Drew has learned how to play peek-a-boo. Very cute!

Time Lapse of the Milky Way

(Better full-screen this one...)

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." - Psalm 19:1

Domo-kun Project

A commission project.

For those of you who have no clue who this menacing little guy is (like myself), Domo is a character from a Japanese (you're surprised, I'm sure) claymation/stop motion TV show. He is described as, "a strange yet very polite creature that hatched from an egg, likes to rock, watch TV, hang out with an old rabbit dude, and pass gas when nervous."

Yeah, I don't really get it either. I don't ask when there's payment involved. Made with 100% Cotton Peaches & Creme Yarn, felt, and has poseable arms.

Matt's "Famous" Chimichangas

Just look at it. Isn't this dish a thing of beauty?

Too bad I'm under contract and can't share Matt's "secret" recipe with you. You'll have to settle for a picture of our out-of-this-world dinner and a recipe for the yummy chicken that filled part of it.

I told Matt that I hope that we get raptured tonight, because I want this to be my last meal. My tummy's feeling quite spoiled right now. =)

Slow-Cooked Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:
1.5 – 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or boneless chicken thighs)
1 (1.5 oz.) pkg taco seasoning mix
1 Cup chicken broth or water
1 Cup salsa or picante sauce

Directions:
Place chicken in a slow-cooker and sprinkle taco seasoning mix on top of chicken. Then, pour on chicken broth and picante sauce. No need to stir.
Cover, and cook on low for 8 hours.
After 8 hours, the chicken is so tender it usually falls apart with a fork. So, use forks to shred, or pull apart, the chicken. Stir it around and let it stay warm in the slow-cooker while you prepare the rest of dinner.

Creamy Cheesecake Recipe

My first attempt at cheesecake. It didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but thankfully, it all turned out in the end. This actually wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but just don't be like me and not check to see if your springform pan will fit in any of your larger pans for the waterbath. It's not fun. Also, don't start making it at 9 pm. You'll be up until 1 am. My oven hates me and refused to cook the stupid thing. Argh.

Didn't Hubby do a beautiful job decorating this piece? I actually got him to like cheesecake for once! Well, this recipe atleast.

Do not let cheesecake scare you. This is Our Best Bites' recipe and if you pop on over there, they have a GREAT walkthrough for you. Very helpful!

Creamy Cheesecake

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese (NOT low-fat or fat-free), softened
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 c. sour cream (NOT low-fat or fat free)

CRUST:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. white sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Combine crust ingredients and very gently pat into the bottom of a 9″ springform pan. Set aside.

Beat the softened cream cheese until smooth then add the eggs, one at a time, until smooth. Add in the sugar, salt, vanilla, and almond extract and beat on high for 3 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides and making sure the mixture is completely smooth. Add the sour cream and mix well. Pour batter into pan and wrap the pan with aluminum foil or a turkey roasting bag. Place the wrapped pan into a larger baking or roasting pan and fill the larger pan with water so it comes up about 3/4 of the side of the springform pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until filling is custard-like. The center shouldn’t be completely set–it should kind of jiggle like firm Jello, but it shouldn’t be liquidy, either. Just don’t overbake. Turn off the heat and crack the oven and allow to stand for another 20 minutes or so. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours. DON’T remove springform sides until cake has set for 8 hours. Makes 10-12 (or more!) servings.

Chicken Caesar Linguine Recipe

This recipe is so simple and tasty! It not only was a hit with the hubby, but Cher came over and enjoyed it as her birthday dinner, too.

The second time I made it, I forgot to pick up Cream of Celery. If this happens to you, don't fret. We found that Cream of Chicken works just as well. Serve with Caesar salad and garlic bread and enjoy a nice "Italian" meal for little funds and even less effort. Thanks again Campbell's Kitchen!

Chicken Caesar Linguine

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut up
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Celery Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1 cup water
1/3 cup Caesar salad dressing
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 of a 1-pound package linguine, cooked and drained (about 4 cups)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it's well browned on all sides.

Stir the soup, water and dressing in the skillet. Heat to a boil. Add the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Toss with the linguine. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Parenting Test

HOW TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE READY TO HAVE A BABY

MESS TEST

Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in

the wet flower bed and rub on the walls.

Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos. (If Legos are not available, you may

substitute roofing tacks or broken bottles.) Have a friend spread them

all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or

kitchen. Do not scream (this could wake a child at night).

GROCERY STORE TEST

Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with

you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and

pay for anything they eat or damage.

DRESSING TEST

Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag

making sure that all arms stay inside.

FEEDING TEST

Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from

the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert

spoonfuls of soggy cereal (such as Fruit Loops or Cheerios) into the

mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the

contents of the jug on the floor.

NIGHT TEST

Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8 to 12 pounds

of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 8:00 PM begin to waltz and

hum with the bag until 9:00 PM. Lay down your bag and set your alarm

for 10:00 PM.Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have

ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00

AM. Set alarm for 5:00 AM. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up

for 5 years. Look cheerful.

PHYSICAL TEST

Obtain a large bean-bag chair and attach it to the front of your

clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10% of the beans.

Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they

can improve their child's discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet

training, and table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve.

Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run

wild.

Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the

answers.

What Did You Do All Day?

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door.

As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap, and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked:

“What happened here today?’”

She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?”

“Yes,” was his incredulous reply.

She answered, ‘”Well, today I didn’t do it.”

[Source]

Crochet Beaded Bracelet Projects

Click to enlarge.

Branching out and trying my hand at beadwork crochet. Found these quick little bracelets and now I'm hooked. I definitely want to make some more of these to sell in my shop. I do think the second one needs larger beads, but it's what I ended up with. I still really like it. The first one's my favorite of the two, though. I just so happened to make it in my size. =)

Patterns: Summer Cotton Crocheted Bracelet, Crocheted Beaded Bracelet

Dirty Work

This is what stepped in the door this afternoon, after working at the new church all morning.

I told him I'd kiss him, but I was too afraid to get Black Lung.

500!!!

500 BLOG POSTS, BABY!!!

Well, technically this is blog post number 501, but who's counting, right?

Here's to 500 more! =)

Converting Measurements

A friend of mine posted these on Facebook. Too funny not to share.

Converting Measurements Cheatsheet

1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7. 16.5 feet in theTwilight Zone = 1 Rod Sterling
8. Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon
9. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
10. Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower
11. Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line
12. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
13. 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone
14. 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
15. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
16. 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds
17. 52 cards = 1 decacards
18. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 FigNewton
19. 1000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen
20. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
21. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
22. 10 rations = 1 decoration
23. 100 rations = 1 C-ration
24. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
25. 4 nickels = 2 paradigms
26. 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 IV League

Ripplin' Along

It's been so long since I've actually been able to TOUCH my Ripple Afghan, that I wasn't perturbed in the slightest when I found that I needed to stop working on another project (ran out of yarn) and didn't really have anything direly important to work on at the moment.

I so badly want to finish this thing before it gets cold(er). And heaven only knows if I'll have any time to work on it if/when moving madness starts soon. I'm almost halfway done. Still a lot of ripplin' to do.

I'm already very possessive of this thing. MY blankie. *grr*

Blessings

LOVE this song. So beautiful.

Lovely Piece

We heard this piece at the wedding we attended this weekend. It was beautiful! Please visit YouTube to see it - the owners have disabled embedding for some reason, so I can't post the video itself here.

Somewhere around 3:30 in the video, when the music crescendos, the bride and groom's eyes met for the first time, as she was walking down the aisle. It was absolutely amazing, but not as amazing as the huge smile on the groom's face. I have never seen Russ smile that big before! =)

Love Story Meets Viva la Vida by Jon Schmidt

All Dressed Up

We got a chance to dress up nice and attend a wedding last night. It was a very romantic evening out with my love and I even got to dance with him for the very first time. *swoon*

We really didn't mean to match. That was a happy accident!

A big thank you to Cher for watching the boys and for taking our picture!

Also a first - for the first time in eight years, I made my husband's head snap when I walked out of the bedroom all girl-ified. =)

Church Progress

We got a chance to help work on our new church on Wednesday night. Lots of (de)construction going on!

There's piles like these EVERYWHERE, but we're slowly whittling it down.

This is where a lot of the action is going on right now - the basement. A few years back, a water main broke, flooding the basement with 3-4 ft. of water. There's quite a bit of mold down there, now. It made for very musty, dusty work.

Lots of clean up to be done, which is what we did when we showed up.

Thankfully, there's a huge elevator in the building. This thing was cram-packed by the time we left.

