Whipped Up!

Whipped Up! I saw this wonderfully fun article on MSN.com today! The best cupcakes in the world! The best places in the world to get cupcakes? I thought my Grandma's house was the best place! Sadly, she didn't make the list.... but some really cool places did. Made me want to plan a trip just to visit all the places on the list. Someday maybe I'll go on a cupcake hunting adventure of my own! My mouth began to water just reading all the different recipes! There is also an article on the 9 best cupcake recipes! Hmm..... I think I'll get whipped up this weekend!

Click here to read the article:

http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6336620&GT1=10885

Waiting Room

I don't know about you but "waiting" really isn't my thing. I hate going to the doctors office for two reasons; waiting and I just don't like doctors and hospitals. I'm a planner, I like to know what's going on and when. I don't like not knowing when I want to what's next. But throughout my life God has taught me patience in the waiting, that there are good things that come to those who wait. I feel like I am constantly learning that lesson. I am learning how to be patient, and wait on people and on God daily.
We have those "seasons" in life when we don't know what the next step is. Or those times when we're seeking the will of God and sometimes it seems to take longer than we desire. Those moments are always hard for me. The hardest part is clearing the clutter, and wanting to hear God's voice clearly. I heard this song once, and the line in it goes like this; "so I stand here in the waiting room of silence." Isn't that so true? How many times do we feel like we're standing here waiting on God's voice? We go throw those periods and seasons in life where we're looking for the next step, the next part of God's plan and will for our lives. And sometimes it's sooo hard to wait patiently, to hear God correctly for the next step, for his will.
I'm in this period of life right now, we have so many questions, and just want God's perfect will to be done. It's hard having so many questions at one time, and wondering what God is thinking, and what he has for you. I feel like I've been praying for weeks, and months and still wondering. Sometimes God gives us little bits of the picture instead of everything at once. That still seems to leave me with wanting more. But I am learning that sometimes that's the best part.
My husband is reading this book called; In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. There's a line that the author writes in the book, "God wants you to be in his will, much more than you desire to be in God's will." Reading that line gave me this wow moment...when I finally realized in all this praying and seeking about what God had for us, and when, and where, and all my other questions that God was simply reminding me that he's still here and still has a plan. Sometimes we all need those reminders from God. God's will is the best place in life to be in, and I want that in my life. I lived far to long doing my own thing, and not really caring about God's plans and desires for my life...I don't ever want to be there again. God is teaching me lessons daily on patience and waiting on him. He really does love us, and he really does know best. I know from experience that when I try to do it all on my own it usually fails. But when I seek his will, with a pure heart, I know his intentions are always pure and out of love for me. His will is always best, and far better than anything I could have planned or dreamed up on my own.
For everyone who is seeking, praying, and in that place of the waiting room. Keep waiting, be steadfast, and patient. God hasn't forgotten you, he loves you, and is working it out with you in mind!

It's a beautiful day!

Last weekend I spent a beautiful day with my family! I asked my family to come up for the weekend; my Sister, Mom and two beautiful nieces drove up for the weekend. It was so nice having them here, I haven't seen them all since Christmas and even though we only live a few hours away we don't get to see each other all the time. So it was a blessing to have them here for a few days. Some high lights; on Saturday my Sister and I hung out together went shopping and had lunch. It was 43 degrees in Minneapolis that day and it was beautiful. It was so great spending that afternoon with her.

My Sister and I had a little mini shoot, and I took some wonderful pregnancy pictures of her. She's 8 months prego with her 3rd baby! It's a boy! Collin Curtis Mills is scheduled to arrive on April 28th! We're excited to finally have a nephew!

I made a great dinner for my family and then my Mom & Orion killed my Sister and I in a game of Scene It! On Sunday, I made my nieces breakfast and we all headed to church. I'm so glad they came for the weekend, and I got the chance to spend some much needed "family time", they mean the world to me!

Glitz & Glam

It's been an exciting past few weekends of local pageant competitions. I have had so much fun these past few weeks traveling the state of MN to a few locals. In the fall of last year I agreed to come on and be a Director for the Miss Twin Cities Scholarship Program. I was very excited to be asked to be apart of this great organization. It's been non-stop fun ever since. Now that the local competitions are all wrapped up, it's time to prepare Angie (Miss Twin Cities '08) for Miss Minnesota this summer. I'm super excited to work with her, she's a great girl! Here are a few hi-lights from the past few months!

Miss Twin Cities & the newly crowned Miss Mankato

Some of the local title holders who will compete for Miss MN this summer

Miss Mankato 2008 Liz Wandersee

Me and Jennifer (Miss MN '08) at the Miss Coon Rapids pageant

Miss Coon Rapids '08 Stacy Mendelkov

Jenn and I at her Miss America send off in January

Me & Cindy (Miss Twin Cities '07) right after the pageant

All the girls before the show

The new Miss Twin Cities '08

So excited!

So excited for the weekend because....they are coming!

My amazing Mom!

My sister and my two wonderful neices
Jocelynn & Alexia!

