I LOOOOOOOVE my birthday present!!!!!!!

after a short ride down the street.

I love my birthday present soooo much. A couple of you may remember the day I bought my super cute pink suede Vans shoes and how much I loved them, I loved them so much I could have slept with them on. That is how I feel about this bike, I could sleep with it but I am pretty sure Mike wouldn't allow that. This is the awesomest birthday present ever!

In other news I have started couponing and trying to get the best deals at the store. I am not nearly as good as some are but I think I am on my way. I got the following items for a total of $1.30! And really I got it all for free, I noticed the mini wheats box has a rebate on it so after I turn that in everything will be free + overage!!!

Pack Your Knives and Go....see the Top Chef tour!

Yep, it was in town and we were lucky enough to get seats inside the trailer to see CJ & Dale do some cooking! It totally rocked, the food was so good and the guys were just like you saw on television. They cooked up little pork sausages and a salad that had almonds, peaches, corn, and tons of goodness in it. Some of the ingredients they even got at the farmer's market that morning!

the trailer where the action happened

cooking up a storm...and telling us the truth about Hung

our delicious meal!
CJ
Dale
us & my lovely hair

We then headed over to the Iowa State Fair and decided that going on a Saturday is not for us! Too crowded! We did discover a couple of new areas of the fair that we hadn't explored before. My favorite was the animal learning center where we saw many different baby animals and if you are there at the right time you can even see them being born!

An ostrich that just hatched

baby ostriches

the baby goats were sitting in their food dishes

let's talk about chicks man

the Des Moines skyline from the fair

It's been 1 year since my fun at the Iowa State Fair, trashin' my dress!

My dad was very generous this weekend when he sent some produce home with a friend of ours who delivered it to us on Sunday night. I was expecting a few ears of corn and some beans but dad totally loaded us up! Check out all the green love he gave us. Absolutely wonderful!!!!

About half of it has already made its way into the freezer and I have eatten the lettuce. One thing that I really wasn't expecting to get though were these:

Can you see them?! Well they weren't the only ones, there were a few more. This sort of thing would have not bothered me in the past but I have become a delicate flower that's for sure. I guess they like broccoli just like I do. I soaked them to kill the worms. It seemed to work but as I was cutting I would come across ones that were still stuck on the broccoli. My gagging reflexes were working full force and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I ended up with 1 quart freezer bag of the stuff and that was all I could take. I felt bad dumping the rest but even if I did get it cut up and cleaned I don't think I could eat it knowing what was on there, I will forever remember those green worms. Makes me want to gag just typing about it. BUT...I am sooooo thankful to dad for giving me all of the green lovliness!!!!!

I had a request to post a picture of my new do which I like to call my Katie Holmes haircut. I have bangs. Maybe next time I will have to color it a dark color so it really would be a K.H. hair-do. (not a great picture)

Yesterday we treated our student workers to a fun afternoon which equaled a little fun for us as well. We taught them this book structure (these are the ones I made).

My new purse/bag (more so bag). It's huge yes, but great for hauling lunch, a book, drinks, etc. to work!

And here is a recent shoe purchase. Got a super deal on them so I didn't feel as guilty.

I gave my first haircut on Wednesday! My brother needed his hair trimmed and he didn't want to pay to have it done so he asked me to cut it. Not a problem! I have always wanted to cut his hair. Then he tells me I can't mess up b/c he is in a wedding this weekend! No pressure there! It took a while but we finally got a cut we were both happy with.

A little worried about what the outcome would be.

Not bad....

A winner!

Now for a flower update. Mike's zinnias are doing great!!! My lilies are slowly taking over the flower bed and I am letting them. And I am pleased with the plants I put in our front planters.

A bumble bee! yikes!