My version of a simple punched card

I loved Sally's card, and altered it slightly for my version.

Food porn

On her blog "the domestic mama & the village cook" Michelle introduced me to food porn... Pictures of food that make you drool. Her example was melted cheese. She also talked about an interesting threesome between waffles, pancakes, and donuts, but I digress.

I was visiting her blog to find a recipe for a sinful flour-less cake that she claimed was like what would happen if brownies and fudge had a baby. I immediately ran to my kitchen and started throwing ingredients into a mixing bowl. With a description like that, wouldn't you?

Anyway, what came out of the oven smelled great but looking at it did not give me a food-gasm. She sprinkled hers with powdered sugar, but I have to admit brownies or cake sprinkled with powdered sugar takes me right back to elementary school - also not food-gasm inducing.

So back to the food porn... If naked doesn't do it for you maybe getting dressed up in something scandalous will, so I covered that sinful chocolate fudgy-brownie-baby cake in the most risqué thing I could think of, and bingo - drool!

So here's my version with brown sugar, coconut, pecan frosting (like you put on German chocolate cake).

Frankenstein any day of the year

Made this card originally as a Halloween card, but found my SU! stamp that goes on the inside of the card that makes it ok for any day of the year!

Looks simple and clean, but...

I couldn't wait to make a set of these. I just loved how simple and clean they looked. What a time consuming project it turned out to be!

My CASE

I really liked the look of this clean, simple birthday card. It was only after I had most of the pieces cut to make my version that I realized I don't have a flower punch similar to the one in the original card... In fact I don't have a flower single flower punch small enough to fit on the square that will also reach to the center of the square. I have a multi-flower punch but the flowers are grouped so closely together that I couldn't center a cut with that one either. I had to rethink. I like my version.

Back to the Beginning...

So the point of this was to have a place to document my life. I got this idea while watching "Scrapbook Memories" on BYU. One of the hosts said that we should take pictures of our lives every day for a month so we could truly see how special each day could be... that in looking for things to photograph we would find or create special moments. So I tried it, and have been taking my pictures almost every day, and I wanted a way to display it all, because I am not a scrapbooker (even though I wish I was). So this morning I went online to find out how to back-date posts so I could accurately show my month of photos. So, I started the blog yesterday, but today I'll go back to the beginning to show when this all really started.

So what's the point?

Why am I doing this? Well, I want a place where I can document my life, albeit fairly ordinary, because some extraordinary things do happen, and some ordinary things... well they can feel special too when you take the time to ponder them. I was a diary keeper as a kid, and after that I kept notes and letters and memorabilia from my teenage life, and I've journaled on and off since then. I've always dreamed of being a scrapbooker, but I'm just not. So this seems like a place where I can reflect, dream, and share so that every day feels like a special day! And as for my audience (my husband said "why are you doing this and who are you doing it for?") maybe just me, maybe not, I haven't decided yet. Maybe someday my ramblings on about everyday life might interest someone who wasn't born in the 70s, who didn't grow up during the 80s, someone who didn't fall in love during the 90s, or have to become a responsible adult in the 2000s, someone who thinks to himself, "What was life like when you were little?"...maybe this will be for those people someday...

Crocheting Again

I started crocheting again today. The local scrapbook store is willing to sell my crocheted flowers. I enjoy using these flowers on projects, but she never stocks any from any of the major companies, so one day I simply taught myself how to make them. Now, I am not a crocheter, my grandma taught me the basic chain stitch when I was a kid, but that's it, so to actually use that and begin crafting something, was pretty amazing. I taught myself how to make 6 different varieties of flowers (and some others along the way that I made once and then couldn't reproduce or that looked hideous in the end and I didn't want to reproduce!). I don't do it as a way to make money, just share my crafting passion!

So what made today a special day?

I started a blog! That's what. And if you have actually been reading this you might say, "no, you started it months ago (maybe even years ago - depends how much backdated material I decide to add)", but nope, today was the day it all really started.

Well now...

A few hours in and I'm feeling like I might actually be able to do this...maybe. Still feels a bit overwhelming, but it's amazing what a makeover a little color and some links can give a blank page.

Getting Started is scary!

I think I might be too old for this whole "blogging" thing... I'm not sure how it all works, but I'm going to give it a shot!

Splitcoast Stampers

I absolutely love this site and haven't been able to post to it in such a long time (since we upgraded our computer and now the scanner isn't compatible with it) but I took a few photos and uploaded that way instead. Man I wish I had a scanner, I just can't seem to photograph them in a way that makes them look as good as they really do. You can't see the layers or subtle patterns that some of them have... guess I need a new method.

Hiding Spots

Every couple of weeks Sunny decides on a new spot to call home. Maybe on top of the entertainment center, or in his kitty bed, on the couch we never use, in a laundry basket... and he keeps that spot as his own for about two weeks then moves on to find a new spot, occasionally he'll move back to old spots and reclaim them as a new spot. I couldn't find him the other day, and then he meowed...like he was playing hide-and-seek with me or something and was giving me a "hint". Well, this is his new spot.
You can see printed on the top that it's not a very big box, only 14 inches long and 4 and a half tall, but he managed to get himself in there under the flaps and curl up for a nap. Cats...

