I Heart Desserts

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is dessert.  Yay!  This was a wonderfully tasty eclair from a little bakery we found in Downtown Reno called Earthly Delights.  Do yourself a favor and GO THERE!!!

For more dessert pictures go here:

Go on, I promise you won't regret it! :)

Salted Caramel Covered Strawberries by Steamy Kitchen

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "My Story in Photos: Dessert Recipe Edition," where we are supposed to photograph our favorite desserts.

I have a confession to make.

My "favorite dessert" that I photographed was more like a "I-have-got-to-try-this-recipe-and-I-don't-know-how-it-could-be-anything-but-my-favorite-so-I-will-cross-my-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best."

And I was right.  It is DEFINITELY a new favorite.  More than I thought it would be even.  You can find the recipe at Steamy Kitchen.

Start off with some beautiful, fresh strawberries.  Ideally, you would go onto the recipe from here.  But I got kind of forgot to continue and the strawberries looked, eh, less desirable a few days later.  But they still tasted fine, so we're good!

Then I made some Salted Butter Caramels (though I didn't take pictures cuz the last time I tried making any kind of candy, I failed miserably, and I do NOT respond well to failure!).

                                

Add a bit of whipping cream (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons) to half of the caramel recipe.  Microwave on half power for 2 minutes, checking it halfway through.  

                                

Ideally, you would chop your nuts up before you ever start any of this.  Or you are me and quickly do it while the caramel is melting.  I totally recommend the pistachios.  COMPLETELY AMAZING!!!

                              

Your 17-month old daughter will want to try a strawberry right when you are chopping nuts, stirring the caramel, adding far too much cream to the caramel (which you won't find out until a few hours later when they are not so much caramel-covered as they are caramel-puddled), taking care of your sick husband and procrastinating from studying.  What your daughter doesn't know is that those berries have been soaking in ice water and are a bit on the cold side.  She will promptly put the strawberry back where she (thinks) she found it.

Now dip away!  And make sure to take a lovely picture of your chipped nail polish.

                                  

Now roll the caramel-covered strawberry in whichever nut you have chosen.  Make sure to get really cocky about how you haven't gotten any of the caramel on the chopping mat...then 2 seconds later regret thinking that you are so amazing when you DO get caramel on the chopping mat.

                                        

Now lay them on waxed paper or parchment paper and let them cool.  Or eat three of them immediately, burn your mouth a bit every time, but keep doing it cuz they are sooooooooooooo YUM!!!

                                    

Give a little taste to your sweet little girl, who is a little reluctant because of her previous experience, but once she gets a taste of it....

                          

she won't be able to get enough!  She is, in fact, her mommy's girl!

Go to Steamy Kitchen's website to get the "real" recipe, and to I Heart Faces for more wonderful pictures of yummy desserts!

I Heart Faces Dramatic B&W

This week at I Heart Faces the challenge is:

We are looking for B&W photos that are dramatic, sensational and/or moody in the way they are presented.

This picture is of am amazing woman who at the time the picture was taken was going through a hard time in her personal life.  As her trip to the US went on, we saw less and less of these sad faces, and more of one of the best smiles you'll ever see.

For more Dramatic B&W entires, click on this nifty button:

I Heart Faces Challenge

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Angles."  And of course, mine is a picture of my favorite photo subject :)

Go here to look at some beautiful entries of "Angles" I promise, you'll find something amazing, inspiring, beautiful. Check it out. Do it. ;)

Callapidder Days Spring Reading Thing

Oooh, I've been just WAITING for this!!  Yes, I could have just read on my own (which I did a bit), but there's something wonderful about there being a CHALLENGE to read...especially when so many other people are participating with you!  It really makes me push myself a bit more.

So here are the books I want to start/finish/finally finish ;) :

Racing the Sun by Paul Pitts: My all-time favorite book when I was a kid.  We had to write letters to authors when I was in 4th grade and everyone else got letters that were obviously pre-written and the only "personal" part of them was that someone had hand-written the child's name in the blank spot of a type-written letter.  I wrote to Mr. Pitts and I got the BEST letter back (I actually still have it!).  He asked me about myself and I felt so ridiculously special.  Hmm, probably didn't need to write all that just to say "I like this book and want to read it again as an adult to see what it was all about" :)

Bookends by Liz Curtis Higgs.  Started this a few weeks ago, so far, so good.

Jewel by Bret Lott.  I've had this book for years and have never opened it, so thought I'd give it a try!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  Again.  Because I didn't finish it last time and I really have liked it so far.

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.  I read this book for a Child Lit class in college and loved it.  There is a line in there that really impacted me, and I really just wanted to read it again for inspiration.

You: The Owner's Manual by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz.  I've only gotten through the first chapter or so of this one in the 3+ years that I've had it, but every time I pick it up I think Man!  This is a great book!  And I've got another You book, can't remember which one, but I can't read it without finishing this.  It's a mental thing :)

A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers.  I love Rivers' writing cuz it makes the Bible seem so...real?!  I mean I know that the Bible is real, but the way she writes makes it less of a "story that I heard in Sunday school" kind of thing and more of a "Oh my goodness, these were REAL REAL people who were fearing for their lives (for example)" kind of thing.

