Another Photo Shoot!

I've been keeping pretty busy this past week, but you know... tis' the season!

Hope that everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family and friends. I know we did, despite the fact that there was something not quite right. I think we both realized (at the same time) on our drive to my brother's home for dinner. We were missing our Ava, who IS our blessing, but for whom we were feeling a terrible void because she wasn't going to be there with us to experience her first Thanksgiving meal. Would she have savored her first taste of the mashed pototoes? Or would she have gaged on them with every swallow, just like her mama did when I was a babe? Ughhh, to this day I still have trouble eating them! But, we both had a good cry and then we got on with the rest of our day, knowing that in the midst of not having her there with us physically, she was still very much a part of our celebration for Thanksgiving that day ... and she always will be!

Last Friday I had the opportunity to do another photo session for High School Senior portraits. It was a lot of fun for me, and I could see this as becoming quite the addicting stress "release" for me. I am by no means a professional when it comes to photography, but ever since I got my Nikon D40 last Christmas I've really been enjoying the process of learning the ropes.

It was pretty darn chilly on Friday, but we braved the elements to try and make some camera magic happen. For the most part, I think they all turned out really well. I hope the customer will be pleased with the end results, I'm anxious to see what he thinks about the pictures. I took 75 photos total, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites of the session here.

They're pretty good for a beginner, right? I'd like to know what you all think too!

Well, tomorrow is Friday, and the start of another weekend and the last month of the year 2007. Hard to believe. I'm sure most of you will have a lot of events coming up to prepare for. I still have a little bit more of the cookie baking to finish and I haven't even begun to do my Christmas shopping! I better get a move on ;) I did do my decorating the other day, and I'll try to post some pix real soon.

Have a great weekend!

Snow, Already?

I really wasn't prepared for this stuff already. This is what I woke up to today however...ughhh!

And can you see the tree off to the right hand side? It still has many beautiful Fall colored leaves on it. I don't mind the first snow of the season really. It's everything after that I don't like!

I just don't care for the fact that as soon as Winter makes it's appearance, it never seems to want to leave.

Anyway, the cookie baking has been coming along quite good. I took a little break today and didn't make any because I've been doing batches pretty consistently all week long and today I wanted a break. Today I focused on some scrapbooking! I did a layout that I thought would be perfect for a page call at Memory Makers, so I hope they think so too! Unfortunately I can't share it right now, as they like never before seen work.

I'm sure everyone is eagerly awaiting Thursday, for Thanksgiving. I know I'm really looking forward to it, and there's always so much wonderful food...too much food! My Dh and I will be going to my brother and sister-in-law's home for the day and she's preparing most of the meal. I am going to make a yummy Sweet Potato Casserole though so I thought I'd share the recipe for it with you all.

Kentucky Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole

2(29 oz.)cans sweet potatoes

1/3 cup good quality bourbon

1 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecan halves

1.5 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix potatoes, bourbon, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Spoon into a 13x9" baking pan.Combine remaining brown sugar,pecans, and butter; mix well. Sprinkle over potatoes evenly.Bake 25 minutes til top is browned.Serves 8.

Here's hoping that all of your Thanksgiving preparations are coming along smoothly! I hope you all have a Blessed Thanksgiving with your families and friends! God Bless!

Fa-La-La-La La...it All Starts!

Can you all see what's all in this picture above? It's all sinful really! But it's that time of the year, the big kick off to the Christmas holiday cookie baking begins today. I'm up to my neck in ingredients and it's time to get them going I guess.

My gram loves to make all types of cookies and then she makes up cookie platters to give to all her friends and family. It's getting harder and harder for her to do these now but she still really wants to do them, so I told her that I'd help her out more this year. I have scoped the net to find some newer recipes and I've found quite a few that I'll be trying for the first time. Did you know that Hershey's now has "Candy Cane Kisses" ? They are white chocolate with some red striping and candy cane bits. The company has a recipe using them called, "Candy Cane Blossoms", which is a take on the Peanut Butter Blossoms, only using a regular dough rolled in red or green sugar instead of the plain white sugar. They are really cute and colorful, and I'm excited to make those!

Before I go to get to mixing up some cookies, I wanted to share with you a page that I finished up last week for a blog challenge at Rusty Pickle. The challenge for the month of November is to create a page using 3 of their patterned papers and stamping in the page title.

I love using RP stuff in my scrapbooking, so this was an easy, fun challenge.

Title: She's Call Waiting

Supplies used -
Cardstock: Bazzill.
Patterned paper: Rusty Pickle (Girlfriend-Doodles, Fair Verona-Fair Verona, and Fair Verona-Hope).
Stamps: Rusty Pickle, Kari Alphabet (SMP04) and Fair Verona (SMP56).
Alpha Stickers: Rusty Pickle, Chocolate Bunnies Alphas.
Ink: Stampin' Up.
Chipboard scallop circle: Making Memories.

The photos are of my niece, Lera waiting for her Prom Date to arrive.

Journaling reads -
"BLAB...BLAB...BLAB...
BLAH...BLAH...BLAH...

Seems like she has nothing better to do while waiting for her Prom Date! {May 5, 2007}."

I'll tell ya, she's attached to that cell phone of hers like 24/7. I think I'm glad that I never had a cell while I was growing up. But I guess maybe it's better than driving your parents crazy with a busy phone line!

Okay, I really must go. I need to get to baking... Have a great day... and week!

Food and Smiles!

Who doesn't love food and finding new recipes? I won't deny... I love my food toooo much! I also enjoy cooking, especially when I know WHAT to make. So finding new recipes is always very helpful. Daniela was this week's Blog Host over at CreativeXpress, and she posted a challenge to her blog to share a favorite recipe. She shared a recipe and photos for an Apple Pie that sounds delish, so be sure to check out her blog if ya luv ya some Apple Pie! For me, I love the tastes and smells of this season... nothing like the taste of a piece of Cream cheese Pumpkin Roll, or a fresh baked dozen of Cinnamon Pecan Rolls, or even a kettle of homemade Beef Vegetable Soup! And yea, um, I can already smell that Thankgiving meal cooking!

Well, last night I was craving something warm and somewhat spicy to munch on... I wasn't in the mood for anything sweet. So as I was thinking of what to make, Buffalo Wing Dip quickly popped into my brain. I don't know if many of you have tried this before, but if you enjoy chicken wings, I'm sure you would really like this too. This is something I usually associate with summer because I like to make it to take to picnics and gatherings, but last night I was really in the mood for some, and hey, the color of it looks pretty fall-ish anyway!


Ingredients:
* 2 (8 oz.) PKGS. Cream Cheese

* (16 oz.) Bottle of Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing

* 1 Cup Frank's Hot Sauce (or any other brand will do)

* 2 to 4 Cups Chicken in the can

* 2 to 4 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions: Add ingredients all together (but reserving about a cup of the shredded Cheddar Cheese). Mix together well in a larger bowl. Place the mixture into a 9"x13" pan and top off with the reserved cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with Tortilla Chips, Pita Chips or crackers. Enjoy!

By the way, you can easily cut all the ingredients in half to make a smaller portion of this recipe. That's what I did last night!

Well, before I go, I wanted to pass on a smile to someone! Earlier in the week, my good friend, Mireille, nominated me with this, "You Make Me Smile" Award! How very sweet of you, Mir, cause you know that made my day! You have been such a kind and understanding friend to me now since 2005, and from day #1... but why do you have to live sooo far away?
Now it's my chance to return the smile...

I'd like to present this award to my super talented friend, Allison. She has been so caring and understanding... and her posts and messages always make me smile! Allison is one "real", cool chick!

Smile... it's make the world a better place!