Weekend at the Lazy O Ranch

Finally! I finally went up and visited my family's ranch! Before I over load y'all with pictures, let's have a little story time shall we? As much as I have pretend to be in the past, I am just not a country girl. Do I like country music? Love it! Do I like the rodeo and wearing cowboy boots? You bet! But when you actually go into the country you experience my Kryptonite...creepy crawling insects! Let's just say I did not sleep very much last Friday night because I was so worried a scorpion was going to crawl in my bed and sting me...ahhhh! Even with the bugs, it was still a great weekend!

Where we stayed...



My parents haven't built a house on the ranch yet so when they go up they always rent a place in "town". This time we all stayed at this cute little cottage.



This was our view of the Llano river from the front porch of the cottage

The cottage had this awesome teal shed! I wouldn't dare go in, but I loved it's old, rustic ambiance :)

The "Town"...



After all the stories I have heard over the years, this was not what I was expecting

Roosters are a big deal in Castell...well one in particular I guess...RIP Cockaroo

I thought this sign was hilarious and decided y'all should enjoy it as well

I want to say the actual population of Castell is 3 now, but it may still be 4. For a long time the mayor was a rooster! If you feel daring or need a laugh, YouTube Castell Rooster to see what the former mayor was taught to do...ha ha Supposedly the general store is the place to be and they will have random musicians come and play on the porch...sadly no one showed up this past weekend.

The Lazy O Ranch...

This would be the gate where we took our family Christmas pictures! I can't wait to see what they look like!

Elsie's Pond...this is where my Great-grandmother would fish when she was a little girl

One lonely duck...we decided that when it saw my brother it flew away because he wanted to live...ha ha

I think this is the only windmill we have or at least it's the only one I saw

I tried getting a good barbed wire pic, but my camera (RIP) would not work with me at this moment



There actually wasn't as much cactus as I thought there would be

Driving around town...

And that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed a little taste of the Hill Country! I'm looking forward to going back again and maybe even conquering my fear of bugs!

Nail Files: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish

Last Christmas I picked up some Sally Hansen Salon Effect peel and stick nail polish in Winter Funderland and just recently decided to use it...I know I know it's been almost a year shame on me. For some reason I've been in the nail polish on my nails mood which hardly ever happens because I tend to chip it within a day! I was really excited that it said "lasts up to 10 days" on the box! Here's my review...

Pros:

• no drying time
• fun colors and design (hello easy glitter application)
• quicker than painting
• lasted a few days longer than reg. nail polish for me

Cons:

• Very hard edges by my cuticles (my hair would get caught on them while washing it)
• Strong nail polish smell for a day or so
• Tip wear noticeable faster (the picture up there is on day 3)
• Not so easy removal

Let's talk about the removal process shall we...It says you can take it off with regular nail polish remover, but unless you want to use one cotton ball per nail I would suggest peeling it off in the shower. I tried the cotton ball and it was just one big sticky mess and the polish didn't really come off it just spread out on my skin. I gave up after one and a half nails and decided to take a shower. I found that the steam/hot water in the shower helped loosed the polish and if you start picking the polish near your cuticles it will mostly come off in one pull. Then of course my nails felt weird the rest of the night from the torture I put them through, but that's the price you pay.

Overall, I thought the polish was really pretty and the application wasn't that bad, but if I didn't have any strips left I probably would never wear this stuff again. The hard edges and the removal are the factors that are turning me away.

Have any of y'all tried the polish strips? Did you like it? Or do you know any secrets to make it a better experience? Let me know!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

You've probably seen these cookies floating around Pinterest and the blog world, but if you haven't these cookies are probably the best fall cookies ever! They are super simple as well!! All you need is a box of spice cake mix, a can of 100% pure pumpkin (not the pie filling) and a bag of chocolate chips.

The chocolate chips is how I make mine a little different. I use semi-sweet chocolate chips compared to the milk chocolate ones most people use. Both ways are really good, but I am and always have been a semi-sweet chica!

This is muy importante...don't do anything it says to do on the cake mix box! All you want is the cake mix so dump that in a bowl then dump in the entire can of pumpkin and get to mixin'. Once all that is fully combined add your chocolate chips (or maybe go a little wild and try white chocolate or butterscotch!).

The batter will be very sticky...I used a cookie scoop and a spoon to make somewhat round balls of dough. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for 12 - 13 minutes (my oven is a little ghetto so I did my last two cookie sheets for 13 minutes and they were still really moist). They won't look done but trust me they are!

Stop drolling and go make me some! :)

**Oh and in case you are watching what you eat these aren't that bad for you...around 100 calories per cookies if you make 36 cookies.

The Story of the Hulk and a Mug

This Hulk doesn't turn green and go bonkers, this Hulk is a sweet girl who just happens to be what her boyfriend calls "freakishly strong for a girl" Well this sweet girl always laughed and thought nothing of it until one day she goes to wash out her morning tea mug at work and breaks the handle off! Just breaks it clean off! All she could do was laugh because her boyfriend is standing next to her saying "I told you so" Ha ha! Granted the mug could have been cracked, but that will have to remain a mystery...

below is the aftermath of what happened...and don't worry the sweet "hulk" girl didn't injure herself in the process...

Gone Girl

This was another book I read just because everyone was talking about it... And guess what, I liked it too! To me it was just like a Lifetime movie...I mean seriously I think they should turn it in to one...who's with me?!?! The only way I know how to describe it without giving anything away is through reactions....

First you're like...whhhhaaaaatttt?

Then you're like...no way...you fooled me!

Then you're like...O.M.G!!!

Then you read the last page twice because you can't believe that's the way it ended...I mean it really could have had a better ending, but overall it was a good read.

By the way the caption in the picture up there couldn't describe the book better "He's the perfect suspect. She's the perfect victim."

Fall 2012 Bucket List

So far I've done half of these! Of course there will be posts with pictures to follow :) What are you doing this fall?

Dum Dum Arrangement

Turning 30 is a big deal! Well a big deal if you make it one or if your co-workers who are younger than you decide to rub it in your face...you are welcome! A friend at work turned 30 a couple of weeks ago and after seeing this on Pinterest, a couple of us young people knew this was the perfect thing to make!

The "30 sucks" I cut out with my Cricut machine using shelf paper (a much cheaper option than vinyl!) The cute bucket and the styrofoam ball came from Hobby Lobby and the suckers from Target!

It took just over 100 dum dums to fill in the the stryofoam ball! That's a lot of suckers!

There you have it! A very sucky, happy 30th birthday! To see what else I've made for a 30th birthday click here!