A Faceless Portrait

30{365} A Faceless Portrait

Liam, doing one of the things he loves most...reading. Mama couldn't be more proud! 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

Just the title sounds decadent. Mmmm. I saw these brownies on the Today show and had a hard time finding the recipe. (Even now I don't have a website to link, but I did not come up with this recipe on my own. I am just sharing the deliciousness.) They are best enjoyed as soon as the peanut butter topping is spread on, still a little warm from the oven.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

One brownie mix, prepared according to box directions and then cooled
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I like the mini chips)

Combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and salt. Spread on brownies. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Enjoy!

A Circle

29{365} A Circle

This particular circle, my Nana's sugar bowl, holds a special place in my heart. I have many memories of having a 'tea party' at her house after school and this sugar bowl was always in attendance. It is a sweet reminder of our after school tea parties and time spent together.

Passion

26{365} Passion

I have always had a passion for reading, though I haven't had much time to indulge in it lately. This particular set of books, the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, holds a special place in my heart. These are the first books that I remember loving; I was totally and completely engaged in the story. (My secret dream is to live during that time. However, I am quickly reminded of how much I like electricity and running water.) My incredible parents even took me to some of Laura Ingalls Wilder's homes while we were on our family vacations, which made the story come to life for me. I am getting ready to re-read these books as an adult. I can't wait to relive this story and get lost in another time.

 

 

 

 

27{365} Dislike

Folding laundry...ugh. Truthfully, I enjoy almost everything about 'keeping house', but folding laundry is the one thing that I dread.

So, when that thought crosses my mind, I am quick to remind myself how thankful I am that we have clothes to wash, fold, and put away.

 

 

28{365} Sunset

Living in the Southwest, we are usually privy to some phenomenal sunsets. Today, however, was not one of those days. After a few rainy, cloudy days, we didn't have much of a true sunset, but it is hard to not see the beauty in God's creation when you see the mountains. I went to one of the few places on base where there are no buildings or trees blocking the view of the mountains and took these photos.

 

 

The Tucson mountain range to the West.

 

The Santa Catalina mountain range to the North. The haze was so thick, you could not see the tops of the range.

 

 

*Fun fact: You can use the first letters of the mountain ranges surrounding Tucson to spell the word CHRIST.

(Santa) Catalinas Mountains
Huachuca Mountains
RIncon Mountains
Santa Rita Mountains
Tucson Mountains

Hands

25{365} Hands

These little hands are never still, always playing, exploring, learning. Here, he is taking duck food from me to feed the ducks at the zoo. These little hands are never still and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Cold Snuggles

23{365} Snuggle

Liam loves our dogs so much; it's as if he has so much emotion for them, he can't keep it all in. Thankfully, the girls are good with him and put up with his terrorizing.

24{365} Cold

This was Liam's first time playing in the snow. He loved it. I love his little red cheeks and nose.

Catching Up and a Would-be Trip to the Zoo

I feel as if I am always going to be playing catch up with this picture challenge. It's easy enough to get the pictures taken, but to find time to sit down and go through the process of uploading them (twice!) to get them on this blog...well, there will probably be many times that I am grouping several days worth of pictures together. And I'm okay with that. (Whew, it feels good to take some pressure off myself!)

20{365} Playing

How lucky are we that this playground is in our backyard?!

 

21{365} Equal

My husband and my son share my heart, my love...and boy is it a lot! This picture brings me such joy. I love seeing the interaction between Liam and his daddy.

 

22{365} Frozen

I was trying to be artsy and creative today with 'frozen', even trying to get a good picture of some ice cubes. But let's be honest, in this 80 degree weather we had today, 'frozen' was pretty far from my mind. So, as I was looking back through the pictures I took while we were home in Illinois, I came across this one, my dad pulling Liam in a sled, on our way to the neighbor's house to see their animals. I thought Liam would love to see their new horse. Wasn't I surprised when the pigs ended up being his favorite. It didn't start out so cold, but once the sun went down, it was freezing. So there you have it, 'frozen'.

 

Zoo Trip

Liam and I had big plans today, plans for a trip to the zoo with our friends Kate and Gracie. Too bad we mamas didn't check the zoo schedule. But, a closed zoo led to some exploring, duck feeding, and much needed girl time. There is always a silver lining, people.

 

 

We found some crackers in the diaper bag and had a fun time feeding the ducks.

Kate and Gracie

Liam might have enjoyed sticking his feet in the water more than he enjoyed feeding the ducks (which was a lot!)

Poor ducks.

 

Big girl! Check out those beautiful blue eyes. Love.

 

A (Bright) Doorway

18{365} A Doorway

This is the entry to a C-130 that is at the Parade Grounds here on base. I wanted something more unique than just a doorway here in base housing (which, let's be honest, aren't unique in any way.) So what better than the door to an aircraft, you know, since we live on an Air Force base and all.

