...Noticed My Heart

Retry-It Tuesday: Cajun Chicken Pasta

2012-02-07T19:15:00.003-06:00

(In the process, the end result wasn't so appetizing.)

I just couldn't decide what to make for dinner this week. I scoured Pinterest, and Cooking Light, and a few of my favorite blogs, but nothing looked that good or it did look good but was too big of an endeavor for a Tuesday night. Without knowing of this frantic search that was going on, my mom said, "You know what I've been craving?" "Uh... no. What?" "That cajun chicken pasta that you made a while ago." Mom saved the day! I didn't have to come up with something new!

So I made Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta that I made back in September but I made a few revisions that I suggested to myself back then:

1. I used whole wheat penne pasta instead of fettuccine.

2. I used a little flour to thicken the sauce.

3. I diced the vegetables instead of sliced them.

I know those all seem very minor but they made it better than it was before. Yay for improvements! Yay for Retry-It Tuesday! I promise I'll be back with a new recipe next week.

Smiles on a Monday.

2012-02-06T22:30:00.008-06:00

Last night I went to bed feeling sick because I ate too much at a Super Bowl party. This morning I woke up sick of myself after stepping on the scale and not seeing what I wanted to see. Then I hopped in my car to leave at 6:08, yep, I said 6:08, and headed to work. Oh, Mondays... But guess what? Mondays don't have to suck. My Monday didn't suck at all. After making it out of bed and in to work, and refocusing myself, it was quite a swell one indeed. Want to know what made me smile throughout the day? Ok, fine, I'll tell you.

1. I sang my heart out on the way to work. I pretty much do every morning but this morning I sang along with David Crowder's new album. I've got to be honest, I can be a bit of a contemporary Christian music snob (as in I don't really listen to it...) but this album is good. And it was the perfect thing to sing to this morning.

2. I got free lunch at work. Apparently we had a good month last month so they brought in Jimmy John's. Half a Turkey Tom and half a Vito and I was one happy camper. I love Jimmy John's.

3. I gave someone a free dinner. It was just me for dinner tonight so I stopped by Chipotle on the way home. As I was paying, the woman behind me told the cashier that she forgot her wallet in her car and that she was going to run out and get it. I've been working on being more generous so I told the cashier, "Actually, will you add her dinner on with mine. I'd like to pay for hers, too." The cashier looked at me like I was crazy but did it. Then I left. I didn't get to see the woman's reaction but hopefully it made her night. If nothing else, the opportunity to be generous made mine.

4. I got to bake for my small group. I've started going to a new church and recently joined a small group and tonight was my first night to bring snacks. I brought Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Homemade Soft Pretzels. They were all very kind and said they were fans. I love baking for people.

5. My cousin Brad posted something funny on my Facebook wall and it reminded me of two things: 1. That I love and miss Brad (he is studying abroad in Spain this semester.) 2. That I am going to a MuteMath concert next week! (His comment had something to do with MuteMath. I didn't just randomly think of them...)

Alright, this is a random post. I just thought I'd give a little shout out to the things that made me smile on this Monday that turned out to be not so Monday-like at all.

On the side.

2012-02-05T11:22:00.000-06:00

Baking makes me happy. I smile a lot when I bake. I smile a lot when it turns out pretty. I smile a lot when it tastes good. I smile a lot when someone else eats what I bake. And I smile even more when they enjoy it. Somedays (most days) I wish I could bake for a living. A lot of people say "Once you start baking for a living, you won't enjoy it anymore." That may be true. So for now, I will stick to 401(k)s for a living and baking on the side. Because it makes me happy. Really happy.

Here is what I've been baking lately... (Stealing the pictures from the people I stole the recipes from. Because they make them look prettier than I can.)

Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwich Cookies. (Pictured above. I baked this today.)

Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies.

French Silk Pie.

Snickerdoodle Cake.

Deep Dish Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. (I used this cake recipe and this frosting recipe.)

S'mores Cupcakes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart.

Jayhawk Love...

2012-02-04T12:00:00.004-06:00

Tonight the Kansas Jayhawks play the Missouri Tigers in basketball. I graduated from MU. But I will be cheering for the Jayhawks. "What? Is she crazy?" Nope. I'm not crazy. I'm brilliant. For cheering for the better team. "Wait... you went to Mizzou... what's wrong with you?" I grew up a Jayhawk fan. I was born in Kansas. All of my family lives in Kansas. I love Kansas. I love the Jayhawks. My brother Joel went to MU and is also a KU fan and I feel like I remember him saying one time, "Why would I throw away a lifetime of allegiance for 4 years of college?" Amen, brotha! Jayhawks for life...

Go Jayhawks! May you win, so:

1. We get a victory.

2. The MU fans, I mean KU haters (because they cheer against KU more than they cheer for their own team), will shut up and move on with their lives...

(Yes, I realize, if the Jayhawks lose I will have to eat my words tomorrow. And I'm ok with that.)

Try-It Tuesdays: Chicken Tamale Casserole

2012-01-31T17:45:00.008-06:00

Their picture...

Hey, it's Tuesday! And I cooked dinner and the recipe involves chicken... again. So I like chicken... Back off! Tonight's recipe was a first for Try-It Tuesdays though... It was *drum roll please* ... a casserole! Yay for casseroles! Ok, I've got to be honest. I was kind of a casserole snob. When I thought of the word "casserole" I thought of luke warm, shady-looking, church potluck casserole. I don't know why. But I did. But then I when I thought again, and tried to believe the best about casseroles like I strive to do in life ("believe the best", that is, not "think about casseroles") all of these amazing casseroles that my mom makes gradually made their way to the surface of my forgetful brain (e.g. chicken enchilada casserole, mmmm) so I decided, "Abby, it's time to give casseroles another chance." And that's what I did. Tonight, on Tryyyyy-It Tuesday! (I said that in my head just like Ryan Seacreast says, "Tonight, on Aaaaamerican Idol!" Just sayin'.)

ANYWAY, one night a couple of weeks ago I went through Cooking Light's 100 Easy Chicken Recipes and found quite a few that seemed Try-It Tuesday worthy. When I came across this recipe I thought, "Well, it has the potential to be really great or really weird." And because that's probably the same thing that people think about me :) I decided to give it a try. Chicken Tamale Casserole. It had easy ingredients (no chopping required! Well, I suppose I shredded the chicken...) It took no time to prepare (I got home, started whipping it up, and was done in 5 minutes when I had allotted 30.) It was reasonably healthy (lots of substitutions for things that could have made it real bad for you). And the best part of all... it was delicious! I'd recommend it, fo sho.

Try-It Tuesday: Chicken Tamale Casserole? Success!

My picture. Not so appealing. But I'm telling you it was gooood.

P.S. Sorry if this post is a little out there. We've had 60 degree weather the last two days and it's made me a bit... silly.

P.S.S. Shout out to my friend Alan who unofficially inspired this post because he said I should enter a casserole contest.

Artsy.

2012-01-25T19:45:00.004-06:00

My Etsy-studded cubicle.

Today was just one of those days... work stunk. And I'm sure I'll go in tomorrow, and it'll be fine, and it'll be like today never happened. But today stunk. At one point in the day, I was looking at a blog on my break and my co-worker said, "What are you looking at this time?" (Because I am always looking at sites to remind me that there is a life outside of 401(k)-land...) And my answer was this really dramatic (yes, I'm a bit of a drama queen...), "Looking at something creative. Because I need to do a craft, or sing a song, or bake something, to remind myself of the things I'm actually kind of good at." Yes, the guys that sit around me are good sports to put up with me and my feelings. REALLY good sports, actually. But the day finally ended, and I came home and my parents took me out to Chipotle, and I baked this cake, and I'm feeling better. :)

I thought I'd compile a list of all of the blogs that get me through days like today and remind me of the "artist" that I am deep down when the finance person doesn't feel adequate....

Baking Blogs:

Joy the Baker

Annie's Eats

The Pioneer Woman

Two Peas and Their Pod

Crafty Blogs:

Other Websites That Make Me Feel Creative:

Etsy

Style Me Pretty

Pinterest (I have to get it from my phone though because they blocked it at work.)

The Bait Shop

Thomason Graphic Design

Try-It Tuesdays: Chicken Satay Stir-Fry

2012-01-24T19:46:00.001-06:00

So, today's Try-It Tuesday is not actually the first time I've tried this recipe. It may be... the fifth. BUT my brother Kyle was having his new lady friend over to meet the family and I wasn't about to have another Southwest Chicken and Corn Chowder incident (yuck) on my hands. So I went with a tried and true recipe that has always guaranteed me success.

It's a Rachael Ray recipe that my friend Corrie made for me a few years ago. I tracked the recipe down and have made it a few times, and it's great. It's long, fancy name is Chicken Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice. The rice is delicious (although my dad always says he'd prefer it not have orange in it, but what does he know... (kidding, Daddy!)) The chicken and vegetables are tasty and fresh. And the peanut sauce is to die for (unfortunately it's also the least healthy part of this meal...) Thankfully the recipe was a hit yet again, and I think Kyle's lady friend (I don't know what their "status" is yet, because he freaks out any time you ask, so I'm referring to her as that) thought it was decent enough.

I also made a red velvet cake because Kyle said she liked anything with cream cheese frosting. I cheated with the cake and just made a box mix but I went with Joy the Baker's cream cheese frosting recipe, here. Overall: a successful night. Hopefully the lady friend would agree. (PS My mom did try out a new recipe last night and it was amaaaazing. Chicken and Sweet Potato Chili. Check it out!)

Dessert, before.

Dessert, after.

Another one bites the dust...

2012-01-21T16:14:00.006-06:00

(Awkward foot picture. Got a pedicure today and chose this green

in honor of my friend who loves crazy colors. Especially green.)

So, you remember this spring/fall when I was in a big funk because all of my friends were moving away? But I kept on saying, "At least Jessie's still here. I still have Jessie." Guess who's moving away tomorrow? That'd be Jessie...

My dear friend Jessie and her lovely family are moving to Austin, Texas tomorrow. I haven't really let myself think about it much, but I suppose it's time. I'm going to miss her. A lot. Instead of getting in a funk for the next 3 months about it (like I so maturely handled it last time), I've decided to take the "thankful" route. I'm thankful for the last 6 years that I've known Jessie. I'm thankful for the dance parties, the period piece watch parties, the book discussions, the heart to hearts, the tear fests, the crafternoons, the baking sessions, the game nights, and more... She's a pretty great friend. And I'm thankful.

I went to Facebook to find a good picture of Jessie and I. And well... I found a lot of the following instead. So, you enjoy these, while I bake away my feelings and blow my nose. :) (Yep, I baked this Red Velvet Cheesecake, this Peanut Butter Pie, and this Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie this afternoon. I had reason, it wasn't because I'm kind of sad. It sure did help though...)

Try-It Tuesdays: Jambalaya

2012-01-18T19:15:00.006-06:00

I'm so excited to post something new. Not because I like to blog (because I do), but more importantly I'm pretty sure if anyone new came to my blog and saw that picture they probably thought, "Oh no, this is a gamer's blog." I suppose I like games (like is probably an understatement). But I wouldn't call this a gaming blog. Anyway, hooray for a new picture to greet you when you get here for the next couple of days.

Try-It Tuesday is back! Ok, so, I know, it's Wednesday, but the name is catchy and I intended this for Tuesday, but ended up going out to dinner with my momma instead. I've been trying out recipes from Cooking Light lately, and they've been great! Tonight I tried out their recipe for Jambalaya and it was delicious! (Am I allowed to say that something I made was delicious? The recipe was delicious, I just happened to follow the recipe well enough to mimic the deliciousness that was given to me.) I would totally recommend it. I left out the shrimp that it called for, and would give it a little bit more time to cook than it calls for. But it was wonderful!

Below is the before, above is the after. Hooray for Try-It Tuesday (a day late)!

Ticket to Ride.

2012-01-14T17:49:00.004-06:00

Remember those days when I blogged about the little things that made me smile? I need to get back to that. So here I am.

Ticket to Ride. I love that board game. I think it's becoming one of my favorites. I even bought a nerdy expansion thing for it. I'm that cool, ya'll! You know what else I bought that I absolutely love? The Ticket to Ride app for my iPhone! Ohhh my gosh, it's so much fun. I've said it once and I'll say it again: the best 99 cents I've ever spent. You can play the computer. You can play people on the same wireless network as you. You can play while you're at work trying to help an 80-year-old lady get logged in to a website. "Did you enter your username and password? No, you can't just leave that blank and expect to get into your account. (Woohoo, I completed a destination!) You have to enter your username. U-ser-name. Yes, username. (Two wildcards, yes!)" It helps me get through the day. As well as messaging jokes back and forth with my co-worker. "Knock, knock. Who's there? Cash. Cash who? No, but I'll take a peanut."

Aaaaanyway, Ticket to Ride for your iPhone (and apparently they have an even cooler app for your iPad, but I don't have one of those...) Such a great time. If you're a fan of the board game, or a fan of your iPhone, or just a fan of me, you should get it. Best 99 cents you'll ever spend, I guarantee it. (I got my raspy, Men's Warehouse voice out on that one).) (And actually, I think it's $1.99 now, but it'll still be worth it, I guarantee it.)

And yet another hit...

2012-01-14T17:39:00.002-06:00

Props to my brother Cory for another cool blog design. I'm pretty lucky to be able to say, "Hey, want to design another header for my blog that looks winter-y?" and 10 minutes later my blog looks like this. He's pretty talented. You should check out his blog. Here!!

He's pretty cute, too, isn't he? :) Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Try-It Tuesdays Returns... maybe?

2012-01-10T19:02:00.000-06:00

(Their picture.)

I thought I was done with Try-It Tuesdays. I was going to just start repeating the recipes that were hits. There's just one problem: most of those recipes aren't very healthy (Cajun Chicken Pasta, Golden Potato Soup, to name a few....) And I went back on the ol' Weight Watchers on Monday, so... I need to find healthy recipes. So I think that's what I'm going to do. The other night I saw my cousin post a recipe on Facebook for Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs and it looked delicious AND it was a Cooking Light recipe. Then I got on the Cooking Light site and it had all these yummy recipes (they even have 100 Easy Chicken Recipes, and I mean... that's pretty much perfect for me.) So I thought, "Man, I can't give up on Try-It Tuesdays now!" So I'm not gonna.

So tonight I tried out my cousin's recipe. He recommended using half the amount of honey, and I choose to use chicken breasts instead of thighs. I served it with their recipe for Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes. Both were hits, for sure. One of my favorite recipes I've made for Try-It Tuesdays. But stay away fellas, I've got some wicked garlic breath...

(My picture.)

A cookie plate kind of life...

2012-01-08T00:18:00.003-06:00

Now bare with me... this may be a bit cheesy... but tonight I had a thought. Let me tell you about this thought. I went over to a friend's house to play games (side note: there are few things that I love more than playing games with friend's) and I brought over a plate of cookies. I bring baked goods when I go over to this friend's house. I'm actually making it a habit that whenever I go to anyone's house for an evening of fun I bring baked goods. I've also made it a habit that I bring enough to pass the evening and then a few more so that I can leave some with the people. And it makes me happy. It makes me happy to bake for people. And to walk in someone's house with a fresh plate of cookies. And for them to enjoy them. And then for me to say, "Hey, can I leave the rest here?" at the end of the night. Just plain happy.

And I was thinking, the image of an empty cookie plate at the end of an evening... that's how I want to live. That's the way I want to interact with people. I want to go out of my way to love on them and leave them with more love than when I came in the door.

So basically, I want my life to be a full, then an empty cookie plate. The end.
P.S. Hopefully this thought makes sense. I thought of it when I was driving home at 11:30 at night, so it might not be as coherent as I think it is. :)

Resolutions.

2012-01-02T09:33:00.001-06:00

Resolutions for Artists by CitrusTreeDesigns on Etsy

It's that time of the year, when everyone is making resolutions. I'm always hesitant to make a list of resolutions. I'm especially hesitant to tell other people what's on my list... Some years I don't even make a list because I know that I will fail. But that's silly, and pessimistic, and not the person I want to be. I'm human, I likely will fail, especially if I try to do it all by myself, but I might as well strive for something, right? Because 2 weeks, or 7 months, or a full year of trying is better than not trying at all. So here is my list of Resolutions For 2012:

1. Lose 50 pounds. Yikes, this is a scary one. But it needs to happen. I've done it before... I can do it again.

2. Learn how to play the guitar. I started this this summer and really enjoyed it. I need to start at it again.

3. Make a business plan for my bakery. I keep saying I want to open one, I will never get there if I don't start planning for it.

4. Be more adventurous. I'm pretty safe... pretty practical. I want to be responsible, but I could use a little bit more adventure in my life.

5. Take more people out for coffee. I used to do this all the time in college, I want to get back to that. Being intentional about setting aside time to invest in people.

