Saw this wedding invitation on a bulletin board at the office and had to get a closer look.

Were you surprised as I was to discover that this is for a marriage in the Provo LDS Temple?

I called my mom today (it’s her birthday) and as we were about to hang up she asked her traditional closing questions: How’s John? (wonderful) and How’s Kyra? (fat)

My mom was surprised by this last answer and said she thought of Kyra as a slender cat.

Kyra was slender, and we thought she’d always be slender because when we got her we met her mommy cat, who was thin. But then again, her mommy cat lived outdoors and wasn’t spayed (hence why we have Kyra and why her owners offered to give us two more kittens for free, just to get rid of them). Yep, Kyra was slender just like her mom until she went under the knife herself and got spayed. It probably doesn’t help that she lives indoors and doesn’t have many rodents to chase after (not that I’m complaining about that).

So I promised Mom I’d post pictures so she could see our plump kitty Kyra.

See her tummy hanging out?

Kyra, for whatever reason, loves to lay on her back with her tummy wide open to the air–but she doesn’t like you to touch her stomach at all.

(Warning: The next image is a little scary, but she’s just yawning.)

And, finally, a picture I caught of the Great Yellow Nemesis. This bushy yellow cat lives somewhere in our neighborhood and can often be seen lazing on our fence line or even on our patio. Whenever Kyra sees the Great Yellow, she freaks out. She paces and meows a lot and doesn’t take her eyes off him until he’s out of sight. This doesn’t ever faze the Great Yellow in the least. He just lounges comfortably until he feels ready to move on to someone else’s backyard.

Below you can see Kyra guarding her precious territory (our house, which she thinks is hers) while the Great Yellow nonchalantly walks away.

I love a good deal.

Love it.

A true good deal is constituted by purchasing a quality item that you very much desire and/or need at a darn good price. Most often good deals are found in clearance racks.

Tonight I visited the ShopKo in Spanish Fork, looking for something specific for my husband. Naturally I didn’t find anything I had hoped but instead came away with an armful of apparel for myself.

But–everything I bought was a good deal. As is customary whenever I find a good deal, I will proceed to enumerate everything I bought and specify how much I saved. Because it still feels so good and I just have to share.

1. Blue shirt made of lightweight, stretchy material.
Reg $12.99. Sale $8.99
Save: $4

2. Tracy Evans black gauchos–look really sharp, wish I had a picture to share.
Reg $26.99. Sale $16.99
Save: $10

Now on to the clearance items!

3. Fall jacket with hood.
Reg $49.99. Clearance $12.49
Save: $37.50

4. Pretty brown scarf belt.
Reg: $9.99. Clearance: $2.49
Save: $7.50

5. Snazzy belt made of bronze plates. Again, wish I had a photo to show you. It’s a cool belt.
Reg: $12.99. Clearance: $3.24
Save: $9.75

Total Spent: $44.20.
Total Savings: $68.75

That’s enough to make anybody grin.

Tonight our differences are apparent. John and I are each holed up in separate rooms, watching separate shows in TV.

John’s?

That’s right. Stanley Cup finals.

And mine?

Um, yeah.

We’re in two different worlds tonight.

I had a freak accident the other day where I tried to make up my own recipe and it worked. It started when I discovered that a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Baking Pieces that I had bought at Reams (on sale–saved $1.50!) had fallen out of the plastic grocery bag and had been in the front seat of my car for two hot and sunny days before I found it.

At first I was dismayed. I paid two good, hard-earned dollars for those baking pieces and now they were a molten mess inside the bag.

Then I had an idea. Maybe I could use them to make brownies. Admittedly, brownies aren’t my first choice when I think of dessert. But you’ve met my husband, right? Then you know that the order of important things in his life are

1) me
2) God
3) work
4) hockey
5) chocolate, especially dark

The subcategories of that last item are as follows:

a. brownies
b. chocolate cake
c. chocolate chip cookies
d. chocolate covered nuts
e. anything else chocolate

So I tried my hand at making up a recipe that involved eight ounces of melted Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Baking Pieces.

And guess what? It was a smash success. The brownies turned into the most moist, delectable brownies I think we’ve had in a long time. They’re more milk-chocolatey than dark, but no complaints from either of us. I thought you might like to have the recipe, straight from the test kitchen of Chef Shannon. (The recipe, by the way, is based off of a recipe I got from Ghirardelli. I just adjusted it to inclue the melted PB cups.)

Perfect Brownies
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup real butter, melted
1 (8 oz) pkg Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Baking Pieces, melted
3/4 cup cocoa
2/3 cup flour (do not sift)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees in a greased 9 x 9 pan for 20 to 30 minutes.

Yum.

Today I did two unusual things: 1) got a manicure and 2) became an Ebay-monger.

Some guys might wonder why girls feel compelled to pay someone $15+ to paint their nails. Sometimes I wonder that myself. But only until I get into the salon and my hands are soaking in nice, warm water with bubbles on top and therapeutic pebbles at the bottom. Then you forget all about the $15 and think only how lovely everything feels.

And tonight I logged into Ebay (which is rare) and started browsing jewelry (even rarer). I’ve been looking for a solitaire cz pendant necklace to replace one I lost a while ago, and I found one being sold by igem.tv on Ebay. You can see the necklace here, but I assure you I didn’t pay $249. I paid 99 cents, plus about $11 in shipping and insurance. $12.33 for a necklace isn’t bad. And this necklace isn’t cubic zirconium, it’s briolite (synthetic diamond). Most reviewers left positive feedback saying the jewelry was gorgeous, and a few said it looked cheesy fake. So we’ll see how I like it.

The problem with Ebay is that it’s addictive. You start looking at one thing and then you look at another, and suddenly you’re thinking, “I could do with a pair of fourteen-carat white gold cubic zirconium-studded hoop earrings. They’re only $25.” And then you’re thinking, “I could do with a fourteen-carat gold ¼ carat diamond anniversary band ring. It’s only $325.” There is so much beautiful jewelry out there, and it’s frighteningly easy to point and click “BUY.”

I’m happy to say that I restrained myself with the one necklace. And the one manicure. Although I have to admit while I was sitting in the salon getting my nails done, my eyes kept wandering to the hair color charts on the wall. Maybe I could do with highlights in my hair . . .