My 21st

  So this year I finally turned 21! I've been very anxious to have this birthday because Brad, Jeffery, and Olivia are all 21 and over and I wasn't... so going to vegas (which they always talked about) wasn't ever an option. NOW IT IS!!!
  Since my birthday was on a sunday, and I like to believe that sunday birthdays do not count as much because you don't really get to go do anything, I got to have another birthday on monday. On sunday we went to church, I puked, (christin said that was ok because that's how most 21 year olds spend their 21st too. HA!) and for dinner we had 3 lbs. of crab and watched the Hunger Games for the first time. So it wasn't too bad. Brad took such great care of me and made it a lovely day even though I was sick.
  Monday was the real party! Brad took me to taco bell for some lunch and Neilsons' for my favorite black raspberry custard. That night we had my party. We moved around the furniture in our living room and set up the projector so we could play rock band! We got a bunch of Hungry Howies bacon pizzas and a bunch of peach rings, gold fishies, gummy worms, and laffy taffy from good ol' Winco. A few of my work friends came and of course our neighbors we there so Jeffery could sing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga as my birthday present. It was the best party I have ever had and all thanks to Bradley. :) Man, I love that guy.
  Christin gave me this awesome fruit called a horned melon which kinda felt like I was eating boogers that tasted like a mix of kiwi and cucumber. Not my favorite, but I felt very adventurous.

  With a gift card that my friend got me, of course, I went to buy some shoes. With nothing in particular in mind for what kind I wanted, I had a lot to run with. Sierra and I went to San Tan mall. At Charlotte Rousse I got 2 pairs of heels for $15 and at Forever21 I got a pair for under $5. Bargin shopper? Yes. I love when I find awesome deals for things that I love!

Birthday Dinner

Horned Melon

Round flower how to

I've been asked by a few individuals how to make this cutsie little round flower i put put on another project I made. Soooo here's how!!

What you will need:
*scissors
*marking pen

*hot glue gun (the first time I did this project I used super glue. It works.. but I glued my fingers to the         flowers too many times to want to do it again.) 

*a circle to trace ( I used a medicine lid)

*thick-ish material about 1ft x 1ft ( you probably don't need that much but just in case, also you can use thin fabric but it doesn't hold as well.)

Alright! Let's get down to business. Start by marking and cutting and cutting out 5 circles from your desired material.

4 of these circles you will fold, and one will be your base.

Next, take one of your circles and fold it in half. It doesn't matter if its inside out or which way. I usually alternate to add some variety.

Put a small dot of glue in the center, like so.

Then fold it hamburger style and pinch where the dot of glue is so the rest kind of flares out.

Do this to the other 3. REMEMBER: save one circle for your base!

After you have finished your 4 "petals", it's time to glue them down. Take your glue gun and make a triangle on your base circle covering a quarter of it and lay one petal on the glue and press down.  Fluff up the rest of  the petal.

Repeat with the  remaining 3 and your'e done!

You can put these little suckers on just about anything! 

Home Decor

Jewlery

Baby head bands, hair clips, make little flowers for earings...just a few ideas.

ps... The necklace above will be on etsy.com soon.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to comment.

Mary gives this project 2 thumbs up.

A "little" sister time

My "little" (she's 2 years younger, but 6 inches taller) sister Sierra came to Houston for a week to visit. We had quite the adventure with REAL Texas BBQ, the Zoo, the aquarium, and just being the dorks we are when we are together.

First stop: REAL Texas BBQ

The Umphrey family doesn't really try new things when it comes to food because my dad likes his food cooked a certain way and that's the way you get it. For example, Every one gets their steak cooked well done. I didn't even know that you could cook a steak less done and it would be the best steak in the world until I met Brad. But anywhoodles, We are talking about the real, good stuff smothered in barbecue sauce with a side of coleslaw and green beans. Brisket and Ribs. (Though we still haven't found anything even close to as good as Ron's brisket and ribs.) But Sierra thought it was ok which meant more for us.

Yeah...It was scrumcious.

Adventure number 2 brings us to the Zoo!

 We decided to go on a day when Brad didn't have work til 3 so we could all go together. The day started out super hot. We rode the Metro down as close as we could go, then walked a ways to the entrance but found out that they only use that entrance on the weekends so we had to walk aaaaaaaaaall the way back to where we first got off the Metro and walk through the park and....well it was a long unnecessary walk to finally get to the zoo. It was a really awesome zoo! It started with a not-so-mini aquarium which I am always excited about, and there were all sorts of snakes which Brad loves... 

Sierra got to swim with the piranhas

Brad likes the big snakes

Then we went and saw all the monkeys and One of them started moving around in a way that looked so familiar to me. I kid you not, this is the exact way that Brad sleeps:

Scratching his shoulder and everything. 

We then went and say everything else in the zoo, took a few pictures, and headed back home so Bradley could go be a working man.

And last but certainly not least: The Aquarium!

We tried to find another day that Brad could come with us but no cigar. We went the morning that Sierra had to leave which worked out quite perfectly. This place wasn't just an aquarium, it was also a small theme park and restaurant. we bought the day pass so we could ride the rides as much as we wanted because the actual Aquarium part was pretty dinky. But definitely cool. 

