New Music Tuesday

Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with Christmas music? Well, I am.

From the library:
Alan Jackson - Honky Tonk Christmas (1993)

Various Artists - Christmas in the Country (2006)

Ringo Starr - I Wanna Be Santa Claus (1999)

Starbucks Winterludes - Cool Holiday Notes (1995)

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (1986)

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. - Christmas with the Rat Pack (2002)

Bing Crosby - Christmas Through the Years (1974)

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - Jingle All the Way (2008)

Various Artists - Kiss the Boys Goodbye: Classic Songs from World War II (1995)

Various Artists - Always in My Heart: Classic Songs from World War II (1995)

Amy Grant - Heart in Motion (1991)

Old-school classic - remember Baby, Baby - so excited to hear that again!!

Duffy - Rockferry (2008)

Kristin Chenoweth - Let Yourself Go (2001)

She's short and feisty like me, and I love her work on Glee!!!

Various Artists - Disney Villains: Simply Sinister Songs (2010)

Blake Shelton - Pure BS (2007)

The 2010 CMA Male Performer of the Year...thought I'd check it out


Had to buy it:
Glee - The Christmas Album (2010)
On repeat, 24/7!


Rascal Flatts - Nothing Like This (2010)
1.14.2011 - Sioux Falls Arena - can't wait!


From iTunes:
Carrie Underwood - "There's A Place For Us" (from the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Soundtrack)

Wishlist:
Naturally 7 - Christmas: A Love Story
I saw these guys live last year - GAMAZING!!!!

Finally...

I'm back!

Moving is probably the most dreaded thing ever. Almost done - for awhile anyway! Hope I can get going on the blog again - if I have any readers, sorry for the hiatus!

Oakley and the Cupcake

Oakley and the Cupcake from Kaci Welch on Vimeo.

finished!

I finished another project. Oakley likes to escort J to the recruiting office while J does that when he is home. Since he will be home in 1.5 weeks (can't wait!), I thought it was necessary that Oakley add to his wardrobe of Army gear (see the other uniform here).
He didn't really want to get his picture taken today, which is obvious by the following pics.

So excited that they actually turned out - NO ONE sells digital camo stuff for dogs (only boring hunting camo, ew)

still waiting...

Some of you that follow this blog are fellow military wives - hooo-ahhh!!
I originally started this blog as a way to not only share with my friends and family the craziness of my life, but I also hoped to help other military families get through some of the tougher times that this life brings.

Right now I am awaiting our first PCS since my husband rejoined the military. We are headed to South Korea...well, at least that's what I am told. Unfortunately, the Command Sponsorship (CS) process (that is what says that the dependents of the servicemember get to go with) is not so great. We applied for CS in April, after a ridiculous physical and a ton of paperwork, we were told to sit and wait for an answer....and, here we sit...and sit...and sit. Sometimes, you just get tired of waiting, you know?
So, after waiting for 50 some days we called Korea (I haven't had the strength to look and see how much Verizon charged us for that one!). After a few hangups, J finally got ahold of someone who was willing to look up some info! This led to some more confusion as apparently he was no longer assigned to the same unit as he once was...this supposedly was what caused the delay. I'm not sure where the paperwork goes from there, but my husband was told that the unit would most likely be signing off on it that day.
That was last Tuesday or Wednesday...and here we sit...again.

So, I am not sure that this post is the most helpful for other military wives, other than to tell them...find some patience somewhere!

Spoiled.

As promised....Spin Pins!

Okay, now I sort of forgot to post this with all the chaos surrounding the rummage, no CS orders, and the holiday....but here it is!

Goody Spin Pins...seriously the coolest summer find yet!

Now, they may look pretty unextraordinary...but, really, you just have to try it!

Here is how I normally do a bun-ish like thing with my hair that refuses to grow:

Now, first off, sorry for the lame picture...have you ever tried to take a picture of the back of your own head? It's difficult - I don't suggest it...
So, the bun-ish like thing that I have done for the last 5+ years works...but...wait for it...

So much cuter!! And it can do a low bun, low and to the side, french twist like thing, awesome stuff!
They are only 6 bucks at Target (not sure if Walgreens/Walmart, etc. have them, but I am sure they do), the package comes with 2, but my short (did I mention it refuses to grow!?!) and thin-ish hair can only handle one at a time...

p.s. Goody/Target unfortunately does not give me any sort of kick-back for support of their product, I just really really like it!

Oops...We've been a little busy

So I have obviously abandoned you all - sorry!
We had a rummage sale...yes, that was my brilliant idea! Little did I remember that they are a TON of work!
While we did bring in some dough, the most important part is we got rid of a lot of junk!!! WOO HOO! Such a great feeling!

Oakley joined us on Saturday. After awhile, he found a comfy spot...too bad TJ probably wasn't as comfy:

(taken with the Droid)
btw, see that THING behind my brother there...yes, we built an entire clothes rack (not so affectionately named the Monster) just for the sale! We also had a dressing room...if you're going to do it, might as well go wild!

