My New Year's Resolutions

Well hello there 2012! You look rather chipper and ready to go. Well, I'm ready to go, too so LET'S DOOOO THIS!

I would be lying if I said I am "looking forward to this year," because really, I don't have much planned for 2012, YET. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that it's a new year because to me and everyone else on the planet, it means new beginnings and new possibilities. Yeah, it's hard not to sound cliche when you're saying all that junk, but that's the way it goes in Blogtown, USA.

Also around Blogville are New Year's resolutions and anti-resolutions propaganda. Here on my bloggity blog, I am very much FOR resolutions and vote yes on Prop NYR. I have always been a strong advocate of making goals. Some say that resolutions should be made on any day, not just New Years, but I say to each his own. Some people, like myself, feel the newness of the year on January 1st. I also feel it in the beginning of the school year, every Monday, ever first of the month, and after every bowl movement. Fresh starts, right?

Here are my Resolutions from last year 11 in 2011. I think I did A-OK.

So, without further ado, here are my Resolutions for this brand spankin' new year.

Goals for 2012

Intellectual and Spiritual Me

1. Educate myself.

I am the type of person who rarely reads things thoroughly. Hell, I never EVER proofread any of my college papers before submitting them. It's a wonder how I even got by. I don't even proofread my blog most of the time, hence the spelling and grammar mistakes. I never read directions or instructions either, unless it's for IKEA furniture of some super cool Lego model. As a result, I don't feel like I am truly knowledgeable in anything other than the In-n-Out Menu. I feel like I need to slow down and read things more thoroughly and really become knowledgeable enough with various topics and things to be able to articulate myself.

 2. Read, Read, Read

This year I read more than I've ever read before. I read more books than magazines which makes me smarter than ever before, no? I'm not an avid reader but the feeling of getting lost in a book is very addicting and something that I really enjoyed this year.

My goal is to read at least one book for fun and one book for self-improvement a month. I also want to start reading some of the classics.

3. Pray and meditate daily

I've been really into yoga lately and our meditation portion of the class is crucial for my well-being. In other words, it helps me not to be Mrs. Angry Incredible Hulk when I'm at home or at work. My mind is constantly running a million miles a minute and when I meditate and pray, it is the only time I feel in control and calm. Why not set aside 10 or so minutes a day for that? Ok. Done and Done.

Strong and Healthy Me:

4. Strengthen my mind and body via yoga

You don't know how happy I am to be able to touch my toes. This is history in the making, folks. I love the challenge of yoga and the benefits are incredible. I feel like my muscles are getting stronger! I definitely want to keep this up. And by the end of the year, I want to be able to do these poses.


.via.



.via.

 And if I could do both of these on the beautiful sandy beaches of Hawaii, 2012 will be the best year ever!

5. Run a 10K

I am a little hesitant to put this on here because right now I don't know if I am capable of such a task, but I'm aiming high and hoping for the best. Last year my goal was to run two 5Ks without stopping and I did it. I'm hoping that by the end of this year, I can say that I did this one, too.... duh... that's what resolutions are for right?

6. Eat more Veggies

This one is going to be tough. I HATE vegetables. I want to have a good relationship with veggies because I know they are good for me. Veggies, let's make a deal, you taste good and I'll eat you, yes?

Hmmm, I Googled "I hate Veggies"  and only pictures of kids hating them came up. Interesting.

The Hopeful Chef Me:

7. Get back to Project Wifey Wife

Since my camera broke, I haven't been blogging much about my cooking. I miss posting my two new recipes a week. My goal is to really try to commit to this again. 

8. Create my own

Now that I have a few recipes under my ever expanding belt, I want to dive into creating my own. I am used to putting my spin on things but to create something that is truly my own would be the bomb dot com backslash bangarang.

9. Host more dinner gatherings

I want to invite more people over for dinner parties. I'm a grown-up now and I think that's what grown-ups do. I need to get over the stress of it all, hire a maid to clean my house, and I'm good to go. Who wants to come over for dinner?

10. Stop trying to be perfect

The last one is a little more personal and I will spare you the gritty little details. In a nutshell, I tend to internalize everything which turns into obsessing over everything, which turns into over thinking everything, which turns into being hard on myself, which turns into depression. See what I did there, I thought about this one simple thing way too much. I want to stop that. I want to learn to relax.

So there you have it, my New Year's Resolutions. Striving to be a better person is never a bad thing so I definitely encourage you to make a few. You can do it, friend!

• What are some of your resolutions?

How to Make a Hello Kitty Cake

I make cakes sometimes. Remember.

Every now and then, family and friends will ask me to make them a cake. I gladly say yes, because I really enjoy making them something that will make them smile. Buuut, then I start panicking a little bit...ok ok... A LOT a bit! I want it to be great so I start to plan, prep, and freak the heck out! Anxiety starts to creep onto my back and rides me like a sorority girl on a mechanical bull. It'll whisper all kinds of things that make me worry.