I'm looking forward to a wonderful weekend with family, birthday party planning, cookie baking with my neices, and taking lots of pictures of my very preggo Sister! I feel bad for Orion cause there'll be way to much estrogen in the room for him...but he'll survive! ;)

Giada would be proud!

There are a few things I love, love, love...the Food Network being one of them! My Mom and love to sit and watch it for hours when she comes to visit. During the summer it was wedding cakes, and all things wedding and entertaing. Now my favs are Every Day Italian, 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray, Tasty Treats, and Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee.

I love to cook! It all started with baking with Grandma, and learning the true tricks to getting cheesecake as good as Great Grandmas! I knew I had "made" it when my cheesecakse and Christmas sugar cookies tasted like those of my Great Grandmas.

I have come along way from Grandma's kitchen, to my own. From trying to make a meal out of mac & cheese in my dorm room, to cooking in my very first apartment. Cooking for 1 is always a challenge and I found most of the time the foods and meals I love most are created and meant to be shared!

I felt inspired this weekend while watching Giada on Everyday Italian whip up something amazing in no time. The episode, "Cooking outside the Box" which basically was her challenge to busy people to cook something fresh in no time, and not going to the box! I myself love to cook, but find myself sometimes going to the box.

Tonight's recipe was Chicken Scallopine with Saffrom Cream Sauce; here's how we did!


Smells good....wish it was scratch n snif

fresh scallops & minced garlic

Giada's

Mine!

To all the chefs and cooks out there; Happy cooking & entertaining!

Click here for the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_122698,00.html

My favorite things!

Every year Oprah does a show usually around Christmas time called "My Favorite Things", and if you know anything about this show you've probably been on the waiting list for tickets for a couple of years! ;)

For those of you who don't know during this show Oprah introduces her new found "favorite things" and gives one of everything to each person in the audience! It's pretty amazing, anything and everything from Louis Vuitton hand bags to the face cream she's in love with at the moment.

While I am no Oprah, I do have a few favorite things! ;)

My hubby Orion; after Jesus he's the most important thing in my life, and for sure my fav!

My family; this is just half of the story! But I love my family more than anything. They have taught me so much. We are this perfect blend of love, support, craziness, laughter and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Being an Aunt; it's one of the best things in the world, and I have 2 of the best reasons! Jocelynn and Alexia! My sister's amazing girls are why I love being an Aunt everyday to them. This summer I get to be an Aunt for the third time when my sister gives birth to my very first nephew! I'm so excited, and can't wait to spoil him along with the girls!

The beach; have been born in California... I love the beach! I have fond memories of the Santa Monica Pier, burning my feet on the sidewalks of the pier cause I refused to wear shoes. Sorry, Grandma! Everytime I get a chance to go, it brings me back to childhood when I thought it was called the "lotion" instead of the "ocean."

The ballet; not only are these the prettiest slippers you've seen but it's my favorite type of dance. I love going to see a live performance, my favs Swan Lake and the Nutcracker make the top of the list.

Seriously.....if I could eat Mexican food daily I probably would! It's my favorite, and enchiladas has become an all time fav birthday meal at my house! I'm always on the search for a good Mexican restaurant. Bring on the chips & salsa!

love, love, love red jello! Nuff said! ;)

This is my favortie movie hands down! I laugh everytime I see it, and I think my family is sick of my watching it cause I can pretty much quote the whole thing!

There's nothing more pampering to me than getting a pedicure! I love them! I try to do them myself, but I'd much rather sit and read a magazine and have someone else do it!

My favorite place for my drink of choice! Soy Chi lattes or White chocolate mocas....hmm....

Last but not least....Point of Grace! I Love them! I have been listening to them since I was 13 and I've been a fan ever since! My friends like to make fun of me for liking them so much, but I don't care. They are amazing ladies, with a great message...and no one does harmonies like POG! ;)

These are just a few things I love in life....but the thing I love most of all I can't put a picture or price on the Love of Jesus and the way he's changed my life. I'll be forever greatful for how he's turned it all around and made a masterpiece out of my mess!

Real Life Love

Now a week after Valentines Day I have been thinking about what "real love" truly means. This is my very first Valentine's being married and I must say that I love Valentines day more being married than I did dating! You can do so many fun things, and I was pleasntly surprised by my hubby to get breakfast in bed that morning! I was thinking this week about my favorite t.v. couples...you know those t.v. or movie couples that you just get lost in, and you watch weekly to do what happens! And even though you know it's not real, you just can't wait to see what happens! Here are my favorite couples....

Zach & Kelly... ahh the memories from childhood! They were part of my Saturday mornings...and I followed them well into the college years. :) They were young love, innocent love, and you always wanted them to end up together. You were even excited when Zack played a trick on Kelly's date for the senior prom so he could go with her instead! You knew it was for a good cause.

Ross & Rachel.... seriously who doesn't love them? All the ups and downs and "breaks!" They made you want to believe that in the end love always prevails! Right?