Calendars: The Decision.

2012-01-01T13:24:00.000-06:00

Just in case you were dying to know which calendar I went with (ok, so I know you don't really care much at all...), I decided to go with the above design. (I bought it from this Etsy artist, pretty cute stuff if you ask me!) I didn't actually write to just tell you about the calendar that I bought though, I am writing to show you some pretty stinking cool photography that I found on Etsy during my calendar search. I wanted to get this calendar because I liked this photographer's work so much, but I decided to purchase some prints from her and get a different (less expensive) calendar (above) instead. The best of both worlds, right? Right!

Eye Poetry Photography, aka Irene Suchocki, is based out of Quebec, Canada. (Man, Canada has a lot going for them: Ryan Gosling, Michael Buble, Evangeline Lily, that one tall guy from Glee...) I really like her use of light. She also takes quite a few pictures of city scapes and trees, two things I love, so you really can't go wrong. Her work is just beautiful. I encourage you to check out her blog or her Etsy page. Below are the prints that I bought from her. (Four 5x7s for $30.) My cubicle is going to be a more beautiful place thanks to these puppies.

Fairytale of New York, by Irene Suchocki.

The Invention of Light, by Irene Suchocki.

The Music of Chance, by Irene Suchocki.

Sparkle and Dance, by Irene Suchocki.

2011 In Review.

2011-12-31T22:43:00.033-06:00

I don't know if you know this about me... but I'm a bit of a New Year's Eve scrooge. My evening has been perfect: I went to dinner at Jack Stack (mmmmm barbeque...), went and saw a movie (We Bought A Zoo, so good, and a great soundtrack that I've already purchased and am listening to now), grabbed a shake at Sonic, now I'm home, sitting on my couch, blogging. If I'm in bed before 12 o'clock, I'll be a happy camper. So, instead of counting down, and cheering, and dancing, and hugging, and drinking (all things I typically enjoy doing on any other night of the year), I thought I'd reflect on the year. More for my sake than yours. But here it goes. Abby Thomason's 2011 In Review:

I had a pretty slow first half of the year. Or maybe it's been so long ago that I don't really remember what happened...

But in February/March I recorded an album with my friend Rob. Remember that? Not a lot came of it, because Rob had to move back to Portland, but it was for sure a once in a lifetime experience for me. (Any interest in checking out the album, you can actually download it for free on Noise Trade here.)

The studio.

Our album cover, designed by my brother Cory.

Multiple good friends moved away this year and God taught (well, continues to teach, I've far from arrived) me a lot through it.

When taking this picture, I thought it was just to throw a get together for the Cunninghams before they moved away. Little did we know that the Crows would be moving away 6 months later... :(

I'm pretty blessed to have cousins that are my best friends, but these guys had to move away, too.

I was crafty, or at least attempted to be, throughout the year.

A painting for my friend Corrie's baby-to-be Theo.

A fall wreath...

At the beginning of July, I took an impromptu road trip to Austin, Texas to move my brother Joel to his new place there. We stopped in Derby, Kansas on the way back to celebrate the 4th of July with our Wichita family.

My first taste of Torchy's Tacos in Austin. The best tacos I've ever had.

Gotta love those sparklers...

In July, my family also went on vacation to Watercolor, Florida. It was pretty fantastic...

Not the best sunsets in the world, but still beautiful.

Vacations are always more magical when this girl is around.

In July I also made this list of things I wanted to do before I turned 24. It kind of transformed my summer.

#17. Ride a bike at least 5 miles.

#5. Send someone flowers.

At the end of the month, we went to the lake with our friends the Wilts. Weekends at the lake with the Wilts hold some of my favorite memories...

Heavenly...

The Taco Tube!

In August, I started what I liked to call "Try-It Tuesdays." Where I tried a new recipe every Tuesday...

Burrito Bowls, sans the bowl.

Black Bean Burgers.

And I also baked a lot this year. Not a surprise. I know.

Gracious's Fancy Nancy birthday cake.

Strawberry chocolate cheesecake for Cory and Erica's prom.

Shannon's 70s themed birthday cake.

I traveled quite a bit in October... I went and visited my brother Joel in Austin, Texas.

It's not vacation without ice cream.

Visiting Tim Riggins' land from Friday Night Lights.

Then my cousins Dana and Marc in Sublette, Kansas.

Shooting targets. I love this picture.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Kansas sunsets are the best.

Then my college friends in Columbia, Missouri.

With the ol' roommates, celebrating Megan's engagement.

I had to visit Big Tree, of course.

Then my cousins Julie and Anthony in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

I laughed more with them this weekend than I have all year. That's a fact.

At Cuppies and Joe: the depiction of my dream bakery that I hope to open someday.

Also in October, I made it a full year at JPMorgan. I can't believe that I've worked there over a year...

My co-worker Robert, we just happened to be wearing the same outfit that day.

And, of course, I did lots of celebrating throughout the year, as always...

August birthdays...

Thanksgiving right into Christmas...

What a year it's been! Who knows what's in store for 2012... (If you made it this far, I owe you a date to grab some coffee and talk about YOUR life because you just spent the last 37 minutes reading about mine. Thanks for caring enough to make it this far...)

Calendars!

2011-12-26T22:34:00.000-06:00

By monkeymindesign, $14.00

My last post was a bit... deep... especially for Christmas Day. So I thought I'd lighten things up with a little bit of meaningless commercialism... Ok, not totally meaningless and commercial. But I need a new calendar for work (functional) and so I have been looking for calendars on Etsy (artsy and for a good cause/supporting the arts.) I can't decide which one I want so I thought I'd post my favorites (and their prices, because that's something to factor in) to help give clarity on the matter. I mean, this is a big decision, I'll have to look at this the rest of the year! I can't rush a decision like this... Feel free to give input if you'd like.

By creativitae, $16.00

By bomobob, $9.50

By marissahandmade, $27.00

By BartlettAndCraft, $23.00

By EyePoetryPhotography, $28.75

By mademoiselleyou, $18.00

By MissMegShop, $28.05

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-25T22:24:00.003-06:00

The day that we look forward to all year long, Christmas Day, has come and gone. I kind of hate how I do that... How I constantly look forward to things instead of enjoying where I currently am. All month long I've been looking forward to Christmas, and now it's over, and won't be back for another 365 days. When I think about my life, I do the same thing. I am looking forward to hopefully getting married some day, having a house, and kids, and a good job. Rather than enjoying the stage I'm in right now. Sure, I live with my parents, and make fun of myself about it all the time. But what a special time to be able to spend so much time with two really cool people. Yes, I long to find a man that I love and get married. But I should be enjoying the freedom that comes with singleness for now. Of course my job could be better suited for me than it is. But maybe someday I'll have a perfectly suited job for me that requires longer hours and more stress...

I need to stop living for the future. And start living for now.

Today was Christmas, and I'm not thinking about anything else but today. We woke up. Opened some lovely presents. Ate a delicious breakfast that my mom prepared. Relaxed a bit. Went to my aunt's house. Ate some more delicious food. Played games. Danced a little. Laughed a lot. And now here I am. Thankful for today, and the life that I'm currently living.

Merry Christmas...

Christmas Favorites.

2011-12-23T22:45:00.001-06:00

One of my co-workers exposed me to a new blog, Iowa Girl Eats, and I kind of love it. She does this thing she calls "Friday Favorites" where she shows a lot of her favorites that she saw or thought of that week.... and, it's kind of great. So I thought I'd be a thief, steal her idea, and make it my own and have a Christmas themed Friday Favorites... because Christmas is almost here... Can you believe it? Christmas Favorites, here is the list:

Favorite Christmas Sight: The Plaza lights... Pictured above. I just love 'em.

Favorite Christmas Tree Ornament: I'm not very girly, so this is pretty atypical of me... But my favorite ornament is a sparkly, pink cupcake that my cousin Robyn gave me for graduation a couple of years ago. I don't know what it is... but I just love it.

Favorite Christmas Decoration: White lights. I especially love our white lights in mason jars that we have on our mantle this year.

Favorite Christmas Drink: Eggnog. Fo sho. I love eggnog. It's especially special that I only drink it one time of the year. Man, I want some eggnog right now.

Favorite Christmas Recipe That I WANT To Try: So, this recipe isn't actually Christmas-y at all. But I've been dying to make it since I saw it: Bite-Sized Baked Brie by Joy the Baker. I'm kind of afraid it may be a bit too... hoity toity for the men in my family, but I'm going to find an occasion to try it out over the holidays anyway... Just you wait. (A little more Christmas-y, I also want to try these Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites, but my fam doesn't like gingerbread either... Picky, picky.)

Favorite Christmas Memory: Every year my brothers would sneak down to look at the stockings on Christmas Eve rather than wait until Christmas morning and my dad would set booby traps for them to try to slow them down. This tradition passed down to my little brother Cory, and one year my dad literally tied Cory's door and my brother Kyle's door together so neither could open them. I remember standing between the two doors while 1. Cory was crying because he couldn't get out (he was pretty little...), 2. Kyle squeezed his arm through the crack of the door and used a knife to cut the rope. (Basically, I'm a horrible sister for just standing there watching them try to get out.) What a night... What a tradition...

Favorite Christmas Movie: This is SUCH a tough call. It's a tie between Home Alone and Elf. Am I allowed to have a tie? Actually... I'm the one making this list, so I decide, and yes, ties are allowed. Home Alone and Elf it is!

Favorite Christmas Card: I know, I'm biased, but the Christmas card that my brother Cory designed for our family this year is just plain amazing... Amazing, I tell you!

Favorite Holiday Baked Good: I actually bake/eat these sugar cookies all year round, but they are especially special during Christmas.

Favorite Christmas Tradition: Going to the Plaza for dinner as a whole family - Joel's treat.

Favorite Traditional Christmas Song: Carol of the Bells. I'm not really sure what version I prefer, a really traditional sounding version? I'll go ahead and say the Carpenters version (even though that's not true) because their Christmas album is dear and near to my heart. (PS The Carpenters Christmas album is definitely my Favorite Christmas Album.)

Favorite Non-Traditional Christmas Song: Sister Winter by Sufjan Stevens.

Favorite Night of the Year...

2011-12-22T22:55:00.006-06:00

Fact: Plaza lights pictures rarely photograph as well as you want them to. But I will continue to try for good Plaza lights pictures until the day I die. Ok? ... Ok.

One of the things I look forward to most about Christmas every year is the night that my brother Joel takes my whole family out for dinner. Instead of doing presents, he takes us out to a nice meal on the Plaza. I love this night. It's so special. Truthfull, I don't remember a single gift I got last year, but do I remember where we went to dinner last year? You betcha: Starker's. Because this night means so much to me. This year we went Italian with Brio and it was pretty darn tasty. A great evening as always... Thought I'd show a few pictures of what is one of my favorite nights of the year.

T minus 3 days until Christmas. Not that I'm counting...

(Pretty Christmas decorations...)

(The folks and my brother Joel.)

(My brother's Cory, Kyle, and I.)

(Close up with a little lantern action...)

(Mmm, leftovers. Thanks to Kyle who consolidated his with mine so I could have a hefty lunch today.)

A Cubicle Christmas...

2011-12-21T12:31:00.001-06:00

At work we had a cubicle decorating contest for Christmas: the team with the best decorated cubicles wins a free meal. When I first got the e-mail encouraging us to do this, I thought, "Come on, who is actually going to go along with this cooky idea..." But I was wrong. Boy, did my co-workers get into it.

My team, predominately made up of men (there are 4 women and about 22 men), did not get into it as much. Finally, our manager brought in a whole bunch of wrapping paper and white stuff so we would actually somewhat decorate our areas and could be consistent with a "Let it snow!" theme at every cubicle. Above is my cubicle. I thought it was relatively creative. Everyone loved the snowman made out of tissue paper. (Doesn't take much to seem "creative" when you work in finance...) So, I thought I did ok... Then I walked around the other teams and came across this...

My friend and co-worker Joseph totally decked his cube out Grinch-style. He covered his cube in green paper. He had pictures of the Grinch and the lyrics of the Grinch song hung up. He had a dog with the one antler thing attached to his head (a stuffed dog, that is...) He had a mini Christmas tree... The list of details goes on... And on Friday (his last day of work until Christmas because he got lucky and had this whole week off), he dressed up like the Grinch and even brought in something to play the Grinch music out loud.... Joseph wins. Hands down. And he made everyone smile with his holiday cheer-iness.

Next time I'll be sure not to be "too cool" to participate and go all in so that I can give Joseph here a run for his money...

Try-It Tuesday: Penne with Ricotta and Bacon (and Chicken)

2011-12-20T20:16:00.003-06:00

Try-It Tuesday is back! This may actually be my last Try-It Tuesday for a while because I told myself I'd do it through the end of the year and then take a break, and I'm not really sure what next week will look like with the holidays and all... So, soak it up, ya'll... This. is. it.

I'm not going to lie, I wasn't really excited about any recipes this week. Plus my brothers Joel and Cory are home for Christmas break, so I was kind of fearful that they wouldn't be as forgiving if the recipe I chose wasn't a hit, so that was some added pressure... So, I wanted something tasty, and easy, and brother-friendly. After some perusing of Pinterest, Pioneer Woman, and a couple of other blogs I returned to my staple: Rachael Ray's website. She (more like her minions, I doubt she comes up with many herself...) has lots of easy recipes... and I like that. So I went with this recipe: Penne with Ricotta and Bacon (and I added chicken, too, because we are a meat-loving family.) The verdict? Pretty good! I'm glad I added the chicken. And the bacon added some flavor. The texture of the ricotta was a bit strange, so part of me would like to try this again with just bacon, onions, chicken, and basil and put some kind of cheese on top or something. But it was good. And easy. And required few ingredients. So I was happy. And my family was, too. Which made me extra happy.

Until next time... well, maybe. :)

The symphony...

2011-12-19T12:13:00.007-06:00

(Not my picture...)

It's been over a week. I'm a slacker. Moving on...

Saturday was evening that I have been dreaming about for quite some time. From the day that I drove through downtown Kansas City and saw for the first time the beginning phases of the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, I have been dreaming about going to see the symphony there. Saturday night I finally did it, and it was everything I could have dreamed of.

The building was beautiful. The architecture was incredible. The people attending to concert looked snazzy. :) The music was incredible (Christmas themed instrumental music, does it get much better than that?) And I went with my family and they're great... The whole night was just amazing.

(Inside the Center...)

(Inside Helzberg Hall...)

Just thought I should say a little somethin somethin about it, because it was incredible. Here are a few pictures from the evening taken by none other than my beloved iPhone.

Try-It Everyday: Baking Edition

2011-12-11T00:20:00.001-06:00

I've blogged about all of the savory recipes that I've been trying over the last couple of months. (P.S. I've decided that I would do that through the end of the year, then I'm going to go back and re-try some of the recipes that were hits. Just thought I'd let you know.) But on top of all of those recipes, you better believe I've been baking some new treats as well. I thought I'd give a quick shout out to the lovely baked goods that have graced my belly over the couple of months as well.

Red Velvet Cheescake Cookies (above) by Two Peas and Their Pod. I baked these last night and took them over to a friend's house. Delicious cookies and a great night...

Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream by Brown Eyed Baker. I can't bake things like this in my house because I'm the only coffee drinker so I took these to work last week and they were a hit.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream by Made in Melissa's Kitchen. These were great... just plain wonderful. I made them a couple of times this fall and last time I switched the cupcake recipe out with Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Patch Cupcake recipe but kept the same frosting recipe and I think it took them to the next level of greatness.

Maple Butterscotch Cookies by Sugar Crafter. Man, these cookies have some heavenly ingredients but they turned out rock hard. If there is one thing you should know about Abby Thomason: she does not like hard cookies... so these won't be a do-over. (Ok, there are other things that you should probably know more than my distaste for hard cookies, but you get the point.)

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake. My co-worker asked me to bake her a pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving. I made one a few days early just in case it cracked because I have a history of making cracked cheesecakes. I used Annie's Eats pumpkin cheesecake recipe... and it cracked worse than I've ever had a cheesecake crack before. (Turns out in my fear of undercooking my cheesecakes, I've totally been overcooking them which causes them to crack. Who knew? I should have googled that a long time ago...) So I made another cheesecake, with a different recipe, and the goal of not overcooking it... and it was a success! (Well, it had a tiny bit of cracking but nothing like before...) Above is my picture rather than the bloggers because they didn't have a good picture either...

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes by The Craving Chronicles. These were delicious! I even replaced the majority of the flour with whole wheat flour to make it more healthy and they were still great! (Ok, actually, I was out of all-purpose flour and was too lazy to go to the store, so... the healthiness just happened to be a bonus.) For sure a do-over.