Big thanks to everyone that helped with the sale (especially Mom, Dad, and TJ!), let us borrow your tables, etc!

Sunny AZ

Sorry I have been away...visiting my husband @ the beautiful Ft. Huachuca! We have had such a great time here and I am so sad that I have to leave soon :(
It has been a whirlwind of crazy here including, visits to Grandma's:

(taken on the Exilim)

new golf clubs:

(taken on the Droid)

hot new bling:

(taken on the Droid)

delicious sushi:

(taken on the Droid)

a sweet husband:

(taken on the Exilim)

and an early birthday present:

(taken on the Droid)

Here's the first real picture taken on the beloved lx3 of my loving husband!

(taken on the lx3)

Beautiful, huh?

However, I am severely missing this little guy:

(taken on the Exilim)

I just cannot wait until the day that we are all finally together again! Hopefully that will be Korea in T-minus 60 days!

get money for shopping with ebates!

Okay...so IF I have any readers out there...if you could please do this, I really appreciate it!

Please sign up for ebates by following the link here:

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=0k7RcFQxTW2Rrvh2%2BhMHiw%3D%3D

If you've never seen ebates before - it's AWESOME! I have earned nearly 120 dollars CASH since joining 1.5 years ago and I love it! Basically what you do is every time you are going to do some online shopping, go to ebates first, find the store that you were going to shop at and click through to their site...not only can you still use any coupons you were going to use, but you also get whatever percentage back ebates is running for that site! 

For instance, the other day I had a gap coupon for 20% off...so I went to ebates and clicked on gap (11% back), completed my order as usual, and then received the 11% back to my account!! Soon, what they call A BIG FAT CHECK will come in the mail with my quarterly earnings...

(also, if you sign up by clicking the link above, I have a chance to win an ipad ... and I would be ever so grateful!!)

Thanks!!

kw

Oh My Cupcakes!

I had been reading about the Stuffed French Toast cupcake at Oh My Cupcakes! here in Sioux Falls all week...so, today was the day!
I went in...only to be told they were not on the line up today (SAD!) but then a sweet cupcake-superhero saved the day by telling me that she had one left and some cinnamon buttercream (gasp! cinnamon buttercream?!) that she could quick smear on ... it just wouldn't be pretty... of course, I agreed!

Sitting here in my post-cupcake high watching this week's ANTM on "Ugly-Pretty" - definitely this cupcake! But it totally didn't matter that it was a bit "Ugly-Pretty" (by the way, that's a good thing), it was AMAZING!!

Imagine your favorite cinnamon muffin, fill it with cream cheesy deliciousness and then top it with .... wait for it....
CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM!  Perfection.

Thanks so much to the cupcake-superhero over at Oh My Cupcakes! for allowing me to have the last one!!

Oh, and Oakley had a little too - he also is a big fan!

Still waiting...

So, we have gotten pre-orders to PCS to Yongsan in Seoul, Korea...that was back in March...still waiting for real orders and my orders to accompany my husband.
I hope to let everyone know the process of TDY to PCS as soon as I know anything!!

Home...sans luggage :(

Well, I just got back from visiting my husband in AZ for a week...last night was ridiculous airport hell. The  flight into Tucson was late, therefore our flight out of Tucson was really late - which made me miss the flight back to Sioux Falls. United put me up in a room and gave me a voucher for one meal, but then the shuttle to the hotel was an hour wait - plus the 45 minute ride to the hotel! Oh, and then about 5 other flights got messed up last night about the same time so EVERYONE was trying to go to the same hotel and check into the same hotel...awful.
I finally got to sleep (sorry, but Sleep Number beds are way too complicated) and woke up early this morning to get back to the airport so that I WOULD NOT miss my flight. I went and hung out at the Rocky Mountain USO - so nice! - boarded my practically empty flight back to Sioux Falls, went downstairs to see my mom waiting for me - and NO BAG! Seriously?!?!
That was 12:30, I put a claim through with United, supposedly my bag had other ideas and decided to vacation in MSP...nice. I just hope that by the time it shows up, my stuff is still there - that is EVERY cute summer outfit I have - not to mention all my makeup!
I am just thankful that I decided not to take Oakley on this trip....that would have been bad.

the one and only ... michael buble!

In an attempt to get my mind off the fact that my husband and I have been apart now since Oct. '09, I decided that a girls weekend was in order. Now, I am not one that has a huge gaggle of girls that I hang out with all the time...in fact, I very rarely hang out with anyone other than my family (some say that's sad, but that's just been my whole life). So, when I heard Michael Buble was coming to Minneapolis/St. Paul, I knew exactly who I would go with - my mom and my aunt Cathy!
Cathy had a heart and kidney transplant 2 years ago and we hadn't had a girls weekend since about 6 months before that, so we were all definitely due...
The weekend consisted of shopping, eating(!), shopping, eating, and going to see Michael Buble.

