Monday, January 31, 2011

Blueberry Muffins-Yum 16/365

No I haven't made them yet, but I am super excited to give them a try.






Ingredients
12 1/2 ounces cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup yogurt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Vegetable spray, for the muffin tins


Directions
Preheat oven to 380 degrees F.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients reserving 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and toss with the blueberries. Stir mixture for a count of 10. Add 1 cup blueberries to mixture and stir 3 more times. Reserve the 1/2 cup of blueberries.


Using a #20 ice cream scoop, add the mixture to greased muffin pans. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of berries on top of muffins and press down lightly. Place into the oven and increase the temperature to 400 degrees. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven and turn out, upside down on tea towel to cool completely. Serve immediately or store in airtight container for 2 to 3 days.


Much love,

j

Seussical Jr. 15/365

The girls were in a play this past weekend and man was it good! Now, I am not just saying that because my kids were in it. No, this production was very well directed, the costumes were on point, the stage set and everything were very well thought out and produced. I want to give a big shout out to all the kids that have been practicing since Novemeber and giving it their all. Your hard work and effort really showed. Thank you also to all the parents and teachers and PTA involved for making this something my kids and I will never forget!

We had to hurry and only got off a couple of pictures, this thing was big business, the girls had a total of 3 shows to do.






Olivia was so cute she was a "Who," from Whoville.
Sidney was a fish in McGilligot's Pool.


I was so sooo proud of my girls. They did such an awesome job. I think they both loved it so much that I am sure there will be more drama in their sights soon. ♥♥♥♥♥


O, and this is just because....
The light was just right and her smile was so bright...Gotta catch 'em when I see 'em. ;)



mom

14/365

We took a trip to the mall....
I ran into a few single men...



and then my single man wanted to ride the escelator alone.



*snif, snif* he just keeps growing up...

~j

13/365

O Oreo, Oreo, wherefore art thou Oreo?



America's favorite cookie, o, and an oreo too! ;)

xoxo,
~j

Friday, January 28, 2011

People pictures 11-12/365

Ok, so I am just starting to realize that I love taking pictures of "things." I am not really a "people" person in my personal pictures. I love the fact that I can take some "thing" and pose it, re-pose it, adjust it and shoot it all I want with no complaints. While this is good if photographing things was just my thing, but I want to get better all around.

* My oldest is taking violin lessons. I think I was more excited about it than her, and so I am not too confident this is going to last. ;) It is such a beautiful instrument though... I love this picture.



So I am reminding myself right now to include more people in my 365.



More 3 dimensionial people that is. Happy Friday!!


love,
~j

Pearl Necklace

This morning got kinda off to a rough start. My day wasn't necessarily going bad, just bumpy. It wasn't anything the kids or my husband had said or done it was actually something someone else said to me last night, and it just hasn't sat well with me since. I kinda feel like an oyster that has a rock or something in it and it is being irritated. I just don't get the feeling a pearl is going to come out of this. So anyway, as I log on to my computer trying to pray and push the thoughts of mild frustration out of my head I open up an email from someone super special to me. And the thing this lady has said this morning is something that I definitely needed to hear. You see God is funny, He took something that I said to this lady, blessed her with it, and in her telling me about it God used that same thing to bless me brand new today. Make sense? ;) Ok remember when I talked (just a few short posts ago) about grace, and giving myself a little grace? Well I have been so graciously reminded that I need to extend that same grace to others. Huh! Imagine that. ;) Yes, my friends, don't' forget to give others a little grace this year too. And what I mean by that is, it's ok if someone makes you mad. You (I) don't know what is going on in their life, what they are facing today. They may have snapped at you out of their circumstances, not realizing that they hurt you. Now, this doesn't mean you just let anyone walk all over you for grace's sake. But it does mean that you can give them a little room to act up (give them a little grace), because usually they will see how they've treated you and want to make things right (usually!). People, this is what grace is about, because after all God is a god of second chances, shouldn't we be a people of second chances? I'm just sayin.




