Things in front of me...

During the summer while we impatiently awaited getting into our new home, I was bored one morning and so started snapping pics on my iPhone. Doesn't everyone do that when they're bored??

I played around with the editing of them, then put them into PicFrame, an awesomely cool APP for any photo freak out there, and gave it a title: "Things in front of me right now". Creative huh?

I was bored, don't judge me. But it really was cool and so I wanted to share it on here.

In case you are wondering that green goodness on my plate was freshly roasted Hatch green chile with a little bit of gooey cheesy goodness inside!! It was heaven to this New Mexican girl's taste buds!

So what beauty is right in front of you??

SOLD!

So this is where I have been recently...

Yep, selling my house. I'm so glad the sorting, the organizing, the donating, the packing, the taping...ooooh the screechy loud taping...is over with! But that last day when I had to shut the door on my completely empty house and know as soon as it did shut that I would never again open it - it hit me pretty hard. It's the only house my babies have known and was technically my husband and I's first house.

But another chapter of our lives is calling and I have no regrets and no doubts about where God is taking us. Now we play the waiting game to close on the other house but with my parents in an extremely nice apartment complex with two pools - one resort style, basketball courts, movie theatre room, full workout room along with a cappuccino machine that anyone can use anytime, this batchin' it ain't bad!

And yes I've been in Texas long enough that I use the word ain't. Don't tell my dad. He would be correcting my English right now and I'm family so it's out loud not in his head :) .

Hopefully I can manage to ACTUALLY make some blog posts while I wait on my new home!

Silent Sunday

 

See this gun? I shot it.

 

It's a Savage 110BA .338 Lapua Mag. This gun holds the record for the longest confirmed kill at 2200 yards. I shot the target at 500 yards away.

 

It was awesome.

Easter at our house

We could just stop after that photo couldn't we? I did it to be mean. You know good and well the recipe for that is coming at the end of this post but you also know it can't be that easy. You have to sit here and endure the long drawn out recap of our Easter weekend first.

Not really.

But I DO want to focus on the REAL importance and meaning of Easter first before getting to the food. We don't celebrate the Easter bunny at my house. We celebrate the real reason for Easter and the reason this holiday came to be - and that is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! If not for his sacrifice and conquering power over death we couldn't live with the hope and joy and peace that we do.

And since photos speak a million words - here's how I explain the "joy" part that God has given to me...

Family. That about sums up my joy. (smile and far off stare)

I saw one of the cutest pics today that someone had posted on Facebook where a guy and girl were kissing. The guy held a sign that said "I stole her heart". And the girl held a sign that said "So I stole his name." My husband informed me that it was so last year (or whenever) but I thought it was adorable! Anyways I'm getting sidetracked. Recipe. Food. Focus.

Okay so the wonderful dessert you saw pictured above was a total mistake! I had set out to make an angel food cake ROLL. And as you can tell it is NOT a roll but a layered cake. Since I had never made angel food cake and I have made TONS of pumpkin rolls I read through the directions quite quickly and plopped that dough into a 9x13 pan covered with parchment paper. Yes. Yes I did. Anyone who has ever made angel food cake before is gasping right here saying "No she didn't!" But I did. And in case you are the innocent out there who, like me, has never worked with angel food cake, it rises. No that doesn't even begin to explain what it does. It TRIPLES in size!!

So after glancing in my oven and seeing this phenomenon take place I knew instantly I needed a back up plan. When it came out it was SO thick and HIGH that I made an easy decision. Slice this sucker in half and make it a cake!

So there is the first step to my dessert. Bake an angel food cake in a 9x13 pan covered in parchment paper. When it comes out flip it over onto cooling rack. Once cool slice it in half. If at this step you're not sure what direction you cut the cake in half then please refer to the photo and figure it out. If you still can't figure it out, put the knife down slowly and walk away from the kitchen!

On the top of the bottom layer spread a thing coat of strawberry ice cream topping. Next, mix 8 oz cream cheese and 2 cups of Light Cool Whip in a bowl until well mixed. Spread this cool whip mixture on top of ice cream topping. Place the top layer back on and then cover the whole cake in whipped cream! And that's it!

