Weekend in Wichita...

This fall went by so quickly and between working some weekends and K-State games, I hadn't been able to get down to visit my friends in Wichita, so I was really excited to go see some friends there! I have four friends there that have had babies since I moved (well, five including a puppy) and I was really lucky to see all of them, plus two older siblings.

Friday night the grown-ups hit the town and went bowling- something none of us have done for quite a while! What fun we had! Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

Saturday I got to spend quite a bit of time with my college roomies, plus Kylie and Katie's kids and Lindsay's new puppy. They are all really good kids and so cute! They change so much whenever I see them and it's hard to believe how old they are getting. We also got to do some shopping (mildly insane on the weekend before Christmas, but I can now say I am done!).

Saturday afternoon I met up with two friends, Jenna and Libby, that are speech pathologists I worked with when I lived in Wichita. They each brought their daughters and we got caught up over lunch. They are really sweet babies and I am glad I got to see them!

This morning I picked up my friend Dan and we went to breakfast. He was my patient 2 years ago and we have kept in touch since he has returned to his home. Dan is such a genuine person and has become like a grandparent to me. I enjoy the time we get to spend together, as I know it won't last forever. He does really well, but will be 90 this winter.

Thanks for a great weekend in Wichita! Until next time....

Quick trip to KC....

Last weekend I went to Kansas City and got to see several friends while in town. It was a super quick trip (left Topeka at 5 on Saturday and got back at 12 on Sunday) but it was great to see some friends I haven't seen for awhile! Lots of celebrations going on- glad I was able to be there!!


Me with my friend Gena on her due date with baby Lydia (Dec. 12th). She actually just delivered today (Dec. 20th). S0 excited for her and her husband Alex to become parents.


One of my best friends since high school, Tisharria, with her fiancee Reis at their engagement party/birthday party since both of their birthdays were that week.

Tisharria and me with our friend Kelly. We all played basketball together in high school and then Kelly and I went to K-State together. Tisharria and Kelly actually have been friends since middle school. Good to see some old friends!

My friends Julie and Aaron are parents of this happy little girl- Brooke. She loves bouncing in this toy and was pretty self-entertained throughout my visit. Fun to see her growing up!

Paradise in Winter

My sister Megan and I got back last week from a FANTASTIC trip together to Jamaica. Besides a weekend trip to Chicago a few years ago, we haven't taken any other trips by ourselves. Well, this was one for the records...we went to visit our friends Vicki and Daniel who are posted there for two years as part of the U.S. foreign service. What a great place to live for two years! 85 degrees year-round...especially nice when I got back to Kansas and it was 5 degrees!

We flew into Montego Bay directly from Dallas and from there took the two hour transporation van to our weekend destination of Negril. We spent Friday night at the villas hanging out in the hot tub and then went across the street to dinner on the cliffs. Vicki and a couple other girls she knows from the Embassy ran the half marathon the next day at 5 a.m. so we took it pretty easy that first evening. We were pretty tired though after a long day of traveling.

At dinner...

Saturday morning we enjoyed the pool at the villas in the morning and hit up a restaurant on the beach and hung out on the beach. It was so nice there! That evening we went to dinner and then to a reggae concert.

Sunday involved more pool time in the morning and then the 5 hour drive back to Kingston where our friends live. Their condo is amazing and we were really lucky to have such a nice place to stay there!

Arriving at the condo:

Monday we took a day trip to Ocho Rios and climbed the Dunn Waterfalls and spent some time at Margaritaville and the beach. That nice we all fixed dinner at the condo and hung out with some other friends of theirs and made Christmas cookies.

Meg in front of the waterfalls....

Tuesday we took another day trip to a place called Frenchman's Cove in Port Antonio. Such a relaxing day....lots of sun and relaxation to finish up the trip. Our jerk chicken lunch served on the beach. Mmm!!

Wednesday we toured the Embassy with Vicki which was really cool and then headed to the airport. We had a great time and it was great spend time with my sis and our friends. Hopefully more trips like this in the future!

Bubbling over!

My excitement is two-fold tonight:

1) Our basketball team had a fantastic time tonight. We replayed the girls that beat us by 50 our first game and we were only down by 7 at halftime and ended up losing by only 24....a major improvement for us! We all had a really good time and a great workout.

2) I am flying to Dallas after work to my babys sister's and Friday morning we are flying to Jamaica! Couldn't be more thrilled. After working lots of extra hours this fall, looking forward to some sister time, relaxing and visiting our friends who live in Kingston. Nice to escape to a beach when it's about 35 degrees tonight.

Going to finish packing....I bought SPF 100+ sunscreen the other day at Walgreens (yes, I didn't know they made it either). I know for sure it's already in the suitcase. Fingers crossed to no sunscreen misuse and a burnt Michelle. Pictures/stories when we get back! Have a great week!!

Thankful....

....for a weekend with my family and getting to witness K-State win a basketball game at the Sprint Center. What a fun trip! My parents got tickets when they first went on sale and for some reason they called this week and moved us into better seats and we got access to the "Founder's Club" which is a lounge-type area. Anyway, very fun and then after we went with the rest of the K-State fans into the Power & Light area and watched the very close KU/MU game and we all cheered on Missouri to a win. Rivalry is a vicious bug, huh?

Here are a couple pictures from Thanksgiving and from the KC trip. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

The last one is Meg as a crazed Wildcat cheering for MU...

Pumpkin Rolls 101

Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving dinner for the rehab unit at the hospital. This involves everyone bringing something. I didn't remember it until today and when I talked to my mom, she suggested making a pumpkin roll, which she had done awhile back for a group at church. Well, I had attempted to make one last fall, but had a bit trouble unrolling it from the towel and ended up throwing the whole thing away- towel and all! But, with my mom's help tonight, it looks like I will have a successful dessert to share tomorrow. Here is Libby's Pumpkin recipe for it, as well as some pictures from throughout the process!!

Libby's Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients:

Cake-

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Filling-

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions:

For Cake-

Preheat oven to 375' F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes). Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

For Filling:

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Cooking Tip:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Enjoy!!