Not really an evil cat...

Poor Sunny, he yawned right as I was trying to take the picture of him sleeping and squirming and looking so cute! He looks like some back-alley cat that could give you rabies or something.

One last look at things...

I stopped back at Meg's on my way home from class today and took a few photos to send her. She said she was feeling homesick so I wanted to help her feel a little closer to home. Took one last walk through the yard snapping pictures of her garden, orchard, and barns (oh, and her cat).
I picked a quart baggie of currants. I think there are probably at least this many more still to be picked, I just can't get at them. They're so tart, I think I'll put them with blueberries and make more jam.I'll come back and check on things again in a few days just to make sure all is well. I know this is hard on her.

An Overnight Adventure

So, Meg has asked me to check in on things every so often and I have a class in Mansfield today and tomorrow so I decided to camp out here tonight to lessen my commute.

The day actually turned out to be beautiful! The weatherman was mostly right I suppose. I opened up windows and shut off the air because it is only 70 outside and there is an amazing breeze. Man if only the whole summer could feel like this.

I decided to spend a majority of the afternoon and evening outside and was able to work up a sweat. I pulled weeds and picked currants and walked through the yard. When it started to get dark I went out and gathered the weeds to throw out and startled deer that were in the yard. I watched them bound off for a minute.Finally I went in and decided to get out my craft tote (I hardly go anywhere without it). I could have watched tv, but I never have figured out how to use their insane remote. So I crafted several cards instead.I figure this could mean "happy _______" fill in the blank... birthday, anniversary, heck even Easter. Versatility is the key!This one is really shimmery and would make a great anniversary or wedding card.Our school colors are royal blue and gray so this will make the perfect card for one of the graduating seniors next year. Those kids will make me feel old. I started teaching them when they were in first grade and now they're graduating. They gave me fits, but I loved those kids, and I got to teach some of them 2 or 3 times during those 12 years. It's amazing how time flies...

What weather!

After the terrible weather we had yesterday I made sure to check the forecast before heading out this morning. I was told it was "clear and sunny" with a 0% chance for precipitation. Yippee! Then I got in my car and was maybe 5 miles from home when...

After the Storm

It stormed like crazy today, all day! The roof leaked, the power went out, and at the very end the sky did this crazy thing where it kept changing colors coloring everything else in weird tints. It went from green to yellow to orange to purple, then finally to this brilliant reddish sunset. It was beautiful. made me almost forget what a yucky day it had been.

Making Jam

I stopped at Meg's today to check on things...never got to see Merlin, but I did get to pick a few raspberries and some currants. I'll have to come back soon for the rest of the currants, they're ripe but being overgrown by weeds, so they're difficult to get to. I decided to make some jam... 2 jars, one for me and one for her. Yum!

A Friends' Night Out

Today was a great day. Brandi kept Preston so we could all go out for the night. We started the evening by meeting Elizabeth at the West Side Market in Cleveland. I'd love to go back again sometime earlier in the day. Many shops were closed or closing, but it was still a great experience. We bought some fudge and some beef jerky (Michael Simon's favorite). Then we found some amazing dried fruits and vegetables. Let me tell you dried green beans are wonderful!We had quite awhile to wait between the time the market closed and our dinner reservation, so we wandered over to Great Lakes Brewing Company for some drinks. We went down into the cellar and sat near the fermentation tanks. Their website describes it as The Beer Cellar: a beautiful turn-of-the-century “rathskeller” complete with stone walls, brick floors, fermentation tanks and a wooden bar. Beautiful doesn't quite describe it... it's a pretty awesome place with great beer and an amazing artichoke dip that I could have eaten on anything!So we got to Momocho a bit early, it was a nice walk from the brewery, and our table was ready for us. Dinner was amazing. We started with the guacamole sampler - smoked trout and bacon, spicy pineapple with habanero peppers, and tomato with goat cheese. Wow, were they good (in fact even their plain old tomato salsa was wonderful!) Then we ordered amazing taquitos. Dustin and I each got one that had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. He tried the coffee crusted brisket and I got the duck confit. Both were amazing. We especially loved the green sauce that they simply call their "salsa verde", but is so much more than salsa verde that you've had anywhere else. Dustin even got a cucumber margarita that we all had to sample (so yummy!). We decided since we don't get to do something like this every night we'd go all out and we even got dessert, 2 in fact. Their gingersnap and jalapeno bread pudding was the most amazing desert I've ever eaten (don't forget I have an addiction to bread). But everyone else thought the horchata rice pudding with almond brittle was the best. I think we made two very good choices!

We passed all of our dishes for everyone to sample, we passed our phones so everyone could get pictures of food and friends, and it was just a perfect evening. We could go back and have another amazing dinner, but it wouldn't be the same as the first time shared with wonderful friends.This isn't the best picture ever, but it will be a great reminder of that evening.