by Alexis -

Simple Elegant Emeralds

No, this giveaway does not involve REAL emeralds- some day when I’m rich, promise. But util then you will have to be ok with emerald colored crystals. While I was in Europe last year, Krakow, Poland, I noticed many women wearing earrings that were long, simple and also feminine. I like sparkly things too, so I combined both. I also like things that swoosh.

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I know they could be more complex and intricate but my life is complex enough. Don’t know about you, but a pair of simple earrings is not only easy to wear with more things, but it somehow offsets the ‘complex’ areas of my life. Rereading that, how weird that sounds! But I guess it’s true. Anyhoo, I am giving theses to one of you. All you have to do is comment on this blog. Easy Shmeezy.

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Rules: Just comment on this blog. Winner will be chosen by Random.com. You have until tomorrow to comment and tell your friends. Or if you don’t want them winning don’t tell them.

Compleeeeetly different subject- I found this blog and like it. Check it out.

by Alexis -

Apple Crisp

I’ve been thinking about putting Emma in a cooking class a local Community Center offers. But the more I thought about it, I was like, ” Psh! Whatever! I cook and bake and I’ll just do it myself!” So today was day one. She did great, I wasn’t afraid of any messes she would make (it’s how you learn right?) and we had a great time together- which was the ultimate point.

I must say that it turned out pretty good. I like a crispier ‘Crisp’ but I think only picky Crisp people would have an opinion about it. I’m going to serve it for dessert tonight with whipped cream. It will be amazing.

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Ingredients. I also added vanilla extract and a t. of butter in the filling.

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I had the best helper. This is her ‘cheese’ smile. Not bad compared to mine when I was her age. I would smile so big and strained. It’s cute now, but in middle school I was less than excited to see those pictures of me resurface.

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I followed their recipe. It was easy and simple, perfect for a two year old helper. They cut the apples into little tiny piees. I didn’t do that, I like them big and chunky. It reminds me of the chunky sweaters and scarfs I like to wear in the winter time. And Emma’s chunky cheeks. I like to rub my nose on her cheeks. She giggles and probably thinks I’m weird. That’s probably true.

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The finished product. Beautiful huh. It kinda looks like peaches to me, which I wouldn’t mind a peach crisp, but it IS Fall season and apples are just right for this time of year. Yes, it was as good as it looks. I took it out still bubbling and felt that giddy, excited bubbly feeling when you make something and it turns out like you were hoping.

I was really looking forward to taking pictures. I’m trying a new twist on my food picture taking and we’ll see how they turn out. All in all, make this recipe when you’re feeling like you want to snuggle in a blanket and surf the internet for hours. Don’t deny it, we all have that craving. This is perfect for those evenings. Oh and don’t worry about always having it hot, eat it cold, it then tastes like the inside of an apple pie. Mmmmm.

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Warning: This is a dessert that has the possibility to become a ‘Comfort Food’. You know, one of those foods that you are happy to get out of bed in the mornings to eat. Still in your pj’s. Crazy hair. Smiling. (you know what I’ll be having for breakfast tomorrow) OK, you have been warned.

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Check back tomorrow for your own benefit. Yes, I am giving something away possibly to you! Oh and you want it- trust me.

by Alexis -

Meal Plan

Ah the lovely and boring task of writing the 2 week menu plan. I swear by it and tell anyone who complains that they NEED to do it if they want to save money and sanity. I hate that time of day when you’re like  ‘Oh great (not), I need to make food. Let me pull myself away from the internet to see what I have in my kitchen that’s not spoiled or past expiration date.”

I go shopping every 2 weeks and that day was today. So, lucky reader, you get to see what we will be eating for the next 2 weeks. Not because I think it’s incredibly interesting and you HAVE to know, but because if I don’t make this list and post it, I’ll forget what I wanted to make, totally screw up the menus and thus will have nothing to eat by the beginning of my second week.

And I will complain. That I need noodles from The Olive Garden- it’s never ending pasta season right now. Or the Cheesy Biscuits from Red Lobster. I’ve once eaten 12, just for a lunch. Don’t judge me- you can walk in, order them only and it costs $4. Yeah. That’s why I did it. Oh and they crumble in my mouth and make me happy.

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Thursday: Homemade Pizza-BBQ style, Rosemary Bread Sticks

Friday: Dinner @ Friends house (Bless them, we’re getting out! lol)

Saturday: Left over night-Yay for me!

Sunday: Potato Bar w/ Salad

Monday: Chicken Cordon Bleu w/ Zucchini, Rice

Tuesday: Breakfast night 🙂

Wednesday: BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, watermelon,

Thursday: Mom’s Chicken Casserole,

Friday: Garlic Chicken Pesto, Euro Veggie Salad,

Saturday: Left over night- Yay for me!