Idle Hand Bars (Sweet & Salty) by Guilty Kitchen. These have chocolate, peanut butter, sea salt, and pretzels. When seeing the recipe I thought, "Where could you go wrong?" They were good... but still not my favorite of all of the chocolate peanut butter concoctions out there. (These still take the cake.)

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles by Annie's Eats. These were good but not very pumpkin-y. I'd add more pumpkin next time.

Cherpumple by some crazy person. What in the heck is a Cherpumple? It's a cherry pie, a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie baked inside of three different kinds of cake and combined into one gigantic cake/pie thing. My friend from work talked about it for weeks and weeks and then asked me to bake it for his birthday. I finally said, "Ok, do you really want me to bake this? It looks pretty disgusting..." He said, "Well, at least a layer would be cool." So that's what I did: I baked the cherry pie with chocolate cake layer. It was actually a pretty major baking fail because the cake was underdone but there was no way of checking it considering there is a pie in the middle. The outside was done though so I just frosted a slice, cut it out of the gooey mess, and took it to my friend. He said it was good and ate the whole thing... but I think he's crazy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies by Recipe Girl. I took these to work and everyone loved them. For sure a hit.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing by Brown Eyed Baker. These were good, but pumpkin cookies always seem to have a funny texture to me. I also brought them to work (can you tell that I love baking for my co-workers? Because I do...) and my co-workers said they liked them. But let's be honest, are they really going to say, "You know Abby, I think this recipe was a bit of a miss. Better luck next time." I don't think so.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Let the baking continue...

White Christmas Party

2011-12-10T16:40:00.008-06:00

White Christmas.

Sorry I've been such a slacker at blogging lately. Believe it or not, I actually kind of had a life this week so I was busy. One of the fun things that I did this week was have a White Christmas party with my aunt Georgie and my uncle Dave. "A White Christmas party? Did you mean White Elephant?" (That's what one of my friends said when I told him what I was planning on doing.) Yes, I did mean White Christmas.

Dave is kind of my like me in that he knows what he likes. I blog about what I like. He makes lists of what he likes. We're kindred spirits in that sense. (And actually, we found out this week that we are the same Meyers-Briggs personality as well... ESFJs for life, babay!) Anyway, Dave's favorite Christmas movie is White Christmas and I've never seen it. So we planned a "party" for me to come over and watch it with him and Georgie.

I got there and Georgie had the table set beautifully Christmas-y. (She even had napkin rings on the napkins...) We had eggnog while waiting for dinner (which I love and just happened to be craving that whole day. I texted her to see if I should bring some and she already had it!) She prepared a meal of Meatball Sandwich Casserole (because she knows that I love meatball subs) and a yummy salad with fruit on it (which she also knows that I love.) After dinner we watched the movie and snacked on coffee and sugar cookies (my only contribution to the evening...). And then I spent the night at their house... Talk about a splendid evening!

Mmm... eggnog.

Beautiful table.

Sugar Cookies.

I suppose this post doesn't have much of a point but to say: 1. I love doing fun little things like that for the holidays. 2. I'm pretty blessed to have such a fun aunt and uncle. 3. Well, I guess that's it.

Try-It Tuesday: Golden Potato Soup

2011-12-06T22:54:00.005-06:00

I didn't really plan ahead for tonight's meal. I had planned on looking for a recipe at work today but as I've mentioned, Pinterest is blocked now so my searching for recipes is a little more difficult than it was before. I looked at a few of my favorite food blogs, but nothing looked that great to me. So I asked my friend at work if he had any suggestions for recipes and he suggested this: Golden Potato Soup.

It looked easy enough, and he had good things to say about it, so I decided to try it out. The recipe was pretty easy really. And the ingredients were common, things we already had in our kitchen actually. It did call for 1 cup of ham, but I don't do ham, so I replaced it with turkey bacon instead. The only strange ingredient was the cheese. It called for 1 1/2 cups of shredded American cheese. Ok, now I know American cheese is quite common, but where in the world do you find shredded American cheese? Beats me. So I just bought a package of Kraft Singles and chopped 'em up. Easy enough.

The verdict: well, it's a toss up. My parents loved it. Said it was a do-over for sure. My brother Cory and I thought it was too cheesy. The amount of cheese could have been cut in half and I would have been happy. Perhaps it was because it was Abby-shredded American cheese rather than store-shredded American cheese that was the problem. Perhaps the recipe-maker just likes cheese a lot more than I do. Who knows... I'd say it was a good recipe, it could just use a few alterations... aka less cheese.

Anyway, if you like cheese, and you like potatoes, and you like soup, this is the recipe for you. Happy Try-It Tuesday!

Smiling Lately...

2011-12-04T16:14:00.007-06:00

I took a few days off of blogging because I went for about 24 days straight in November, and thought a break would be good. But I'm back, don't you worry... Things that have made me smile this week:

1. Butter sales! You know you are a baker when you get excited that butter is on sale! I love that about the holidays. (Among other things...) I made a special trip out one night this week to stock up on the butter. I may or may not have 8 pounds of butter in my freezer right now...

2. Christmas music is alive and well! My favorite album this year has been Michael Buble's Christmas album (thanks to my dear old Daddy for letting me steal it from him.) It's just really good. The Michael Buble Holiday Pandora station is pretty much the best thing ever, too.

3. Amazing Race. I love this show. It's getting down to the final few and I'm loving it. Andy and Tommy are my favorites, fo sho. Hopefully they'll stay in it. Tonight will tell...

4. Speaking of TV on tonight, I've been loving Once Upon A Time, too. I mean, how can you go wrong when you've got the following working for you: fairytales (anything that can combine Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Jiminy Cricket, etc. is pretty amazing...), J.J. Abrams (the LOST guy), action, romance, fantasy, Ginnifer Goodwin (I just LOVE her), etc. It's a great show. And it's only 5 episodes in and they're all available online so it's not too late for you to get into it. You should do it, and be my friend, and we can discuss... It'll be great.

5. Breaking Dawn. Ok, fine, I'm a loser, and I like Twilight. So what? The movie was kind of great in a horribly cheesy, guilty pleasure kind of way and I loved every minute of it. You know what else I loved about it? The soundtrack. The Twilight movies always have good music but I especially loved this one. "Turning Page" by Sleeping At Last was on repeat in my car for quite a few days in a row.

(I was going to keep this list at 5, but I just answered a call on my phone and was reminded how much I am still loving it. So... 6. My iPhone. I love it.)

Day 30: Self Portrait

2011-11-30T22:34:00.008-06:00

Day 30: Self Portrait

Well, today is the last day of the month long Gratitude Photo Challenge. I've kind of been dreading today. Not because it means the challenge is over, but because the last day of the challenge calls for a Self Portrait. You remember my hand insecurities? Imagine the insecurities that come with a self portrait. A true picture of who I really am would actually be of me laughing really hard, so hard that I'm crying even. But a picture taken of myself fake laughing would just be plain awful... so you get this one instead.

I have two days left to make up that I missed at the beginning of the challenge. Day 6 was Books, so I took a picture of a stack of books that is in my closet. Quite the diverse selection there, eh? And yes, that is Twilight right next to Crazy Love. What can I say... I'm well rounded. The only day that I did not complete was Something Funny. It's a little bit more difficult to capture something funny in a picture. A lot of the times it is a passing moment, or you had to be there, or something was said or done and it isn't visible. Last night, I got into my car and looked to my right to see two pugs just staring at me in the car next to me. Not barking, or wagging their tails (wait, do pugs even have tails?), just staring. I thought that was funny, and tried to bust out my phone to take a picture, but I guess they lost interest in me because they had sat back down in their seats and weren't visible when my camera was ready. Anyway, I tried. I thought I'd give you a pretty picture of tonight's sunset in its place. I figure that's a good way to say "adios" to this challenge. (No worries, I was at a stoplight when I took this picture. No lives were endangered... this time.)

Day 6: Books

Day 7: Something Funny/Tonight's sunset.

Alright, well, thanks for sticking with me the last month with all of the pictures. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. All of this to say... I'm grateful.

Day 29: Light

2011-11-29T07:48:00.004-06:00

Day 29: Light

I kind of cheated with this post. Technically I took these pictures yesterday and am using them for today, but you'll forgive me... right? My mom and I started decorating the house for Christmas last night. Every year we have a "girl's tree" that's all pretty and colored coordinated and such, in addition to our big, special, homely family tree. Last night we decorated our girl's tree and also worked on the mantle. I've been itching to decorate with Mason jars lately, and saw a cool thing with Mason jars and Christmas lights at Gap, so I thought I'd steal their idea. A peek of it is above. I figured it was a pretty good representation of Light.

Girl's Tree.

Day 5: Morning Sky

I thought I'd make up for one of the missed days this morning as well. I, once again, risked the lives of everyone on 435 this morning taking pictures of the sky. Woops. Everyone is alive and well though (as far as I am aware of.) Here is a picture of the amusement park I drive by every morning.

Day 28: Nighttime

2011-11-28T19:26:00.003-06:00

Day 28: Nighttime

Only a few more days left of this challenge... Are you getting sick of me yet? I'm pretty sure this is the most I've ever blogged consecutively. You get me on a roll and I just can't stop.

Tonight my aunt Cindy treated myself, my mom, and my brother Cory to what is, in my opinion, the best pizza in Kansas City: Waldo Pizza. Their chicken almond pizza on honey wheat crust is heaven... Tonight was full of great conversation, great pizza, lots of Diet Coke, great people watching (this couple walked in and I said, "That is literally an SNL skit waiting to happen." How I wish someone funnier than I was there to make it even funnier than it already was...), people I love... You can't get much better than that. I'm grateful for nights like these...

Day 27: Daily Routine

2011-11-27T15:08:00.003-06:00

The things that are a part of my daily routine include: brushing my teeth, using the restroom, bathing (let's be honest, I may or may not be the queen of the "I didn't shower today so my hair is in a cute braid instead" look... on a pretty regular basis), eating, going to work... Nothing really that thrilling. So I just decided to take a picture of my caffeine consumption. Every day I start my day off with coffee provided by my beloved Keurig accompanied by some kind of tasty creamer because I'm not man enough to drink my coffee black. (The creamer to your left is actually my aunt Georgie's who left it here after Thanksgiving, but it was an appropriate prop.)

This picture may be the ugliest of them all. And this concept Daily Routine is probably the most boring of them all. Very few people do exciting things on a regular basis: Sky diving? Nope. Get a piercing? Nope. Have a baby? Nope. Write a book? Nope. Daily routines are boring. But that's ok. I'm still grateful that I'm alive to have one.

The end.

Day 26: Transportation

2011-11-26T22:29:00.003-06:00

Day 26: Transportation

I didn't remember until about 20 minutes ago that I hadn't blogged for today. Today's challenge was to take a picture of Transportation. I was going to go out and take a picture of my beloved Honda Civic but then I decided: 1. It's dark and late. 2. It's cold. So I thought I'd be creative (if you can even call it creativity, maybe it's just laziness...) and take a picture of my keys instead.

I'm incredibly grateful for my car. I have a hefty 35 minute drive to and from work every day so transportation is pretty much a necessity for me. Last week I had a scare because I was out driving and my car died. I was accelerating and it decided that it had had enough and stopped accelerating and so I just rolled to a stop... in the middle of the road... with no shoulder. My brother Kyle saved the day: I called him and he pushed me and my car quite a ways to safety then took me home. Then my brother Cory went and checked my oil for me (because I suspected that was what it was because I suck at remembering to check my oil.) I was, indeed, completely out and started worrying because that's the one thing my dad preaches to me on a regular basis: "Abby, you have to check your oil or bad things will happen!" My dad came home and didn't give me the tongue lashing that I deserved for not remembering to do what he has told me. Instead he went and checked on my car and waited for the tow truck to get it to our mechanic. (How blessed am I to have such special men in my life!) I was pretty worried that I had flat out killed my engine because of the oil situation and was preparing myself to have to buy a new engine. But guess what... I got lucky. And the thing that was wrong was actually my distributor, so it only cost $300 to fix (including an oil change... you know, since I was completely out) compared to the $2000 that I was prepared to shell out for a new engine.

All that to say... 1. I'm thankful that I have a decent car. 2. I'm thankful that the fix was pretty minor last week 3. The I was given a free pass, a wake up call, to be more diligent about checking my oil before something truly bad happens. (Holy long post about dumb car issues... sorry, I guess I'm a bit wordy tonight.)

Day 25: Artwork

2011-11-25T11:05:00.000-06:00

Day 25: Artwork

I can't say that I have much artwork in my life that I'm crazy grateful for. I appreciate art and enjoy being creative, but if my house caught on fire and I had 60 seconds to grab my belongings, any resemblance of artwork would not be on the "must grab" list. Tonight my family did play a game that I love that semi-involves artwork. It's call Pictionary Telephone. Everyone has a pad of paper and writes a phrase down. They pass their paper on to the next person who has to a draw a picture of the phrase. Then they pass the paper to the next person who can only see the drawing, not the original phrase, and has to guess the phrase based on the drawing. (E.g. the picture on the bottom right was of the phrase "a baker's dozen" and the picture on the top right was "time flies when you're having fun.") You keep going, phrase, picture, phrase, picture, etc. until you get your original phrase back. Some are better drawers than others, and some people just can't take a hint when guessing phrases. So, as you can imagine, it gets pretty funny. I laughed so hard I cried multiple times during this game. For that, laughing so hard I cried, I am grateful.

Day 3: Happiness

I could take pictures daily to demonstrate happiness because I'm pretty fortunate to lead an incredibly happy life. The other day while baking a pumpkin cheesecake I thought this look of all the spices in a bowl was beautiful. Call me crazy for finding spices to be beautiful... but I do. So I took a picture and here it is. Right next to the cranberry white chocolate chip cookies I had just made. Basically, baking makes me happy... and here is a picture that represents that. I'm grateful that I have fun things in my life like baking to add to my happiness.

Day 24: Gratitude

2011-11-24T23:15:00.006-06:00

Day 24: Gratitude

Today is the day that this month is all about: Thanksgiving. It's such a special day. There were 31 people at my house for the Thanksgiving meal. (Unfortunately, one of my favorites wasn't there though. I dearly missed my cousin Julie who couldn't make it because she is a nurse, and unfortunately, people can't heal themselves for the holidays, so she had to work...) I ate a lot (too much), laughed a lot, chatted a lot, played a lot, napped a lot, loved a lot... it was just a great day! I took a few pictures to document today's loveliness. Because the thing I am the most grateful for above all else, is my family, my picture for today is of them. I'm so happy to be celebrating with them today. (One of the random traditions that we have is to do a piñata, and above is my family collecting the candy!)

Tables all set.

Lots of people waiting to be fed!

Day 1: Favorite Food

I also thought I'd stick in a picture for Day 1: Favorite Food that I still need to make up. My favorite food is homemade Chex Mix and Thanksgiving is the ultimate time for the delicious snack. We eat a lot of Chex Mix in my family, so my aunt and cousin brought a total of 7 bags of it! Here is a picture of a few of them. Man, I love Chex Mix. Man, do I love everything about Thanksgiving...

Day 23: In Your Closet

2011-11-23T22:14:00.005-06:00

Day 13: Closet

I feel kind of guilty showing my closet... for multiple reasons. Remember a few months ago when I was so proud of myself for cleaning out my closet? Gave you some before and after pictures. The whole bit. Well... it's not clean anymore. It's not nearly as bad as it was, but it for sure isn't as clean as it was either. I also feel a bit guilty for how much stuff I have. It's shameful really. It's probably time to do another closet purge. Maybe after the holidays... I am grateful though. I'm incredibly fortunate to have what I have. What a blessing to have the life that I have...

Try-It Tuesday: Chicken Curry in a Hurry/Day 22: Clothes

2011-11-22T23:54:00.001-06:00

Chicken Curry in a Hurry.

Guess what today is? Tuesday! You know what that means? I tried out a new recipe! It's late and I'm worn out so this will be quick. Basically I found this recipe for Chicken Curry in a Hurry on Real Simple's website. Me. Chicken. And curry. We're pals. So when I saw this recipe I had to try it out. It was really easy and quick: start to finish I was done in 30 minutes (and I even cooked my own chicken when the recipe calls for a rotisserie chicken.) And it was delicious! A great flavor and great consistency. This was probably my favorite recipe that I've tried out so far. I'd highly recommend it. Chicken Curry in a Hurry... two thumbs up!

Day 22: Clothes

Today's photo challenge was to take a picture of Clothes. It was kind of a lame challenge, if you ask me. Especially since tomorrow's challenge is Closet so I couldn't take a picture of my clothes in my closet. So I quickly snapped a picture of what I wore today. And ta da! There you have it. This picture is lame, but I am for sure grateful for the abundance of clothes I've been blessed with.

