I had the opportunity to do a story today on a cheerleading competition that is dedicated to raising money for cancer research.

I have to say that this story was really a blessing for me to do.  Cancer has, and will touch so many of us.  Although it’s a tragic thing, I learned from these girls, that it’s not about the tragedy, but about what we do to live on and continue the fight for those that we have lost.  I lost my Grandmother to cancer many years ago.  This just brought back great memories of her,  for me.

I am currently obsessed with cupcakes.  I mentioned a few weeks ago, that I was trying to bake some to avoid emptying my pockets on gourmet ones.  I’m sad to report, my pockets have been emptied, my belly is full, and I’m quite happy about it.  I ate the MOST amazing cupcake ever late last week.  It was pure heaven in the form of a baked good.  It was a Red Velvet Cheesecake cupcake.  Talk about amazing!!!!

As fate would have it, twice this week, my stories have lead me to the neck of the woods where cupcake shops happened to be.  I fell victim every time.  If you notice a few extra pounds that would be why. . LOL.

I think in my next life I will open  a cupcake shop of my own.  I’m taking name suggestions. Email me your ideas.

It’s that time again!  For the whole month of February, I will be giving you an up close and personal look at some of your favorite radio personalities in the Glass City.  First up is the host of Hot 97.3′s show  “Gimme My Shine”, Bigg Eddie Bauer.  Make sure you tune in to check him out, and all the other radio celebs on  Wednesdays at 6:30.

This morning I was browsing my friends’ Facebook posts, and ran across one of a girl I know who is looking into buying a puppy.  She said she had been

looking for weeks and hadn’t been able to find one.  It just made me think back on the experience I had when I adopted my fur child from a shelter last March .

Because my experience was such an enjoyable one, I think that shelter dogs will be the only dogs that I get in the future.  My little boy had been rescued from a puppy mill.  He is a full breed Miniature Schnauzer.  But he was going to be put to sleep by the operators of the mill because he has a little defect with his ear.  The rescuers said they aren’t sure if he was bitten by another dog, or what exactly happened.  But basically, he was almost killed because he wasn’t perfect in the mill operator’s eyes.  They told me that when they rescued my sweet boy, he had an infection and no hair on his ear at all.  But let me tell you, he was and still is GORGEOUS! And he is perfect.  It still makes me upset to think that there are people out there just after money, that have no regard for living creatures.  Apparently, this is something that happens all the time.  So if you get a shelter dog, you could be saving a life.  If that’s not rewarding I don’t know what is.

Needless to say, I gave this whole story to my friend on Facebook.  Hopefully she goes the shelter route when picking out her new best friend.

I have to admit that my weakness is sweets.  I love the smell of them, the taste of them, the joy of baking them!  I just generally love them.  Earlier this week I had an extreme craving for cupcakes.  I happened to have a few boxes of cake mix in my cabinet.  So, I woke up a few hours early for work to bake some strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

After spending my valuable sleep time, I was very disappointed that they weren’t as scrumptious or as satisfying as a gourmet cupcake.  So this weekend I’m in search of a good recipe that will give the very expensive and delicious ones that you can get around town, a run for their money.  I have a few cookbooks, to check out.  However, if any of you out there have some that will knock my socks off, send them my way.  My email address is: ncollier@foxtoledo.com

One of my stories this week took me to Owens Community College’s firing range.  I was interview the Director of Emergency Preparedness Mike Cornell for our series My Town.  He also let me fire off a few shots.  I think I may want to take a few classes to sharpen my skills .  It was a lot of fun.  Here are a few pictures.

2011 has been an amazing year for me.  I walked away with a lot of gains this year.  I married my best friend, I started my job here at FOX Toledo,  I moved to a new city, and I have learned just how strong of a person I really am.

I have been in a lot of situations this year that have forced me to rise to the occasion.  I am grateful for each of these new and exciting experiences that I have had this year.  I’m happy to have had each and every one of them.  I’m ready for 2012 and all the goodness it has in store.

I can’t believe that it is already Christmas Eve-EVE! This month has zipped by.  I can’t complain though, because Christmas really is one of my favorite holidays.  I’m looking forward to spending time with the people that I love the most…my FAMILY, and of course, seeing if Santa brought me anything I’ve been wishing for .  I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas, and enjoy being with your family and friends.  Talk to you next week.

Time is ticking away until Christmas, and I am super excited.  Mostly because this my first Christmas with my husband.  We have been busy trying to make our very own family traditions, along with picking out and decorating our first tree.  Here are a few pictures.

The combination of being on the night shift, and the weather getting colder has made me want to break out my crock pot for meals.  I must say, the convenience and yummy factor are enough to convince any non-believer.

Recently I made loaded baked potato soup.  It was amazing.  Check out the recipe, and give it a try if you’re in the mood for soup on a chilly day.

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/slow-cooker-potato-soup/