Since I know ....

.... tomorrow will involve LOTS of football, thought I'd share a quick photo of something football-related that amused me.

Check it out .... they put the name of the game beneath the screen!!!!


I was in Denver a few months ago on a training for a non-profit I volunteer for ... and we were grabbing lunch (I had the best Monte Cristo sandwich on the PLANET!!!!), and there were games on the TVs. Par for the course, but what amused me was that they labeled each game.

Seriously!?!?!???

Crazy.

Tea Party!

When the cookie backing concluded, we had a tea party. :)


Robin let people select cups from Mom's collection.


This uber-cool snowflake was our festive decoration. Robin made it and I'd love to learn how to do so because it's pretty darn cool looking.


Teacups.


The tea cup I used.

On a completely side note, sometimes friends ask if they need to get a bigger, fancier camera for stuff. Often, my answer is NO. I used my little point and shoot for all of these photos. While not award-winning, they're perfectly fine. But you HAVE to know how to work your camera. For example, on this one, you can see the window in the background. I knew if I used the camera on automatic, the teacup would be dark. So I forced the flash to go off, making the teacup light enough to see.


The insides even had decorative flourishes on them ....


A few snack-a-roos.


Robin and I brought tea to combine with Mom's, so there were plenty of options!


Yeah, do some work, Robin!!!!


Another pretty teacup.


And an up-close photo.

Another photo aside, I used my point and shoot for this, folks! There's a function called "macro" ... so if you want to take a photo up really close, consider that option. Because I hate seeing out of focus photos of things like engagement rings and the like. ;)


Festive headgear was, of course, encouraged.


Cheers!


Another macro photo. :)


Susie showing Kristine good party manners. ;)


And Robin making the table not wiggle. Every once in awhile, the glass table is good for an amusing photo.

Cookie party!

Yikes! Somehow I got behind on blogging. Let's get caught up.

Growing up, Christmas cookies were a big deal for us. Probably because with 3 diabetics in the house, it was the only time we really got to have cookies around. ;)

Since we've gone to college, etc, the cookie tradition has become less formal. But this year, Robin decided we'd make an official party. Now, I think she's had unofficial parties in the past. Heck, they might have even been official, but I wasn't a player in them.

So here goes.


Some of the cookie cutters were a gift from the ring bearer + flower girl at our wedding. :)


Mom always says the Christmas Tree cookies taste the best, so we are sure to make LOTS of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was not around for the baking. I saw the first few cookies go into the oven, but had a bridal consult, so I missed a portion of the festivities.


Sometimes cookies get decorated before they go into the oven.


Here, Miss Susie gets her groove on. I think she's adding green hair ....


Kristine, Susie and Robin in production!

Happy anniversary, sis

Yikes, did my little sister really get married 2 years ago?!?!??!?

Well, I'm still thrilled, despite my expression in the photo.


;)~

Merry Christmas

May today fill your hearts with grace and peace.

Is that a tradition I smell?

Last year, I told my family if they wanted to see me for Christmas, THEY would have to come to ME.

Dinner was simple: pot roast, mashed potatoes and some simple veggies.

Well, once again, I have a roast in the crockpot. Never would I have guessed I would do this two years running. Probably because it's so easy. ;)

Cheers.

Art is all around

As a photographer, I'm a *little* picky about photos. ;) Or a lot.

Erik and I have some original art on our walls. Photos from pros and lesser known photographers. Eventually, I think we'd both like to see this collection grow.


(I borrowed this image from Shawn's blog ... I suspect you're reading this, Shawn .... HI! If you want to slap my wrist, feel free to do so).

And one person whose work is DEFINITELY on my list is Shawn Reeder. His nature photography BLOWS MY MIND. I've actually blogged about Shawn before. But boy, was that one disjointed blog post.

Anyhow, culling through his nature galleries .... it's nearly impossible to choose a favorite one or two photos!!!

Saturday night, I was commenting to my friends how I sort of use this blog as my brian. If I can't remember a recipe, I just come on here and look. It's handy. Maybe I should do the same for art I'm interested in?

In that case, another artist we'd love to have on our walls is Kathleen Kuchar. She's a local Hays artist, and on one of our first dates, Erik saw a piece of hers at the Hays Arts Center and very much liked it.


As a matter of fact, shortly after being engaged, I surprised Erik and took him to her residential studio. Not all of her work is as abstract as this one, but you sort of get a feel for it.

How to cut a pineapple

Since moving to Salina, I've tried all sorts of interesting culinary adventures. This week, I saw whole pineapples on sale at the store. Hmmm .... why not, I figured. But then I got home and had NO CLUE how to cut the darn thing.

Thank goodness for YouTube!


Fortunately, I picked a rip pineapple from the start!

But I really would have liked some tips on how to set a pineapple UPSIDE DOWN in the fridge .... because it was no easy task.

A fly ...

Ahem.