So that's my challenge to myself this Spring Reading Challenge!  So excited!  And the great thing is that I can start working on some of the things from my 101 in 1001.  Yeahoooooo!!!

101 in 1001 list

I love lists.

I love the feeling of crossing things off of those lists.

Sometimes in the middle of doing something, I stop so that I can write it down on a list so that I can CROSS IT OFF.

Such a satisfying feeling.

So imagine my absolute and utter delight when I found this site.  I now have a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days (and yes, I did write down "Make list of 101 in 1001" on my master list ;))

In no particular order, here are just a few of my goals for the next 1001 days.        

   Hobbies
1.  Learn to play one song on the guitar
2.  Learn a new song on the piano
3.  Take pictures of every task on here
4.  Complete the DeLorem challenge
5.  Take a good picture of a waterfall
6.  Ride a tandem bike
7.  Be able to identify 5 different local birds
8.  Make a toy
9.  Get our geocache total to more than 1000
10.  Do 10 of the things in 1000 Things to Do Before You Die
11.  Make a purse or bag
12.  Grow herbs
13.  Take a photography class
14.  Finish a scrapbook
15.  Knit something other than a scarf
16.  Do one craft project a month
17.  Take one picture per day for a month
18.  Make a pillowcase dress

Food
19.  Have a foreign food night
20.  Go to a place on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
21.  Go to a place from Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations
22.  Try sushi
23.  Have an April Fool's dinner
24.  Make a big holiday dinner (Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc)
25.  Find 5 good and inexpensive organic recipes
26.  Make a vegetarian meal that J doesn't say “Where's the meat?”
27.  One new recipe per month
28.  Make file of yummy recipes
29.  Try 1 new food per month
30.  Stick to a menu for 1 week
31.  Eat at least one thing that I've grown
32.  Learn to can properly

Organization/Cleaning/Home
33.  Keep room clean for 2 weeks
34.  Plant new grass
35.  Put all pictures on CD
36.  Organize all pictures
37.  Christmas cards sent out on time
38.  Make lists of things in pantry to put on doors
39.  Fix kitchen light
40.  Move the fridge and vacuum behind and under it 2 times a year
41.  Touch up paint in entrance to kitchen
42.  Paint entrance to our bath
43.  Put pictures in the frames on hutch
44.  Go to bed with a clean house for 1 week
45.  Paint our bathroom
46.  Paint the hall
47.  Clean out the garage

Travel
48.  Take G to a pumpkin patch
49.  Take G to Apple Hill
50.  Go to a zoo
51.  Go away with J
52.  Geocache our way through a roadtrip
53.  Visit three Olympic parks
54.  Go on vacation with friends
55.  Visit 2 new states

Self
56.  “Get ready” (hair, clothes, make-up)every day for one month
57.  Go on a girl date with Chels
58.  See a picture of myself that I honestly l like
59.  Make a new friend
60.  Drive on the freeway
61.  Memorize 1 Scripture per month

Health
62.  Participate in a half-marathon
63.  Take a new fitness class at the gym
64.  Do a bike ride from bikethewest.com
65.  Take multivitamin everyday for a month
66.  Stick to low carb high protein eating plan for 1 month
67.  Go hiking
68.  Workout 3 times per week for 3 months

Family
69.  Family picture taken once a month
70.  Teach Gracie her ABCs
71.  Teach Gracie a memory verse
72.  Sleep under the stars as a family
73.  Have another baby
74.  Go camping
75.  Take G horseback riding

Movies
76.  Watch all the John Wayne movies we have
77.  Watch the Top 100 movies (Yahoo list)

Reading
78.  Read Bible once per week for 1 year
79.  Read from the Bible as a family once a week for 3 months
80.  Read through the Bible
81.  Do everything I plan to do in a book challenge
82.  Read 10 favorite young adult books
83.  Read or listen to half of the books on the Top 100 list that I have
84.  Be part of a book club
85.  Read at least 1 book a month for 1 year

Money
86.  Go 1 week without extra spending
87.  Go one month without extra spending

88.  Stick to a budget

Enjoying life

89.  Lie down on the grass and watch the sky with G
90.  Watch a sunset
91.  Watch a sunrise
92.  Go to the taping of a TV show
93.  Go to one new store or restaurant per month
94.  Talk to my grandma about her life

95.  Talk to my grandma and grandpa about their lives

Other

96.  Pay for someone behind me in line (food, toll, etc)
97.  Find the “perfect present” for 5 people
98.  Finish décor in Sunday School room
99.  Win a giveaway
100.  Get mentioned on a blog
101.  Win a photo challenge

I love it!!!  I feel l like I will really be able to challenge myself in a lot of these.  Get out of my comfort zone (make a new friend?!  Yikes!), explore more of my world (and other people's worlds), see and do things that I would not have done otherwise.  Needless to say, I AM EXCITED!!!

Bundled Up Challenge

The theme for the I Heart Faces challenge this week is "Bundled Up."

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my sweet girl.  

For more pics in the challenge, go to: