A Simple Country Mouse

Hey bloggers! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I've been running like a mad woman. All things considered, I'm finally getting life in the apartment a little closer to back to normal. Since we got back from Mexico a few weeks ago, I feel like our lives have been spinning out of control. Finally, it's beginning to spin a little slower...ok well maybe not slower, just at a more normal speed and rotation. Instead of spinning wildly out of control, now we are getting a least a little orderly. All the bills paid, the groceries bought and put away, bedroom clean, drains draining (finally), and almost all the laundry done. Now I get to go relax at the beach for a few days. Ahhh, at last a little peace and quiet to relax, work on my book, and dig my toes in the sand while the waves play at my ankles. A time to watch the sunsets on the beach, and bask in the moonlight on the sand. Time to spend with my husband, and my in-laws. It will be nice to have some family time. I do...

I did it!!!! The tie-dyed cake I attempted worked!!! I started with just a basic yellow cake mix, and divided it into bowls and dyed the batter different colors. After which I layered into a bunt cake pan. Once it was baked and cooled, I flipped the pan over and set the cake upside down on a platter. I then proceeded to frost it with 2 different colors of frosting striping it as I went. Added the sprinkles and ta-da I was done. It looks pretty cool!! The best part about it is when cut open the layer wrapped around each other to create almost a swirl look to it. I am so pleased. Sorry, I was so excited about telling you about the cake I forgot to mention that I was sorry for not posting yesterday. I got crazy busy with a surprise family visit and a impromptu BBQ at my in-laws house last night that by the time we got home, I was beat. The BBQ was tons of fun, and as always, the food was great. Grilling up steaks, and making corn-on-the-cob is always a great way to bring people together...

Today I shall attempt to make a second tie-dyed cake, but the difference this time is that not only am I going to tie-dye the cake, I shall attempt to stripe the frosting. Mind you this is going to be in a bunt cake pan, so we shall see what happens. I think it will be great. Completely edible? Only if you don't mind tons of sugar, and tons of food coloring. I'll let you know how it turns out. That's all I have for the moment but I promise to post more tonight. See ya soon!

Good morning bloggers!! I'm sorry I didn't blog last night, but I got home from a long day at work and decided to clean the kitchen, make dinner, and go to bed. I was exhausted. At least the main kitchen is clean at work. Today the sky is cloudy but in my humble opinion, I think it's going to be a great day. Have you ever noticed in life that sometimes things seem cloudy, but when you look a little closer there is always something good that comes out of it. Here, as it is getting towards the end of the month, we are all a little tight on money, but because of that we are learning to depend on each other. In times of trouble or issues, we all have to learn to be able to depend on each other because we can't always fix everything ourselves. I won't lie, it's not always easy to learn something that is the exact opposite of what you have always been told. However it is possible. I think that no matter where you are in life we are always learning new things. It can ...

We are growing by the day bloggers. We now have people from all over the world starting to read and follow!! That's so awesome!!! Today was an amazing day! Hit work at 9:00 this morning, got off at 3:00, and then ran home for all of 20 minutes. Then our Author and I hit the theaters to watch the new release of Mortal Instruments- City of Bones. As we read the books when the author was still pretty much unknown to the world, we have been waiting for a very long time to see the movie. When we saw it was coming out about a year ago, we started counting down the days. It was so good. Granted I'm biased as I have read all the books multiple times. The cast couldn't have been better...except for Valentine, but that's because I'm partial to the book version. If I had just seen the movie and never read the books, he is wonderful, in that horrible villain so of way. I absolutely fell in love with Jace and Clary. Get a chance...GO SEE THE MOVIE!!! With hot chili on the way...