Huh. Maybe I did get a pearl out of all that irritation this morning. A pearl of wisdom. Thank Lord for all your wisdom and thank you Auntie for my new pearl necklace.

Much love,

j

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

An LBC evening. 10/365

A typical Monday evening....



Actually typical every evening. ;)

j

Random things 9/36

Random things to be happy about today;

rock, paper, scissors

a sun-ripe peach

old school songs

extremely tiny pancakes formed from the batter that fell off the ladle

letting go of expectations



♥ j

Monday, January 24, 2011

Rollin 365

ok, ya'll. I am on a ROLL!! I know it is only about 10 days in, but I have stuck to my guns and taken at least one pic a day. And you know what? It is starting to feel good. ;) I am getting more accustomed to having my camera on me at all times, and actually looking for shots. At first I thought I might dread this, but this is actually really fun. Of course the true test will come in to play when I am on like day 165, or day 210, but as for now I am happily trucking along. Thank you to all my facebook fans that are keeping me encouraged. Luv ya!

~j

Once again I couldn't decide on just one so here is a second day 8.

I found the coolest most creativity inspiring breakroom (for me at least) on 4th st.
It was behind the store, and I bet you at night it was even cooler.
I'm keepin it up.
;) j


6/365



I heart (♥) 1st graders.

*j

Thursday, January 20, 2011

5/365

Life is the flower, for which love is the honey. ~Victor Hugo


He made dinner tonight....it was the sweetest thing I've had all week.

~j

4/365

Love rain...



~j

3/365

They say when you get a new hair do, you get a new attitude. While I don't know if that is exactly true or not, I do know that my boy has changed just a little bit. With his new mowhawk, came a new awareness of self, and if I must say so, it is an extremely cute self. ♥♥♥




I couldn't decide which one to include in my 365, so I think I may just do both. Love.








Much love,

~j

Sunday, January 16, 2011

2/365

Random things to be happy about...

Flower arrangements scenting a room
acres of books
true, lasting values
not expceting too much
and sunlight hitting a fence just right.....




Happy sunday

with love,

*j

Saturday, January 15, 2011

1/365

Ok, call me silly, but I didn't realize that with me doing a 365 project that I was going to have to up my postings on this blog!! I mean one a day for a whole year?!? That's alot of information. I am just going to let ya'll know right up front that I probably will not have one post a day....I'm just keepin it 100. It may be more like one every couple of days... or I don't know maybe even one every other day if I am being ambitious. We'll see. On another note (of the same tune) I did go ahead and get my project started today. Yay me.

I spent the better part of my morning painting prop sets. My girls are in a play this year through their school. It's called Seussical, and I am so excited about it, I think more so than they are. Anyway we parent volunteers were called upon to help paint the sets, and I loved it. Of course I love alot of things dealing with color. While, I don't have a picture of all of us working I did get a shot off of the paint, I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Then it got hot, I made a mess, and it was time to go. But at least I won't forget it. Thanks 365. Enjoy!




Till next time....


~j

Friday, January 14, 2011

I know it's a little late, but I wanted to share a couple of my new year's resolutions with you. I have decided that in order to better myself and keep my self accountable to growing in photography that I am going to start a 365 day project. Basically, I am committing myself to taking one photo a day for a whole year. Now, I have tried this before and have failed miserably. Meaning day four was the end. But this year I am going to be doing something a little bit differently with my 365, which leads me to another new years resolution. Grace. My 2nd new years resolution will be to allow myself some grace. Sometimes, I am my own worst critic (in photography), my worst cheerleader (in parenting), and my own worst enemy (in other things). I mean, lets be real, I am a working mother of 3, shouldn't I be allowed a little bit of grace in everything I do? So add a little bit of grace. As for my 365 project I am super excited to give this a try. Who knows, maybe at the end I will have a year's worth of memories that I can place in a book and share with generations to come. Won't you come on this 365 with me....starting tomorrow....lol. :) Gotta love it!





In His grace,
*j

Tuesday, January 4, 2011



"Every day we live is a priceless gift of God, loaded with possibilities to learn something new, to gain fresh insights into His great truths."

~Dale Evans Rogers