Your cake will stick to the pan. Nobody is going to eat it. Someone will find Sonic's hair in the fondant. You'll run out of time and everyone will throw tomatoes in your face. You're weird.

When I actually get to making the cake... I commit full force and ignore everything in life including hunger pangs and bladder alarms. I'm  in the ZONE and I LOVE IT!

This week's challenge was to make a Hello Kitty Cake for my friend Linette's graduation party. My creative juices activated! (That sounds gross, Joanna)

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients:
16 oz. bag of mini marshmallows (get the good stuff!)
2 lbs bag of powdered sugar

1 cup crisco

3 Tbs of water
extra powdered sugar for dusting
extra crisco for hands

If you have a mixer with a dough hook, it is best to use it. Not only is it easier, it is less messy. If you do not have a dough hook, use your hands and mix the ingredients in a bowl. Just be warned... this will be MESSY!

Also, it's best to dust powdered sugar on your countertop before you put the mixture on it. This will prevent sticking.

When everything looks combined, pour onto the counter. Be sure to scrape EVERYTHING from the bowl til the very last crisco shmear. 

It's best to make this the night before. Leaving it on the counter is fine, but if you will be making this days ahead, put it in the fridge. Just be sure to plastic wrap it tight!



The Cake

Linette requested Marble, so I made a box of cake. Thanks Duncan Hines. I put it in the fridge to cool completely and harden just a bit. This will help you carve it easier. I printed Hello Kitty's picture straight off the internets and used it as a template.

YAY for cake scraps! They went straight into this belly ::points to muffin top belly::

I also cut out a piece of cardboard to fit the cake exactly (you shouldn't really see it) so that I can move the cake around.



Then, I topped it with a simple Chocolate Cream Cheese filling and stacked level 2 right on top!

   

I stuck it back in the fridge for about an hour and applied a regular buttercream frosting as a crumb coat. A crumb coat will help the fondant stick to the cake.

Microwave your fondant for about 20 seconds. Make sure it isn't melty, but it is firm enough to hold together, yet soft enough to roll out. It should be pliable. Roll out to about 1/8 of an inch or so.

I bought some rings that go around my roller to help get the perfect thickness. I highly recommend them. Roll it out enough to cover the cake...and then some. It should be overlapping quite a bit. Pat down and mold fondant to the cake with your hand. Cut the excess with a pizza cutter and pat the edges clean.



Now, I must apologize because I was so much in my cake zone that I stopped taking pictures. But, in a nutshell... I colored some fondant and rolled the nose and bow. I used black icing to pipe the eyes and whiskers.

Hubby asked why she doesn't have a mouth...It's because she speaks... from her heart. ::tear:: gag!

Then, I got crazy and made another box of cake, rolled out more fondant, and attempted a body. This is what I came up with... graduation Lei and all.

This cake-gift took me 10 hours to make. I had fun and wish that I could've kept it for myself. 

My anxiety subsided when I presented the cake at the party. It was a hit. Everyone thought it was amazing ::blush:: and some even said it tasted yummy. I'd like to think I did pretty darn well.

This always hurts a bit...

My birthday is coming up and I hope someone will make me a cake. I don't care if it looks nice, I just want to feel like someone took the time to make me something sweet and special. I like chocolate or Funfetti...in case you were wondering.

• If you could have your next birthday cake made...what design would it be?
• Favorite cake flavor?

Daddy's Day Recap

Top Five Reasons why I love my Daddy!
1. He is my hero. He is a retired Warrant Officer WHOOP WHOOP! His hard work and sacrifice through the years allowed us to travel the world, live comfortably while saving for our future, and it allowed my brother and I  to attend college for FREE! He taught me to be a hard worker with amazing work ethic.

2. He is NICE. One of the things my brother and I love about my dad is that he can get along with ANYONE. If you leave him on a bench at the mall, he will have made friends with anyone around him. My brother and I have the confidence to small talk to anyone because of this.

3. He can fix anything! I have high expectations for my Hubby. Growing up, my dad was able to fix anything from my broken toy to the family car. He is MAGIC!

4. He plays golf better than Tiger Woods! And that's a FACT!

5. He is strong! About 3 years ago, my dad had to undergo surgery.  That night after his surgery, he wanted out of that hospital. The doctors couldn't believe how strong he was because he literally forced himself out of bed to walk around. By the next day, he was walking and proved to all of us that his mind is stronger than his body. Thankfully, he is all better now. 
I love you Daddy!

This weekend was food filled fun. I guess that's not so different from my other weekends, but we did celebrate my daddy, so that's different. The Kuya and I planned a fabulous Lunch for our Favorite Dad!

