Mr. Tibbs versus the Balloon

Last week, Brian celebrated his birthday.  I wanted to make this birthday a little more special since Mr. Tibbs gave him a memorable surprise last year:

-Instead of hanging his “happy birthday banner” in our bedroom in the middle of the night, I decided to put it downstairs near his card.

-I knew I wasn’t going to have time to cook a large dinner because his birthday was on a Tuesday, so I convinced him to get a pizza.

-Knowing he would say yes, that would give me time to also pick up his ice cream cake I ordered from Dairy Queen.  If you haven’t had it, you are missing out on a piece of heaven.

-I recycled my birthday balloon from my office party and used it for his birthday.

I know this doesn’t sound like much, but I just wanted him to know I love him and Happy Birthday.

Results:

He loved the DQ Oreo Blizzard Ice Cream cake.

The next day, we moved the balloon upstairs into our bedroom.  Mr. Tibbs was concerned and interested in this floating object, so kept his eyes on it.  After dinner, I came back up stairs to find him in the same pose that I left him in before I went down stairs. 

I tried to explain to him what a balloon was and moved it closer to his cage.  As the balloon moved closer, Mr. Tibbs got more defensive and hissed at the balloon.  That’s when the random flights happened.  Since the balloon was too close for comfort, he did not feel comfortable landing on his cage, so he landed anywhere.   His first stop was on the floor, while his second stop was beside our bed.  I spent the rest of the night consoling him, while Brian moved the balloon:

Even at 11 years old, Mr. Tibbs still has fears.

DIY Marley Twists

Ever since Thanksgiving, my co-workers and I have been playing catch up on a couple of projects.  A Thanksgiving wrap-up post will be available later this week.

Happy December! 

This past weekend, I had my heart set on Marley Twists.  When I went out of town for Thanksgiving, I found out that my sister twisted her hair for the winter.  They looked so nice that I wanted them too, especially since I haven't had them since 2009.  Braids and Twists are kinda expensive and it takes forever to do, so I decided to see how install them myself.  Ever since I had my latest trim in October, my hair has been shorter than what I’m use to.  Co-washing has been making my hair much softer, but I experience shrinkage; making it harder to put my hair in ponytails.  So I decided protective styling will help with letting my hair take a break and give it time to grow.

I saw a post on CurlyNikki and alovelyDAYbr about how to install medium size Marley twists and how simple it was.  I decided to buy the Marley hair before I went out of town and did my research on how to twist the hair and blend it with my kinky-curly hair.

Estimated time: 4 hours

• Prep
• 1 hour: washing (sulfate free shampoo and conditioner), deep conditioning and leave-in conditioner
• 1 hour: 80% air dry and tension blow drying the rest
• 2 hours: Moisturize hair, Parting sections, separating and fluffing the marley hair, and twisting hair with gel

 Total amount of twists: 26 

• I brought 2 packs of LoMe Marley hair. 

• I tangled two twisted so that cut my sections down to 26.

Brian helped me separate the hair.

•  I parted my hair in 4 big sections.  Next I divided 26 by 4 to see how many mini sections I had to create.  The front sections had 7 and the back had 6.

Maintenance:

• Spray with oil daily.
• Wipe through scalp when itchy/on the weekends.
• Wrap hair with a satin scarf.

Results: Love em’!

Next time I think I will make them tinier but they work for now.  I have gotten so many compliments from everyone, so I think I will do this again after my 3 month trim in January.  Basically I spent $8 for an $80-$180 service! 

And they looked awesome on my birthday yesterday!

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Update: January 2013 

I kept this awesome hair style in for a month and it was still low maintenance!  When installing this, make sure you use gel that will keep your natural hair inside the twists.  I had to refresh some areas because my gel didn't have a strong hold.  I will be installing these again in February.  Here are other hair styles I had during the month of December:

Recipe #9: Birthday Dinner

Here are a collection of Recipes for the Dinner I made for Brian's Birthday last night:

Homemade Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients: (I kinda fudged the amount of butter and milk, so here is my estimate)
6 potatoes
3 tablespoons of butter
1/4 canned milk

Directions:
-Peel potatoes and cut in half
-Boil potatoes for 30mins.
-Mash potatoes then add butter and milk

-Stir ingredients then hand blend till you get desired texture.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients: (I kinda fudged the amount of cheese and milk, so here is my estimate)
-Half a box of elbow macaroni noodles
-Sprinkled cheese
-3 Slices of cheese
-1 teaspoon of butter
-1/2 cup of milk

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-In one pot, boil noodles for 10mins, strain and butter noodles.
-In another pot, boil sliced cheese and milk and mix.

