Who Are We?

Kim

My name is Kim and I love to cook and do crafty things. Chocolate chip cookies seem to be my specialty and scrapbooking is my current craft of choice lately. I have been married for almost 8 years to a very loving and patient man and I have two children.

My daughter, "Bears", is 3.5 years old and is beautiful, loving and determined. She spends most of her day trying to figure out how to manipulate her words so that she can get what she wants and playing in an imaginary world that only she can see. Many mornings before she comes downstairs, the princess dress-up and high heels greet me for breakfast. She is a joy and a wonderful big sister.

My son, "Bubbas", is 22 months and has bright blue eyes and a great laugh. He is also my little guy with special needs. He has over 50% developmental delay, cortical vision impairment, hearing loss and wears hearing aids, seizures, low tone and sensory issues. I have learned many things from both my children, but my son has taught me lessons on patience and not understanding more than anyone I know. He is also how I have become the "puree queen." My son won't touch any food or put it to his mouth. He also is still working on chewing and so all his foods need to be mashed and soft. I have gotten very creative on his food and have pureed everything from chicken enchiladas to french toast. He loves it and I feel good I am giving him a tasty home cooked meal.

Our family loves to camp in our 5th wheel in the mountains and the beach and my husband and I have become crossword fanatics as of late. I love photography and taking artistic shots of my children, as well as, reading. I am a bit of a book fanatic!

Deb

My name is Debie or Deb as my friend's call me. I am a stay-at-home/working mommy of two beautiful little girls. I have a busy wonderful husband that I have been married to for six years and a huge 18 pound orange tabby cat. I love to craft it up and cook and read whenever I get the chance.

My oldest daughter "Peanut" is six years old. She is such a wonderful little soul. She is sweet and caring and so patient with her busy little sister. She and I share a joy of artistic things and cooking. She is my helper and our "little mama" who loves to be involved in anything that you are doing. She is going into the first grade and also starting up her second year of soccer and Girl Scouts. The Peanut, as we have always called her, ironically, is also very allergic to those lovely legumes - just like me. This is a huge challenge when you go to school and a subject that we will be talking about as we post.

My youngest daughter "Scout" is three years old. She is our entertainer and fireball. Her big brown eyes suck you in and she loves to keep people laughing. I swear that we will be catching her somewhere on a comedy stage sometime in the future. She keeps us running and giggling pretty much all through the day. She too loves to cook and be involved in anything that mommy is doing. She is extremely little, standing at a big 31 inches. She may be little, but she sure is mighty! The Scout also has food allergies. She is highly allergic to milk and eggs which is in literally everything you buy that is processed. Another interesting challenge that will be up for post very soon - so stay tuned.

So that's the basic jist of the two of us. Here is a little interview that was conducted on the two of us to answer all of those burning questions.......

The Interview!

1. What is your favorite food?

Deb: Bean and cheese burritos and dark chocolate!

Kim: Bean and cheese burritos, of course!

2. The question had to be asked...What is your favorite cupcake?

Deb: I am sort of a traditionalist when it comes to cupcakes. I like chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and of course a cool cupcake topper!

Kim: My favorite cupcake would be party cake with Funfetti frosting. Yummy!

3. What is your favorite childhood memory with each other?

Deb: That is a loaded question. LOL. I can't pick just one! Maybe it was when we decided that we could become synchronized swimmers in Kim's dough boy pool. We thought that we could really make a career out of it. We would even put on full shows for our parents. They were so patient.

A lot of great memories that I have with Kim generally involve food. Kim's Mom used to make us "Rookie Cookie" shakes (recipe to be announced) and quesadillas! We always had doughnuts the day after Kim would spend the night which was a huge treat at our house.

Or our many nights of slumber parties and talking about boys that we thought we were in love with or how we would turn out when we grew up. Now we are here and the fun has just begun.

Kim: I have many favorites. Staying the night at Deb's house was always so much fun. For dinner, her Dad would grill up these delicious hamburgers and her mom would make the Crispers french fries. Then, after staying up all night talking about boys and other important items, we would be greeted with doughnuts that always tasted so yummy.

I also have great memories of us "studying" biology in the hammock in my backyard when we really were again...talking about boys. Then my dad, who is Mr. Science genius, would explain the concepts for us and really who I attribute our passing the class to!

