My Day At Home

Does anyone love being at home as much as I do? It just makes me happy- plain and simple. That's all I can say.

Yesterday, we had to cancel Bible study due to the weather. So because my house was already relatively clean from Chris' party, I had a 'free' day. So, I thought I'd share...

Did some planner-work, and tried to finalize some of my business details.

Worked on some things to add to my shop. I opened it yesterday. YEAH!!! There's nothing posted there yet, but soon. It will be at EAlloftheAbove.etsy.com. If anyone has any suggestions of things to put in there, I'm definitely open.


Am loving working with these- amazingly enough.


Roasted some of these. Only a few left. They're from my garden, last year, and they've been in a bin in my basement since last fall. My two favorite things to do with them are to make soup (which freezes well and is very figure-friendly: squash, chicken broth, salt, & pepper- puree); and stuffed squash halves stuffed with wild-rice, apples, dried cranberries, and almonds (modified from a recipe in Everyday Food magazine). Yum!

Update

So here's an update, as I haven't posted for awhile.

The pie was good- but not my favorite. I think I was overly in love with the photo shown and description given. Not as chocolate-y as I would have liked, and not the "French Silk" texture I was expecting. Probably won't make it again (Still love Pioneer Woman, though, don't get me wrong!). So- nothing ventured, nothing gained. That said, if anyone has any recipes for good chocolate pie, I'd love to try!

Here's what I came home to on our 'anniversary' (not the regular one, one of the others. It's six months opposite our wedding anniversary, and the anniversary of the day he first told me he loved me. Maybe cheesy, but we always celebrate it anyway). Isn't he sweet? Love that.


Photo of the skit at the Valentine Banquet at Suburban Heights Baptist Church. Thanks for letting us hang out- we had a great time!


Also, Happy-Belated-Birthday-Hello to Mrs. R, Uncle Dave, Rebekah (my niece), Rebekah (my sister-in-law), Amie, Cousin Jim, and of course my favorite fella...

Note: In case you're wondering, Chris has a fascination with fire and thought it would be fun to have all the candles in a big fat group, rather than spread out over the cake.

This year we had a "Dirty Jobs" theme party for Chris' birthday. Didn't get everything as uber-decorated as I would have liked (wanted to 'decoratively' string 'trash' from the ceiling in a repeating pattern), but it was fun. If any are not familiar with the show on the Discovery channel, you really must give it a try. It's very interesting and usually quite disgusting. It's one of our favorites. Says a lot doesn't it...

Better photo of the cake...



And because I can never get enough photos of my cat...

Valentine's Dessert

While searching for inspiration to make tomorrow's dinner extra special, I stumbled on this lady's cooking site: http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com. Please, please, PLEASE check out the chocolate pie recipe she posted today if you remotely like chocolate at all (which, sadly, I know that a good portion of my friends- and you know who you are- don't. I love you anyway). Can I just say HELLO to the fantastic Valentine's dessert I've been looking for? Don't worry, planning to use pasteurized eggs. Don't want to take any chances. Will also be running on the elliptical for a couple of hours (yikes!) to make up for the sinfulness. But hey- whatever it takes, right?

I Wish I Could Be A California Girl

Ok- not always. But most days I think I could totally handle it... especially when it's been SO COLD! Here are some more pics from our trip:

Check out the U-Turn/Left Turn sign. Not something I'd ever seen, but pretty common around Anaheim.


Our Hotel:




Foot-Bridge in the Courtyard






Courtyard- our room was close to the corner


Courtyard Flowers






Thought the detail on these pots was interesting




Went out our room's back door into the courtyard and this is what I saw... Don't know who the man was- when I turned around, he was gone. Kind of reminded me of the man in a print belonging to my friend, Amie. Not sure why.


Local Architecture:






This one reminded me of home. Thought of Holly & Sarah and all of us checking out the development on Foster Rd.






Even the Jiffy Lube is pretty!


Love how people have fruit trees right in their yards. Must admit, I'm a bit jealous.






McDonald's even has Dippin' Dots. How cool is that?


Check out the size of the Do Not Enter sign...

Photos Below

There's a post for Feb. 1st that uploaded today, given the previously-mentioned difficulties. I finally got it to work. (sigh of relief). I will work on loading more tonight or tomorrow, depending on the level of craziness... Going over the photos makes me want to abandon everything (not everyone!) and jump back on a plane today.

But for now, I'm off to be a productive member of society...

Design-School Flashback

Just wanted to share a link to a little video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Lufmc8t0A that makes me want to paint all day like I'm a 'kindergartener' again. I found it on this lady's blog: http://donnadowney.typepad.com . Don't know if anyone has ever played around with these pencils, but they're a lot of fun. We used them in design school- although not 'just-for-fun' and not with the table salt. LOVE THAT!

Just Wanted to Share

Just had a minute, and wanted to share a couple of the the music videos to songs that have meant a LOT to me and truly touched my heart. They have been great reminders of God's strength and love through some significant trials in our lives, in addition to the 'good' times. I hope they bless you, as well.

"Held" (Especially encouraging when life doesn't seem fair and we like to ask God "why?". When I'm feeling sorry for myself, I like to play it to remind me that God is there holding me, and I'm not facing 'whatever-it-is' alone. I had personally, previously, dubbed it "The Infertility Anthem". However, I just want to say that God is good- all the time, and He love us- all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOufqWodFNo

"One Touch" (based on the story from Mark 5:25-32)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4Zw-9QLlSs

California: Let's Start at the Beginning- It's a Very Good Place to Start

Following, (FINALLY!!!) is the first chapter in our California adventure, featuring my mother, sister-in-law, and myself…

Hotel in Chicago: Lovely, and not smelly (after they switched our room because of a sewer-gas /plumbing problem). Isn't the caption of the second photo true of just about everything? I was tempted to steal the sign, but didn't. Promise.


Got to see the photos from Mike & Bekah's wedding


Photos from the plane (Some of them made me feel like an astronaut! Denise, I thought of you almost the whole time):






Couldn't believe we were actually IN CALIFORNIA!!!


As John Wayne was born in my parents' home-town, it was especially important to get a photo of 'him'...


First palm trees we saw- growing in the airport. Palm trees... Love that. Bekah and I waited underneath them while Mom got the rental car figured out. It was rough, let me tell you.


The best $40.00 you'll ever spend on a trip (Oh the stories...) :


This photo was taken after diving across the back-seat while racing down the freeway, and someone yelling, "Emily, Look!!!"