Daily I am reminded that God loves us the most! He wants to romance us, and spend time with us. He gave us his ulitimate gift of love when he sent his Son for us. His love always prevails..... when we read 1 Corinthians 13 it's not a loved for Brides & Grooms but truly the picture of how the Lord loves us, and what he promises us. It's his guide on how we should love others, because of his love for us. It's this kind of love that I choose even when Orion and I are in a fight and I'd like nothing more than to give up...I choose to love! The love of the Father is so pure, so unconditional, and so overwhelming to me most of the time. He loves me even though I don't deserve it sometimes, he loves me reguardless of what I do. And that is an amazing thought.

So long after Valentine's day is over, and the romance movies on Lifetime stop, and my roses wilt the Love of Christ always endures!

"slow glow"

It's this time of year when I long for warmth, and wonder why did I move back to Minnesota?! ;)
I decided the other day that I need to get some color, I feel pasty. I read an article this summer about the dangers of "fake baking" as I like to call it. There was a whole section in my Glamour magazine this summer on skin cancers, different types, what you should do and not do, etc. Needless to say it scared me. I've been sun tanning in natural sun, and fake baking for most of my life, which isn't that long really. I'm only 25! But i grew up in California, I love sun and warm weather.
I decided that I was going to try my best to abstain from to much fake baking, and vow to wear more sun screen. But since I feel pasty what do you do? The other day I went to the grocery store and picked up some Jergens Natural glow, I'd used it before and really liked it.
Now here's the funny part, the whole reason I am going on and on about this.....
I was using it the other day, and left it out on my nightstand. Orion came in picked up the bottle and he said, "What's this?" I told him it's basically a self tanner of sorts.
He goes; "Oh so you're getting a slow glow!"
I thought it was so funny, I smiled and said yes, just like a slow glow. I never thought of it that way and it was so funny.
I've realized being married these few short months that sometimes the life of a girl, and what we do is a mystery to guys. And every now and then my hubby will make a comment like "slow glow" that brings me back to reality.

wedding rings & other things

Life is ton of many firsts. The same holds true with marriage. Orion and I have only been married for a short time...almost 7 months! Whoo hoo!! :) And in that short time we've experience many firsts; some wonderful, some not so wonderful.
There was the first time we had a major fight, over building furniture. Who knew? The first time I made dinner for us after coming home from the honeymoon. The first time we had to share a bed with each other and realized that we sleep very different, the first time we spent any length apart after being married (3 days). Which I vow now to make it a habit never to spend more than 3 days apart if we can help it.
Today I had antother first in marriage... i forgot my wedding ring! :( I usually never take it off, I never took it off hardly ever when we were engaged either. But after a recent loss of some diamonds in the wedding band the jeweler told me when I went to get them replaced that I should always take it off when doing things like moving stuff that's heavy, doing the dishes, etc. All of which can harm the stones and ruin the prongs, etc. And it scared me, I thought I didn't want to lose the ring or the stones in it. I already almost lost the engagement diamond when I lost the wedding band stones, the center one was very loose and I didn't even know it. Made sense.
So this morning while putting on lotion and doing my daily morning activities I took my wedding rings off and layed them on the counter in the bathroom in a little star dish that perfectly matches my patriotic bathroom. :)
I walked out the door and realized after we were in the car that I didn't have my rings. It's a weird feeling, anyone who's married can tell you that. I must admit I was sad at the thought of not having it with me all day long. All morning, I've been looking down at my hand, it just feels different with out it. I know that sounds silly but it really does.
It brought my back to my wedding day when Jeremy was speaking to us about the symbolism of the "ring." A never ending circle, perfect in every way. A symbol of our love and devotion to one another and God. That "circle of trust."
Not only do I love my ring, it's beautiful! But I love what it represents about God, marriage, and love! Just a simple reminder of the love of my life and how truly blessed I am!
Tonight I will put a sticky note on my mirror so I don't forget!

Our Wedding & Video

Orion and I were married July 14th, 2007 in my hometown in Iowa. We had a beautiful wedding day that we shared with amazing family and friends. We honeymooned for seven days on a Carribean Cruise by Princess Cruise Lines. Take a peak at some of our favorite wedding moments.

 

Andrea & Orion Worley

 Our very large and fun wedding party. Made up of all the people we love most! Thank you everyone for being apart of our special day, we love you!

 Me with my Bridesmaids. Each and every lady is very dear to me.

 Orion with his Groomsmen.

 Our wedding ceremony in the church I grew up in.

 Lighting our unity candle. We also took communion together, and did a special prayer with our families.

 Husband and Wife.

 Heading to our reception.

 Before going to the reception we stopped to take some pictures at the beautiful Marshall County Courthouse.

 Our wedding cake was done by Cakes by Andrea. Four layers, each a different flavor so yummy!

 I surprised Orion with a Grooms cake at our reception! He was especially excited it had to do with the Sooners!

Our first dance was to Everything by Michael Buble'

To see more moments from our wedding, enjoy the video below.

Wedding Videography: Chad Gilmour of Gilmour Creative