Haiti

I have really been working on trying to keep more "in the loop" with the current goings on around the world and in the US. Tonight I thought it was way past time to catch up on everything in Haiti. Talk about heart wrenching. This slide show on Fox News' website, is amazing.  I can't imagine dealing with all of that, wow. The heart break, and hopelessness that the photographer captures is amazing. Look at these pictures and then put things in perspective....
FOXNews.com - Earthquake Devastates Haiti - Slide 39 of 149

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Fantastic Things

SO... the picture a day thing...hasn't really worked out so well. I love taking pictures, and when I do, I'm sure it makes up for lost time. Instead I've been super busy. Work....School started again, and trying to get a consistent workout schedule going. Oh my gosh have I missed working out. It's so fantastic! Sweating, your legs feeling like they are going to collapse under neath you. Your abs hurting so bad you think you are going to throw up...how much better can it get...especially when I think of once I get all skinny and toned again and can fit into jeans from 3+ years ago! oh the joy!

so instead of daily picture taking, I have decided to start tracking my doings everyday. I made a fantastic Excel spreadsheet, (I have an obsession with spreadsheet making) and am documenting what I am doing, the task, the start and end time, I have a column that then figures out how much time was spent on that activity. Maybe this way I can be more productive, and realize what stupid pointless things I spend my time on. Plus, I have people I'm sending it to. No one wants to admit that they facebook stalked for 2 hours.... :)

Old Pics!

So today as I was doing some Spring...wait no...winter cleaning. I found some old and really old pics that I just HAD to share!

Picture a Day

As I've said earlier, I've become obsessed with DIY blogs. The more I read, the more link I find to other peoples, and then next thing I know I have twenty thousand projects I want to do. This morning I found The Sometime Crafter Blog. On her blog she had this awesome idea! Since I LOVE taking pictures....I thought this would be fun. Although it is already 17 days into January, I will start today!

Old Friends!

So today, I got to see one of my friends that is in the United States from Germany. She was a foreign exchange student at my high school my Junior year. I have not seen her in six years, and got to see her tonight, along with one of my past good friends from high school! It's crazy to see how things change in 6 years, what has and has not changed about certain people. Fun stuff....

Mary Kay Pictures!

So I got to take pictures of my sister and her friends for a Mary Kay Party mailout...super fun stuff!! Here's a couple of the pics I thought I would share!!

Christmas

Christmas at the Boys Ranch....Here are the bagillion presents....CRAZINESS....just thought I would share...

Banana Bread Recipe

So I found this awesome banana bread recipe that I thought I would share:

Moist Banana Bread Recipe

This moist banana bread recipe helps put overripe bananas, that would otherwise be destined for the garbage, to good use, making it a great recipe for anyone who likes to be frugal.

The key to good quick breads is not overmixing the batter. Once the liquid ingredients are added to the dry, mix the batter by hand just until the flour is moistened, for no more than about ten seconds. Too much mixing can cause the final product to be dry, tough or misshapen.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 large, very ripe bananas
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup butter or shortening

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Spread the walnuts out on a flat baking pan or sheet pan and roast them in the oven for 5-6 minutes. Midway through, toss them around on the pan so that the tops and bottoms brown evenly. When they're done, remove the pan from the oven and then remove the toasted nuts from the hot pan and set them aside to cool.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
   
   IMPORTANT: Make sure the walnuts are thoroughly cooled before adding them to the dry ingredients, as the heat would activate the baking powder too early.
4. Unwrap the butter and heat it in the microwave, in a microwave-safe bowl, for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.
5. Peel the bananas. Using a potato masher, mash the bananas in a separate mixing bowl.
6. Add the vanilla extract to the mashed bananas.
7. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the beaten egg to the banana-vanilla mixture.
8. Thoroughly grease and flour a 9" × 5" × 3" baking pan (or use a nonstick baking pan or a flexible silicone pan).
9. Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-banana-vanilla mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.
   
   IMPORTANT: Don't add hot melted butter to the egg-banana mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg, and that's not what you want to do!
10. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than ten seconds. The batter will be visibly lumpy. That's OK! It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting bread will be too hard.
11. Once the liquid and dry ingredients have been combined, gently pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake immediately.
    
    TIP: The dry and wet ingredients, respectively, can be mixed in advance, but as soon as the wet and dry ingredients have been combined with each other, the liquid will activate the baking powder and the batter must be baked right away.
12. Bake 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean and the edge of the bread starts to separate from the pan.
13. Once the pan is cool enough to touch, carefully invert the pan — the loaf should drop right out, so make sure you support it with your other hand. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack at room temperature.

Makes one 9" × 5" × 3" loaf.

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/r/bananabread.htm

DIY

So I've REALLy gotten into looking at DIY blogs and websites.... and this one http://www.younghouselove.com/ is for sure my favorite!!

I'm currently working on my husband and I's lower bathroom in our house, I really need to post some pictures. The house that we bought almost 2 years ago now, was an estate sale, and the lady that lived in it before us had an obsession with blue, paneling, and ugly wallpaper...so it's been an interesting updating process throughout the past 2 years. Fun though, especially now since I have found so many other people with awesome DIY post and ideas!!