A Game

I get the craziest ideas in the shower. It's as if time stands still and my thoughts become clear and concise.

So, here is the idea.
An adult digital camera scavenger hunt.
No time limit, those who finish get a neato prize.
Rules:
1) The picture must be your own-no stealing off the web etc.
2) Pictures must be taken after the start date of the game
3) If you can get a name or neat story of the item/person in the photo you get a bonus pt.
4) Teams are ok as long as you live with that person. Two people per team.
5) No "set-up pictures"
6) No pictures of pictures
7) This is for fun, and to get you looking at things you might not otherwise seek out or notice.
To sign up please send me an email at: darwinscamera@yahoo.com.
I will send you the list of scavenger hunt items and other details. Submit pictures as you take them with the item number/description next to it so we can keep track.
All judging will be done by me and Troy. Pictures will be posted to Darwin's Camera .
I will keep a score sheet with each players name and score.

How fun does this sound?! We have been having lots of fun coming up with list items and setting up the blog.

So sign up!

Don't Hate Me Because I...

This year, I have broken a personal record....

I got my taxes done on January 24th!

(Chelee hear's applause.....)

The best part is that since we are idiots and use the tax system as a sort of interest free savings program we are getting money back. Which of course means, I can start working on resolution(see Jan.7th):

3) Pay off 2 credit cards.

This will let us pay off one high interest Sears credit card completely and have about $500 left on another card to pay off.
That is, if I can keep my paws off the $$, you've seen my want list.

I Dream of Cream...

I'm always looking for ways to become less dependent on commercial products. My latest endeavor is making my own beauty supplies, this week cream/lotion.


I have been buying Aveda Tourmaline Charged face cream at $30 per little tiny jar. Sure, it lasts for about 3 months. However, Troy has started using it also and it doesn't go as far anymore. Here is the alternative at a cost of about $2 per pint. It does need a little tweaking, but it rocks! The possibilities are endless. I see calendula infused almond,grapeseed, apricot, laden concoctions. The bonus is no weird unpronounceable ingredients as well as cheap, cheap, cheap!
I got the recipe from Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal book. She also has the recipe on her website. Since I already make soap, I had a lot of the ingredients around.

Resolution Update!

Bread.
I've been baking bread and wow, how satisfying. It is unbelievable that some one somewhere figured out how to make bread.
Here is my first endeavor:

I also co-baked a loaf with my friend Jennifer. It was a delicious soy milk loaf, very moist and tasty.
I also made chapati last week. The last ones turned out better that the first ones. The trick was to roll them out then kinda pull them thinner like a pizza dough. They cooked more evenly that way. Very tasty with honey...yum!

3 Cheers for Public Libraries!

I LOVE beat poetry and have been wanting this:



for some time. I thought maybe I'd try an interlibrary loan since I'm too cheap to buy it and my birthday is so far away. I got a phone call yesterday and they actually bought it for the library! Who knew I had such power! And since I'm the one who requested it, I get it first!

Too late, it's already gotten to my head.

Librarians Must Mock Me....

We went to the library the other day for our weekly library excursion. I got some great books and some videos. Our library is very cool in that they have tons of videos that you can check out for free. Good ones too, not just old crappy ones. I've always thought being a librarian would be so much fun. You get to meet all kinds of people, and being nosy like I am, you could see what people are checking out and make shallow personal judgments about them. (yes I know this is wrong but we all do it, and Steph you caught me, I must be more judgmental than I thought) This being said, what would my check out items say about me:

The Bean Bible
Uncommon Grounds (a history of coffee)
Great Grains
misc. Children's books
French Kiss (Video)
Gandhi (video)

My own judgment:
Wow, she must have been sidetracked in the food section. Who is she kidding, will she really watch Gandhi? As an obvious stay-at-home mom, she needs to get out more...maybe starbucks.

Judge me...you know you want to.

Inspiration!

I actually knit something that someone was inspired by! Chic-Knits is 3 years old and as a birthday gift to all Bonnie Marie developed a free pattern for a cowl called the "Chickie Dickie". She knitted up a red and black one similar to the bucket o hot lava.

How cool is that!
Happy Birthday Chic Knits!