Day 21: Where You Sleep

2011-11-21T11:04:00.003-06:00

Day 21: Where You Sleep

I've said this before, but I love my bed. I love the mattress. I love the Egyptian cotton sheets. I love the quilt. I love the colors. I love my pillows. I love the head board (it was my grandma's...) I love it all. I wish I could go home, cuddle up, and alternate napping with watching Netflix all day... Maybe in another life, right? As for me, I will be answering questions about 401ks all day instead.

Yep, I'm grateful for my bed. You would be too if you slept in it. (P.S. I'm blogging from work, as always, sorry for the wonky formatting.)

Day 20: Seasonal

2011-11-20T18:43:00.003-06:00

Day 20: Seasonal

To the average person, a picture of a spice container would not be seasonal. To a baker, it is. Baking with things like cloves, nutmeg, ginger, all-spice, pumpkin pie spice etc. only comes one season of the year, and it's here!

I am planning on making this recipe for a Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake later this week and while making my grocery list for the things that I needed I came across this cloves container. Does it look a little bit old? That's because it is. It has an expiration date of February 1986. That's before I was born, ya'll! I love the look of it... (Mustard, anyone?) Isn't it just great? I decided that it was time to invest in some new spices, but I thought this was great... so a picture of it's loveliness and a comment on how great it is to be baking with these special spices was necessary. Happy fall baking!

Days 18 and 19

2011-11-19T22:27:00.003-06:00

Day 18: Something New

Yesterday's challenge was Something New but I didn't have a chance to blog with my friend Corrie being in town so I'm just now getting around to it. Honestly, I didn't really do anything new yesterday. I did go to this place called Thomas in a part of town I haven't spent much time in. I suppose that was new, but I didn't think to take a picture of it at the time. Instead I took a picture of a tattoo parlor that I walked by near Thomas. At the time I thought it was funny because I was like, "I'll put it on Twitter as "Something New" and people will freak out because they will think I got a tattoo." Eh, it wasn't that funny, but here's the picture anyway.

Day 19: Best Friend(s)

Today's challenge was Best Friend. My very best friend is my Momma. But because I have been so busy this weekend I didn't have a chance to take a picture of her. I've had a lot of time to spend with my friends Jessie and Corrie this weekend though, so I thought a picture of them would do as well. Here we are watching Twilight in Jessie's bed this morning. Corrie had never seen them so we had a marathon of the first three movies then went and saw Breaking Dawn this afternoon. Why yes, we ARE cool, just in case you were wondering. What a great weekend it has been... (P.S. Don't judge us for the horribly unflattering picture. It's the idea that counts, not the fact that none of us had showered yet.)

In summation, I'm grateful that:

1. I didn't get a dumb tattoo last night like I jokingly implied that I did.

2. I have some great friends in Jessie and Corrie.

Day 17: Memories

2011-11-17T23:15:00.002-06:00

Day 17: Memories

It's pretty hard taking a picture of memories... For some reason, brain waves just aren't very photogenic. (Ok, bad joke, it's 11:15 and I'm tired....) So instead, I thought I'd take a picture of making memories instead of past ones.

My dear friend Corrie moved away in June but she is back for the weekend! So we've been reminiscing over memories and making new ones this weekend. Today was pretty much the perfect day: I took her to get her hair cut at this cool salon downtown (Skyline, it was great), we went to Blanc for lunch, grabbed coffee at Latte Land, stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things, made dinner at Jessie's house, then spent the rest of the evening relaxing, chatting, and (my favorite) playing games. What a great day and what special friends to make memories with.

Here is a picture of Corrie, Jessie, and I. Seriously... what a great day!

Day 16: Animals

2011-11-16T23:17:00.004-06:00

Day 16: Animals

I like animals but I don't have any animals. Maybe someday when I have my own place I'll get a dog... Maybe someday...

I went over to Jessie's tonight and had intended on taking a picture of her dog or cat and was going to say something like "I love Jessie but I'm grateful that I don't have her pets." They're fine pets and all... just a dog who is a bit hyperactive and a cat that's a bit needy. I tried to take a few pictures, but it turns out, I don't know why, but animals like to move a lot so I couldn't get a good picture. So what did I do instead...

...I took a picture of Jessie's son Liam acting like an animal. I had to pay him a quarter and 2 pennies for this picture, but he posed for me and I love it. I love him. I love their whole family. And I am truly grateful for them. (And the fact that I don't have their crazy pets as my own.)

Try-It Tuesday: Pork Tednerloin/Day 15: Technology

2011-11-15T22:30:00.008-06:00

Day 15: Technology

First on my agenda, today's photo challenge: Technology. Of course I had to take a picture of my iPhone. The technology of it all wows me constantly. Seriously... I cannot believe technology. Google. The internet. Computers. Cameras. Electricity. DVR. The list goes on. The the wonder of technology and what people have dreamt up and accomplished over the years is astounding. I'm grateful for that. And have I mentioned I'm grateful for my iPhone. (I love it.)

Triple fail (and a half).

Secondly, Try-It Tuesday tonight was kind of a triple fail.

Fail #1: I totally forgot to plan something. My mom asked me last night at like 9:30, "Hey, do you have anything planned for dinner tomorrow night?" Me: "Crap!" Yep, I forgot. Luckily Momma had a back up plan for a recipe she was planning on trying out this week, and she let me steal it.

Fail #2: Jessie and I had talked about her and the boys joining for Try-It Tuesday this week. And guess what I did? I forgot... again. I got an e-mail from her saying, "Hey, are we on for dinner?" And me being the lame-o had to say no because I had forgotten and hadn't planned ahead and didn't think we'd have enough food.

Fail #3: The recipe that we tried was a recipe from Woman's Day magazine that my mom had found for Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and Thyme Roasted Apples. Sounds pretty delicious, eh? The pork was delicious! The apples... a mushy mess. NOT a do-over. (AND, you'll notice that there was way more food than I thought, so Jessie and the boys could have come over after all. Triple fail and a half.)

Day 4: Leaves

And finally, on a more positive note... I thought I'd take a catch up picture today. The leaves this year haven't actually been very pretty. There was one weekend that everything seemed pretty vibrant, and after that it was all gone. But today while walking on our lunch break, my friend Christine and I came upon this tree and it stood out about the rest from what this season's foliage has had to offer. Yay for fall and beautiful trees!

Day 14: Movement

2011-11-14T15:05:00.003-06:00

Day 14: Movement

Yes... I was driving while taking this picture. I'm a bad human being. Or at least a bad driver. But I survived, and more importantly so did everyone else around me. I originally took this picture to try to capture the sunrise, because Day 5 that I missed because I started this challenge a bit late was to take a picture of the Morning Sky. AND today's challenge is to capture Movement, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone with this picture: Morning Sky AND Movement...

...and then I decided killing birds with stones isn't the point of this challenge. It's to take a moment and look around. So, I've decided today shall just be Movement. I will be back with a Morning Sky picture soon. (So if you drive on 435 between 6:45 and 7:15... beware!) And what I am grateful for about movement, you ask? Well, I'm grateful that I can move. I'm grateful for a car that takes me to and from work. And I'm grateful for beautiful morning skies (even though that's not today's challenge, I'm still grateful.)

Day 13: Written Words

2011-11-13T14:34:00.003-06:00

Day 13: Written Words

Here is a picture of the ultimate written Word, and my handwritten notes that I took on the message that I heard this morning at church on idolatry. Interesting stuff...

I'm grateful for the fact that I was well-educated growing up and can write without thinking twice about it. Just take a second and think about the education that we get here in the United States. We seriously take it for granted. Not everywhere in the world do they know how to read and write, or have the means to even buy something to write on. I am the queen of buying a journal, writing in it for a little while, forgetting about it, then buying a new journal to "get me excited" about writing again. It's sickening. Not only do I have countless journals, I have a computer, and a phone, and an iPod, and... The list goes on and on. I'm just plain blessed... and I'm grateful for the live that I've been given.

Day 12: Hands

2011-11-12T12:05:00.003-06:00

Have you thought about your hands lately? I hadn't. As I started thinking about taking a picture of my hands I thought, "Hm, what color of nail polish should I have on? I hope they don't look chubby in the picture... Should I put lotion on first?" Isn't that ridiculous? Ridiculous, I tell you! When I got over my dumb hand insecurities, I started really thinking about my hands...

I'm pretty grateful for them. Have you thought about what life would be like without your hands? I encourage you to do that right now. Just think about your day, and everything you've done. I woke up, went to the bathroom (just think about that without your hands and that should inspire gratitude on its own...), I put a jacket on, made some pancakes, took a picture of myself giving my pancakes a thumbs up, ate some pancakes, and now I'm blogging about these wonderful hands of mine that did all of that for me this morning! I am grateful for my dear hands. I hope you are, too.

(P.S. I put butterscotch chips in these pancakes and they were amazing... If you're a butterscotch fan, even if you're not, I recommend you trying it out. It'll rock your world.)

Day 11: Something Old

2011-11-11T15:45:00.005-06:00

Day 10: Something Old

Today's picture is of the lamp that I got from my grandma's house after she passed away. I've blogged about this lamp before... because I love it. It reminds me of my grandma. Her house in Dodge City, KS. Thanksgivings there. Her living room where we would all just pack in and talk about life. It reminds me of my family. And I like that.

Day 10: Nature

2011-11-10T17:26:00.004-06:00

Day 10: Nature

I took this cool picture of the trees that line the sidewalk on the way out of work, because the truth is, that's pretty much my only interaction with nature throughout the week. But something happened somewhere between work and home and the picture disappeared, so I took a picture of the tree outside of our house instead. I do love the tree outside and I am grateful for it. It's a sickly tree and every year we think will be its last. BUT, it continued to survive, and I'm grateful for that.

Day 2: Smile

Because I started this challenge a week late, I'm trying to make up for some of the missed days as I go along. So today I'm also posting a picture for Day 2: Smile. We have pictures of our family on our refrigerator and they all make me smile on a regular basis. I especially love this picture of my cousin Hallie. I mean, who couldn't? She's probably the cutest child I've ever been around in my life. I'm grateful for her and the rest of my special family.

Day 9: Inspiring Person

2011-11-09T14:29:00.002-06:00

Today's was an easy one... really easy. When I think, "Who inspires me in my life?" My mom is at the top of the list. She's a pretty special woman. If I died tomorrow, I'm not really sure what people would say at my funeral. Hopefully nice things like I cared for people and laughed a lot or something, but I really don't know. At my mom's funeral, which better not be until I am 103 years old (that means I plan on my mom living until she is 133... she can do it!) I know the things they will say about her. That she is kind, and wise, and loving, and gentle, and godly, and beautiful, and funny (I think I get to see her funny side more than anyone else, sometimes we get to laughing so hard that we cry... It's great.) The list would go on and on. THAT is why my mom is inspiring. She lives a life that I want to live. She's a cool woman, and often I think, "Man, what a cool woman! How did I end up with her as my mom." To say I'm grateful is an understatement. But I am, indeed, grateful.

Here is a picture of my mom this morning before I left for work. She said, "I can't believe you are taking a picture of me in my robe with no make up on!" but I did it anyway. I told her I would keep the picture dark and far away so no one could tell. I put another picture below so you can see how truly beautiful my mom is... both inside and out.

Try-It Tuesday: Hawaiian Chicken Chili

2011-11-08T17:52:00.005-06:00

I've said this before, but if I could eat soup every day of my life... I probably would. I've probably eaten it 5 of the last 7 days (and some days twice in one day) and I'm planning on continuing because the leftovers from this week's Try-It Tuesday recipe are going to be awesome! (And yes, I took a break from Try-It Tuesday last week because I went to Chick-fil-A with Jessie's family and my family instead. Let's be honest, you probably didn't miss it THAT much anyway.)

This week I wanted to make soup for Try-It Tuesday. (Surprise, surprise!) I looked on some blogs that I frequent, and there were so good looking recipes out there... but nothing quite appealing enough. So then I headed over to Pinterest, and saw all sorts of options, but sided with a recipe I saw for Hawaiian Chicken Chili. Sounds a bit... interesting, eh? My guess is you had one of two reactions when reading that. 1. "Hawaiian Chicken Chili... wow, that sounds delicious!" 2. "Hawaiian Chicken Chili... what the crap, Abby?" Well, after trying it... the consensus was that Thought #1 was on track! It was delicious! I'd encourage that you check out the recipe here. (P.S. If you do try this recipe out, it calls from 8-12 chicken breasts... that's ridiculous. I used 5 and even my dad, the meat man himself, said it was meaty enough.)

Jessie came over to partake in Try-It Tuesday this week. Some would say she's a brave soul for coming... I'd say she's one lucky duck. :) (And of course, there's my Momma, my dad was there, too, but they're regulars for Try-It Tuesday.)

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude

2011-11-08T08:45:00.001-06:00

Remember that one time I showed you a list I saw on Pinterest of fun fall things to do? Well... I'm a slacker. And I was gone every weekend in October, aka the prime time to check the things off of that list, and I just didn't get it done. It was still a fun list. Full of all sorts of fun things that would be great to do during the fall. I'm just a slacker.

BUT, I just saw another list that I liked. So I'm going to give it another go. I saw this on a baking blog that I read, Brown Eyed Baker, and she must have seen it on Pinterest (the giver of all things great). It's a challenge to take a picture every day for 30 days of things that you are grateful for. After reading what the blogger's intention was for this list, and her blog in general, I feel like she and I are on the same page. She encourages people to do this so they "stay in the present... are aware of their surroundings"... what I refer to as "noticing one's heart."

Anyway, I thought I'd partake in this list. I'm a bit behind, today is the 8th, so I've missed 7 days of photos, but I'll make them up as I go along. Today was a pretty easy one to complete. Can anyone say... mustard!

Day 8: Favorite Color

Instagram.

2011-11-07T21:05:00.000-06:00

Sunflowers.

I'm soooo late getting on the Instagram bandwagon. (It's not my fault. I just got an iPhone.) Instagram, by its own definition is: "a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo, then choose a filter to transform the look and feel of the shot into a memory to keep around forever." (Let's be honest... these won't be around forever, I'm not going to be showing my grandkids pictures I took on my iPhone... or maybe I will... Hm...)

Anyway, I would always see people tweet them or blog about them and would want to be able to take cool looking pictures with my phone, too. But I couldn't... and now I can. And I'm loving it. For those of you who have been doing this for ages, thanks for humoring me. I know that this is nothing new. But it's new to me. And have I mentioned I'm loving it. Cheers to Instagram and all of the artsy pictures I will attempt to take in the near future. Here are a few I've taken so far. (Cut me some slack here, I'm new to this.)

Oatmeal butterscotch cookies.

Don Chilito's.

John Mark McMillan.

2011-11-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

I am loving John Mark McMillan right now. I really can't get enough. His new album Economy has pretty much been on repeat for the last week. Why do I like JMM, you ask? Well, I'll tell you...

1. He's got this incredibly powerful voice yet when you watch him sing it looks like it's effortlessly flowing out of him.

2. He makes me a believer in the electric guitar. You know how much I love the acoustic. This guy makes me like the electric. That says something, folks.

3. He's got the sound that I don't know why, but the way I want to describe it is a "deep South" vibe. If you listen to him, you'll see/hear what I mean.

4. Whoever the girl is that sings harmony for him is great. She totally adds something awesome. I want to be her. Add it to the lists of dream jobs.

5. His lyrics are pretty great. I know lyrics are generally the first thing most people pay attention to, but not me. When I attempt to listen though, John Mark McMillan is really poetic.

(5b. I wanted to keep the list at 5, but remembered that I like how he uses "ohhhs" a lot in his music. My brother Cory pointed out how "ohhh" is like an extra word in JMM's vocabulary. He does use it a lot, but it's powerful, in a simple, "words aren't needed" kind of way.)

(5c. Ok, one more thing. It doesn't sound like Christian music, but it is. I like that, too.)

Anyway... all that to say. You should check him out. Here are some videos from this acoustic series he's been doing. Pretty incredible, if you ask me.

This would be...

2011-11-04T00:32:00.004-05:00

My excited face! Do you want to know why?... because I flipping got an iPhone! Yes, yes I did!

About a month ago, Apple announced that Sprint was finally getting the iPhone. I had been waiting a long time for this. Ok, not that long, but pretty much any time someone busted out an iPhone in front of me over the last 3 years, I have had to try hard to keep myself from gazing longingly in its direction. Anyway, from the day of the announcement on I was on a mission to get this phone. Had a run in or two (which I'm not proud of) with Sprint about some "policy issues." And then when it was finally time for my contract to be up so I could order the phone... they were all out. Looking back, I'm kind of ashamed of how bad I wanted it, how much I talked about it, and how hard I fought for it. It's a phone...

But yesterday I got it... and I love it! I have an iPhone! (And yes, I know my excited face is awesome. You should see the 30-some photos on my computer right now of my attempts at the excited face. If these were the ones that I went with, you can only imagine the others...)

