Remember

So, remember when I acted like by 30th birthday was no big deal? I lied. Seriously. I'm kind of a big deal...to my kids. So, I make myself a big deal to other people. I threw myself a Murder Mystery Party and invited my new friends! The closest people walked to my house, then some crossed state lines, and others, the farthest, drove an hour! Talk about a self esteem boost!

Here he is. My Walter. Isn't he the cutest preppy boy you ever saw? I did good!

Jerry! He looks sweet and innocent, but don't let him fool you!

Amy and myself. Amy is my friend I stole from the Smyrna Ward. She and her husband Jerry, along with Lorien crossed state lines to be with me. They rock!

cheeeeeeeese!

Hazen aka OK, I don't remember anyones names and I can't see their nametags. But that doesn't really matter. I know this is Hazen and Stacey. They are our favorite neighbors here in MD. Stacey is awesome and she understands my need to feed my kids healthy. We both boycott McDonald's!

Ariane and Marc. Marc's aka is religious, for real. At church we call him Pres. Robinson. He is our branch president. Don't you love the tattoos?? He looks righteous, right?

Lorien. She loves Apple. She also loves making fun of Walter. And she's good at it!

Jessica. Another C-town friend and neighbor. Her husband, Sita, was late. After I stopped being the photographer. She's got a little boy that's 2 that thinks my house is fun. Or he used to. He hasn't stopped by in a while.

BJ and Nancy. These guys are some more church friends. They live in C-ville, not to be confused with C-town. People (read: old people and Nancy's brother) get us confused. I don't see it. She is smart and runs a lot. I'm not so smart and eat a lot. hmmmm..... They were our detectives for the night, but by day they are both Biology teachers at the local Community College.

These 2 couples are the local transplants, like ourselves. We have Allen and Katie Voelcker and Kristen and Matt Steck. Katie is Katie Carter, of the 12th ward. As in, my parents ward. They moved out here after they came out to see why we moved out here. What can I say? We are fun! Kristen and Matt are both from Utah and were in Katie and Allen's ward here. They tricked them into moving out here, too! It's our own little Utah.

Oh, and in case there were any questions. Hazen was our resident thug! The local trouble maker who ended up working for the CIA!


Of course, it was a murder mystery dinner. So, there were some casualties.

Not in death order, but still dead by the end of the night.

Katie, killed by Ariane

Hazen, killed by Ariane, with the hammer. She killed him in the kitchen, with everybody around, and nobody had a clue. She's good...and bad!

Amy, again, killed by Ariane. I'm tellin ya. Watch out for those Preacher's Wife types.

My poor Walter. He was the first to go. However, Ariane didn't kill him. His characters 'best friend' did it. Thanks Hazen! Knock him out early so he can start the clean up.



I made Cafe Rio Pork Salads for dinner and it was AWESOME! I love inviting people who like good food over. It makes them think I'm a good cook when I show them a little love.

Then for dessert I wanted something to the effect of Death by Chocolate, but I really wanted Better Than Anything cake. So, that's what we had, but I still called it Death By Chocolate. A little confusing, but who cares? It's my birthday...or it was almost 5 months ago!



Oh, and Kelly T. check out these pants! Kelly gave me these pants back when we were visiting home in January. Her instructions were, 'find somewhere to wear these!' She was laughing. But I took the challenge, and these 'liquid porno pants' as I soon learned they are called, are pretty dang sezy! :)