Today's blog post is going to be a crowd pleaser. I know because I previewed the topic with Erik and Coop ... and they both laughed really hard about today's topic: A fly in the urinal. Yes, I said URINAL on our blog. ;)


And now I've posted a photo.

Yesterday morning, I was listening to NPR as I was working on photos and our new Heartland Web site ... and heard a story on NPR about how urinals with flies (or other "targets" in them) had less spillage than those without. Really. The story is HERE. Um .... I spent most of the time laughing, but I guess I can see how this might apply in life ... I have plenty of friends, many of whom have little boys. The story said males like to have something to aim at.


So, mommies, feel free to get your sharpies out and draw something in your toilet bowl!

The Infinite Frog

Erik and I were talking last night, and I mentioned that perhaps we should pray to the Infant of Prague.


Erik's response was "Is that a cousin of Kermit?"


HUUUUH!?!???!? I thought.

"You know, the infinite frog .... is he Kermit the Frog's cousin?" Erik persisted.

Groan.

So, as you see, while Erik is becoming more versed in the Catholic faith, there are certainly gaps, such as "The Infinite Frog."

Baby it's cold outside ...

And since Esse is the smallest body in our house, she feels the cold in a bigger way than Erik or I.


One of her favorite spots in the house, right next to the space heater in the bedroom .... even if the heater isn't even ON.


Even if it isn't "on," Esse often "waits in joyful hope" for the darned heater to warm up. ;)

Winding roads

Just a quick image I grabbed while on I-70.

Nap time

A quick image from everyone's favorite feline.

I just love birthday cards!

I don't shop for birthday cards year-round. I just happen to find good ones, then get them and hold on to them.

I'm pretty sure I found this in the summer, and Dad's birthday was just a month or so ago ....


Yeah, all of you who know my family totally knew that was coming! ;)

MORE closet organization!

Check out this before:


Now, I don't consider myself a shoe horse, but this is a bit embarassing.

Aaaaand, the after:


Some of my shoes are strewn about the house and not all of them are here, but you get the idea. :)

I found this at Bed, Bath and Beyond. :)

How we communicate ...

Erik and I have extremely sophisticated and advanced ways of communicating. Especially when it comes to the dishwasher. The questions is always: "Clean or dirty?" ... and we used to have a piece of paper that we stuck on the dishwasher with a piece of tape. But we went thru several sides, and now this is what we do:





Ok, so we have abridged it to the "C" and "D" .... but it gets everything sorted out for us.

Homemade Hummus!

'Scuse me .... I'm in a coma right now. A hummus induced coma.


For the longest time, I've had a bag of chickpeas in the cabinet. I have meant to make hummus from it, but just never got around to it. Until today. MMMMmmmmmmmmm ..... Yeah. I am not sure I'll be able to go back now. Wow. This stuff is utterly UUUUUH-MAAAAZING!

Because I had dried chickpeas, I used THIS recipe.

It doesn't specify an amount of water to reserve, but I'd use about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. I pulled out a bit more than a cup (I was doubling the recipe).

Oh, and for the blondes in the audience, be careful to not mix up the pepper with the cinnamon. We were in a hurry and I was rushing around, and yup, I grabbed the cinnamon instead of the pepper. Not a outrageous error, but there is a *hint* of cinnamon to our hummus. But it's mostly garlic-ey goodness. :)

PS- be sure to read THIS POST about how to make your hummus extra silky!

Elf on a Shelf

This afternoon, I was at our friends' house and met Maynard, their "Elf on a Shelf."

Mommy Dawn was telling me one of the grandparents got the book for their kiddo. What happens is there's a story that goes with the elf (you name the elf). What happens is the elf sits on a shelf (or tree or wherever) during the day, and at night, he goes back to Santa and reports if the child has been naughty or nice. Then he finds a new place to sit and kiddo has to find elf in the morning.


Awesome, eh? I totally LOVE the idea! :)

And Dawn said it works well for behavior ... when someone is on the verge of a meltdown or being difficult, all they have to say is "What do you want Maynard to tell Santa tonight?"

GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!

SO glad our friends are doing the kid thing first so we can learn the tricks .... I'm really hoping my friend Nicole gives more info about the "Cleaning Fairies" who live in the wall (there's a really cute miniature door involved!). Nicole, blog about it, because I want to hear where this caper came from! :)

YOUR favorite Christmas Carol?

I don't have the time to download personal photos and the like, but I want to keep fresh content here ... so I'll share a few Christmas Carol faves.

1. "Venite Adormenus" - "O Come Let Us Adore Him" .... it's the Latin version.


I've always LOVED the Latin version. When I studied Latin in college, it made it THAT much cooler that I actually comprehended the song. :)

2. "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

C'mon. Seriously, who DOESN'T love this song?!??!?!? It just cracks me up!

Ok, ok. Audience participation time .... leave a comment and let me know what YOUR favorite Christmas song/carol is. I'm always on the lookout for new ones!

Christmas Card Capers

Our Christmas cards are out. Mostly. I'm still looking up a few addresses.

BUT ...... I sort of have this little competition going. It's all in my head, really. My friend, Erin is ALWAYS the first to get her cards out. Without fail. She forever beats me to it. And I'm ashamed to say one of my life goals was to beat her to the punch. AND I DID. This year. We sent our cards, then I waited a few days, seeing if she'd sent hers the same time I'd sent mine. NOPE!

It's silly and childish, really, but I need *some* excitement in my life!

The blog is sad and lonely as of late. I know. I've only been in 4 cities this week. All within 1 to 2 hours' drive of one another. I'm BUSY people .... so sit tight and I'll resume with colorful antics when I have about 12 seconds to think.

Foooootball

*stretch*

Yesterday, I hit the turf for a state football game. Gosh, it's been years since I shot high school football, but after the first half, I sort of got my knack back .... because of exclusivity stuff, I can't post photos for a few weeks. But in the meantime, you can CLICK HEREto check out the story/photo the Star posted online.

And CLICK HERE to see the photo gallery.

My new favorite thing!

My friend suggested I make some puff pastry twists .... and so I finally gave it a try. When I was looking at the back of the box, there were directions about how to make spinach pinwheels.


Ohhhhh yuuuuuummie!!!!

I adjusted the recipe a bit, and opted to use fresh spinach. :)

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry (you'll find this in the freezer section, next to the frozen pies)
1 egg
1 T. of water
1/3 c. parmesean cheese
1/3 c. fresh spinach, cut up
1/4 c. green onions ... snipped
garlic salt

Defrost your pastry, roll it out.

In a bowl, mix the egg and water. Then brush it onto the pastry.

Mix cheese, onions and spinach, spread onto the pastry.

Sprinkle LIGHTLY with the garlic salt.

Roll the pastry into a log, cut into about 1/2 inch slices and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Um...yeah, now I think I need to go upstairs and have another one. :)

Preparing for Advent ....

Some days, my prayer life is rockin' and at other times it needs much improvement. Last night, I thought I might get back into my rosary-saying habits as Advent nears.


So, last night, I was praying the Joyful Mysteries in preparation for Advent. Anyone else love Fr. Peyton's Rosary Book? Mine's hidden away somewhere, but I like applying the principles to my rosary time.


My chain of thought started with Mary doing something she probably didn't want to do. I'm pretty sure she didn't plan to be a mother. Didn't plan to marry Joseph ... just go down the list. But she DID those things. And she probably did them joyfully. With cheer. Hmmmmm....I don't always react that way when I'm doing something I don't want to do.

THEN I got to thinking, 'How did she know she was supposed to do all these things?' ... and it came to me: "She was steeped in prayer."

We are preparing for Advent, and it's a good time to be steeped in prayer. I have to admit, that's one area of my life that's been slacking/lacking lately, and a new liturgical season is always a good excuse to start over.

So, friends, I'm asking YOU .... how do you "steep yourself in prayer" for Advent .... I'm looking for some good and practical suggestions here .... leave a comment!!!!!!

Beans coming out of my EARS!!!!!

Yesterday, I wanted to make White Chicken Chili, but a portrait session bumped all of my time back, and it didn't happen. That was OK, though, because when I went to the store to get the beans, I realized I could get the dry variety and soak them over night (cheaper thataway).


Well, I soaked the amount the recipe said .... and you more seasoned cooks can just guess what happened. The recipe called for 3 cans of 15 oz beans. Well, they're already bigger and expanded. The 35 oz of beans I soaked became ENORMOUS. So much, in fact, that I couldn't put all of the beans into the crock pot to cook them.


Rats.

So, I figured what the heck. Might as well make some Ham and Bean Soup, too. Right? So I've got that going on the stove with the chili in the crock pot. Sheesh! We're going to be freezing A LOT of soup in the next day or so.


SPEAKING of freezing soup .... a month or so ago, I read an awesome way to do it in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine. Let it cool off some. Then pour it into those BIG freezer bags. Close the bag, get rid of the extra air. Then, put it into the freezer ON A COOKIE SHEET. That way it will freeze flat. The cool benefit to this is it freezes flat, taking up less freezer space. Cool, eh?

And for those of you who want links to the recipes: Ham and Bean Soup and White Chicken Chili.

Oh, on the Ham and Bean soup, I steam a head of cauliflower, then puree it and add it to the soup to make it nice and THICK! :)

Cooperstorm V

Well, it's fall, which means it's time for Cooperstorm!!!!

This year, Coop asked us to host this year. And since I LOVE having people over, it was perfectly fine with me!

We certainly sat around and chewed the fat for awhile ...


... and then we of course showed photos. :)

If Jess (in CA) is reading this, Chris has asked about a west coast version ..... let us know when you guys want to host! ;)