We would also talk on the phone for hours! We have never in all our years of friendship seemed to have run out of stuff to talk about! I guess, now that I think of it, I have always just loved talking to Deb. She has a good ear and puts up with my nuttiness!

Another fun time we had was during Spanish class in High School. Deb had this cool Dodge Omni and a driver's license. Anyway, we had to make this video in Spanish. We were partners and eventhough I don't remember what the video's premise was, I remember a couple of things about it while we were doing it. This was 1993 and as a part of our video Deb was driving the burgandy Omni while I had my head stuck out of the window videotaping us driving by our High School. Again, this was 1993 and video cameras back then were big and heavy! I think I almost fell through the window! We had our country music blaring having a great time. Then we recorded us going through the Taco Bell drive thru ordering a Taco, all in Spanish of course. Went back to her house, I ate the taco while describing it in Spanish, got an A on the project and had a whole bunch of fun doing it!

4. What is your favorite adult memory together?

Deb: Over the last 32 years, Kim and I have had so many fun times together. Again it's hard to choose just one.

When Kim and I first went to our local community college we took a step aerobics class together that just about killed us. The teacher was a Miss Body-Builder Contestant and she thought that boot camp style was the way to go. Kim and I had the best looking abs around even if it was only for one semester.

Another great memory I have of Kim and I was at my 22nd birthday. My ol' pal Kim drove down from Sonoma and surprised me at my birthday party and we sang karaoke to Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Let's just say Kim and I are not trained singers!

The best memory I have of Kim and I was when she met her cute husband Josh. I was dating a friend of Josh's and thought it would be fun to bring Kim one night when we all went out dancing. The two of them hit it off and danced it up all night and the rest is history....she lived happily ever after!

Kim: Every month we go on a Deb and Kim date without children. We do something different every time and I have been enjoying it immensely.

But, to take it back a little bit, when Deb worked as a waitress in an Italian restaurant, I loved hanging out while she was working and then going out afterwards. We never were up to any good, but we sure did have fun while we were at it!

5. What is your favorite movie?

Deb: The Shining for sure! The Breakfast Club, Under the Tuscan Sun and anything that has John Cusack in it. Say Anything is the best!

Kim: I have several...Anne of Green Gables, Bridget Jones, any Jane Austen movie.

6. What is your favorite song?

Deb: "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC, "Hallelujah" by Kate Voegele and pretty much anything by Elvis.

Kim: Again I have several! I love "The Promise" by When In Rome, "Inerstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots, most songs by Live and of course most songs by U2.

7. What is your favorite quote?

Deb: "Well behaved women rarely make history!" and "It's the way you ride the trail that counts."

Kim: "Be Yourself, Who Else Is Better Qualified?"

8. Do you like to clean?

Deb: Clean? Um, no! I especially hate to vacuum! But I love to have a clean house and I am obsessed with cleaning products. I am looking for that miracle product but have yet to find it. You know the one, you snap your fingers and the whole house is clean and sparkling. If you find it, let me know.

Kim: Oh gosh, NO! If I never had to clean again it would make me the happiest woman in the world. Dust is my nemesis!

9. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Deb: I am a total night owl. I usually am up till at least midnight every night but with my daughter's school schedule starting back up and no more afternoon kindergarten, my day's are numbered. I do my best projects and thinking late at night.

Kim: I used to be such a morning person; I still love to be up and take a walk while the world is quiet. But, I seem to be turning into a night person. Case in point, as I am writing this, it is 2 am!

10. Where did the name Cowgirls and Cupcakes come from?

Deb: The name actually came to me in a dream and I woke up and quickly wrote it down. I loved the name because I am obsessed with cowboys and cowgirls. I must have been Annie Oakley in a past life or something. And who doesn't love cupcakes! The two names really incorporate our love for adventure and kitsch and our love of cooking!

Kim: When thinking of ideas of names for our blog, Deb said..."Wait, I have one! It came to me in a dream!" Well, I thought it was pretty cute and must have been destined to be it since it came in a dream and all! We also had a few other names as well (Deb is a genius at names by the way) and we used my husband as a tester on which he liked the best. He immediately said, "Cowgirls and Cupcakes!" and well, the rest is history.