Mulligatawny.

2011-10-30T20:06:00.006-05:00

I don't know what it is... but it seems I'm often inspired to cook soup on Sunday nights. I guess on Sundays I just love snuggling in and spending the evening wrapped up in a blanket on my comfy couch as I prepare myself for another work week. You know what goes great with couch sitting and blanket snuggling? Soup. Yes, yes it does. And I think my favorite soup to make is a variation of Pioneer Woman's Mulligatawny. My friend Jessie actually made it first and gave me her alterations. I pretty much use her recipe but have done a few things to make it a little less healthy and a tiny bit more perfect for my gluttonous taste buds. Basically I added more chicken and brown sugar, and some rice. And I took out some of the spices that I don't have in my kitchen. Don't judge me... spices are expensive!

If you like curry, and you like soup, and you like me, you should try out this recipe. I love it. Hopefully you will, too!

Mulligatawany (Pioneer Woman's, then Jessie's, then mine)

Ingredients

-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite size pieces

-2 tbsp margarine

-1 large onion

-4 cloves garlic

-3 tbsp curry powder

-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper/ground red pepper (you can use more, I've just toned it down a lot for my Momma)

-46 oz. chicken broth (go for the fat free stuff, it'll make you feel better when you add all of the brown sugar below)

-4 carrots, cut into tiny pieces (or you can do big pieces but it'll take 5 years to cook)

-3 red potatoes, cut into tiny pieces (any potato will do, we just always seem to have red around)

-2 cups skim milk

-1/3 cup brown sugar

-2 tsp salt

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Optional Side

-1 cup jasmine or long grain rice (optional)

-2 cups water

-1 tsp salt

Directions

Cook the chicken somehow. (Because I'm lazy I generally just boil the chicken for 15-20 minutes while I'm working on the rest of the soup.) Melt the margarine in a large "soup sized" pot on medium heat. Chop up the garlic and dice the onions and add them to the margarine. Let the onions cook until they brown a bit, stirring them occasionally, about 5 minutes. When the onions are nice and brown add the curry and cayenne pepper and stir constantly for about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, carrots, potatoes, and chicken (if you're like me and started boiling the chicken when you started your soup, the chicken probably isn't ready yet; it's cool to add it whenever it's ready.) Cook the soup until the carrots and potatoes are tender. I'd say about 20 minutes or so, it depends on how big you cut your carrots; PS I told you to cut them small, you slacker. When they're good and tender add 1 cup of the milk and the brown sugar and salt and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining cup of milk and the flour and whisk together until there are no lumps (I'm telling you, NO lumps, or you'll have nasty, cottage cheese looking things floating in your soup later, it's not pretty.) Add the milk/flour mixture to the soup and let it simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes. And you're done!

I like to eat the soup with a side of rice. Tonight I used the water that I used to boil the chicken with for my rice. It had to boil for 20 minutes so about 10 minutes into the "letting the carrots get soft" phase, I started my rice and they all finished at the same time.

And yes, your house will smell like curry for 3 days after making this. But it's worth it. I promise. (Above is Pioneer Woman's picture of her mulligatawny. Below is my beloved circular scarf that I knitted with mulligatawny colored yarn so I thought it'd be appropriate to show it off. You can also kind of see my bowl of soup. Hey, it's the best I can do! I'm no Pioneer Woman...)

Scarves remain.

2011-10-27T07:35:00.005-05:00

I've been a selfish blogger lately. Just blogging about my self. That's dumb. I'm sorry. Let's get back to the heart of this blog: writing about the beautiful things of the world. (Or at least the things that I think are beautiful. Ok, I suppose that brings things back to selfish ol' me, but I didn't mean to...)

ANYWAY, as many of you know... I love scarves. I learned how to knit in high school right around when scarves were becoming trendy (at least I thought they were trendy) and have been overusing the look since then. I dread the day that they go out of style. Sure, I could still wear them. But I don't want to be that person... wearing things that were once cool but no longer are cool (I'm talking to you "guy who wears his pants half way down his legs." Sagging isn't cool anymore...) Anyway, every year, I keep an eye out for the fashion magazines and TV shows to see if my beloved security blanket of an accessory is still around. This year I was especially worried... I saw a few in some stores here and there but thought, "This may be it. It may be time for us to part."

But guess what! They're still in! At least accordingly to some reliable sources (Gap, Pinterest.... I suppose their reliability/credibility depends on who you ask. But they're ok by me.) This morning I woke up to see an e-mail in my inbox with the above picture. And a few weeks ago I saw a cute look on Pinterest that included a similar look (below). So, I've been knitting up a storm making circular scarf after circular scarf (aka cowl aka the type of scarf that seems to be "in" this year) and I'm excited that the fashion world agrees with me. Just thought I'd blog (again) about something I think is great: scarves. Happy Thursday!

My dream job/Cuppies and Joe.

2011-10-26T07:55:00.003-05:00

(The front of Cuppies and Joe. I didn't take this picture, but thought you should see it from the outside.)

Have you ever had an experience where you see something or feel something and you think: "This is exactly what I want to do with my life." I had one of those this weekend. Well, I have one of those every time I go to a concert, but I'm letting that dream go. Anyway, I had a semi-realistic one this weekend. While I was in Oklahoma City we visited this cupcake and coffee place called Cuppies and Joe and it was pretty much perfectly what I would love to do with my life.

It was in a quaint little house within this restaurant/business districty area of OKC(those are some legit words for you there...). It was cute from the outside (pictured above) and incredibly wonderful from the inside (picture below). The front counter looked like it was in the area that would have been the home's dining room. They had seats all around: some tables, some chairs, some comfy couches. The rooms were painted fun colors (there was even a mustard wall.) They had interesting art work on the walls. Fun music filled the space. Friendly staff. And most importantly: yummy cupcakes and coffee. I loved it. It was a simple depiction of what I want to do with my life.

So, I'm currently a "retirement education specialist" at JP Morgan. How do I get from where I am to where I want to be? Well... I asked my friend Alan to draft me up a 5 step plan, preferably including a husband, and here's what he came up with. It made me smile so I thought I'd share it with you, too... Straight from Alan's lips, or fingers, since he typed it out for me.

Step 1: Save up some dough so you can live comfortably without any income.
Step 2: While doing this, have an awesome time with friends and meet some new people. Perhaps find random dudes to hang out with. Preferably at coffee shops. You could use this time to do coffee shop research.

Step 3: During this time, also brush up on your guitar playing skillz (Alan spells skills with a Z, not me) and try some songwriting.

Step 4: After dough has been saved, leave the corporate world and begin seeking out the perfect coffee shop locale in downtown KC.

Step 5: Find the coffee shop/bakery, get a small business loan, paint it, set up a stage in it, make it a downtown haven for singer/songwriters and meet your soulmate in the process. You'll start a small group and set the world on fire.

Sound like a plan? I like it... First step: saving money. I can do this!

(Their counter... I like it! And they were selling cute t-shirts, too!)
(Cute front room... Don't you just want to sit down and enjoy some cupcakes and coffee?)(I mean come on, ya'll! It has a mustard colored entryway... Could it BE any more "Abby"!)

Try-It Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie

2011-10-25T18:15:00.003-05:00

After last's week flop, I decided that I needed to try a recipe that was a sure bet. So where did I turn? None other than the Pioneer Woman! My friend Jessie had borrowed my Pioneer Woman cookbook and returned it to me yesterday, so I picked it up and saw a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie and decided that I had to try it.

One thing about Pioneer Woman's recipes is that they always smell delicious during preparation, which I love. I actually made the filling and the crust last night so I had an easy, stress free preparation today after work. Well, it looked pretty tasty when I pulled it out of the oven, and smell yummy, too. I had high hopes... and then I cut into it... and it was crazy runny, the vegetables were a bit too crisp, and the overall all temperature was just warm (and I even cooked it an extra 10 minutes.) The taste was delicious and the crust was great! The whole family agreed that the taste was spot on. The texture though... was lacking. I don't know what it is... whenever I make PW recipes they are always runny. What is it? Do we use different cream? Or a different kind of pot? I follow the directions exactly... What am I doing wrong? So, the verdict: a do-over, I just need to figure out how to thicken it up.

A semi-successful Try-It Tuesday. Not a "ewwww, sick!" like last week, but for sure not quite the "two thumbs up!" that I'm going for. (This recipe was in Pioneer Woman's cookbook, here is a similar recipe for Turkey Pot Pie found on her website though.) (Also, the above picture is horrible. And we've got my brother Cory in the background making the face that he is because he doesn't like chicken pot pie... he had a turkey sandwich instead. Lame!)

Octravelfast: Oklahoma City

2011-10-24T18:12:00.010-05:00

(That's legit...)

This weekend completed the final installment of Octravelfest. I went and visited my cousins Julie and Anthony in Oklahoma City (actually a suburb called Bethany) and it was the perfect way to end my month of travel. They moved there this summer because Anthony got a job as a resident director and while I'm glad they are experiencing something new, I have missed them dearly and was so pumped to go visit this weekend. We had a great time! We laughed a lot. Talked a lot. Played a lot. Laughed a lot. Ate a lot (and when I say a lot, I mean a LOT.) Drove around and saw a lot. Baked a lot. Sang a lot. Danced a lot. And did I mention we laughed a lot? It was just a great, great time. There are some pictures of the weekend below...

(Sunset over the Flint Hills. I've said it once and I'll say it again, Kansas sunsets are the BEST. And yes, I know, I shouldn't have been driving and taking a picture...)

(Two of my favorite people: Julie and Anthony at Cuppies and Joe (more to come on that later...))

(Iced coffee and games... aka heaven.)

(Julie exposed me to Pioneer Woman's recipe for apple dumplings and it was amazing!)

(We finished the weekend with the Andrew Belle/Ben Rector concert. Yes, I realize the sign is for a different band, but I swear we saw Andrew Belle and Ben Rector.)

A few weeks ago I mentioned I was in kind of a funk. Well, we're all friends here so I'll just be honest with you: it was because of a boy. I had to end a relationship before it started because I knew it just wouldn't work out even though I really cared about the guy. I've never been the girl who becomes all insecure over a boy, but this experience, it kind of did it to me. The reason I'm telling you all of my junk is because this month of visiting all of these people that I love, it just happened out of the blue. I didn't plan it this way, it just happened (some would call it a "God thing," I would be one of those people...) Anyway, it couldn't have come at a better time. I was surrounded by people I love and people that love me (Joel in Austin, Dana and Marc in Sublette, my college friends in Columbia, and Julie and Anthony in OKC), and I feel like I'm back to my old self again. I'm just pretty thankful for the restorative month that I've had and the people in my life and the One who planned it all.

Octravelfest: Columbia

2011-10-19T08:30:00.002-05:00

(The roommates back together again. Picture stolen from V.)

Octravelfest continued this past weekend. Some of my friends were headed back to Columbia for our alma-mater, University of Missouri's homecoming. I was going to decline the invitation to head that way so I could actually have a weekend at home, but then I heard my good friend and roommate from college Megan was getting engaged... and I knew I couldn't miss it.

The weekend was another good one. I got to spend time with my friend Katie: we ate some ridiculously cheap Chinese buffet and saw the movie 50/50 (so good... see it, asap.) Then I met up with my dearest friends Valeria and Jonathan for some walking around downtown and quality chat time on the patio of McAlister's sipping on sweet tea (or in my case... Diet Coke.) We got all dressed up, met up with a few more friends and then went to Megan's surprise engagement party which was the perfect way to end the evening.

Sunday was a lot more low-key. I had the morning to kill so I stopped by Kaldi's, the coffee shop I worked at in college, then walked around the quad. Then I drove out to see Big Tree, the tree outside of Columbia that sits all by itself in the middle of a big field. Later, I finished off the weekend with a delicious lunch with my good friend Colleen.

It was just a great weekend. I don't want to be that person that looks back on college and is like "Those were the days..." But those really were the days. What a special time in life... And what a great weekend catching up with all of the people from that time in life. I miss them dearly.

(Iced coffee and pumpkin bread from Kaldi's.)

(The beautiful Jessie Hall and the columns...)

(My beloved Big Tree...)

Try-It Tuesday: Southwest Chicken and Corn Chowder

2011-10-18T20:01:00.005-05:00

Well, folks... Try-It Tuesday is back after a one week hiatus but I must say, after tonight's recipe, it should have taken this week off, too... It was bad. This is the week that I fess up and tell you: "So, I tried this recipe... and it sucked." Because it did. It sucked.

The above picture looks amazing right? Who can find that on Pinterest, see that it's Southern Chicken and Corn Chowder soup, and not try the recipe? Not I... the lover of soup. I had to try it. It started off well. There was a yummy pot of olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic abrewin'. It smelled delicious! And then somewhere between that and the end result, something went wrong, very wrong. Because it was not good. Ok, so, I may have added too much water... (It's not completely my fault, I'm a baker, so exact measurements are a must, and they didn't give me one for the water.) Also, the recipe called for "frozen creamed corn, thawed," and well, we couldn't find frozen creamed corn, and you're going to thaw it anyway, so why not just get canned cream corn? ... Maybe it was my alterations. Maybe it was the recipe. Who knows where that dreaded finger should be pointed... but it was not good. Don't try it. This is not a Try-It Tuesday worth repeating...

(Ok, but if you do see the picture above and get the urge to try it anyway... let me know how it goes. Because I really do want this recipe to be delicious, I just won't be trying it again myself.)

Apple picking and pumpkin... choosing?

2011-10-12T19:24:00.001-05:00

Remember a while ago when I blogged about a fall list that I saw on Pinterest? It was a creatively designed list full of wonderful things to do to enjoy fall. I haven't been taking this list as seriously as the list that I made a couple of months ago of things that I wanted to do before I turned 24. But I have completed a few...

Things That I Have Already Completed:

-Make fall cookies - I made these Maple Butterscotch Cookies. I'm going to be honest, they were just ok. They had a nice flavor but the were a bit tough for my taste. Maybe it was the baker's fault though... not the recipe's...?
-Take a nature walk - About a month ago I got to hang out with some really cool guys named Liam and Eli and we went on a nature walk. If I wasn't at work, I'd show you some pictures...
-Bake pies - I made an apple pie a while ago, and I made an apple crisp last night, and I'll likely make other pies. So I'd say we can consider this one completed.
-Drink fancy coffee drinks - Ha! I have no problem with that. I've for sure ordered myself a Pumpkin Spice Latte and/or Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks this season.

I've still got a lot to complete. And I'm not going to lie, I doubt that I will complete it all. BUT, this weekend I did complete two more things on the list, and it was a wonderful time! We went apple picking and visited a pumpkin patch in good ol' Plains, Kansas. We picked Fuji and Granny Smith apples for 50 cents a pound and pumpkins for 20 cents a pound. That's a deal, my friends! PLUS, we had a great time! Yay for fall! Let's keep that list coming.

(My cousin Dana with the Granny Smiths.) (Me with the Fujis.)
(She's pretty cute...)
(I just love this...)
(My aunt Cindy with tumbleweed! Classic Kansas...)

Octravelfest: Sublette-style.

2011-10-11T19:13:00.014-05:00

(Kansas sunsets are the best. Strong City, KS.)

So, it's Tuesday... and I didn't make a meal. It was just my mom and I again tonight so we decided to take a night off and go to Jose Pepper's instead. Man, I love Mexican... So I don't have any new recipe for Try-It Tuesday this week. But I do have another recipe that I want to share with you at the end of this post... so push through, you can make it!

It seems like October accidentally became "Go and visit the people you love!" month. (Did you like how I came up with Octravelfest. Pretty clever, eh? Ok, I know, it's bad, leave me alone.) Last weekend it was Austin to visit my brother Joel, and this weekend I went with my aunt Cindy to visit my cousin Dana and her husband Marc in Sublette, Kansas. (Funny story: these trips are like deja vu from last year because almost exactly a year ago I took a trip to Sublette and Texas (it was Dallas last time though) Strange...) It was a great trip! We did what the Burrichter family does: a lot of game playing. We ate great food. We went apple picking (more to come on that tomorrow). We shot guns. We talked about life. And we loved on each other. Because that's what we do. (Ok, minus the shooting guns and picking apples. Those aren't "regulars" on the family tradition list.) I had a great weekend and just wanted to show some pictures... just because I can.

Some days I just don't think I deserve to be blessed with as special of a family as mine...

(Another good one...)

(Like I said, we did a lot of cooking and eating.)

(Marc showing us how to shoot guns.)

(I know it doesn't look like she hit the target because there is another one to the right, but she hit what we were aiming for and she was pretty excited about it.)

(All of our shells. I've got my serious, "gun-shooting" face on.)

(ANOTHER great sunset...)

(Joy the Baker's apple crisp recipe. It was so easy and SO delicious. We used the apples we picked earlier that day... pretty cool if you ask me.)

