Congratulations to Grace!

Congratulations to Miss Grace! I got a letter in the mail yesterday from her saying that she had a picture shown at the Art Festival! I love the Des Moines Art Festival and I wish I could have been there to see it! Way to go, kiddo! I have told you many times that your illustrations are so beautiful and now LOTS of people got to see it too. :)

Sugar Cookies

We have really been getting into the spirit of summer lately. Last weekend we had a bbq at the pool with our neighbors and Joe's co-workers and we just booked a hotel in Jacksonville for the 4th of July! And finally... yesterday I decided to do something that I have wanted to do for a looooooong time. I have always wanted to try making sugar cookies.... the fancy kind..... with piping..... and glaze. After watching and reading several tips and tutorials online, I made a trip to Hobby Lobby (and to my surprise I didn't need to use my GPS). Since Joe and I are on the "eat healthy" bandwagon, I knew these cookies wouldn't stick around our apartment, so I made very festive 4th of July cookies for him to take to work! Here's how they turned out....

 Meringue Powder Buttercream (I couldn't help but look disgusted as I scooped up 1/2 of a cup of shortening!)

 Sugar Cookie Dough.... and it tasted just as good raw as it did baked.... maybe better ;)

This part seemed to take the longest because I was so ready to roll them out!

 My first try at rolling out the dough was... unsuccessful. Joe has learned that when something goes wrong with me and the kitchen, my first instinct is to say "I can't handle this" and just throw it away. I had to take a deep breath and say "Jessica, keep your cool... Joe is not here to guide you through your meltdown." I scraped the dough off the counter and put it in the freezer. 2nd time was definitely the charm and no meltdowns were had!

Looking pretty good!

 FINALLY! The fun part!!! This is what I had been waiting all day for.

 The next thing I knew, Joe had gotten into the cookie decorating spirit too. Some of his "patriotic" cookies included Darth Vader and an alien.

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And when all was said and done (and after one SORE hand)...

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This was the result! Successful first try at sugar cookies! (They were delicious too!)

My Free Time..

This is where I have been spending a LOT of my free time... and you can see why. On most days I join my new friend and neighbor, Brittany, by the pool. She is married to, Eric, an Airman that works with Joe. It is very nice to have friends that are so close by!

 Our usual spot is right about here ;)

Brittany and Eric

Reilly and Jesse

I got some more letters in the mail today from Reilly and Jesse. Thanks, boys! Reilly wrote me a really cool story about an alien named Mot. Jesse... I'll write you back but I'll answer your question now. The town I live in is called Warner Robins. I will write back to both of you boys soon! Thanks for the great letters!!! :)

The View!

We have a great view of the lake from our apartment... ducks like to come by and get bread crumbs! I'll have to get pictures from the pool later!

This hammock is going to come in handy on those extra lazy days... when I'm not at the pool that is!

 The palm tree right outside our porch. You know you're in the south when you see palm trees everywhere!

These guys love to come around....

               And Dierks spends ALL day watching them!

First piece of mail!

I got my first piece of mail and it had this lovely picture inside. Thanks, Brady! I also got a letter from Kami and I am very excited to write back to both of them! First graders... you should be expecting your letters in the mail from other classmates shortly!

Home Improvement

Joe working on his first "home improvement" project. He did a pretty good job ;)

We're Here!

We have officially arrived in Warner Robins! We drove straight through and it took exactly 16 hours. I took some pictures of the major cities we went through. Tennessee was beautiful!

Driving through St. Louis 

 St. Louis Arch!

Nashville 

 Nashville

 Atlanta

Dierks enjoying the ride (heavily sedated of course)

All set to go!

We had a wonderful time at Lydia and Zach's wedding and today we finished packing the U-Haul. For dinner we celebrated with Casey's pizza. Seriously... Georgians don't know what they are missing! In the morning we might stop by Casey's just ooooone more time before leaving town for their donuts. I can't believe that a gas station makes my favorite donuts and pizza. Too bad it's only in Iowa. Let's say my diet has suffered this past week with the excuse "but I can't get this in Georgia". When I say this I am referring to *cough* Caseys and the AMAZING cake batter milkshakes at Zombie Burger.