Pentagon Picnic & A Surprise!!!

Soooo... our apartment still isn't completely set up. I know I know its taking forever but as soon as its ready, you'll know and I will post pictures. So... I will blog about my pentagon department's picnic and then... keep reading... we've been keeping a surprise from everyone and just can't keep it in anymore (NO.... it is NOT a baby...for those of you holding out on that, you're going to be waiting a long time....)

So each year, my department at the pentagon has a picnic. I volunteered to help this year and signed up for the first-ever bake off! Once my office found out that I could bake, they put all their faith in me and were REALLY into me winning. They even sent me home early the day before so I could start baking! I spent the two weeks before digging up my best recipes, mostly southern ones, from my mom, my grandmas, my mother in law, paula deen and anything else that looked good on the internet. There were 3 categories for the bake-off: cookies, cakes/cupcakes, and pies. I have to admit that I got way more into the competition than I needed to. But, when I could either unpack boxes or bake goodies, I definitely chose the baking. After lots of narrowing, I chose 10 recipes (sorry I didn't get pics of all of them):

CAKES:

Coffee-cream filled chocolate cupcakes

Deep-fried truffle stuffed cupcakes (sorry no pic, but they were delicious!)
Mississippi Mud Cake

Summer Strawberry Cake

COOKIES:
Ooey Gooey Chocolate Butter Cookies

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Raspberry-Lemon Whoopie Pies

PIES:
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake (before getting covered in chocolate sauce)

Mini Key Lime Pie Tarts (sorry no pic!)

I can't tell you how much fun it was to play Betty Crocker for a week. The picnic was at a military base in DC. As a volunteer, I had to go pick up 10 trays of Subway sandwiches and 100 pounds of potato salad, carry 2 large coolers and bring all of my desserts. People up here drive miniature cars, so they were pleased with my 4Runner. For once, it was nice to have a big car up here.

Warning - you will think I'm a total loser for this, but I think my favorite part of the picnic was my t-shirt. Within 0SD-Policy there are several departments. SO/LIC basically covers counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism and humanitarian aid. So, we had tshirts made that say "Thugs, Drugs, and Hugs" - I LOVE it!

The picnic was really fun except for the ridiculous heat. The heat index was around 118 that day. It was miserably hot, but the picnic was really fun! I was actually assigned the dessert table to guard until the judging. It sounds like an easy job, and a nice one since I was under the tent, but it was really hard! Not only did I have to make a list of each dessert that was submitted (over 30), but I had to slap away little kids' hands. It was awful. Not only that, but the picnic started at 11 and the desserts weren't judged until almost 1 o'clock, so I watched these beautiful desserts melt.... Poor desserts.

In the end, I took the prize for best cookies with my red velvet whoopies and best OVERALL dessert with my summer strawberry cake!

 

Since the picnic, people have been putting in orders for birthday parties... maybe I shouldn't have baked so much? Now the expectations are high... Oh well, in the end it was a great day to get out of the office and hang out with/get to know my co-workers.

And now.... for the surprise you've been waiting for.........

Although I prefaced this by saying the surprise was not a baby, I probably should have been more specific.... our family has grown, but not because I am pregnant. Meet our new baby:

RHETT BUTLER OSBORNE!!!!!!

How cute is she? We've been keeping her a secret for a long time, and I'm so excited I can now talk about her! And I know, I know, you are probably asking yourself why in the world we got another dog. Haha. Well... I've REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted another one, a sister for Scarlett. We are gone so much during the day, I'm afraid she gets lonely. Believe it or not, I picked her out at Christmas. I did alot of research to find a breeder, and he does a waiting list for the color you want. I got on the wait list this spring for a blue (basically grey) girl. Annnnddddd on May 3rd, our little blue and white parti girl was born! The only problem was that we definitely could not have had her in our old apartment, so the breeder agreed to hold on to her an extra month before we moved. Sooooo last Sunday, the day after we moved, we went to go get her!

Although her name is Rhett Butler, she is in fact a girl. Caleb calls her our gender confused dog. At first I doubted naming her Rhett, but it totally fits her. And now I have my gone-with-the-wind pair of poms. I would love to say that they are a match made in heaven, but just like the movies, they are kind of up and down. Rhett REALLY wants to be friends with Scarlett, but honestly, Scarlett "just don't give a damn!" In her defense, she came home to a brand new apartment and a new puppy, so its been a rough few weeks! It's getting better though, and I'm sure they will soon be best friends forever!

Rhett is a very different puppy than Scarlett was. She is very laid back, doesn't bark, and spends most of her time sleeping. She LOVES to play, including with Scarlett's toys, and has already learned her name. She hasn't destroyed anything yet... (knock on wood)... and her only fault is that she potties ALL-THE-TIME! Thank goodness for puppy pads! She weighs two pounds and definitely resembles a little skunk. So now I have a dog that looks like a fox, and a dog that looks like a skunk!

So that's our big surprise. We are now a happy family of 4! Other than that, Caleb and I are both just commuting, working, and coming home and attempting to unpack the endless boxes. I would say we should be finished by this weekend, but this is the weekend we have to completely clean our old apartment and hand over the keys. I thought I kept it clean this past year, but apparently not.... It's going to be a LONG weekend of cleaning.

Until next time, here is a face that is sure to make you smile!