Note: It is easier to cut through and eat after it's been refrigerated a day. Just a thought!

My beautiful friend...

I had the immense pleasure of doing REDO Bridal Portraits for my friend Danielle. Let me explain - she, like me, did not like or did not get Bridal Portraits done when she was married. So after me encouraging her that if she can still fit in her dress that she deserves a redo! And she asked me to take the photos. I HAD to share just a couple!

My first try at Senior Portraits

My hobby turned wild has caught a small fraction of attention on my Facebook. As a result a teenager from our previous youth group sent me a text asking if I'd take her Senior Pictures for her. Oh my. Are you for real?? You want me to take pictures for something that really MATTERS?!?!? Like this wouldn't be considered me just snapping a million photos like I always do and somehow getting some good ones amongst those?! Oh my. Well okay. I will, but just because you are one of my "girls". (I'm quite fond of my youth group kiddos ya know) So thus began my first try at Senior Portraits.

My opinion of showing a person in their real self is to take natural pictures - ones that you don't look like a stiff board and twisted in some weird way that no human being would really sit like that! You know what I mean. So here is a handful of my results from that long nerve-racking afternoon:

Silent Sunday

A Quick Look Back...

This summer has been crazy. It's been hectic and stressful, yet fun and relaxed. It's been hot and miserable yet exciting and full of surprises! It's been a SUMMER! Since I've taken a LONG break from my Project 365 due to way too many personal circumstances going on in our lives right now I am going to reminisce for a bit however on my great summer before it's gone forever. Well until next year! So here's some recap and some pics to cover my butt:

This was technically before summer but HAD to be mentioned! I met one of my all-time favorite christian rap artists, KJ-52! He came and did a concert for our youth group and it was SO neat getting to meet him in person and go eat with him afterwards (yes I'm bragging a bit) He was very down to earth and we even agreed on an herbal tea that does wonders for sore throats!

Next of course is Graduation which seems to officially start our summers as youth pastors because we always know WAY too many graduates! It's a bittersweet time - we are SO proud of them and can't wait to see the lives God has for them yet we hate to see them go! We will miss them!

After the hectic end to every one's school year our friends grabbed us away for a much needed weekend camp out! Did I mention this camp spot had four-wheeling trails through the forests, jumps and all?! Oh yes. F-U-N!

We also got together with my husband's side of the family and all took off on a Caribbean Cruise to Progresso & Cozumel! Snorkeling in the coral reefs of Cozumel was SO breath-taking and such an awing experience that I am hooked for life! I can never describe how it felt. It was incredible!

Only downside - this was our "potty" on this fishing/scuba boat! HAHA

In between this time I took my trip to New Mexico but more posts on all that later - you've already seen the Fredericksburg one of that trip! And we weren't even to our destination yet!

The end of our summer wrapped up in South Dakota with my husband's family and his momma who is still battling cancer. It's been a hard and long fight but she is still fighting with everything she has. South Dakota also means my brother-in-law, Nate. And his new toys. Enough said.

Yes I shoot. Yes I hunt. And I LOVE every minute of it!

(Oh and the first picture of this post was a new fave picture of mine my husband snapped of us while on our cruise ship.)

How has your summer been? If you have a post of "your summer" please share it with me! I'd love to check it out!

Project 365

March 9th

My daughter Gracious & I at her class Valentine Ice-Cream Social!

March 11th

Girls Retreat - I took a group of 15 girls to my friend's Girls Retreat she hosts at her church. It was an AMAZING EVENT and those girls and their stories bring tears to my eyes even now. I love watching a girl hear God for the first time & realizing it's REAL. The above photo is me and my two group leaders that tagged along and got kept up that night :)

March 12th

We got to bed by 2:15 AM but still arose ready to hear more from God. Here is a picture of our group at the end of this fantastic journey.

March 14th

If you read my previous post you know that we unexpectedly took a trip to see my in-laws. So I was a bit distracted during this week...well this month so don't expect a picture from everyday or perhaps that week :/. However even though I'm not in it here is a picture of the sunrise over my husband's home ranch.