-Put buttered noodles in a pan.
-Pour ingredients on noodles and mix.
-Top with sprinkled cheese.

-Put in oven for 25-30mins or until the cheese and noodles are golden brown.

Baked Chicken
Ingredients:
-Chicken breast
-1 Can of cream of celery
-1 can of water
-Seasoning salt
-Onions

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 400.
-Clean the Chicken and place in baking pan.
-Season chicken
-In a bowl, mix cream of celery and water and pour over chicken.
-Season again and place onions on chicken.
-Cover with aluminum foil and cook for an hour.
-Remove foil and cook for another 15-20mins.

Weekend Recap

Here is a recap of my Husband's birthday weekend!

Saturday:
Cleaning, errands and etc.

Sunday: Brian's Birthday!
I wanted to wake Brian up early in the morning to wish him a happy birthday but I didn't get up till 1230am.  After watching South Park and singing Happy Birthday, my husband finally drifted to sleep.  That's when I started my surprise.

Last week, I saw a birthday sign and I wanted to hang it on our bedroom window early in the morning so he would see it when he woke up.  I didn't count on Mr. Tibbs reaction to me putting it up near his cage.  I was putting up his birthday sign at 140am, when Mr. Tibbs started freaking out because he saw my shadow and I had to uncover him to calm him down.  When I opened up the cage, he flew on Brian's pillow (which freaked Brian out) and then I had to calm him down for 20 mins before he would get back in the cage.  Then Brian saw the birthday sign...Boooooo!

After a sleepy start, we went to church and then I made Brian's Birthday dinner a couple hours later.  Recipes will be provided shortly!

Happy Birthday Brian!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband, Brian!

While we are not going out today, I am definitely going to make an awesome meal for him.  I hope he enjoys it!

Weekend Recap

I have got to admit, this was the best Birthday weekend ever.  I'm not a gift type person, but more of a "let me be around my family during this special moment"...a moment where I get to live another year.  This year was the first year I got to be with my Husband the whole time without dealing with a long distance relationship or school.  Plus it is the first birthday as a married couple.  Before I start telling what happened, here is the weekend recap:

Saturday:
Saturday was pretty much a lazy day.  I was planning to get an oil change for my car, clean the house, and put up Christmas decorations.  Saturday turned into a nap day.  After Mr. Tibbs kept squawking for 30mins straight, I was able to take a nap.  When I woke up, I found Brian trying to feed Mr. Tibbs an apple!  (His Vet recommended that he try more fruits and veggies).  Here are the pictures from that adventure:

 

 

 

 

Sunday: My Sister and I had a birthday! 
At 7am, I received a call from my oldest brother and my niece and nephew wishing me a happy birthday.  Usually, I would be knocked out at that time, but I was so antsy that I couldn't go back to sleep!  Next, my Mom and sister wished me a happy birthday and I did the same for her.  I also received calls from my in-laws, and 60+ texts friends and family and from Facebook stating that someone has wrote on my wall. Plus, I got a couple at church.  Awesome :-).

The best part of my birthday was going to the Japanese Hibachi restaurant with Brian!

The 2nd best part of yesterday was at 1156pm.  My grandma found my house number and sung happy birthday to me.  I loved it!  I wish she would have stayed on the phone for 4 mins. because December 5th is her birthday.  I was the grandchild that was 45mins. early of being her birthday twin.  So today, I can't wait to call her!

Anyway, time to finish my work.  TTYL.

Happy Birthday to my sister and I

So many years ago, I remember my Mom telling me that she was going to give me the best gift for my birthday.  The more I guessed at what it might have been, the happier I got.  Maybe it could have been a brand new Barbie dream house?  Nopeeee...it was a little sister born on my 5th birthday.  I didn't get to have my 5th birthday party but I did get her, lol.

My Sister and I on my wedding day, 5.28.11

Hopefully, she doesn't party too hard.  Tonight, Brian is taking me out!  I can't wait! :-)