled over onto the flat stove top and ended up a charcoal disc in the bottom of the pot.

2 hours later when Shannon and I got up to babysit, I left mom this little birthday note with a small bouquet of Crepe Myrtles from the trees in our front yard.

It says "Happy Birthday HOT STUFF! Glad we're still alive." Aren't I cleaver? Now I am know by my super hero name "Bonnet Lass"! Stories coming soon I promise! Thank you Lord for keeping me calm and that we are all 100% fine... and for marshmallows.

Basil Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Wanna come over for diner tonight? Im baking chicken pizza with homemade alfredo sauce...

and seasoned with the basil I planted back in March. Look how beautiful it's growing!

It smells so sweet and tasty. I could put fresh basil on anything! I was researching the best way to preserve my pride and joy and guess what? Ice cubes! Your supposed to pick the leaves and chop them up, then put them in an ice cube tray with a bit of water and just freeze it, so when you want to use it just let it melt and you have fresh basil! Dried leaves in the bottle from the store have like a fraction of the taste... just a little tip from a Stepford Wife wanna be.

somewhat simple: Popsicle Soap from Greenbean's Crafterole

I love this idea and hope I can try it with Trae before I move back to DFW. Great idea for party favors or gifts or just something to do on a hot or rainy day.

somewhat simple: Popsicle Soap from Greenbean's Crafterole: "It's never too early to start washing your kids mouth out with soap...and now it can be done with these soapsicles!.(I'm thinking i'm not go..."

Milk Chocolate High Heels! Yes you read that right.

It is chocolate! It is a high heel! It is Fabulous!

The only thing thats missing here is a prince on one knee presenting the shoe to you on a velvet (hand embroidered of course) pillow. *Please notice the Diet Coke in the background.

I stumbled across the mold when I was getting ideas for yummies I might make for the craft show and ordered it lightning fast.

Sadly tho, I forgot that usually stove tops get hot when you melt chocolate and I sat the mold on the flat top. So now there's this ugly warped part. What an idiot, I was so mad at myself but I can order a replacement pretty cheap I think.

It took me a few tries to get it to come out right. My sister wants me to make a hard candy one that looks like Cinderella's glass slipper, sounds like a challenge! I love it and can't wait for the next event that I can use as an excuse to make one. Someone get married so I can make you a shoe!

The best kind of prize is a SU-prize!

SURPRISE!!! We got you Megan! HA! You had no idea! Megan's mom planned it all and told me I should come up with some bogus obligation to explain why I wasn't making plans to go out with megan the second she gets home. So Carrie (Trae and Corbyn's momma) posted on my wall asking me to babysit Saturday night, after thinking about it I worried it seemed to obvious because who gets babysitting jobs via Facebook? But she had no clue.

Even her sister Macy told her she had to babysit, oh Megan, clueless dear. :)

I am sooooo happy my Meg Meg is home for a bit, it's going to go by too fast but any length of time would be too short. It sounds odd but saying goodbye to Meg and Am isn't as sad as you would think.

Before you raise your astonished eyebrows, let me explain... we are so set in each other's lives that while we don't want to leave we know its only temporary so it doesn't hurt so bad. Its only natural that we will be together again, we just fit. They are my girls and I am soo blessed by them. God planned for us to be sisters and we recognize this friendship as such. Megan and I really formed the foundation for our friendship when we were accountability partners in the youth group and we felt grace. I love you Meg and I'm glad your texan for the next 2 weeks!