Pep talk.

2011-10-10T12:44:00.005-05:00

I've kind of been in a funk the last couple of days (ok, maybe weeks and I'm just now catching on...) As you may know by now... change is hard for me. And some changes kind of creeped up out of nowhere and *BAM* many aspects of my life are different than they were before. My life is good, even with the changes... I have no excuse to be in a funk really. But some days you just are, no matter how many pep talks you give yourself. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, today's pep talk includes this quote I saw on Pinterest. I suppose it's a bit cheesy... but it's inspirational and reminds me that life is about more than the silly little things I worry about...

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. -Mother Theresa

Austin.

2011-10-07T11:50:00.008-05:00

As I mentioned before, I went to Austin last weekend to visit my brother Joel. He recently moved down there to go to law school (he won't pull the law school card because he can't brag on himself, but I can, he's awesome) so my brother Cory, my cousin Brad and I went for a visit.

I love Kansas City, right? But Austin, it's now officially my second favorite city to home. It's actually smaller than Kansas City, so it didn't feel too big, but it still had the big city feel. I loved that it had lakes and rivers everywhere so the water seemed to be a big component of the city. It has a great skyline. Good restaurants. Fun stores. And just an awesome atmosphere. I loved the time I spent there. I especially loved the company: I haven't had such a great time and laughed so much in quite a while.

(Cousins doing what we do: eating ice cream.)

(We didn't actually eat here, but I liked these signs...)

One of the things that we made a point to do, because we are awesome, was to drive around and see some of the locations where they filmed Friday Night Lights, because the show was filmed in Austin. We stopped by the Panther Fieldhouse, Matt Saracen's house, the Taylor's house, and my favorite stop on the tour: Tim Riggin's land. It was incredible. You know what was even more incredible? Driving around downtown Austin later that night, stopping at a stoplight and looking at the car next to us and seeing Kyle Chandler (the actor who plays the coach on FNL) driving the car. Yep, that happened. To say we were stoked to see him is an understatement.

(Tim Riggins' land.)

(Siblings at Riggins' land.)

It was a great weekend...

Things That I Wish I Could Blog About...

2011-10-06T20:13:00.001-05:00

I don't know if you know this about me... but I love fall. Like, a lot. I've always enjoyed fall, but in college I met my dear friend Valeria, who is an even greater lover of fall than I, and she rubbed off on me. My love has never failed since then... for fall, or for Valeria (she's pretty great...)

The truth is that I have blogged about my love of fall a lot over the years. So all of the things that I have a desire to blog about these days, because I'm just soaking them up right now, I have already blogged about. (And I try to avoid repeats.) So, I decided to blog about the things that I wish I could blog about but can't because I've already blogged about them. You ready for it? Here goes...

1. Baking with pumpkin.

2. Scarves

3. The trees.
4. The cool breezes.
5. The idea of football even though I don't like the sport.
6. The fall holidays.
7. The fall-like drinks from Starbucks.
8. Cardigans.
9. Candy corn.

10. Apples.

I have either designated whole posts to these or mentioned them in passing... So I'll just leave it at that. I love all of those things. And I love fall.

Try-It Tuesday: Spinach and Ricotta Quiche

2011-10-04T18:55:00.007-05:00

It's been a week since I've blogged... I went out of town this weekend to visit my brother Joel in Austin so I haven't had a lot of time. I need to blog about Austin though... It was amazing. More to come on that soon.

Tonight it was just my momma and I for Try-It Tuesday. I wanted more of a simple meal this week... Nothing with tons of chopping and ingredients. Something low key. So I made this Spinach and Ricotta Quiche that I saw in Rachael Ray Magazine. The verdict? It was really good! I'd say a do over for sure! It was pretty easy and had a full flavor that we really enjoyed.

(Rachael Ray's picture.)

(My picture. Quality dinner: the quiche, Diet Coke, carrots- straight out of the bag (we keep it classy) and my beloved honeycrisp apples.)

The recipe called for frozen puff pastry. I'd seen recipes use it before, but have never used it myself. I bought a package of two, and the quiche only called for one shell and so I had this other thawed puff pastry shell that I wanted to do something with. So I was thinking about it, and then... *lightbulb!* I remembered seeing a recipe on Joy the Baker that called for puff pastry and... *drum roll, please* ... peanut butter and chocolate!!! Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows. So I whipped those up while waiting for the quiche to cook and they were amazing! The star of tonight's show, for sure.

Moral of the story: buy some frozen puff pastry. Make the quiche... But TOTALLY make the peanut butter chocolate pillows. Yay for another successful Try-It Tuesday!

(Joy's picture... it looks a bit more appetizing than mine...)

(So amazing. Seriously.)

(If you can look past the disgusting Band-Aided, peely nail polished fingers, you'll see how flaky and wonderful this was!)

Try-It Tuesday: Black Bean Burgers

2011-09-27T21:19:00.010-05:00

I really could do without meat in my life. Sure, I like an occasional chicken breast, slice of deli turkey, or hamburger like the next girl... but I think I could survive pretty easily without it. This week is proof, without my meat-and-potatoes family around, I haven't prepared any meat... at all.

The trend continued tonight... I made black bean burgers! And like I said yesterday, I had some special guests over for dinner: The Crows (that's my good friend Jessie that I always talk about, her husband and their two boys.) I know what you're thinking... "She tried out a black bean burger recipe on guests?" I know... it was daring, and maybe a bit dumb, and the Crows were good sports. We had a really intense (ok, not intense at all...) discussion about how we felt about the recipe. The verdict? The recipe was pretty good... for a black bean burger. The flavor was good, but it fell apart a little too easily and could have used a sauce or something to go with it. I also tried out this sweet potato fries recipe that guaranteed to be crispy. All lies... they were flat out soggy and underdone and I followed the directions precisely. I also tried out this pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe for dessert. The cookies were good but were hardly pumpkiny.

Overall the meal was a B- at best and I was bummed because I wanted to impress Jessie since she's such a stellar cook... Maybe someday.... The company was an A+ though... I love hanging out with the Crows, so the evening as a whole was a good one.

(Liam told me that he didn't like my cookies because they were "mushy." The boy had two...)

(Eli's got the greatest smile... when he actually wants to give you one.)

(Making the funny Crow boy stare-down face. I'm not as good as Liam...)

(Jon messing around doing who knows what...)

(Always laughing...)

(Being silly... I love these guys!)

Try-It (Day Before) Tuesday: Sweet Potato Chili

2011-09-26T22:54:00.006-05:00

So, my parents are out of town, I've got the house to myself, and until tonight I'd managed to not make myself any meals since they left. Chipotle for lunch on Saturday, party food Saturday night, McDonald's salad on Sunday, dinner at Jessie's on Sunday night... So tonight I decided that I should stop being lazy and that it was time to make myself a meal!

I went with this Sweet Potato Chili recipe that I saw on Pinterest. I thought, "Hm, Dad will probably think this is weird, and especially be down on it since it doesn't have any meat... I better try it out while he's gone." So that's exactly what I did tonight. It was a pretty easy recipe with pretty standard ingredients... and it was delicious! For a vegetarian soup I found it incredibly hearty and filling. You better believe I will be having the leftovers for lunch every day this week. Clearly, I'd recommend the recipe. (P.S. I went ahead and stole their picture because mine was just not that great, AND more importantly, I'm just too lazy to walk downstairs to get my camera...)

Some of you who knew my parents were going out of town were a bit concerned about what was going to happen to Try-It Tuesday this week. No worries, folks... I've given you Try-It (Day Before) Tuesday tonight, and Try-It Tuesday will be back yet again tomorrow. And since the rents are out of town, I've invited over some special guests... Get excited!

Cake... and a party!

2011-09-25T20:00:00.010-05:00

It's been a while since I've blogged about any of my cake creations... probably because it's been a while since I've actually created any. This weekend I had the task of baking cake for 100 people! I baked two cakes: one chocolate and one white. And the party had a 70s and 80s theme, so... I decorated a cake for each decade. It worked out quite lovely actually. Below are the cakes...

Not only did I bake the cakes for the party, I also attended the party! It was the 40th birthday of my good friend Shannon and I couldn't miss it. As I said before it was a theme party... and she expected us to dress up. I wasn't too excited about it. I like to have a good time... but dressing up isn't really my thing. Jessie convinced me though. She was dressing up and encouraged me to do it, too. We went thrift store shopping and found some pretty ridiculous stuff... She even came over to my house and we did hair and make up last weekend. We're pretty cool for a 24- and 34-year-old.

Anyway, enough with the words. I feel like the pictures will speak louder.

The before...

(Cardigan, solid colored t-shirt, skinny jeans, Chacos...)

(Oh, and 2011 Abby got bangs recently...)

The after...

(Yikes...)

(Of course, Jessie got to be a pretty 70s girl, and I was... not.)

It was a good time. That's all I can say...

Try-It Tuesday: Cajun Chicken Pasta

2011-09-20T19:25:00.003-05:00

We've become pretty quick fans of the Pioneer Woman in the Thomason house. I remember I first heard of her when I saw some baking blogger that I follow recreate her chocolate sheet cake. I remember thinking "Who the heck is Pioneer Woman? And why would anyone want to bake a sheet cake over a normal, pretty cake?" Well... little did I know... Pioneer Woman is awesome. I love reading her blog, and just recently I've been enjoying (actually, my whole family has) her tv show on the Food Network.

Last weekend on her show (and her blog), the Pioneer Woman cooked Cajun Chicken Pasta. It looked pretty yummy so I thought I'd take a crack at it for this week's Try-It Tuesday. Something tells me my end result wasn't quite like hers... My sauce didn't thicken... so it was kind of a liquidy mess. But it had a great flavor and was overall very delicious! The verdict: a do-over. We've decided it could use a few revisions though. 1. Add some kind of thickener to the sauce, like a bit of flour or something. 2. Use a different pasta than fettuccine because it was difficult to eat. Maybe penne? 3. Dice the peppers instead of slice them. Big pepper slices are also difficult to eat.

Join us next week for another rendition of Try-It Tuesdays! I plan to try something much less involved that doesn't require nearly as much much chopping. :) Oh, and above is Pioneer Woman's picture... below is mine. I know, I know, you can hardly tell a difference.

Fall list!

2011-09-16T13:20:00.005-05:00

I saw this on Pinterest today.

Not to sound like a broken record... but:

1. I love Pinterest.

2. I love fall.

3. I love lists.

4. I love this bucket list and fully intend to complete it. (We'll see about the two dates thing. That's the one that I have doubts about it's completion... but a girl can dream.)

Happy fall! (It's 56 degrees outside and I'm wearing a scarf. Totally fall-like!)

Pinterest: my escape.

2011-09-14T09:53:00.000-05:00

I like my job. I really do. I like that I get to talk to people. I like that I'm challenged on a daily basis because I'm still trying to figure this "finance" stuff out. I like that it involves a lot of problem solving. I like the people that I work with. I like going to work in an office and wearing business casual clothes. And I like that I have benefits and a steady paycheck. I'm pretty blessed.

Sometimes though... sometimes I get a glimpse of a beautiful, creative, outside world, and I kind of crave to get out. Examples of these glimpses: music. When I listen to music while I'm at work, I am reminded of the glorious outside world where you get to crank the music up. Today I was listening to the new Ben Rector album during my break, and it took a lot of effort to take those headphones out of my ears and get back to work. I did it though. No worries.

Another glimpse of the outside world: Pinterest. Have you been on Pinterest? It took me a while to warm up to the idea of a new website that I wanted to devote time to. And it took me a while to figure out how to use the site (I don't know why, it's like I'm an old lady or something...) But once I did... I never looked back. Pinterest: it's this website that basically helps you bookmark sites you've visited, and check out the bookmarks of others. It's beautiful. Plus the sites and things I've been exposed to while I'm on there are so inspiring. The other day I was looking at decorated baked goods and I almost threw off my headset and walked out the door to go home and bake. I didn't do it though. No worries.

Anyway, here are some beautiful things I've seen on Pinterest. If you haven't already, you should check it out. Now. It may just help you survive your cubicle-y day.

A beautiful cake design.

A tutorial for a cute scarf.

An inspiring look for fall... Maybe I'll get the courage to try this out.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Squares (I just can't help myself...)

Try-It Tuesday: Burrito Bowls

2011-09-13T18:15:00.003-05:00

So, last week was a busy week in the Thomason house, so I didn't have a chance to make a meal. But, this week: Try-It Tuesday is back! What's on the menu? Chipotle-like Burrito Bowls and I was pretty stinking excited about it!

I stole the idea from Annie's Eats but only ended up using her rice recipe. The verdict: it was good! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out... And, thankfully, it was Mom and Dad approved. (Although they think everything I do is great, whether it truly is or not.) Plus it was reasonably healthy, included some pretty common ingredients, and it was pretty easy to make. I'd say over all... it was a do over!

Here are the recipes that I used:

-Chicken: I just used some chicken breasts and found this Mexican Chicken Rub recipe.

-Rice: I stole Annie's recipe for Cilantro Lime Rice.

-Salsa/Beans: I cheated and combined two in one with this Black Bean and Corn Salsa.

-Sauteed peppers and onions: Thanks to the encouragement of a friend this was a last minute addition.

(I skipped out on the sour cream and cheese to keep it healthy, and honestly, it didn't need it!)

Well, it wasn't Chipotle... but it was good enough for me. So I'm happy!

Yellow flowers.

2011-09-10T15:30:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I came to work with a post-it note on my desk from one of my friends from high school that I hadn't seen in about 3 years. I guess one of his friends works at JPMorgan too, and he was touring the building with him over the weekend and came across my desk so he left me a note. The fun note prompted me to mention him on Twitter, and him to send me a Facebook message, and us to set up a time to hang out because it had been so long... (Gotta love social networking, bringing people together, right?) I was a little anxious... you never know if it's going to be awkward or not when you catch up with an old friend. But we met over frozen yogurt and caught up on what we've missed over the last three years, talked a lot about music (that's what we do), and had a really good time. Turns out he's moving to Chicago (this weekend, bummer timing...) but we set up a time to hang out again because he's really into photography and I desire to be really into photography, so I asked if he would teach me a few things...

So this week we got together again. He said, "So, you know those yellow flowers that are lining all of the roads everywhere. Maybe we can go track down some of those and take some pictures." Sadly... I had no idea what he was talking about. I hadn't noticed any yellow flowers anywhere. We drove right across the street from our frozen yogurt meeting spot (he must really like frozen yogurt...) and there was a whole field of them! He tried to teach me a few things about photography. He talked about "aperture", and "ISO" and "shutter speed" and all of this great stuff... that I can't really remember. I mainly listened and shook my head yes like I was following. I wish I took notes, because I don't really think I grasped a thing...

One thing I did grasp though, was that there are all of these beautiful, yellow flowers around and I have been completely missing them. Now that I'm aware, they are everywhere and I'm loving them. So you should be aware, too. That's the point of this post: open your eyes to the yellow flowers around you. The end. (Oh, and I suppose I learned a couple of things about photography, these pictures aren't that bad, right?)

It's coming!

2011-09-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

Every year around this time (and when I say every year, I mean the last two, because I haven't been blogging for long...) I get the "fall bug" and blog about how excited I am that fall is near. (Here's my post from 2009 and here's one from 2010...) Let's be honest, pretty much everything I blog from September 1st to about November 30th is about how much I love fall. I'm sorry if I blog about the same things every year, I just can't help it. I love fall. And the world needs to know. (Like these pictures, they're repeats from last year but these leaves are too beautiful to not be highlighted again...)

This week has felt like fall to me! The weather has been unexpectedly (as most Midwest weather is unexpected) beautiful! Sunny and 70s the whole week! Starbucks started serving their Pumpkin Spice Lattes again. I had a pumpkin muffin at Panera the other day (WARNING! Panera's baked goods are ridiculously unhealthy. The calories in that one muffin took up half of what I'm supposed to eat in an entire day.) I wore a scarf on Wednesday! I've been sleeping with the windows open and have been waking up to that amazing chilly feeling where you just want to stay under your blankets for 5 more minutes, make that 10... It feels like fall and it's just been glorious!

I feel like I've been a selfish blogger lately. Blogging about the silly things I do, that maybe people don't really care to hear about. The ultimate goal of this blog is to shed light on the glorious things of life. To pay attention to the little things that make my heart happy (and hopefully after pointing them out to you, they'll make your heart happy, too!) So, instead of focusing on the lame naps I've been taking or the projects I've been working on, I thought I'd point out how great this week has been. I know it's a bit early to be saying this... but happy fall!

P.S. Sorry for the wonky formatting. For some reason when I blog at work my computer messes with things. Maybe it's because I shouldn't be blogging at work. But that's beside the point.

Labor Day Creativity.