There's my honey, working hard.

I have confidence that it will look nice someday. Many hands are making for light work. It's wonderful to see everyone pitching in in this endeavor. Plus it's fun hanging out with our church family. Lots of laughter and fellowship makes the dirty, dusty work not so bad.

Not child labor. I didn't see these guys doing much, other than look cute. =)

There is still much to be done with our building, but we're working on it. I can definitely understand why they call it "sweat equity". I can't wait to go back to help out again and watch it transform into our new church home.

Still Hoping & Praying

After working at the new church tonight, we stopped by the house again.

Look at those gorgeous irises. Those could be *my* irises.

*sigh*

10 Myths About Introverts

A friend (and fellow introvert) shared this on Facebook. This is 100%, without a doubt, to the T, ME.

10 Myths About Introverts

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.
 
Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

[Source]

Does This Need To Be Said???

I bought myself a curling iron this weekend and I found this amongst it's contents.

Are there really people that are dumb enough to stick a hot curling iron in their eye?! Seriously. If you're that stupid, perhaps you shouldn't be around any sort of appliance. Just sayin'.

Possible New Home

It's no secret that our patience with our current living space is growing thin - not to mention the actual SPACE in our current living space. It's getting harder and harder to live here. The inspections keep coming. The harassment from management continues. The rent keeps climbing. Something's got to give.

We've prayed and prayed for some way out. We've lived here for seven years now, only because we haven't had any way out. It wasn't bad at first, and we have many good memories here, but it's gotten increasingly worse the past couple of years. It's just time to move on.

We have just recently been given a small bit of hope; a dim light at the end of the tunnel. There is much is up in the air, so I can't give any definitive details about it, but there is a possibility that we could get into a house - maybe as soon as October.

This is the house we're looking at (pictured above). We got to tour it today and we instantly fell in love with it - cautiously, though. A 1917,  3-bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,330 sq. ft. home in Downtown Twin Falls. I won't lie - it needs some help, but nothing some paint and elbow grease can't fix. It's structurally sound and has had some remodeling done to it by the owners (i.e. plumbing, electrical, and laff and plaster removal). Some of our favorite features are the big, beautiful bedrooms that are filled with storage spaces, original wood flooring in the living room and dining nook, a large, fenced backyard that could easily hold a swing set, garden, and still have romping room left over, an extra room that would make a perfect schoolroom, and all the appliances are included (yay for no more laundromats!). Another huge benefit? It's less than a mile away from our new church (we got the Cain's building, by the way - woot!).

It's just...perfect. It hit me as I was standing in the dining room, looking at the adorable window seat (something I've ALWAYS wanted) and when I was standing in the quiet, private backyard. I cried. Just the thought of having our own place that we could truly call "home". Somewhere where we could peacefully raise our boys without the threat of being evicted or gouged for rent.

We ask for prayers on the matter. This is a really big deal for us. Like I said, much is up in the air. We'll have to do a lot of saving and planning, but ultimately, it's God's plan that will matter in the end. We will waiting patiently upon Him to reveal where He wants us and when He wants us there.

Trying to keep my feet from flying off the ground and my heart from getting attached will be the hardest part. Please pray for me, as well. I want this so bad, it hurts.

Random Storyboards

Click to enlarge any of these.

We buzzed the boys' heads today. This is Drew's very first haircut. He looks so much older! 

While we were at my grandparents' place last, Grams pointed out this robin's nest in her little wishing well. I ventured out with my telephoto (so I didn't make Mama Bird mad) and found atleast two little fuzzy heads poking out. Kind of an unusual place for a robin to nest, but evidently she and her babies were doing just fine. 

And here are some sweet pictures of Drew and Grams on the porch swing. They sure love the boys and enjoy spending time with them. The boys eat it up, too!

Sidewalk Shawl Project

Click to enlarge.

This is the shawl I made to wear to an upcoming wedding and I have to say - I'm pretty darned proud of it. It took a lot of work (and many back-trackings) to make, but in the end, it was very worth it. This was my first time using the "pineapple" design and it was kind of fun - as long as I was paying attention where I was in the pattern.

The picture doesn't show it, but the yarn actually has small metallic flecks in it. Very pretty and perfect for an outdoor evening wedding.

Pattern: Sidewalk Shawl