Sierra eating a lionfish

Kiss and make up

Sierra touched a shark

I freaked out...then touched a shark.

We went on the shark train into a shark tunnel

with some sharks

Oh yeah... and did I mention that they have a freaking WHITE TIGER there? Just for funsies. You're thinking, "well that's random.." chyea, it was pretty random, but atleast he had a little swimming pool to himself so I guess he counts as a water animal?

I might have gotten a little excited

Crappy picture but perfect timing

And then we went on the rides, really there were only two but still fun.

This is getting ready to be shot up in the air and dropped a few times...

...And this is when we got stuck because the protector things wouldn't unlock for 15 minutes. People had to come save us. The ride was closed for the rest of the day.

And of course, the carousel

Then it was time to take her to the airport. I had so much fun with her here. It was really nice to have someone around to keep me company and who better to do it than my lovely "little" sister. 

Sprucing up

I have a lot of time here in Texas while my dear Bradley is working so hard. How do I handle being alone all day? Pintrest. I have found a few cute projects that I have actually finished and there are more to come, but for now I think I'll show off these ones.

First, is this fun bracelet. Super easy to make and because I used 5 different colors on it, I can wear it with just about everything! I'm going to make a couple more soon with just one or two colors.

I've also made this sweet piece, which also goes with a lot of outfits. I taped up some wooden beads and painted them. It was a very fun project.

I'm not really one to wear jewelry so this is a big step for me. (Seems how I really just started dressing like a girl when Brad started picking out my clothes for me.) So I am really just starting to get the hang of this stuff.

And then there's this little beauty. I have been looking everywhere for a fun summer swimsuit cover and FINALLY found one...on pintrest of course. I made it. Super easy. I am very proud of this one.

And that is about it on my crafty stuffs for now. I have a few more that I'm working on, but hobby lobby still hasn't ordered a piece I need. Soon though.

Zucchini Fries- You don't want to miss this one

I have made zucchini fries a whole lot of times for dinner parties, dinner with my family, dinner at home, even for a hearty snack! And every time someone new tries them, they ask for the recipe. So here you go!

*I used a yellow squash this time because I've found that it tastes almost exactly the same, or maybe better to my taste. But you could use either, or.

Ingredients: 1zucchini (or yellow squash)
                  2 eggs
                  2c seasoned bread crumbs (I like to add a little garlic salt to my bread crumbs)
                  1/4c flour
               
You'll also need tin foil, a baking sheet, and a gallon plastic bag.

Cut your squash in half and then those pieces in half again. Then slice them into fry like pieces. Put the flour in plastic bag, and put all the fries in the bag and shake it like crazy! Wisk the eggs and put them in one bowl and put your bread crumbs in another.

* preheat the oven to 425f 

Put the foil on the baking pan. Coat the fries in the eggs then in the bread crumbs. Place on the baking sheet very neatly in rows so you can fit way more on the sheet.

Bake at 425 for 12 minutes. Take out, plate, and serve! 

Mary gives this recipe two thumbs up.

Mini Tacos!!!!!!!

So I've decided while I'm here in the great state of Texas, I'm going to do some DIY and recipe posts. I love looking on pintrest and seeing all the great ideas on other blogs so I thought Hey! Why not.
                                          So here's to the first of maybe many!


                                                              MINI TACOS




These are super fun for parties or starving families big or small. Very cheap doesn't take very long to make.

Ingredients: 1lb of hamburger
                   won ton wrappers (produce section of the grocery store)
                   shredded cheese (I used mexican blend)
                   diced canned green chilies (optional)
                   tomatoes (optional)
                   and whatever else you like on your tacos

So first you have to brown the hamburger. We added some taco seasonings, you don't have to though it's not a huge deal. Cook it all the way through because it doesn't spend very long in the oven. When the meat is done, put on the plate with paper towels to soak up as much oil as possible.
 
Preheat the oven to 350.

DON"T FORGET TO SPRAY YOUR MUFFIN TIN!!!
Oh yeah... we are using a muffin tin, sorry i should have mentioned that.

Poke the won ton wrappers in the muffin tins so that the corners kind of poke up. You know the big spoon and the little spoon int he silverware drawer? Use the big one to distribute the cooked hamburger meat in the middle of each wrapper. (You will have just a little meat left over after filling one whole muffin tin.)

After you have them all filled with meat, add the chilies and the cheese. A bit of cheese.

Place them in your preheated oven  for 10 minutes or until the corners that are poking up start to turn light brown. 

Because you sprayed your pan before hand, you can pull these little suckers out by their corners super easy. Plate, and add whatever taco garnishes you like! One of my favorite things about these tiny tacos is that the top of the won ton gets crunchy like a hard taco but the bottom is soft so it doesn't fall apart on the first bite! Or any bite actually unless you are a crazy eater. But anywhoodles, that's that! Easy, cheap, and Brad approved!

He's a little sleepy but important part is he loved them.

Jellyfish

**** PLEASE READ THE POST UNDER THIS FIRST... it will make a lot more sense.