David Cook

Where do I begin? As soon as I heard that David Cook would be doing a special concert at University of Central Missouri I kept my fingers crossed that I would be able to go. To purchase tickets students, faculty, and alumni had to put their names into a lottery system. Scott's name was actually drawn! Tickets were general admission and without the help of Scott's sweet student Robin, Jessica and I would not have had the seats we did. Robin had been in line for the show since 10am but what can you expect from the self proclaimed #1 David Cook fan at UCM? We were in the 3rd row center with David's family sitting behind us!!

Jessica and I had so much fun! Ryan Star opened the show and was AMAZING. As soon as I can I will be getting his cd. He really got the crowd going!!



When David came out the crowd was going crazy!! You could tell it felt good for him to be home. He even sang "Hot for Teacher" which was great. All in all it was a fabulous evening!! Plus I got to hang with Jessica! I love you girl! We don't get to see each other enough but when we do it is always a good time. Thanks for coming to spend the night! I know you were really coming to just see me it had nothing to do with David.

My To Do List...

I made a list of things to accomplish while on our trip and I was able to:

*Finish my Book
*Finish my scarf
*Participate in tons of Laughter
*Relax
*Share an evening under the stars with a fire (does a grill fire count??) and friends
*Eat amazing food (plus a LOT of cheese puffs and salt and pepper chips)
*Try new wines
*BONUS: Recite from memory the lyrics to Remix To Ignition

Granny squares weren't made but I am determined to start it this weekend. I know I can do it!!

Are you a list maker? If so what are some things on your list? Please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I hope everyone is having a great week.

XOXO
Amber

Our Weekend Winery Trip

We are back from our amazing weekend winery trip and I am still trying to get back to normal. Last night I saw David Cook in concert and was up way too late, but that is for another post. When Scott and I first started dating we loved to take country drives on the weekend which led to us stopping at local wineries. It started out with just visiting the ones in a days drive from Kansas City and now we can proudly say we have tasted wines from almost 70 Missouri Wineries!!! Who knew that our amazing midwest state had such a great little secret?? It seems that every year more and more Missouri Wineries are popping up. Our goal is to visit each and every one.

This particular weekend we made a quick stop in Hermann and then headed on to St. James where we would be staying for the weekend in an adorable little cabin. On Friday, we left early so that Scott could teach his first class in Warrensburg and then we were off to Hermann. In Hermann we tasted at Roebler, Hermanhoff, and Adam Puchta. The weather was perfect so we were able to take our time and enjoy the afternoon. We had dinner and headed to our cabin.




On Saturday, we woke up to another beautiful day!! We headed off to Peaceful Bend where the setting is like its name Peaceful and they have the cutest pets!! After sharing many laughs we had lunch at Sybils, which just might be my favorite place to eat! We pretty much spent the entire afternoon there, it seemed, and thought we might have to be wheelbarreled out. Meramac Winery and St James Winery were next. Our stops were brief at both places because we wanted to make sure we had enough time to spend at Meramac Springs Park. I could spend an entire day here. The water was pretty cloudy from all the rain the area had recently, but the trout were abundant!! Oh and did I mention the amazing picture props?? See for yourself (we are a little camera crazy)








Our evening was so relaxing in our cabin by grilling out and playing The Game of Things. It all ended with a very spooky stroll to look at the stars. Sunday Kerry made us the most delicious vegan and gluten free breakfast. I couldn't get enough of it. (Thanks Kerry)Of course our ride home had our favorite winery on it... Wenwood Farms. The owners are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet and their wine is AMAZING!! It is very hard to choose which ones to bring home. A little tradition on our wine adventures is to end it all by watching the sunset at Les Bourgeois. We had such a great time and have already started planning our next little getaway.





Thank you Scott, Mark, Kerry, and Keith for these memories:

*Ferries that don't run
*A key hunt through a field
*"Oh, piece of candy"
*Walt
*Titles to Childrens Books
*Non Stop Laughter
*Fire Potatoes
*Slags
*Remix to Ignition
*Passions
*Fake "poo" and snakes

You guys ROCK!!
XOXO
Amber

I hate packing!!

I am exhausted!! I am so ready to get away for a little weekend wine trip! We head out tomorrow bright and early and will return on Sunday. I used some of my goodies from the mail and made us a batch of fresh strawberry muffins and peanut butter cookies. Yum!! Of course the thing I leave last on my list to cross off is packing. Why do I wait until the very last minute to do this? I find it hard to decide on my outfits and end up taking too much. I never know what "mood" I will be in... so how can I possibly know what I will want to wear? I have managed to pack both Scott and I into one medium size bag though so I am pleased. I will of course have that fear of forgetting something until we arrive and unpack.

Things I hope to accomplish on this trip:

*Start my granny squares
*Finish my Two Poots Manor embroidered project and start another
*Finish my book (This Book Will Save Your Life by: AM Homes
*Sleep In!!
*Enjoy great conversation with my best friends!!
*Try new wine
*Eat great food
*Sit under the stars by a fire
*Laugh ALOT
*Relax

I hope I can mark them all off my list.

I am leaving you with some pictures from our trip to St. James last year. I am sure we will make some great memories on this go round! I will post again when we return!
Have a great weekend!!

XOXO
Amber

I love Tuesdays!!

