6 Months

Yesterday was our six month anniversary. We've talked about celebrating our anniversary in June each year, since there's a lot going on around our actual anniversary (my birthday, Christmas, ect.). It's not that I forgot about it... I just thought that he did. I was wrong.
After Michael was done with work he took me out to Cafe Rio. When we got home, he gave me the cutest card ever. I admit... It made me cry. Then he gave me a recess peanut butter cup, my favorite! He also got me new computer speakers. Michael is just so cute. :)
I didn't do anything special from him! I feel really bad.
Can I just say I have the BEST husband ever! 
I love you Michael Brooks!

This Picture was taken on our four month anniversary of us dating. August 5th 2011. Can you believe that was almost an entire year ago!? 

Leadership Retreat

Michael and I had the opportunity to go on a leadership retreat. It was really neat! We had two campsites up near Aspen Grove. It is really pretty up there. 

That first night, after we finally found our destination (we got a little lost, but eventually found where we were supposed to be), we set up our tent and did some bokken work. Master Lawrence taught us the first two interactions, Clashing Saber and Trapping Saber. We also worked some quick cuts. 

When we were finished with the sword work, we sat around the campfire and roasted marshmallows and starbursts before we turned in for the night. 

Early the next morning, we got up and got dressed in our white gis. We rode over to a nearby meadow where we worked on the sword a little bit more. We practiced Katana forms and learned some more interactions: deflecting, slicing and luring saber. I really enjoyed doing karate up in the mountain. There truly was a spirit felt when we practiced in nature.  

Later that day we learned other interesting lessons in the classes that were provided for us. Kim led us in some chanting to balance our chakras.

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We then learned about the 5 Tibetan rites, which also help to keep the seven chakras balanced. It was similar to yoga. 

Desi Lawrence taught us about crystals and their healing powers. She taught how they can also bring certain spirits. She set up a crystal grid, and brought a peaceful spirit to envelope our campsite. 

Master Reano said a few words on becoming one with your bokken partner/opponent. They had me and Michael demonstrate with the first sword interaction. We did a pretty good job. 

That about wraps up our karate retreat. I think some of the others went hiking, but we had to get back home because Mike had a lot of homework. I'm very grateful we got to go on this really neat camping trip. We both had fun. 

They Took Away My Ninjas!

Charlene asked to meet with me in her office yesterday. There she told me I lacked energy

 and parents have been complaining. She took away my little ninja class and gave it to Scott. 

I hate this! That's MY class! 

I haven't realized I lacked energy; in fact, I thought I was doing a great job teaching my class. Am I really a bad teacher? :( Why are they letting Katrina keep teaching the Tuesday/Thursday ninjas? I'm a better teacher than her.... right??

I feel hurt that Charlene doesn't feel I'm capable of teaching the little ninjas. 

I feel angry at Scott. Who does he think he is coming here and replacing everyone?!

I feel upset Charlene didn't give me a warning before whisking me out of my position. 

I feel embarrassed to go back and assist. Parents are going to wonder why I'm assisting and not teaching... They'll agree with Charlene that I'm not capable. They'll assume things. They'll gossip. 

I feel sad because Scott is a better teacher than I am. The kids will love him. The parents will love him. They won't want me back. well...

They'll have to DEAL! Because I am taking that class back. It may take some time... but It's mine. Scott is a temporary fix to a problem I wasn't aware of - a problem I will fix myself.Just you watch, I'll make my come back. Scott can go jump in a hole. 

Now... if I could just muster the courage to return. Oh please. How am I going to face the humiliation?...

Giving Ferenza a Bath

After work today, Mike and I decided to wash our car. You can tell when you need to give your car a bath when immature people write "wash me" on the back window; not that I'm going to name names. Cough- cough- Kimberly- cough. We took Ferenza over to the Brooks' house so we could use their car washing soap. Michael did most of the work. I just rinsed it off and sprayed Mike with the hose.

After our car was sparkling clean, we went to Subway for dinner. I know what your thinking: "What were you doing at the enemy location?!" Well let me just explain our logic. My ignorant cousins gave me a Subway  gift card for my graduation. What kind of cousin would I be if I didn't accept their graduation gift? We were forced to use it... ;)

After we got our sandwich, we went back to the Brooks' and watched Avatar. We could of watched it at our own house but we decided we'd rather watch it on a big screen, with surround sound, in a cool air conditioned basement. I forgot how much I liked Avatar. It's especially good when I get to cuddle with my boy while I watch it. 

Party, Party and More Parties

This weekend we had four karate parties scheduled. Do you want to know what that means?? 80 party bags had to be put together! (well... a little less, because fortunately we had a few left over from last weekend). Thankfully, Scott was able to help me with some of them.
Three of the parties were pizza parties. The guy at Little Caesar's told me there was a pizza limit per day my second time around. Good thing he was just kidding...
The other party was a birthday party. I ran that one for a change. It was fun. I hadn't done one in a long time.  All the kids seemed to have a good time. My favorite part is when the birthday boy got to cut his cake with the samurai sword. They gave me a $50 tip. Woot!
Michael and I made $135 in tips this weekend. Not to shabby. :)

Ble$$ing in the $treet

Michael must of had Lady Luck with him, because he found a fifty dollar bill on the side of the road! After little deliberation, we decided what to spend it on. With his Ulysses S. Grant in hand, we drove to K Mart and purchased Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii.

We recently beat the first Super Mario Galaxy, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves doing it. We're not too far into the 2nd game quite yet, but we both agree it's even better than the first. First of all, in SMG 2 player two is more involved, being able to retrieve items and defeat enemies. Secondly, in certain galaxies, you're able to ride Yoshi, which is very fun. Take a look!

I doubt we'll regret out indulgence to buy this video game. I'm positive it's going to provide many nights of entertainment. 

Michael's Texas Brownies

Michael has been begging to make Texas brownies His recent excuse has been, "if we don't make them soon, the buttermilk will go bad. So finally, we made the beloved Texas Brownies.
I mostly made them, while Michael, helped me reach the ingredients high in the cupboard. He also cleaned up my mess as we went. It made it 10 times more enjoyable not to have to clean all the dirty dishes. Maybe I'll have Michael help me more often! 


Here's the recipe, in case anyone else is interested in making Texas brownies also. 


Michael's Texas Brownies

For one 17 1/2 by 11 in baking pan, you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup water

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

3/4 cup butter

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1/3 cup milk

5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 400' F

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour and sugar

3. In a saucepan combine butter, shortening, water and cocoa. Stir and heat to boiling.

4. Pour boiling mixture over the flour and sugar in the bowl. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla

5. Mix well using a wooden spoon or electric mixer.

6. Pour into a well buttered jelly roll pan.

7. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes

8. While brownies bake, prepare the frosting. In a saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa and milk. Heat to boiling stirring.

9. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla until frosting is smooth.

10. Pour warm frosting over brownies as soon as you take them out of the oven. Cool. Cut into 48 bars. 

Enjoy!

Thank You Cards

I'm stuck writing a billion of wedding "thank you" cards.Yeah, I know it's June... I'm a bit of a procrastinator. Michael told me if I didn't work on getting our cards done today, he'll steal money out of my bucket of cash I'm saving for a rainy day. He's so rude! ha ha.
How about this, I'll post a picture of our postcards, and send everyone a link to our blog. (Which is brand new btw) This way, I'll save my wrist from additional cramping, and I'll save money on postage!

Thank You everyone for attending my reception and thanks for all the awesome gifts you gave! We're extremely blessed. Take care! We love you!
-Michael and Haley Brooks. 

What can I say? I'm a genius!