Now even though Cathy has been through the craziest surgery ever, she still has random fears that no one understands...one of those being a fear of walking down balcony stairs scared that she is going to fall and fall all the way down to the lower level...right, completely rational. So we get to our (awesome!) seats and she cannot bring herself to walk down the stairs - all the way through the opening act - Naturally 7 - AMAZING group! Eventually, after a bit of waterworks on my part and some buddying up with the ushers (Tom H - you rock!), she got down there, and the concert was unbelievable!
And I cried - Home...never really paid attention to the lyrics until I am belting them out with Michael Buble, bawling my eyes out! lol. If you haven't heard the song, definitely check it out!
Here's a picture of us girls after the concert!

a little behind...

I sort of fell behind so I will go back a few weeks/months and work my way forward....

Starting with...
CUPCAKES!
So, we all know I have an obsessive love affair with cupcakes and awhile ago I decided to make a batch (not sure even what for, possibly just that they are delicious).
My favorite cupcake recipe uses the Pillsbury Wedding Cake Recipe - some of you may have seen this recipe before, and some of you may be using the stock box recipe (ick). The recipe is as follows:

"Wedding" Cupcakes

1 pkg. Pillsbury Moist Supreme White Cake Mix

1 1/4 cups water

1/4 cup canola oil

3 egg whites

Heat oven to 325°F. Place cupcake liners in 24 wells of cupcake tin. 

Mix cake ingredients according to package directions. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. 

I also like to use this recipe to make two-layer 6-inch cakes...they are so cute and they taste good too!

By the way, Oakley also really loves cupcakes...

A new home for recipes

So, for the past who-knows-how-long I have been collecting recipes that I want to try, have tried, should try, etc. I first started putting them in a notebook, but then once the internet became a recipe madhouse, that wasn't really working. So, I moved on to Word docs...that's a lot of huge files - NOW there is YummySoup! I love this program and it is totally worth the $20 download if you're a foodie like me!

With YummySoup! you can search, sort, and view in full-screen for bringing the Macbook in the kitchen:

Another great Disney deal

I actually tried this one first before posting...
Toy Story 1 and 2 Blu-Ray combo packs together for 16 bucks and change!
Head on over to my friends at Sweet Deals 4 Moms and check out the great deal!

Princess + the Frog...an update

Well, my Target didn't fall for it...they wouldn't let me use both coupons - darn...
They did, however, run the $10 coupon for only the $15.99 DVD version...
$6 bucks isn't bad for a Disney movie that just came out today!

Princess + the Frog

If you're like me and plan on buying the new Disney princess movie this week, here are a couple of deals you need to see!

$10 off

+ another $5 off!

...at Target, I believe that makes the Blu-Ray under 5 bucks!!

Happy shopping!

(Thanks to Sweet Deals 4 Moms and Deal Seeking Mom for finding these!)

So exciting: Jean Paul Gaultier for Target

Well, my hard work of staying up, then passing out because I was just too tired, then randomly waking up at 2am paid off!! My awesome JPG for Target goods are on their way to my house!

The yellow dress above is one of them!! So cute! I can't wait to wear it in sunny AZ when I go to visit Jeff this spring! I would suggest that you all go and check out the line, but it looks like the majority of the line is now sold out.

In the Army Now...

I finally finished my first big project - a military jacket for Oakley to match Jeff's new ACUs.
Jeff even ordered a name plate to make it official. Oakley worked with Jeff at the recruiting office this week "in uniform" and was pretty proud of himself...well, he should be, he was promoted from 2nd Lt. to a 1-star general in a matter of a few hours...

Oakley is still a mama's boy though, he wanted to escape to the rest of the mall and go shopping...

My first real project!

So, I have been planning this one for about a week and finally got to do it! I found a cute little jacket at Petco for Oakley and when I saw it, I knew immediately that I wanted to make it into a little Olympics track jacket...mission accomplished.

I initially thought I would just get some iron-on letters and call it done, but apparently it is not particularly advised to iron on this velour type of material. So, I talked to the awesome Sara over at Heirloom Creations and she told me that I could just make my own!
I used the Quickcutz Silhouette to design and cut out the template for my letters.

Then I used some web interfacing (first time!!) and ironed it to the fabric (wrong-side...very important!).

Then I sewed around the letters with a straight stitch (that looked surprisingly good!) and it's done!!! Oakley is so excited to wear it and I can't wait to say that I made it (def. better than those darn iron-on letters!)

Hope for Haiti

Please go to iTunes and pre-order the Hope for Haiti Now album...all proceeds go to Haiti...those people need our help....

Finally...

The closet had a full washer and dryer in it...

The craft room/office is finally finished!! The new sewing machine is in place and although it is a full room, I think it is going to work great! 

I thought I would take a few pictures to show you...

Here is BEFORE (well, way before, this is what it looked like before we moved in):

And here is today. About 2.5 years after we bought the house, I am finally happy with the craft room, for now anyways...

terrifying and sad...

Haiti, you are in our hearts....