A Joint Marriage

Troy and I took this online quiz seperately. I wasn't going to post it to my blog but found it funny that we would marry the same person.


You are going to Marry orlando Bloom. He will
always treat you right and is very romantic. He
will do anything for you. He is very polite and
has deep brown eyes and is very good looking
(which is another plus!). He can make anythind
cheesy look really good (like sliding down
stairs on a shield shooting arrows or wearing
pointy ears for example). Congrats!!


Which male celebrity are you going to marry? (10 results that have pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

What a bonding experience...

Bread

The earlier recomendation for "Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book" was so right on! I'm borrowing it from a friend and am reading it practically from cover to cover.



I am planning on making my first loaf today and I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again to Melonary and Jennifer for your expert advice.

One Damn Good Cup of Coffee!

The new coffee maker ROCKS!
In a need to try it out quick, we ran to Starbucks and got some small bags of coffee to try different kinds. We found a winner!
Arabian Mocha Java
Very yummy!
We tried their Yukon Blend this morning. It was ok, kinda tangy for me. It did not compare to the Mocha Java. After just one cup of it, I was hooked and my body actually craved another cup right away. (not a good sign, they do have a decaf version though)

Gifts for the Both of Us!

I love it when I get my husband birthday gifts and I get to use them too!

We got Liz Phair tickets for her concert in Spokane March 6th. A weekend out of town without kids, and a concert to boot! Yippie!

We have made a coffee maker decision....(drum role)

Krups 229-46 Aroma Control 10-Cup Coffeemaker with Thermal Carafe, Black and Brushed Stainless Steel


Now I need to go coffee hunting. Thanks Kristi and MaryEllen for your suggestions.

Looking for A Good Coffee Maker

Troy is asking for a coffee maker for his birthday.
Does anyone have one and do you like it?
What type of coffee do you use?

Any Help with this would be great!

Resolutions

One of the things I read about making resolutions is that you should make them public so people can harp on you about them. Here they are:

1) Lose the rest of my weight (48 more pounds, I lost 42 last year)
2) Exercise at least 3xp/wk
3) Pay off 2 credit cards
4) Have at least $500 in savings
5) Learn to bake bread
6) Finish my shawl
7) Finish my Norwegian Sweater from Hell
8) Finish those damn Halloween Socks

That shouldn't be hard right?
So far I have started 1, 2, 4, &5.
I'll keep you posted.

Shoveling Snow Sucks

I spend an hour today shoveling my front walks and my drive way. Talk about a work out! When I came in, I was dripping with sweat. Then 20 minutes later, I was freezing because the sweat was drying off my body and cooling me off. So, I curled under a blanket and read a book with a heating pad on my lap for warmth. Who needs a pet when you have a heating pad.

The Art of Bread Baking

I LOVE the smell of fresh baked bread. No Atkins' eating plan for me! I think Nirvana is fresh bread, cheese, and wine with maybe a little chocolate for dessert.

So one of my Resolutions was to learn to bake bread. I have baked bread before, but I want to really get into baking bread. It is the staff of life you know.

I have a book called "No Need to Kneed" I've had it for quite a while and have't tried but a few recipes. So that will be the first book that I will work from.

I started a foccacia dough last night and even though my arms ached from the shopping experience, it was very satisfying. I'm going to bake it today so we'll see how it turns out. I'm going to start a Ciabatta tonight for Mondays dinner and the kids are doing breadsticks this afternoon.

In case your wondering, tonight's dinner will be:
Carmalized Onions w/turkey ham in spagetti topped with Asiago cheese.
A spinach salad
Home Made Foccacia

You can drool....I am.

Why Shawn's on My Sh*t List

We have so much snow in our neighborhood. I'm sure it's not like what they get in other places but my car (being a light foreign gas saving model) doesn't like it one bit. I have been stuck at least 3 times. Luckily it was right in front of my house so I could employ the help of my neighbors.

And as I write this, it is a blizzard outside. Which means more snow!

HBomb and I went grocery shopping yesterday. We were nearly out of food (I have been waiting for the snow to melt). I gave up and just went and did it. Have you ever pushed a heaping full shopping cart through a unplowed parking lot?!! My arms hurt, my pecs hurt, but I have food for at least two weeks now.

So why blame Shawn? Why not is what I say...