19{365} Bright

I've just accepted the fact that 98% of the pictures I take for this challenge will include my son. I already take dozens of pictures of him throughout the day, now I can just use them for something that is inspiring me to take better photos.

It was a bright, sunny day here in Southern Arizona and Liam had fun running through the bike rack at Daddy's softball game. What better way to signify 'bright' than with a shadow? How's that for artsy and creative.

A Favorite Toy

17{365} A Favorite Toy

Anyone who knows us knows that this plastic Playskool bat is a big hit at our house. And I mean HUGE hit. So much so, that this is the third one we have had. I'm not sure how we lost the first two bats, but thank goodness for the lady from Texas, who was the only one on eBay selling a replacement!

Jumbled

16{365} Jumbled

This is my craft closet. It used to be neat and organized, with everything in its place. Before Christmas, the hanging organizer broke and I just haven't taken the time to reorganize everything. Add in the fact that I am working on a few projects and just shoving materials back in the closet and you get a big, jumbled mess. So there it is, one of my dirty little secrets. (Maybe some day I can use this photo for a 'before and after' post!)

Nut

15{365} Nut

This butter toffee popcorn with almonds and cashews is a bit of a guilty pleasure. It is so yummy. My mom and I found it at a Target in IL when I was home for Christmas, on sale for half price since they were selling it as a seasonal Christmas item and we picked it up on an after Christmas sale. We devoured it and then tried to find more, with no luck. So imagine my glee when I learned that the Target stores in AZ sell it year round!

In Low Light

14{365} In Low Light

I have been waiting for the chance to use this picture for a prompt. This is one of my favorite pictures, ever. But I can't take full credit, I have to give big thanks to my friend Christina for the help. (Check out her out: Christina Barnum Photography, she is awesome.)  A little secret...we hid a football in the tree and that is what Liam is grabbing in the picture. Hey, whatever works!

Self Portraits and Smiles

12{365} A Self Portrait

My least favorite prompt so far. I'm in the picture, so it counts, right? Liam has started giving eskimo kisses and I love it. He will scrunch up his little nose and stick it out for a kiss. Perfect.

 

13{365}A Stranger's Smile

This was taken in October 2009, while we were still in Okinawa. I know it's not a recent picture, but this comes to mind when I think of a 'stranger's smile' (plus, we weren't around any strangers today!) This Japanese man was so sweet. And I really miss my Christina-san.  

*After I posted this picture, I realized technically, it doesn't count since I am in the picture and not taking it. But, then I realized that this is my blog and my photo challenge and it counts if I say it does.*

 

 

 

Climb

11{365} Climb

I have a toddler. Of course 'climb' would be a picture of him.

Real Life

10{365} Real Life

Today is one of those days where 'real life' feels a little crazy and I wish I could have a timeout button to just take a break. Thank goodness we get to go to bed and start fresh tomorrow. Mom was sure right when she said a good night's rest solves many problems.
Today's prompt was 'Real Life' and I spent a lot of time thinking about what that means to me. For me, it comes down to the relationships I have; my relationship as a wife, a mom, a daughter, sister, friend. While this is not my favorite picture, it shows many of the relationships I have with people I love very much. (Disclaimer: there are several people whom I love very much but their pictures are not on my fridge. They probably appear in one of the dozens of frames I have throughout the house.)

 

Resolve

I've tossed around the idea of starting a blog several times, mainly with the intent of keeping our interested friends and family back home up-to-date with what our little family has been doing. Somehow I always talk myself out of it because I think my writing is not funny/clever/witty/interesting enough. Well, this blog is for me. I've decided to finally put the nice camera that my hubby gave me to use and I am doing the CaptureYour365 photo inspiration this year and using this blog as an accountability tool to showcase the pictures. I'm definitely an amateur but hopefully, taking all of these pictures will help improve my skills. I'm playing catch-up from the beginning of the year, so here goes...

1{365} Resolve

Resolve to take more photos, learn how to use my camera, and finish this photo challenge.

2{365} New Beginnings

This picture is of some of the Christmas decorations that I was putting away. While I love everything Christmas and Christmas decor, putting it up for the season and getting the house back to normal feels like a new beginning.

 

3{365} Repetition

I have two for this one...the lights on a tree at my Mom and Dad's house and paw prints in the snow.

 

4{365} Fur

Our sweet Roxy.

 

5{365} Colorful Food

6{365} With Words

The bookshelf in Liam's room.

 

7{365} Movement

While this picture doesn't show any actual 'movement', the fact that there are toys all over the floor signifies movement, play, life. It means my son is healthy enough to play and strew his toys all over. And for that, I am thankful. (This would be a good reminder for the times that I am irritated about picking up balls and books and any other toy for the 100th time in a day!)

 

8{365} Discouraged

My favorite Bible verse, Phil 4:13, a go-to when I am feeling discouraged.

 

9{365} Peaceful

For me, there is not much more peaceful than a sleeping child.