Weekly Adventures March 31st–April 7th

I have decided that I am not active enough on my blog. I thought it would be a good idea to do a weekly update of what is going on in my life and list out some of my favorite things of the week. I am not a great writer so I am also hoping this will help improve my writing skills.

Easter Sunday: We did the traditional Easter Sunday Morning and went over my Aunt's house for brunch. She always gets us big kids a package of our favorite candies, mine are Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. Then we watch the kids find their eggs. My Aunt started getting the kids kites for years now, so that has became a tradition. Although us big kids are usually the ones out there trying to get the kites up. It wasn't to windy out so it was hard to get any of the kites going.

Ninja Turtle Kite!

Movie: We went and saw The Host on Easter Sunday. I read the book, which is written by the same author that wrote Twilight, I like this story more than Twilight. I think they did really well with the movie and followed the book pretty closely, from what I remembered because I read the book a couple of years ago. I loved the way they portrayed the aliens, they were very pretty!


T.V.: Now that The Walking Dead has come to a close for the season, I needed to find something else to watch. I really do not watch that much T.V. but I do like watching a few shows, and they are usually spread out throughout the year. I actually got into a new show on A&E called Bates Motel. It is based off the story from the movie Psycho, which unfortunately I have not seen. I know its sad right, especially from somebody that loves horror movies. Bates Motel is perfectly weird and creepy, and I just love Freddie Highmore.


Books: Right now I am reading Beautiful Chaos, which is the 3rd book to the Beautiful Creatures Series. These books are good. It is taking me forever to get through this 3rd book, one reason is March is usually a busy month for me, the second reason is because the story just seems to be dragging. The subject from Book 1 to Book 3 is the same. Also I saw the movie for Beautiful Creatures and it was horrible compared to the book. They changed and twisted so much that it was a totally different story. I usually go into a movie, that is made from a book, with the attitude that it is going to be different. I really try to look at it as a different entity, but this one was way off.

On Goodreads you can set a goal for how many books you would like to read by the end of the year. I set my goal at 30 books. I am doing really horrible keeping up with it. It says I am 3 books behind. I guess I have some catching up to do.

Music: Here I just thought I would share any new music to me. I feel like I am a little late to the party when it comes to this band, but I found a love for them and this song. It's Five Finger Death Punch - Far From Home.


Food: I have a bad habit of making a lot of the same food throughout the week. I have gone to Pinterest and have been trying to make something new at least once a week. This past Sunday I made a Pork Tenderloin Au Jus. It was amazing, I should have taken a picture of it. I will try and remember to do that next time. Take a look at the recipe here. After it was done cooking in the crockpot most of the day. I shredded the pork and put it on hoagie rolls with an Italian Cheese mix on top, and put it in the oven until the cheese melted. Then we dipped it in the Au Jus sauce that was left after the pork was done. So Yummy!

Well that was all the excitement of my past week. Over the weekend I also got a lot of spring cleaning and yard work done.

WIP Rooster #3




More Work In Progress on Rooster Painting! I really wish I had more time for painting so I could finish these a little quicker. It's hard with a full time job and taking care of a house, pets and everything else.

Hatsume and Birthday Week!

I had a very busy week, and didn't get around to painting at all. March always tends to be a very busy month for me. At the beginning of the Month the Ex contacted me and we went out to dinner, and that went well so we are working on things but taking it slow. Then St. Patrick's Day is always filled with shennanigans.
Rocking the Green Converse on St. Patrick's Day!
On Sunday, March 24th, We went to the Hatsume Festival at the Morikami Japanese Museum and Gardens. I just love this place, this is the 3rd time we have gone here. This is their Spring Festival. 

Morikami Lake
I didn't get to many photos, because I have been here before and wanted to experience the Festival. We walked around an checked out the vendors. Then we made it up to the Main Museum. They had some beautiful Japanese artwork displayed. I love seeing the watercolor on silk paintings, I love how some of the work is really simplistic and then some is really intricate. When you walk out the back of the Museum you see this beautiful lake. After that we made our way to the Old Building that was the original Museum.
Zen Garden
They have this intricate Zen Rock Garden in the middle courtyard of the building. We walked around this building and it shows what a Japanese subway looks like, a classroom, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. After we walked around this building we went and sat and waited for the Tea Ceremony Demonstration to begin.
Tea Ceremony Demostration
I wasn't able to get very many pictures of this because they asked everybody to stop taking pictures and experience the ceremony. Watching this shows how formal and how the Japanese have wonderful manners. When this was over we walked around for a little bit and went and sat to wait on my favorite part of the whole day, the Taiko Drummers.

Of Course I had to get a picture of the Sun while we waited!
Fushu Daiko - Taiko Drummers
Fushu Daiko - Taiko Drummers
I think they said this is a Japanese Harp, very beautiful sound!
The energy these guys give is incredible!
We waited to see the drummers to last because they are our favorite. Before we headed out the gates the boyfriend bought me a Yellow Frangipani stick, hopefully I don't kill it.

Yesterday March 27th was my birthday, and I had such a wonderful day. One of the girls at work made Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes for my birthday. They were the best cupcakes I have ever had. The chocolate cake had Guinness in it, then it had a layer of Jameson chocolate ganache, topped with Bailey's buttercream frosting. All I can say is YUM!
Irish Car Bomb Cupcake!
After work the boyfriend came over and gave me a beautiful necklace and took me out to dinner at Carrabba's.
Beautiful Necklace for my Birthday!
I had received a package from my sister for my Birthday, and she sent me a digital picture frame, and a hobby lobby gift card. So excited to go shopping with that. I woke up that morning to my brother and nephew leaving cards on the table for me. Everybody really went out of their way to make my day feel special. I Love my Family and Friends!

WIP Rooster #2



Some progress on the Rooster Painting. I would have liked to have gotten more done but I am so tired. My silly dog decided to wake me up at 2:45am and I couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours. 

WIP Rooster #1





Here is the start of the Rooster Oil Painting that I am working on for my sister. I started it last week but didn't like the way the background looked. I was able to add a little more depth to the green this week.