When I was a child I always remember looking forward to going to get the mail. Even if it was just "junk" I wanted to look at each and every piece. I am still that way today. I don't so much like the bills now but I still look forward to opening that little door every day and seeing what might be inside for me!! Well, today did not disappoint. I came home from work, feeling under the weather, to a huge box of goodies!!

If you have a gluten allergy or know someone that does, Amazon has the best prices hands down,on gluten free food. You do have to purchase in bulk but if you have a favorite this might be the place to get it. Several weeks ago, Elsie wrote on her blog about Pamela's Gluten Free Pancake Mix ad how they make the best cookies ever. I have tried several different mixes and was never impressed with any of them. This blew me away. Hands down the best cookie I have ever made and the first time I made a batch I even forgot the brown sugar.(oops) Take a look at the stuff awaiting me at my doorstep:



This mac-n-cheese is so yummy too!! I got twelve boxes!! Yes!!

The best thing waiting for me, however, was this amazing Favorite Things Art Journal Kit I ordered from Elsies at www.redvelvetart.com. I can't wait to start my very first Art Journal. I will definatly post my pages as I complete them. Can't wait!!


To make the night perfect Scott and I tried a new recipe out of the May 2009 issue of Martha's Food. It was Jamaican Chicken Curry and delicious! Great to eat while watching my two favorite shows, Biggest Loser and American Idol. (Why am I always eating while watchig Biggest Loser??)


Oh and today is my good fried Marks birthday. Happy Birthday! Can't wait for our St. James adventures this weekend. Hope you had a great day. Love ya!!




And one last thing... I have to brag on my fiance, Scott. He is getting ready to get his Phd in Theatre History and has recently started writing plays again. In the last month he has completed two plays. Today he finished his first draft to his second play, Mum Bett. I can't wait to read it. He even went out and printed it out for me to read. I am so proud of him.


Hope everyone else had as great a Tuesday as I did!!
XOXO
Amber

Touring Kansas City

Saturday we took Scott's niece and nephew, Brandon and Bailey, out for a day of fun in the city. We started our day out walking through the Nelson Art Mueseum. I am so thankful that our city has such an amazing museum. The kids were really freaked out by the "wax" security guard. It looks so real. After all the walking we did looking at art we worked up an appetite, so we headed over to Joes Pizza. This place has some great pizza and they serve it with honey on the side. If you have never tried this before, trust me it is out of this world (especially on sausage pizza). I was bad and had a slice!(I am paying the price today since I have a gluten intolerance) Brandon and Bailey loved being in the city! They kept saying they felt like they were in New York. It was so cute.





After our pitstop for pizza we stopped by Union Station. Science City was getting ready to close so we weren't able to experience that but we will definatly be back to check it out. We decided to walk on over to Crown Center and check out the toy shop. We were said to see that it had closed!! But all was redeemed when we got to take some funny pictures in a photobooth!! It was such a nice day out so we walked around downtown for a little bit before heading home for a round of boardgames. I think I can speak for all of us and say that the perfect ending to our day was dinner at Steak and Shake, where we of course all enjoy yummy shakes!!





I love spending time with these kids! They are so cute!! I can't wait for our next adventure together. We love you guys!!

Look at what I got and other randomness...

For several weeks we have known that David Cook was going to be performing in Warrensburg, MO at the University (he graduated there). Since Scott works there he was able to put his name in a drawing to purchase tickets. Well... I came home last night and Scott had put the two tickets in my new Martha Stewart Food magazine for me to find!! I was so happy and my friend Jessica was even more thrilled. We can't wait.

On a crafting note,we are going on a long weekend trip next week,so I decided that would be a great time to start a granny square afghan. Of course that meant I would need some supplies. While out shopping I found these wooden letters X and O. I am going to either paint them or decoupage them and hang them in our living room. Best things is: they were $1 for both!! I also went to the library (one of my favorite places)to get some books on different crochet motifs.

Well...it has been a long day. Scotts niece and nephew are spending the night with us and we spent all day out and about. I will post some highlights of our adventures tomorrow. We are going to play a round of Apples to Apples and then watch Bedtime Stories. Hope your Saturday was well!!

XOXO
Amber

Under Construction!!

I have always dreamed of having my own creative workspace! When I moved in with Scott we decided to turn our extra bedroom into the craft room. The wood floors were in pretty bad shape so I decided I wanted a checkered floor. I love turquoise so choosing the wall color was easy. One day while browsing flickr I saw a room that had a orange and turquoise theme. I fell in love. It took Scott and I several days to mark it off and paint but it turned out great. Unfortunatly my supplies have taken over and you can barely walk in there now!!

I am posting the messy room in hopes that it will prompt me to clean it up! Then I can show you how pretty it can look!! I know it will never stay clean but sometimes it is nice to have a fresh start. I did manage to organize my fabric on my shelves so that is a step in the right direction.

So Poot and I (that is what Scott and I call each other... Poot and Poot)have deemed Friday's "Craft Night".Our friends are invited to bring a project to work on while we eat yummy food and watch tv! Tonight we are having gluten free spaghetti! Yum!! Oh... and mojito cuptails for dessert. They are amazing! Thank you Rachel Ray (love your mag) I will try and take a picture and post the recipe of them tomorrow. Well...dinner is calling my name. Have a great Friday night!

PS: I am posting what I am crafting right now. It is a picture designed by Elsie (of course!! Love her)that I am embroidering. It is going to say Two Poots Manor which is what we have named our little house.