Funny thing about labels is they always wind up getting stuck to something and left there for 20 some odd years, and then someone has to remove them. I got to be that lucky person. In one of our kitchens at work (yes we have around 4 or 5) every cupboard and drawer have between 1 and 4 of these probably 20 year old labels that needed to be removed so that the new labels could be put on. The joys of a razor blade and DW-40 were mine to enjoy. Then again, the cold floor was just another joy to add to the list. All in all it really was a good day, just a tedious one.  I did however make my first tide dyed cake! A friend of mine stopped by and we decided it was a good idea to bake aaa cake. Of course you can't just make a cake you have to Make A Cake. So after whipping up the batter, we separated it into 4 bowls and colored each of the bowls of cake batter. Once that was done, we plopped globs of the different colors into the pan and tossed it in the oven. What came out was a work of ...

The sun is shining and the clouds are out. Don't worry, they are the big fluffy ones. They kind of look like big cotton balls floating through the air. A gentle breeze is blowing off the Sound through the windows and the smell of fresh cut grass is drifting in. Our maintenance guys are amazing at keeping this place looking beautiful. The fountain is a gentle shushing sound as it glides over the little water fall. It's so peaceful here. Our mirrors are glittering in the sunlight and the cat is basking in the warmth. I love to keep flowers on the tables in the living room, and dining room. They have a soft scent that seems to surround you and lull you to a peaceful place of contentedness. Our little Sound Castle is certainly what we call home. One of my favorite times of the day here is sunset. The colors of the sky range from blue to purple, to orange, red and pink. The crystal chandelier catches the colors and cast them across the walls in a dance of light. It's the time o...

So early in our house is 11:00 am as we all run late shifts at night. Bed time is somewhere around 1:00-2:00 am, and wake up sometime around 11:30-12:00. Rising at 9:00 this morning after a 1:00 bed time, was not a pleasant thing. Granted, I'm the type of person that requires 10-12 hours of sleep. Have to maintain what little beauty I have. (lol) Ah well, such is the way of life. I hop up every Sunday morning and make coffee for my work. Oh joy.... At least I get paid to do it, and I get to sleep in tomorrow morning. As the boys thunder around the house getting ready to go fetch our author, I sit here and think about our little "family." Call it what you will but I suppose in our own little, dysfunctional, crazy, (sometimes insane) way, we are. We bicker like siblings, and sometimes our author and I take turns at playing mom and making the chores get done. Others, my hubby has to play dad and feed the rest of us children as we are all to cranky at each other to do it our...

Good evening bloggers!!!! Well, it's another day of sunshine and rain here at the Sound Castle. An adventure in cleaning commercial ovens was indeed a interesting experience. Playing in toxic chemicals is always entertaining. So, between that and getting soaked while pressure washing the oven racks, its been quite the day. Coming home to my silk wrapper, and comfy PJs was certainly a pleasure. The roomies are doing well, and Liddy is meowing her way through the house in hopes that someone will run to the store and fetch her wet food. She is so picky. Stupid cat....fine, one of us will go. Our resident mad scientist snagged a great job, and our author is shifting her career into high gear. Gamer is working like crazy and I'm just enjoying the rest of my day off. I plan to head to Blockbuster and pick up the amazing movie "Pitch Perfect." When first released I didn't think much about going to see it. Once out on DVD, I thought "what the heck, why not?...

Well, when your original blog decides to not let you log in, then you have to try again and start over. So, here's me, trying again. What inspired me to start again was actually my roommate. She is amazing and wonderful, just like my other 2 roommates. I suppose this will be not only about me but about our apartment life. To start with there is 4 of us and 1 cat. So, 5 of us. The cat is rather loud and with as much personality as the rest of us. Though, if she didn't, she wouldn't survive our crazy lives. We live in a 915 sq. foot apartment with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom to share. It's certainly cozy. Decorated in fall colors, vintage bar mirrors, swords on the wall, and dragons from the ceiling, we call it home. Our cat Liddy, short for Elizabeth, is a loud mouthed, long haired, brown ball of fluff. We also have a resident mad scientist, an author, a gamer, and, well, me. Me, I'm just a country mouse. Granted a loud mouthed mouse. We believe our upstairs neighbors ...