Random Ramblings

I want my family to recreate these two pictures someday. Out of all of the picture of days gone by, these have always been my favorite. In the above picture I'm the baby in the bonnet. Below, I'm the one in the red dress.

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I went to Chili's twice yesterday to support St. Jude. The first time I went with my sister & brother-in-law, Anna & Simeon. The second time I went with Shawn.

This is the pepper I created (on my 1st trip).

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Shawn & I took a little road trip the other day. I wanted to go to a cake supply store about 2 hours from where I live. We ate at Joe's Crab Shack. I got crab cake sliders & french fries. I love crab cakes, & Joe's has the best fries!

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We had church last week for 5 nights in a row, plus Sunday school on Sunday.
I decided I needed to start wearing more of the clothes in my closet that have found their way to the very back. It's been fun so far. I figure I can just be unique and embrace my individuality. That's the great thing about clothes; they are able to serve as a sort of creative outlet. What better way is there to express yourself?

Happy Autumn!

Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.

That is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies:Image Credit

Today is the first day of my favorite season: FALL! I love this time of year. The pumpkins, the leaves, the colors, the trees. I really love everything about this season. It is, to me, the most perfect time of year. I look forward to the weather turning cool and the leaves crunching under my feet. Now if the rain would just go away. Everything would be perfectly okay!

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Below are some more of my favorite quotes from You've Got Mail

Kathleen Kelly: Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but valuable. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void.

Kathleen Kelly: I love daisies.
Joe Fox: You told me.
Kathleen Kelly: They're so friendly. Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?

Kathleen Kelly: When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

Birdie Conrad: You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn't feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure now. But you're not. You are marching into the unknown armed with... [pause] Nothing. Have a sandwich.

Lemon Crisps

A few weeks ago I discovered a new cooking blog, Whisk Kid. This site is full of delicious looking sweet things: cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc. And the pictures are wonderful.

I made these cookies on Labor Day. They didn't last long. I think I'm going to start calling Ricky the Cookie Monster. He always wants the cookies. I think he ate four of these as soon as they were ready.

If you like lemon, you should definitely make these.
They are perfectly delicious. They're really pretty, too.

I ♥ Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is Sierra. This little cutie was at my house Sunday. After dinner, my brother-in-law, Ricky, decided he wanted some cookies. I always wants me to make him something, yet he's always so mean to me. So, anyway, I made chocolate chip cookies. My favorite! I put in lots of chocolate chips. Sierra saw all of my sprinkles and insisted I put some sprinkles in the cookie dough.

I didn't know how well everyone else would react to sprinkles in the cookies, so I decided to make her a special cookie. A special cookie for a special little girl just had to be in the shape of a heart. She loved it! She actually gave it a thumbs up, so I guess I did good.

Here is the recipe I use:

♥ Chocolate Chip Cookies ♥from the KitchenAid Baking Companion Cookbook

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn mixer to Speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to Speed 4 and beat about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl.

Turn to Stir Speed. Gradually add baking soda, salt and flour to sugar mixture and mix about 2 minutes. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Add chocolate chips. Turn to Stir Speed and mix about 15 seconds.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375F for 10—12 minutes. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

VARIATIONS: 2 cups raisins, coconut or chopped nuts may be substituted for chocolate chips. ***I always add a few chocolate chunks to the top for my chocolate flavor. I also added M&M's in some of these.

Amelia, again

Here's a picture of me holding Amelia. If you remember, back in July I made a cake for Amelia's baby shower. Oh, how I love the name Amelia. It always reminds me of the Amelia Bedelia books I used to read when I was a kid. On one of my last trips to the library I checked out all of the Amelia Bedelia books they had. They have such fun stories. I can't wait to get more!

Whose House is This?

I have this little book. It's very old.

In fact, it's as old as I am.
This book was a gift to me from my Aunt Jo the year I was born.

It is a hard book which, I guess, is the reason it's held up so well over the course of 26 years (apart from the crayon scribbles in various places).


The pictures are so cute, and the animals are adorable.
You raise a flap to find out who lives in each house.

I'm amazed that I've kept up with this little treasure for so many years.
This is one of my favorite things.

Pink Photo Album

I got this photo album at Big Lots the other day for $1.
The inside was falling out, and the front cover was bent.

So, I took this piece of scrapbook paper, cut it to size
and glued it to the album with some E6000 glue.

Now I have a pretty, one-of-a-kind album.
I'm going to use it to hold pictures of my cakes.

You've got to love a quick, cheap & easy project!

Books...& a Library

This is my bookshelf.Anyone that knows me knows I love books.
I often find myself just glancing at my bookshelf for no apparent reason.
I guess the only explanation is that books just make me happy.


What would really make me happy would be to have a library like the Beast had in his castle. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite animated movie. And my heart always skips a beat when I watch the library scene! All those books...oh JOY!Image Credit

This picture of Belle reminds me of myself.Image Credit
Sometimes I am very easily distracted. If I'm doing something, it's not uncommon for me to stop in the midst of what I'm doing and start something else. This is especially true when a good book is involved. I can just sit and read for hours regardless of what's going on around me.

Really, is there any better distraction than a good book?

Pepper in Some Hope

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By now I'm sure everyone realizes that today is the first day of September. I think September is probably my favorite month because it means the start of Fall, which is my favorite season. September also means the beginnings of cooler weather and leaves changing their wardrobe to flaunt the beautiful colors of the season. This is my most favorite time of the year!

The thing I like most about the month of September, though, is that it's National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And that means eating at Chili's...a lot. You see, Chili's is one of St. Jude's big sponsors. In 2002 Chili’s began The Create-A-Pepper to Fight Childhood Cancer program. Every year during the month of September, when you eat at Chili's, you can color a pepper and make a donation to St. Jude. They hang all of the peppers on the wall throughout the month. And on the last Monday of September, Chili's donates all (100%) of thier profits to St. Jude.

In 2006, Chili's announced plans to raise $50 million over a 10-year period, the largest single partner donation in the history of the hospital. In honor of the partnership, a state-of-the-art-building was named the Chili's Care Center. The center houses the Department of Radiological Sciences, inpatient activities areas and research laboratories. The Chili's Care Center was completed in November 2007. Now the children of St. Jude benefit from more sophisticated diagnostic imaging technologies and more precise radiation therapy.

For the record, they have already raised more than $25 million.


stjude.orgchilis.comcreateapepper.com