About Me

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I love Jesus. I love my family. I love photography. I love books. I love thinking. Probably in that order. I have a wonderful husband, five beautiful daughters, a house, and a camera. I enjoy spending time talking to my husband, playing with my girls, redecorating my house and shooting things with my camera. In my spare time, I sleep.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I did it...alternately titled "My non-frugal decision"

Last night I did it.  I threw them all in the trash.  Every-single-one.  (That I could find...)


After 5 years of collecting them and reusing them and regathering them and finding them all over the house and saving them and collecting more of them...I finally decided it wasn't worth it.  They all went in the trash.  And it was hard for me to do something so wasteful...but at the same time it felt so good. 



And then today I spent a whopping $1.20 for three brand new boxes.



 Let the collecting begin again.  :)


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Saturday, August 6, 2011

My go-to pancake recipe

So pancakes are a staple breakfast food that I had a hard time finding a good recipe for the first several years of my marriage.  I mean--I am not a fan of boxed pancake mix...too aluminumy for my tastes.  An although nothing can beat the taste of a good buttermilk pancake recipe...I NEVER have buttermilk on hand.  We never even have regular milk on hand as we typically use Unsweetened Almond Milk or Coconut Milk instead.  I tried subbing these in many recipes with average sub-par results until I found the following recipe a little over a year ago.  This recipe tasted great with almond milk.  In fact, almost every time I cook them I marvel at how much they remind me of a super soft cookie.  And it is so easy to do.  I just measure all the ingredients into my KitchenAid and mix.  Super, super easy!  :)  This recipe usually results in about eight 5" pancakes.  Which is perfect for my family but most people may need to make more.  My girls like to eat theirs with syrup but I prefer to have fresh strawberries & powdered sugar on mine...but honestly I think these are tasty totally plain.  Enjoy!

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Tasty Dairy-Free Oatmeal Pancakes

1 c. flour
1 c. quick oats
2 Tb. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder  
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. almond milk
2 tsp. vanilla
4 Tb. oil
2 eggs

Place all ingredients in food processor and puree until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.  Pour or scoop batter onto griddle.  Brown on both sides and serve hot.

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Friday, August 5, 2011

5Q Friday: August 5, 2011

Since I haven't been very inspired lately but I have wanted to say something on my blog, I decided to participate in My Little Life's weekly 5 Question Friday this week.  Maybe you'll learn something about me or maybe you won't but here are my answers to this week's 5 questions.  :)

1. Do you have siblings and are you close with them?
 
I do have siblings.  I have a younger brother and a younger sister. I love them both so so much but I'm not sure how to describe our relationships in terms of "closeness".  I consider us pretty close, but I know by comparison to other siblings that we are not as close as some.  My husband and his sister are super close.  

My brother & sister and I all care about each other a lot and I have no doubt that they would do anything they could for me and I for them but we aren't ones to talk late into the night or call each other just to see what's going on.  We live close enough to each other to see each other at least once a month and we always have a really fun time when we're together but we don't get together very often to just to hang out with just each other.  Our parents are around 80% of the time.  But I've noticed that recently we have begun to make more of an effort to do things together.  A couple years ago my brother's family and mine went on vacation together and that was a wonderful trip.  I'd like to do more of that kind of thing.

My brother & I were really close as kids but as we matured the gender difference started to come into play more.  With my sister I think the fact that I am eight years older caused our relationship to have a protective element to it which kept us from having the super close peer relationship that some sisters have.  But now that she is officially an adult and married and whatnot, I expect us to overcome that a bit.   I am way excited because in a week my sister and her husband are moving to town and my hope is that this will give a chance to connect in a whole new way...  

Yay, for siblings living down the street!!

2. Would you rather be slightly UNDER weight or slightly OVER weight?

This seems like a dangerous question. In this day and age, weight can be a pretty touchy subject.  I have a a huge problem with people who are slightly (emphasis on slightly) overweight, obsessing about those 5-10 lbs.  They look great...they look fine.  I say don't lose your pride in your body over a few measly pounds.  On the other hand, I think that people who are truly overweight need to either own how they look and be the best over-weight them they can be and quit griping about it or they need to take the initiative to make the lifestyle changes that they need to make to change it.   

However, I personally do not feel equipped to speak on the subject because I really have never struggled with my weight.  According to most weight charts I am considered slightly underweight but I don't think that is truly the case.  I have pretty much been the same weight since puberty and it suits my extremely small frame.  One of the down sides to being so thin is people thinking I have an eating disorder.  I don't get this much anymore, now that I've got the post-baby tummy pooch, but in high school and college I got it a lot.  And the funny thing was, I was always eating and eating a lot!  I was just blessed with a high metabolism and cursed with irritable bowels.  (Is that TMI?)  

I can just hear people groaning.  I realize that I am not gonna get a whole lot of sympathy from the average women out their who struggle with their weight on a daily basis but...you know....
In answer to the actual question...I'm happy with how I am and I think that we should all strive to be the best "us" we can be regardless of our weight.  Ideally, we would all be our "ideal" weight but very few people are and we should concentrate more on who & what we are on the inside rather than spending so much of our life unhappy with the way we look. 

In conclusion...My opinion is that a person's health and a person's sense of worth is much more important than their weight.

3. What's your favorite State Fair food to splurge on?

Um...funnel cakes with powdered sugar.

4. What are your thoughts on your kid(s) going to school in a few weeks?

Well...my kids won't be "going" to school because we are a homeschool family.  So in a few weeks we will be "starting" school.   The summer went by so fast.  I just got my paperwork back from the state Wednesday and I had a huge realization that "Ohmygoodness, it's already August and I haven't ordered my curriculum yet!"  So I got my act together and placed the order.  Eden will be in 1st grade this year and I'm going to include Jasmine in some of the lessons for "preschool".  I am excited to start with the new curriculum but I would be remiss to say that I am looking forward to the school year.  Homeschooling is not for sissies!  It is hard work and you never get a 8 hour reprieve from your kids.  I feel honored to be in charge of my children's education but it can be a bit intimidating.  It will be nice to have a daily agenda again but I will miss the lazy freedom of summer as well.  Well..."to everything their is a season."  And soon it will be what we call the "school season."  Bring it on...


5. Pool or Ocean?

For swimming, I'll stick to the pool.  But seeing as how I live in Western Nebraska, I certainly welcome the sight of the ocean whenever I can get it.

Aww... (eyes closed) Big deep breath of salty air and sand between my toes.  :)
(This is a photo of me at Newport Beach on my honeymoon in 2003.  
It was the first time I'd ever seen the ocean.)
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Feel free to jump on over to Mama M's blog and see how other's have answered the 5Q's!  
Thanks for stopping by...

Thursday, August 4, 2011

A sample of summer...

Although I have been too busy to do much writing on here and have been so consumed with editing other people's photos that I haven't really had much of a chance to enjoy my own...I took some time today to edit a few from the past month to share with you.  :)  Hope your summers have been full of life as well!










Isn't my daughter beautiful...