March 15th

It is my birthday. However due to plans we postponed my "party" plans for another time and instead I played in the snow piles with my kids, cooked for my in-laws, visited with some aunts I rarely see and ate chocolate cake they brought - not to mention enjoyed gazing at the flowers they also brought. My favorite flower is a Lilly. And they just happened to have brought me some :)

My class is done!! Woohoo!

To celebrate my class FINALLY being over (for quite awhile too) I'm going to attempt to catch up on my Project 365! Hey don't laugh...it's possible. (sheepishly) Right?

Well we'll find out. Here's the first set:

February 14th

We celebrated the Friday night before since we were both working on Valentine's Day but I had to take a picture with my honey anyways today! Cuz he's my BABE!

February 16th

This lil guy is a Sugar Glider - our new CrossFire mascot! (Not really - but a teen owns him and brings him so we can play every Wednesday night :) )

February 17th

I wish I wasn't behind on photos so some of them like the one above could be bigger for you. I have said on here before that mu hubby REALLY is a good photographer - he has a very creative eye. I came up with this shot (as we finished a Domino game) however he had to pull it off and he did MORE than pull it off don't you think?

February 19th

We are on the Speed the Light Walk to Drive Event with some teens from our youth group - we are walking 5K to raise money for missionaries! The above photo is a tile mural in one of the tunnels on the waterway where we walked. The picture below is some of my walking buddies.

February 21st

I finished the month long boot camp at Gold's Gym and have now started some P90X a couple times a week as I figure out what workout schedule I want next - so I thought I'd celebrate with a Muscle Picture!

February 22nd

Okay so this picture is at like 11:30 p.m. - I had spent the last three hours making horse cupcakes for Cowboy Day at Gracie's school to only have a major disaster at the end and they not turn out! GRRRRRRRR! None-the-less I got a photo of my annoyance.

February 23rd

Cowboy Day at Gracie's school!

February 26th

If you can believe it, weeds are already growing around here! My kids being the age they are bring mommy every flower they find (weed or not)! And it's adorable. And sweet. And cute. And it touches a mommy's heart. So I wanted to take a picture to remember it by.

February 27th

Sunday night is the night I meet with my prayer partner. Every other week we meet at Starbucks and treat ourselves to a mocha or something yummy, however the other weeks we simply call each other up. Tonight was a stay at home night but we still ended up "meeting" for like an hour and by the time I was done I had two bibles, two spiral notebooks with scriptures and prayers, my journal, an array of pens and highlighters and me! Sheesh this definitely deserved a picture!

March 2nd

Okay so you can't see me exactly but I'm sure you guessed that these are my footprints. One of the things I LOVE it watching the birds feed at our feeder in the mornings. This morning I had looked out to find it empty (hungry little things) and so tiptoed through the dew covered grass to quickly fill it back up. And lo and behold my footprints were left as a sign that I'd been there. And then I had to raise my lens a bit as my dog Menina came to see what in the world I was up to but also to capture the foggy morning it was.

March 6th

Nope, I haven't changed THAT much.

March 7th

Before you go accusing me of not following rules let me explain. I DID take this picture - and it's of myself. So what is the problem? I actually took a photo of a photo in my scrapbook for my Facebook photo challenge that I'm doing. And hey it fit the rules so why not use it? It's of me and my two cousins at the San Diego Zoo when we were probably around 12??

Okay so everyone can thank my best friend, Jaci, for me ACTUALLY catching up (I know I still have more but they are coming in separate posts - I didn't want to overwhelm you in one post). She sent me a birthday wishes email and reminded me how far behind I am in this project, and since we live a state away she told me how much she enjoys seeing the pics of me. :) I know it warmed my heart too! So I decided I'd been bad for too long and owed it at least to her. So here you are Jaci - and thank you for my sweet Birthday Wishes, I miss ya girl!

And I also realized if I switch to the smaller photos I can get these done much quicker - so are they okay or are the bigger ones worth the time? Please comment and let me know!

Oh and did you notice I got on a Sepia kick there towards the end? Guess I see my life in brownish tones right now, hmm.