Mesa in January

Just Lovely.

Tips for Baking Cake

I like to bake.
A lot.
I wish I had time to do it more often.
What I like more than baking - is making what I bake look pretty - but that's another story.

This post is about the greatest tip I have learned when baking a cake - seriously, if you follow this one tip - you will be taking a HUGE step in the right direction toward making flawless, delicious, mouthwatering cake every time.

You ready for this? Grab your pencil and a paper......

Here it is.


Sarah's super secret cake baking tip:

Don't use salt instead of sugar.

Especially when someone is paying you to bake it for their loved one's birthday party.
I hope you took notes.

Winning Things

I posted earlier this week about awesome things I've won from work... well as of today I have won the single most amazing thing anyone could ever possibly win.
Are you jealous? Because if you're not... you should be.


Tie die + Bon Jovi = Most amazing T-Shirt ever.

There is beauty all around...

it's this time of year that makes the summer months so worth it!

We have tomatoes coming already!

Pretty sky amidst the crazy storms of last week

Yes, this is what our garden looks like in January!

The perks of a boring office job....

Free stuff. Seriously. I get it all the time. It is honestly the best part of my job.
Contests, giveaways, lunch meetings... they're always going on and they're always fun to win.


You may remember last year when we got to go Whitewater Rafting for an HP contest I won at work... well this year the contest was an "extreme" Hummer tour through the desert and we got to go again!


We met for the trip at a 19th century cowboy town in Pioneer, AZ (I highly recommend it for any large event - it was awesome!)


We played "cowboy" games: the hatchet toss, lassoing, quick draw and of course archery where Benson gained the nickname "Robin Hood" for the day. They then fed us lunch and we headed out in the hummers!



It was a pretty intense four hour ride through the desert... think the Disneyland Indiana Jones ride for 4 hours straight - but it was SO much fun.

You can't really tell but in this picture we're headed almost straight down this hill...



They stopped a few times along the way to tell us the history of the location - this was a really neat spot where the chief of the indian tribe lived - there are still rock walls standing from when they inhabited the area



After the tour we went back to the "ranch" for dinner, cowboy singers,




and Native American dancers







all of which were very entertaining.

The night ended with s'mores by the bonfire and getting to see the Orion Nebula and Jupiter through a fancy schmancy telescope.

We're crossing our fingers that next year's trip is skydiving! :)

Great to be 8

My niece Liberty is getting baptized this weekend so last Friday I took her out in her pretty white dress to take pictures at the temple. They turned out SO pretty - it helps that she's such a cute little girl! I can't believe how big she is getting!











Mesa Arizona Kids Photographer
Gilbert Arizona Kids Photographer
Queen Creek Arizona Kids Photographer

Old.

I remember times in my life when family members would comment on how big I was getting and how that made them feel "so old".... well now I know what they mean.




Pretty much overnight this little beaker on the right....









has turned into this....







It's one thing when your little brother gets taller than you and graduates high school... but your nephew? That should be illegal.


I might as well buy myself a walker and start stocking up on depends now, I'll need them soon enough.