2011-09-05T12:26:00.004-05:00

So, the end of my three day weekend is approaching and it's been pretty great. I did pretty much everything I had planned to do except for take a nap yesterday afternoon... I'm pretty ok with that though. (PS After the fact I thought to myself, "I can't believe you just blogged about what you want to do with your weekend, AND you included naps in the line up. People don't care." Sorry about that, ya'll...)

As I had hoped, I got to be creative and it was totally rejuvenating. I ended up baking TWO pies (I've only baked like two pies in my entire life let alone two in the same day). I baked an apple pie (this dulce de leche apple pie) and a variation of my favorite Tollhouse Pie, this chocolate chip cookie pie. I said that I would only bake if I had people to give it to. Well, turns out we had a family get-together last night and so I decided it'd be ok to bake. The chocolate chip pie was gone by the end of the night, with half of the apple left. I intend to bring the leftovers to a party I'm going to tonight so I can get that stuff out of my house!

I also made a wreath! I feel like I had to drive all over the city to find felt in appealing colors, but I finally found some! Saturday night I went over to Jessie's and spent the evening trying to teach myself how to make flowers like these, because all of the tutorials out there show you how to make flowers like these. I didn't figure out exactly how to do it, but I got close enough. So today I finished up my wreath and I'm pretty excited about it. I love how it looks against our white door. It just shouts "fall!" to me for some reason, I don't know why.

Speaking of fall! I was just outside blogging and was trying to keep warm with a blanket and had to actually come inside because it was too cool. Can you believe that? Fall is near, people! Get excited!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! And I haven't said this lately, but thanks for reading... :)

Labor Day!

2011-09-02T16:01:00.001-05:00

So... a three day weekend is among us! Are you as excited as I am? Probably not... I'm sitting here, in my cubicle world, dreaming of my three day weekend and how I'm going to take advantage of it. So I decided to make a list of the things that I will fill my three day weekend with. Why? 1. Because I'm recently obsessed with lists. 2. Because I'd rather be thinking about my weekend than Roth 401ks and temporary passwords and federal tax withholding right now. 3. Intentionality. I'm not a big fan of the word, but I am a big fan of the concept. I like being intentional with my life, and making lists helps that. (Truthfully, for some reason, I hate the word "intentionality." So no one is allowed to use it. Except for me. And only because I can't think of a better word to describe the same meaning.) Anyway, want to see me list? Want to take part in my list? Some of these things allow, even require participation. I'm always up for a companion.

(So, I actually wrote this a couple of days ago. But now it's Friday, and I'm crazy tired and all I really want to do is sleep. But I'm still going to come up with a list. It may just be a little more tame than I anticipated.)

Friday Night:

-I plan on doing nothing tonight. Absolutely nothing. Maybe watch some Drop Dead Diva because my aunt keeps on telling me how great it is and I have been wanting to get into a new TV show now that some of my beloved shows are no longer... (Lost, Friday Night Lights, ...)

Saturday:
-I plan to sleep in. My family got an invite to go over to Jessie's for cinnamon roll pancakes at 8:00. Who plans breakfast for 8:00 am on a Saturday morning? That'd be my good friend Jessie. And that'd be a "no" as my response to her invitation. Thanks anyway, Jess. :)
-I plan to do something crafty. I saw this wreath on a blog that I frequent (Homemade Ginger, it's so great, check it out) and now I really want to make a fall wreath for our door. Remember when I made this wreath for Christmas? That was such a great time! I want to make another...
-I plan to maybe, just maybe, go boot shopping. I've been checking out some fashion blogs lately, and it's really put me in the mood to fall-ify my warddrobe. Buying another pair of boots would help that. (Plus Gap is having a 40% off sale for all card-members on Saturday. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted...)
-I plan to maybe, just maybe, bake something. The maybe depends on if I can find someone to give it to or not. I won't be baking if not. Remember that 5+ pound weight loss goal I set? Still working on it. Almost there.
-I plan to hang out with Jessie on Saturday night. I won't give her my Saturday morning. But I will gladly hand over my Saturday night to her. It'll be grand!

Sunday:
-I plan to go to church. I've been "church shopping" and am excited to go back to one of the churches I enjoyed the first time I visited!
-I plan to take a Sunday afternoon nap. They are the BEST.
-I plan to play a game, or two, or three with my family. Maybe some Ticket to Ride, maybe some SkipBo, maybe some Settlers of Catan, maybe some Hand and Foot Canasta. Oh! the possibilities are endless...

-I plan to have a great evening with my family, including my aunt and uncle. Word is they are coming over for dinner and I'm pumped. I happen to like them a lot.

Monday:
-I plan to sleep in... again.
-I plan to do something outside. Maybe go take some pictures. Maybe go for a walk. Maybe find someone to go play frisbee with or something. But word is the weather is supposed to be beautiful so I plan to take advantage of it.
-This day is pretty wide open actually, so I'm up for suggestions.

Only 24 minutes until the big weekend begins. I'm pumped.

So. good.

2011-09-01T12:01:00.001-05:00

I saw my favorite instrumental band Balmorhea in concert on Monday with my friend Alan. This was their first time coming to Kansas City and I wasn't going to miss this concert! They were only the opener for The Low Anthem, and the place was this small (kind 0f gross) bar filled with hipsters... but the concert was amazing!

I guess I don't have a whole lot else to say besides that. It was a great, great show and if you haven't taken the chance to listen to Balmorhea the first 7 times that I've blogged about them. I encourage you to check them out now.

Above is a picture of the show. This kind of strange lady asked to share a booth with us, and she went up and took pictures of the band then offered to send them to me on my phone or become Facebook friends. It was really nice, but I was kind of caught off guard and said, "Ahh thanks, but I'm ok..." I probably should have taken her up on it. It's probably better than the picture above I got from The Pitch. Anyway, below is a live performance of one of my favorites: Baleen Morning. The band is made up of completely different people than when we saw them (besides these two guys that seem to be the loyal ones who are always there...) but it's amazing. They're just amazing.

Try-It Tuesdays/What's New Wednesdays

2011-08-31T13:13:00.008-05:00

(Photo courtest of Rachael Ray's website.)

So, now that my little brother Cory is out of the house: it's just me, my mom, and my dad. (Wait... She's still living at home? Hasn't she been employed for almost a year now? Her parents haven't kicked her out yet? Didn't she just turn 24?...) I love Cory. I miss Cory. I could write at least 78 blog posts about how great he is. But that boy is picky. Sure, not as picky as some people, but he's picky. So anything with vegetables, or cheese, or interesting sauces, wasn't for him. (Ok, he is starting to eat cheese on things now...) I'm not missing his picky-ness. Because you know what that means? I get to try new, crazy recipes out on my parents... and I'm thrilled about it. Baking is normally my thing... but I'm excited to try out this whole cooking thing, too!

My mom gets Everyday with Rachael Ray and Real Simple magazine and I dug into those last week and marked all of the recipes I wanted to try out. Tonight I made Rachael Ray's (or someone who works for her magazine, because there is NO way one woman could come up with that many recipes...) Spicy Chicken with Spinach Orzo. It was delicious! Her picture is above... My lame iPod picture is below... But you can't judge a meal by the picture. (Except for I totally do on baking blogs all the time.)

Anyway, just thought I'd make a list on here (have I mentioned I love lists?) of recipes that I've seen on some blogs that I'd like to try out. You can check them out. But if nothing else, I figure here is a good place to compile everything for myself. (Some people use Pinterest for that, but I have yet to figure that site out...)

By the Pioneer Woman

-Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
-Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika (not sure this is so Momma-friendly, or healthy... but maybe.)
-Chicken Tortilla Soup
-Curried Chicken Pasta Salad
-Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapple
-Carrot and Squash Curry Soup (this one could either be really good... or really bad.)

By Annie's Eats

- Black Bean Burgers (I have a feeling my dad won't like these. "Where's the meat?")

-Burrito Bowls (aka homemade Chipotle!)

-Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
-Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
-Chicken Lo Mein (can you tell I like chicken?)
-Tequila Lime Grilled Chicken (ok, so, I really like chicken.)

By Brown Eyed Baker

-Butternut Squash Soup

By Two Peas and Their Pod

-Orzo Stuffed Peppers

Ok, I think that's plenty for now. That should feed us through Christmas... I think we'll call it Try-It Tuesdays or What's New Wednesdays, depending on the day that I cook!

Summer sans a "Summer Break."

2011-08-28T15:06:00.001-05:00

(My blogging location tonight: my back porch. Pretty splendid...)

I became an adult this year. You know what that means? No summer break. Last summer I was working part time so I didn't really feel it... but this summer was my first summer with a real job and therefore I had no "summer break." Going into it I thought it was going to stink. Even in the middle of it I thought, "Man, it'd be great to just be able to go to the pool instead of work today." But I must say, after looking back over my summer... even with no "summer break", it was pretty incredible. Here's a recap of how blessed I was...

I baked. That's nothing new. But it was still fun.

(Momma's birthday cake. I know you've seen this picture before but

it's probably my favorite picture of all of my baking of the summer.)

(Royal icing sugar cookies with Jessie.)

I experienced a lot of change. Friends and family moving away. Changes at work. Changes at church. I think it was all good though...

(A going away dinner, of sorts, for my dear friends the Cunninghams.)

(What I stare at 40+ hours a week. Symbolism for the change at work.)

I got to hang out with my friend Katie a bit. She lived in KC this summer... and although I didn't get to see her a ton, it was still great having her nearby.

(Sadly this is the only picture I have of Katie from the whole entire

summer. Here we were making scotcheroos...)

I painted some.

(For Corrie, celebrating the birth of Theo.)

(For Valeria.)

I wrote this list. It kind of transformed my summer.

(I cleaned my closet. That for sure wouldn't have happened if it

weren't for the list.)

I went to Austin to help my brother Joel move in to his new place. On the way back we stopped in Derby, Kansas to celebrate the 4th of July with the family. That was a pretty special weekend...

(Torchy's Tacos in Austin. Amazing.)

(The Panther field from Friday Night Lights in Plflugerville, TX.)

(Gotta love the sparklers...)

I went to Watercolor, Florida with my family. What a great getaway...

(I can't take credit for this sand castle. Someone else put in

the work. I just took the picture.)

I went to the Lake of the Ozarks with my family and some of my favorite people in the world: our friends, the Wilts.

(Sunsets on the lake are pretty special...)

(Tubing with Joel!)

I experienced some great sunrises.

(My favorite sunrise picture of the summer.)

I got to celebrate birthdays... I think I take for granted sometimes how lucky I am to be a part of a family that celebrates the way that we do.

(Mom's birthday!)

(Celebrating birthdays with Mexican food and special people!)

I got to go to a Royals game with Jessie.

(Kauffman Stadium is one of the best...)

(We were sitting on the wrong side. Jessie was cheering for the Red

Sox. I almost defriended her... almost.)

I got to see my little brother Cory leave for college. College is going to love him. Not as much as I love him though.

What a great summer....

So... what now?

2011-08-23T20:58:00.006-05:00

So... now that my list is finished, I'm missing it... My list kept me striving, learning, pursuing... and now it's done. A lot of the things on my list I'm trying to continue even though the list is over with, but things are different. I'm craving goals in my life. Things to work for. It's too easy to go to work, work, come home from work, eat dinner, hop on the computer or watch TV, maybe hang out with someone, go to bed, and then start the process all over again. I need something to strive for. So I've decided to try to learn and master three things in the next year. Well, to say "master" implies something a little grander than I anticipate. If I come back next year and say "well, I've mastered them, what now?" someone please slap me in the face because my humility has gone missing and I'll need to find it. Anyway, not that these are really shockers, because I talk about them all the time, but here are three things I will be working on in my free time over the next year.

1. Learning how to play the guitar. I've actually continued practicing even though my list is done. I'm not great, but I can say that I have learned enough to sound somewhat melodic and can kind of play some songs and it's only been a couple of weeks! I hope to continue working on it and getting better and better. We'll see...

2. Learning how to use my camera. Have you heard this before? Yes, like thirty thousand times, I know... But I got two photography books for my birthday: Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin and some random old photography book that my aunt stole from the library that she worked at. (She says she "withdrew" it, but I'm pretty sure that's a nice way of putting "sticking it in your big purse without anyone knowing it.") I'm hoping these books will help me finally learn what I've been hoping to learn for the last couple of years.

3. Learning how to bake more difficult things. There are some things that I haven't really attempted to bake yet. Tough things like: a wedding cake (which I may bake one in October...), a lemon meringue pie, various tarts, etc. I want to bake things that are out of my comfort zone. And I want to not be afraid of failing or them tasting bad.

So anyway, I just hadn't blogged in a while and thought I'd put these goals in writing. It makes things a bit more official for some reason... Hope you're having a great end to your August! Fall is getting closer and closer...!

Beauty of the day.

2011-08-17T00:57:00.004-05:00

So, one of my goals was to write down the beauty of the day every day until my birthday. Well, I've got to be honest... I slacked. It's not that I didn't notice something beautiful every day. I did. But I slacked at writing it down. So instead I decided to write down 40 things in general that I found were beautiful... Some of them I actually did write down the day of. Some of them I just know that I've likely thought they were beautiful over the last month. So here's the list:

July...
5th: A nice, cool breeze.
6th: Videos that document the Earth's splendor like this one.

7th: More figurative than literal: When it seems like life is rough, and right when you accept how things are God is like "hey, I'm going to work everything out for you." That, my friends, is a beautiful moment.

8th: Having a night to yourself with nothing but take out and DVR to do.
9th: Walking through your front door after returning home from a long road trip.
10th: Those waffle makers at continental breakfasts (I had a chocolate waffle for the first time in my life and it was pretty tasty. Well done, Comfort Suites.)

11th: The sound of laughter.
12th: Sunrises. (I've seen some pretty ones on my way to work lately, so I added some pictures that I took on my iPod while driving. Really safe. I know.)
13th: Sunsets.
14th: 70 degree days after being scorched with 100 degree weather for weeks in a row.
15th: The beach.
16th: Acoustic guitar.
17th: Encouragement and how a little bit of it can completely turn a day around.
18th: A full tank of gas.
19th: A good book.
20th: Movie theater popcorn.
21st: Dallas Green, aka City And Colour's, voice. Need proof? Go here.
22nd: Ryan Gosling's face. Need proof? Go here. Just kidding. You don't need proof.
23rd: Cake batter. I know a lot of people think I'm crazy when I say that, but I believe it's true.
24th: Getting a magazine in the smack dab middle of summer when you sweat just thinking about going outside and then you open up said magazine and it has fall fashion in it and you remember that soon, very soon, you will be wearing scarves and cardigans again. Ahhh...
25th: My mom.
26th: Getting a Netflix movie in the mail and being perfectly in the mood to watch the movie that arrived.
27th: A homemade meal.
28th: When you decorate a cake and it turns out the way you want it to.
29th: Birthdays.
30th: Getting to know someone a little bit better than you knew them before.
31st: Clouds.

August...
1st: Seeing a friend after you haven't seen them in a long time and things feeling like you just saw them yesterday.
2nd: The birth of a baby.
3rd: Listening to a song for the first time and absolutely loving everything about it.
4th: Wearing flip flops to work and getting away with it.
5th: Learning someone's name.
6th: Playing cards at a coffee shop with a good friend.
7th: Sunrises. I know I already said this, but I have experienced some AMAZING sunrises lately, so it deserves a repeat.
8th: Persevering and learning something new that you thought you could never accomplish.
9th: Having friends that are so close that they feel like family.
10th: 30% off at Gap coupons.
11th: Chinese food.
12th: Getting a text from someone just because they were thinking about you and wanted to let you know.
13th: Moving outside of your comfort zone and experiencing something new that is so refreshing and what you've needed all along.
14th: Seeing someone after you haven't seen them in years and having the expectation that it'll be awkward or that they won't even remember you at all but them greeting you warmly with a hug instead.
15th: Getting a birthday present you weren't expecting and didn't ask for but totally loving it. (I got a Keurig for my birthday! You jealous?)

I'm 24. Here's the list!

2011-08-16T19:09:00.015-05:00

So... I did it, almost, for the most part, a couple of spots I stretched it a bit... But I basically consider the list inspired by the lovely Joy the Baker a success! A lot of the things I've updated you as I've gone along, but I thought I'd recap. (This is going to be a long one, but I tried to add as many pictures as possible to keep it interesting, so I hope you enjoy reading about this as much as I enjoyed working on it!)

24 Things Before 24 Years:

1. Mail 5 people hand-written letters.

-I sent them to: Brad, Valeria, Liam and Eli, Julie, and Corrie.

2. Surprise someone with a batch of cupcakes.

-I surprised Jessie with a batch of Dulce de Leche cupcakes. I blogged about it here.

3. Spend at least 10 minutes a day for a whole week trying to learn how to play the guitar.

-I procrastinated until the very end, but I actually did it! And there was improvement! I think I'm even going to stick with it...