Sunday: Hamburgers, French Fries, Apple/Cherry Applesauce

Monday: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo,

Tuesday: Black Bean Mess

(beans, corn, shredded chicken, tomatoes, lettuce lightly mixed with favorite dressing-mine is Caesar or Ranch for this. Pile on crisp Tostada. Serve with Mojitos (one of Trav’s favorites), close eyes and imagine you’re in Mexico)

Wednesday: Cheesy Chili with Cornbread

Thursday: Fancy Shmancy Tuna Melts

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I make my husbands lunch. I don’t want to get into it- or at least in this post. Let’s just say that it means a lot to him and so I do it. So every two weeks or so I make treats/sides to put in his lunches and bribe Emma to go potty in the toilet. (If anyone has good ideas on the last one I’m all ears) So below is a list of the treats I’ll make in the next two weeks.

(*Have I mentioned I like to be in the kitchen?!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Apple Cobbler

Plum Muffins

Bannana Splits

Death by Chocolate Brownies w/ Toffee chips on top-(gag me, but the fam. likes them- hey, it’s their calories choices right? lol )

Peach Tarts

Banana Bread

Homemade Cranberry Granola

Chocolate covered Pretzels

Fondue w/ Bananas (an ultimate favorite of mine)

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I should get going. Since the beginning of this post Emma has woken up and she’s stuffing (in a very ladylike way) Chocolate chips, Cheez-its and Peppermint tea. Should probably do something about that. Like go for a walk…just after we go to Safeway. Darn you diapers!!!

by Alexis -

Motherhood

There are days when I stop and realize Emma is talking to me in sentences. It blows me away. I can’t believe she has grown up to be…well, older. I have a hard time seeing her eating with a fork and spoon when I remember her- seriously it was yesterday- not eating solid foods.

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It’s a heart-wrenching-ly wonderful thing to watch your babe grow up. More on the heart-wrenching I think for moms. More exciting and wonderful for dads. There is that needy-ness we women have and it’s completely and perfectly full-filled when your babe wants you and only you. You tell others ‘I’m sorry’ as you steal them back but inside you’re SO happy that no-one else can calm and satisfy her/him like you. Their mommy. I remember loving that my job was being Emma’s rescuer. I would save her from the evil twangs of hunger, the scary pinching ladies who always wore too much perfume or the owie she would give herself with her fingers.

And now I feel like a rudder- like on a boat. She’s the boat and even though she’s full steam ahead I still have the controls to move her in certain directions. She is so strong willed and independent. I guess God heard my prayers! LOL

I dream of the days or even nights, when it was just her and me quiet, alone and snuggling. I miss her baby smell and weird snorting sounds she made. Why didn’t I record them?! Man mommy-hood is hard. And I’m just talking about the emotions alone! And heck, I’ve only had to endure it for 2 1/2 yrs so far!

I have so many hopes for her and at times I feel like my emotions will make me blow up. Or just seep out from my eyes. I know that Trav and I feel so incredibly lucky to be given her. Thank you God for thinking it right to put Emma in our family- I couldn’t imagine life without her.

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by Alexis -

Cannon Beach

So I’m totally frustrated right now cause Picnik isn’t working and I’m not able to edit any pictures of the beach. *breath and close my eyes….so all but the last two pictures are unedited.

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Yesterday started with me waking up to Emma WAY too early on a Sunday morning. We were looking forward to hopfully sleeping at least till 8am. Wishful thinking on our part. So while I’m downstairs feeding her I got the idea that we haven’t been to the beach as a family in like…well forever! So I run upstairs (Trav is still in bed-not asleep but protesting getting out of bed early. At least he has that freedom) and explain how much fun it would be to visit the beach. He agrees and I’m off packing sack lunches (we’re broke) and I’m giddy thinking about the typical beachy things to do.

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We went to Cannon Beach on a perfect day. It wasn’t windy or cold! We even saw a wedding in progress on the beach. 🙂 Haystack Rock was clear and yeah, we were so happy to have gone.

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But there was a problem. It had entered my mind as we were driving there but I quickly dismissed it, but it came true.  This was Emma’s first time where she was able to really interact with the beach and “enjoy” herself. Sadly, she wanted nothing to do with it and the feel of the sand or water freaked her out. So She clung to Trav or me the whole time. Acting like a monkey. We tried hanging out with other little kids so she could see that the beach isn’t evil and playing in the sand isn’t torture. She still hated it. Sad, but next time we’ll try it again and see how she does.

Heck, the grown ups had fun! Trav and I wrote in the sand, dig a little with Emma’s shovel and took pictures. At least we enjoyed ourselves. 🙂

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OK, those 2 were obviously photo edited. Wish I could have done more. I hope it works later today.

So we after the ebach we went and walked around town. Adorable, if you get the chance to go- take it! They had tons of my favorite flower- poppies!

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They have lots of great little restaurants to go to. If you’re not from Oregon, or even if you are, take a trip to the Oregon Coast. Not only is the scenery amazing but the foods pretty good too! 🙂 Like AMAZING. But since we took our lunch yesterday, we went out for ice cream and coffee. But it was SO tempting to go out and have some chowder or fish and chips.

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Trav got an iced Chai and the German Chocolate Cake ice cream (from Tillamook). Looks really good huh. 🙂

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I got the Bubble Gum ice cream. This was the only picture I got of mine. Emma had a childs scoop of double chocolate fudge. Lol. We were walking through the line and she starts yelling out “Chocolate! Chocolate!” hehehe I guess she has her father’s taste buds for sweets.