Katwina made my dad's favorite salad dressing from Olive Garden, my Kuya made his favorite dessert which is Banana Bread, and I made this.

Came out DELISH! My dad is a hard person to please when it comes to food. I think he really liked this meal!

 I think Sebby even liked it.

If you're wondering where my Hubby is, he was out fishing with his dad. They went on an overnight fishing trip out at sea. I was worried that he would be caught in a storm or something, but he was A-OKay! I never knew this, but my Hubby is the best fisherman. He caught 15 FISH! HOLY NEMO!

He's so sweet, he brought home the fish-bacon and knew that I would make something amazing.

Anyone have any great fish recipes?

The only thing that I HATE about him being a great fisherman, is that I had to scale these bad boys. These fish are EVIL!!! I pierced myself 5 times with their scaly and sharp weaponry! My mom was gifted some fish, too and had to work these monsters. I feel your pain Mama!!

Anywho- back to my dad. For dinner, he did his two favorite outdoor activities. He grilled up some yummy ribs and fish...

And played Golf with his two favorite boys.

Hubby and I watched...

While Kuya took Funny Breaks with Katwina and Sebby.



Yes, my Kuya is an odd one.

Inside, we had some special visitors. My Auntie Irene and Uncle Mike! I Love them. They are so much fun!

Then, it was CHOW TIME!

I would've taken more pictures, but I was too busy eating. Don't bother me when I'm eating...I'll bite your head off.

• How was your Father's Day?
• Tell me one thing you ate this weekend?

An Egg-citing weekend

Hello! I need to start off by apologizing for the title. I realize I could've tried a lot harder, but Hey, it's only Monday. I'm sure there will be better titles later...or not.

After looking at my pictures from Easter Sunday, I started to get a bit sad. I just noticed that I didn't have Ham this year. Devastating! I always have Ham. Forget about my Chocolate laden Easter basket or colorful plastic egg filled with cash money, I wanted the HAM! Welp, there's always next year...or next weekend.

I did get to spend time with this Ham though.

More on that in a bit.
My favorite thing this weekend was going Home to my Mom and Dad's house. I get to reminisce...

Don't hate on my ruffle dress. I sported ruffles before they even hit the runway. And can we please take note of my bangs? My mother cut my bangs all the way up until I was in high school. I don't know which is more embarrassing, the fact that my hair was cut only by my mother until I was a teen, or the fact that I had straight forehead bangs until I was in HS. Let's forget about this conversation, shall we?

I also appreciate the fact that my mom kept my favorite Care Bear plate with all the grown up plates.

In case I never mentioned it, my nickname as a child was "Sunshine" because I always had a smile on my face. I want to remind myself that everytime I have a scowl on my face...which is sadly 75% of the time. Don't forget, I'm a HS teacher. No smiling allowed. They might think I like them or something.

On Easter morning, my mom made a simple yet delightful breakfast.

I forgot to ask her why she didn't make me an Easter basket this year, but I was distracted by this Hazelnut chocolate spread.

If you are like me and love Nutella, because who the hell wouldn't like that delicious stuff, then you will go BONKERS for this spread. I can't remember what's in it, but I'm pretty sure it's some addictive drug. I have to give my parents some praise for letting me eat this for breakfast as a child. Maybe that's why I was so smiley...that's nice they chose that word instead of hyper. Thanks mom and dad!

For lunch, my dad put some steaks on the barbie.

Yes, it was GOOD! I love steak....I just want to hug it....with my mouth.

See that hiding there? Those are some roasted veggies. I know the plate ratio is supposed to have more veggies, but in my culture, it's like this. And what? You want me to diss my own culture...you crazy kid.
Unfortunately, this was a coma inducing meal and we were down for the count after that.

I think my parents are trying to help make my body "baby ready." Nice try, you tricky parents you.

For dinner, we went to Kuya's house to watch Sebby and his friends (Richard's adorable daughters) hunt for eggs.

Ahhh, to be a kid again!

Sebby was a talented Egg-hunter, but he was very very uninterested in what was inside them. I should've just taken the dollar bills and quarters that were inside, but he's my nephew afterall. I'd probably lose some serious Auntie points.

Instead, I munched on these yummy creations! Katwina made them!!

Nests made out of white chocolate coated pretzel sticks and topped with a Peep and some malt ball eggs... Oh Kuya, you got yourself a winner here! This was my First time trying Peeps. And the verdict? I think I would've gotten the same effect if I ate a ladle full of sugar. I couldn't help but think of my dentist while chewing these lil' guys.

I really loved being home.

So much love....but I'm still bummed about the Ham situation.

Tell me buddies:

• one thing you did for Easter
• Are you a Peep fan?