4. Make a pretty cake.

-I made a variation of this one for my Momma and blogged about it here.

5. Send someone flowers.

-I sent some to my Momma. Here they are.

6. Spend an evening in a coffee shop having a solid quiet time. (I tweeted this picture and mentioned how you can't go to a coffee shop with an ESV Study Bible and it not scream for you, "I'm a Christian!" I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...)

7. Compliment two strangers.

-A few times that I remember complimenting strangers over the last month and a half were when I complimented the woman who gave me a pedicure on her own nails, when I complimented the guy manning the Starbucks at the airport all by himself because he was working so hard, and when I complimented this girl who worked at Target for her pretty, curly hair. After doing this, I've decided this is something I want to make a habit of. Complimenting strangers is great.

8. Enjoy three beach sunsets.

-This was kind of difficult because it was overcast a lot of the week. But here was my attempt at three sunset pictures. I know they're kind of lame...

9. Learn how to use my gosh darn camera.

-This is still a work in progress but I'm getting a little bit closer as I blogged about here.

10. Take someone out to lunch.

-This is actually a picture of my aunt and uncle when they took me out for breakfast. But I took them out to dinner (lunch, dinner, same difference) later that day. I don't really feel like this counts because they did me the huge favor of driving me home from Florida when I accidentally booked my flight for the wrong day. Buying them dinner was the least I could do.

11. Write a song.

-Writing a song is so hard. I started a song... I don't know if it's finished but I do know that I will be the only one who ever sees the finished product if it does come about. Fact: writing songs is scary.

12. Play marco polo and sharks and minnows in a pool.

-I didn't ever play sharks and minnows, but I did get my whole family to play marco polo with me when we were in Florida. It was a good time...

13. Clean out my closet.

-This may be one of the things I was looking forward to doing the least but I'm glad it's done! I blogged about it here.

14. Lose 5 pounds.

-Ok, so... this is one I kind of failed on. I gained some weight on vacation, then lost some, then gained a little bit of weight when we went to the lake, then lost some, then gained some when I ate abundant amounts of birthday cake. Now I'm going to focus on the losing again. Thanks for giving me grace on this one...

15. Give someone in need $20.

-I gave some money to Kiva as I blogged about here.

16. Read 4 books.

-I barely finished this one. I finished my 4th book last night around 11:00. So maybe it wasn't actually finished before I turned 24, but it was finished on the day I turned 24. I read: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Winter Garden, She Walks In Beauty, and The Help.

17. Ride a bike at least 5 miles.

-I did this! I probably biked 10 or 15 miles over the week of vacation. When we were in Florida, the quickest and easiest route to the beach was a bike ride and it was a beautiful one. I think riding bikes to and from the beach was probably one of the highlights of my vacation actually...

18. Blog at least 10 times.

-I did this. I blogged 16 times!

19. Make some sugar cookies with royal icing.

-I made some with Jessie and blogged about it here. I've been itching to make some more lately. Especially since my brother's girlfriend and one of the coolest girls I know, Erica, gave me a mermaid shaped cookie cutter for my birthday. I think I will be making some Ariel sugar cookies real soon...

20. Introduce myself to 5 people I don't already know at work.

-I introduced myself to Heather, Jim, Paul, Scott, Jason, Rhonda, Lacey, Yuri, Ernest... I've met a lot of people lately. The joys of working at a big company.

21. Tell 15 people why I'm grateful for them.

-I didn't actually count this one out but I make it a goal in my life to constantly be encouraging people, so hopefully I told at least 15 people over the last month and a half how much they mean to me. And I plan on continuing to do it.

22. Make 3 Facebook videos for people.

-I made one for my friend Corrie and one for my friend Megan. On Sunday night I went on Facebook to make my final Facebook video for Jessie, but the video function wasn't working. So I typed her out a play by play of what I was going to say anyway. I know it doesn't count, but I tried. I guess that's why they encourage you not to procrastinate... you never know when Facebook video wall posting won't work.

23. Paint something for a friend.

-I painted three things: something for Valeria, Jessie, and Alan. Valeria's was my favorite though. I blogged about it here.

24. Write down the beauty of the day every day until my birthday.

-So, I kind of slacked at this, but I made up for the days that I missed on other days. This list will be coming tomorrow...

Thanks for sticking with my over the last month as I tried to complete this! I'm actually kind of sad that this list is over... I'm thinking about starting a new one. Anybody have any suggestions?

Pretty cake... kind of.

2011-08-14T13:35:00.006-05:00

So on my list was to bake a pretty cake. I've been waiting all this time for an occasion to bake a cake and have been researching cake designs that I could possibly pull off in the meantime. One website that I've spent a lot of time on is I Am Baker. Her blog is a little jumbled, but she's got a lot of great tutorials. I decided that I would try out this design in celebration of my lovely momma's birthday. It's a simple yet fun design, just how I like it. I didn't have the right piping tip to mimic it exactly, and I still have a long way to go with my decorating skills, but it was close enough...

Tomorrow is the day! I have tonight and tonight only to finish up a few things...

Photography... kind of.

2011-08-12T23:12:00.003-05:00

Time is running out... I have 3 days until my birthday and a few more things to cross of my list. On Sunday night, I was assessing my list and noticed that I'd completed pretty much everything except for the things that I know I'm not good at: learning to use my camera and practicing the guitar. I was forced to practice guitar starting Sunday because I had told myself I had to do it every day for a week, and Sunday was the one week mark so I pretty much couldn't procrastinate any more.

Thursday I went to my favorite park in Kansas City, Loose Park, with my friends Becca and Nathan. The goal behind the night was for me to learn a little bit more about my camera. I didn't learn a lot... I gave up rather quickly actually. Partly because I would rather spend my time catching up with my friends, but the other part is that I have a hard time doing things I suck at. I did indeed learn a few things though. I learned how to make the above picture be not so ugly and turn into the below picture. I also learned, or was reminded rather, that my friends are beautiful and I'd prefer taking pictures of them. The bad news: I didn't really take the time over the last month and a half to learn as much as I'd like about my camera. The good news: I've got my life ahead of me and I asked for two photography books for me birthday. :)

(The pretty picture...)

(Nathan and Becca. I love them. A lot.)

(When I'm at Loose Park I feel like I'm in a different city, the buildings make me feel like I'm in a smaller scaled, ok, much smaller scaled, New York City.)

(Doesn't every park need a cannon in it?)

Dear Photograph.

2011-08-11T10:48:00.005-05:00

My brother Joel literally just blogged about this yesterday. I know most of my readers are family members and they read both of our blogs, so to you all: I apologize for the repeat... But I loved this website so much that I needed to share it. I don't know what it is but the nostalgia behind all of these photos just made me happy. I got goosebumps and almost cried at work. Yes, I know I'm an emotional mess about 97% of the time so that doesn't say much. I just really liked these pictures and want to take some of my own.

It's a website called Dear Photograph. It's people taking pictures of pictures of the past in the present. Check it out. Now.

Flowers... check!

2011-08-03T12:28:00.003-05:00

Send some flowers. Number 3 on my list is officially complete! I've never sent anyone flowers before... That's not something we women do often. But after doing it today, I think it's something that I would like to make a habit of!

I had wanted to send my mom flowers all along. But she had surgery a couple of weeks ago so everyone has been sending her flowers, so it kind of took all the excitement away... Last night we were talking about my list and how I still have a lot left to do and not much time and she mentioned the flowers. I said, "Well, I was originally going to send them to you, but you already have some, so that's no fun." Of course she said she would still enjoy them, as all moms would say. But I saw her throw out the last dying bouquet last night so... I did it! I called the florist today, told them I wanted something simple with sunflowers and two hours later I have a text from my mom saying that she got the flowers and she was "smiling from ear to ear." I had her send me a picture of the flowers on her phone (above) because I was curious what they came up with... and I approve. Love you, Momma!

P.S. Some of you have commented on how much you like my new blog design. Props, as they always do, go to my brother Cory, the stud graphic designer who designed it for me. Love you, Corky!

Thoughts.

2011-08-02T00:51:00.001-05:00

I got an e-mail from a friend last night that had nothing but a subject that said, "this just made me think you..." and this video attached. I love it when people do that. And I love this song. So I felt honored that it reminded someone of me.... "Fragile Birds" by City and Colour.

Also, another song that was brought to my attention by a friend was the song "Doorways" by Radical Face. I love this song as well. Funny how I love the City and Colour song for its guitar and the Radical Face song for its piano. My two favorite instruments.

Painting.

2011-08-01T21:53:00.001-05:00

One of the things on my list, and I'm not even sure why, because I don't really even do this, was to paint something for someone. I originally decided that I wanted to paint something for my dear friend Valeria, because of all of my friends, I thought she, being the artsy one, would appreciate it the most. (AKA she's the one that's least likely to say, "Abby, that looks ridiculous!")

After painting her the above picture, I also came across this picture on Etsy and decided to take my crack at recreating one for Jessie's kitchen. The below painting is just a draft... We'll see if it ever turns into something that's acceptable for her wall. (Hehe, just joking, Jessie... kind of.) Also, my wonderfully nerdy friend Alan (previously known as Help Desk Guy, for those of you who go back that far) commissioned me (and when I say commissioned, I mean asked, because there was no money involved, and asking is all it takes) to recreate this for him. I thought it needed a little bit of color.

So, painting something for someone... or three people... check it off a list! That was a fun one!

$20... check!

2011-07-26T18:32:00.008-05:00

I just crossed another thing off of my list and it was the easiest thing ever. One of the things on my list was to give away $20 to someone in need. I originally thought, "I'll just have a gift card ready and when I see someone in need I'll give it to them." Easy enough... 1. I haven't gotten a gift card yet. (I'm a big fan of giving gift cards to McDonald's or somewhere so someone can get food rather than giving straight up cash which can be used for... whatever.) 2. I live a pretty sheltered life and haven't really been around someone in need lately. (I'm not proud of that. I need to get out more.) So, I decided to find somewhere online that I could give to and I remembered this organization I had heard about called Kiva.

Kiva, to use their own words because it's more eloquently put than I could ever put it, is "a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty." Basically, the organization sponsors people who need loans to start businesses, get their feet under them, etc. You loan them $25 (which joins with a lot of other people's $25), and they actually repay the loan, and when you get the money back you have the option of withdrawing it or reinvesting it in another loan. So great, eh? I chose to donate to two different loans: one was for a woman from Rwanda named Dativa who needed money to buy "foodstuffs" which she sells in her store. She's hoping that her business succeeds enough to buy a home some day. The other was for a woman named Blanca who is trying to expand her wood pallet recycling business here in the United States.

Anyway, I just thought the organization was pretty cool so I encourage you to check it out! Also, I thought I'd give you an update on my list. I have 20 days including today to go. Here are the things that are yet to be done:

-Spend at least 10 minutes a day for a whole week trying to learn how to play the guitar.

-Make a pretty cake.

-Send someone flowers.

-Spend an evening in a coffee shop having a "quiet time."

-Learn how to use my gosh darn camera.

-Write a song.

-Lose 5 pounds. (Let's say I gained a little, or a lot while on vacation, but I did lose some last week...)

-Read 4 books. (I have one left to read.)

-Make 3 funny/encouraging/ridiculous videos for people's Facebook walls. (One left to go.)

-Write down the beauty of the day every day until my birthday. (Working on it...)

I've got some work to do!

Dreaming of light.

2011-07-25T17:56:00.003-05:00

When I think about my future, I don't really picture myself having lots of money, or a big house, or luxurious types of things. I can't really imagine myself doing anything that would make me rich, and I'm really ok with that. (Unless I become a famous rockstar, but I'm not holding my breath... ha!) One thing I do dream about is having a beautiful home, doesn't have to be big and grand, just somewhere that I can take over and make into a space that fits me and my creative eye. That's one of the reasons I love Design*Sponge, because it gets me excited for a day when I have my own place. The pictures inspire me (let's be honest, I don't read a word that is written.) Like these pictures from a Sneak Peak from today. Design*Sponge has started this thing where people say what they love about their homes. This particular homeowner said: "What I love most about my home is the light." I love the light in these picture and no matter how big or how small my home will be someday, I dream that it will have light like this.

Closet... check!

2011-07-24T00:24:00.005-05:00

Joy the Baker inspired me to make a list, a list full of goals: some to better myself, some to learn things that I want to learn, some to love on the people around me, but they are all goals. My dad has recently started setting some goals for himself as well, three a week. Today we were discussing what an impact setting goals can make on your daily life...

...and my afternoon was the perfect example. I kind of lounged around this morning, then decided I should do something productive. I knew that on my list there awaited for me the daunting task of cleaning out my closet. I really didn't want to do it, but I knew it needed to be done. So: two hours, two bags to give away to Goodwill, four loads into the recycle bin and one bag of trash later: I did it! And it kind of made my day! Setting goals and achieving them is great!

The Before:

The After:

Hunt for Dulce de Leche.

2011-07-20T22:50:00.001-05:00

One of the things on my list was to surprise someone with cupcakes. I've had the idea of who I wanted to bake cupcakes for and what kind of cupcakes I wanted to bake for quite some time. Who is it you ask? My dear friend Jessie. Quite a while ago she said (at least I think she did, it was a really long time ago) that she wanted me to make Joy the Baker's Dulce de Leche Cupcakes for her. So, that was the plan. The only problem? Where the heck to find dulce de leche...

I went to Whole Foods once to find it thinking, "Whole Foods has all sorts of crazy foods, they'll have it." I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. So then I went online and it was going to cost me like 20 bucks to get some and have it shipped to me. So I went back to Whole Foods, looked around for another 30 minutes and couldn't find it. I was about to walk out the door and try to make it myself from evaporated milk (word is that it's impossible to do that way) then I decided to ask a guy who worked there. He looked around with my for a while and no luck. Then... he went and asked his co-worker and ta da! they found it!

After all that work I finally baked the cupcakes. They were crazy rich, but pretty good. Hopefully Jessie liked them. Even if she didn't, I suppose it's the thought that counts. I searched all over the place for that stinkin' dulce de leche! (Pardon the lame pictures. I was too lazy to get my camera so I just took it with my iPod.)

Home(ing).

2011-07-18T18:18:00.006-05:00

(The view of home when I pulled in from work tonight)

Last week I posted about how great it was to get away and spend some time on vacation. Vaction was glorious. Flat out wonderful. But I also love being home. So, since I made a list of Five Things I Love About Vacation, I thought I'd also make a list of Five Things I Love About Home. Here goes...

Five Things I Love About Home:

1. Our couch. We (and when I say we, I mean my parents, because yes, I am one of those 23-year-olds who moved back home after college and is still there) have this big, comfy, suede-like couch and it's wonderful. The first thing I did when walking in my house after vacation was plop down and relax.

2. The smell of home. Everyone knows what home smells like to them even though it's an indescribable scent. I love the smell of home, although I don't know what it is exactly.
3. My bed. I slept in a bunk bed on vacation. The place where we stayed was wonderful, but I'm not going to lie and say that I slept well, because I didn't. Last night I slipped into my egyptian cotton sheets and slept like a baby. I love my bed.
4. The solitude of my own room. I'm a people person, but it sure is nice to be able to say, "Goodnight!" and head up to my room for some good ol' fashion "me time." I haven't had that in a while; last night I listened to some good music and painted my toe nails and it was fantastic.
5. DVR. I watched a solid 2 hours of So You Think You Can Dance last night, and have episodes of Friday Night Lights and Food Network Star waiting for me. I love DVR.

Man, it's good to be home...

Vacationing.

2011-07-14T14:39:00.004-05:00

The above photo is a pretty good depiction of what my life has consisted of the last week. I've been on vacation with my family since Saturday and it's been pretty glorious. Some friends of the family let us stay at their vacation home in Watercolor, Florida for free and man, we are soaking it up.

Five Things I'm Loving About This Vacation:

1. Beach time. The beach has actually been covered in seaweed, which is kind of a bummer, but there was one glorious morning that the seaweed randomly disappeared, and it was wonderful.

2. Reading on the beach. There is nothing like reading on the beach with the sound of the waves surrounding you, the feeling of water and sand beneath your toes, and the cool breeze keeping you perfectly comfortable.

3. Eating out. I like cooking and I love my mom's cooking, but it's fun to go out and try different places. My favorite so far: this place called Bud and Alley's that was overlooking the beach and had some delicious chicken scallopini.

4. Playing games. My family, if we are on vacation or not, is a game playing family. But we've played TONS of games this week so far, including: Hand and Foot, Five Crowns, Nertz, and Hearts.

5. Escaping life. I think I will be ready to return to the routine of line, but it sure has been nice to escape for a few days.

I'll for sure continue enjoying this life style for the next couple days. But I'll also be eager to return to my beloved Kansas City on Saturday.