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Hope you had a good weekend. Here’s to starting each day this week already believing it will be a good day.

by Alexis -

Beach

We went to the beach today and had a good time. Will post more about it tomorrow, but here is a picture showing you how excited Emma was to have the water touch her feet.

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I feel kinda bad about taking this picture while she was crying…kinda. Hey, I did cuddle her. And heard her tell the water to go away. It did at first, then it came in again. Back and forth. Back and forth.

by Alexis -

Brain stop!

I am suppose to be in REM sleep. Not listening to the light rail pass my home at 12:40am. Darn you brain! Love you imagination and creativity but could you work when the sun is in the sky?! Pleeeease?! This is not working when I have a daughter who wakes up too early for my body that desires 10 hrs each night.

(but never gets that, don’t worry and be all jealous- there’s no need)

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I bought an aloe plant today and I’m super excited. I feel like a secret nurse. You know, the naturalistic ones that can go out into a field and cure cancer with roots, leaves and sap. Oh yeah, feeling smug. Thank you Ikea. I bet you never knew the power you had over moms who are extremely fatigued, sit during the wee hours of the morning typing on their blog and have have too much imagination on their hands. It must be our, er I mean their daily inundated “Imagination” programing with horrible programs like Barney and Teletubbies. Again, not me, it’s rumors I hear through the church halls.

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On a serious note, I’m off to bed again praying my mind will slow down and rest. I’ve prayed about and over anything I can think of. I’ve gone over today’s and tomorrow’s events. I have also decided to do another give away- it’s been like forever. Almost 1am… what is it about the we hours that make me want to watch either Sleepless in Seattle (cruelly ironic) or Bridget Jones Diaries. As it is, I’m going to ignore the stupid crossing bells announcing to nobody (cause everyone’s asleep) that a train is coming and snuggle myself into bed. Maybe 1 am is the special time my body has been waiting for.

by Alexis -

Summer Garden Tour

About a few weeks ago, which feels like months, we went to a garden showing. It was incredible. Like if you don’t like plants or gardens you will like this one. It’s funky, well kept (which I’m always jealous of people who can keep up with their weeds) , had fountains which attracted bees and they also has local vendors there to use this opportunity to showcase their merchandise. It was nice.

I was totally inspired by all of the colors and nature around me. It was breathtaking. Also very hot. And they had bees. Lots of bees. But then again, if you have lavender, you have bees.

Back to the venue. Trav was obsessed er, or I mean inspired to take pictures while we were there. So the below pictures are his, I edited them. Again, we’re a great team.

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The dog was a really nice dog with crazy owners. They were with us, in the party we came with. Nice people, but still crazy. That dig need not care for anything in his life. And black and white pictures are the only way for me to go. It seems to help out the trouble areas, if you know what I mean.

The below pictures were too pretty to combine and make into a collage. They should get all the spot light. So pretty, and dreamy.

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Beautiful huh. It’s hard to capture the essence of the place in a few snap shots. Would love to go back again next year.

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What inspires you? Gardens or fountains? Food? Let me know 🙂

by Alexis -

Random thoughts

Random things for a Friday

**Wish I was her friend

**So incredibly HAPPY Emma and I can spend girl time with these lovely ladies

**Has no energy today and wishes I had one of these planned for today

**Has something cooked up in my mind that has to do with this

**Sitting in a silent home and seriously thankful for it

**Planted some herb pots and tall grass for out balcony, looks perdy 😉

**Yesterday was my birthday. I was a mix of emotions all day and cried at a thoughtful post on my facebook page. I’m becoming a crier and I’m loving it.

**Watching construction outside our window and realized the workers are done for the day and it’s 3:30- really? Nice work day!

**Wishes I could visit my friend who lives here, bet you do too

**And if only I had her sense of style, I wouldn’t be lost in the mornings when I get ready.

**Even though I potted plants and herbs I have mixed feelings. I feel excited to cook with them but in the back of my mind I know I have a problem with picking leaves off plants (they’ll die right?!)

**Going here tonight with Trav to pick out one more SMALL piece of furniture…going to squeeze a couple fake plants into the purchase for our living room.

**Today, Emma had a 20 minute meltdown in Fred Meyer’s in the check out line (in which a lady was being “oh baby, what’s the matter? You want something? Awww” *roll of my eyes, forget it lady), in the parking lot found out a tire was practically flat, was late to a party and had to listen to ‘Ten Little Monkey’s’ just for for 5 min of calmness in the car. You’re jealous I know. Don’t deny it.

**When will pumpkins be on sale?! Enough gripping people- Costumes are on racks, leaves are falling and there’s a chill in the air- summer is over.

by Alexis -

Moving Cyber dust

Consider it moving cyber dust that’s kept me from blogging. We’ve moved into a smaller loft/apartment (which is great and ‘us’) and we’re just emptying out the last of the boxes. We didn’t have internet till last night and so today is the soonest I could blog via my computer. I’m not one of those wiz people who do it through my phone.

Tomorrow I will blog normally and with pictures. 🙂 Until then, happy Fall!