Holy Smokes, this is AMAZING!

Our nephew who's living with us is awesome. His wife's sister served her mission in LA and apparently learned to make killer Mexican food. He got these recipes and we tried them out over the weekend. They are HEAVENLY so I thought I would share.

Guacamole
4-5 avocados mashed
1 finely chopped tomato
4-5 minced cloves of garlic
1 shallot or 2 small green onions chopped
juice of one lime
salt to taste

Refried Beans
1 bag pinto beans
4 garlic cloves cut in half
garlic salt to taste
pepper jack cheese

Put a bag of dried pinto beans and 4 cloves of garlic in a crock pot and cover with a lot of water. Turn the crock pot on high and let cook for about 6 hours. Once the beans can easily be mashed with a fork you'll know they're done. Blend them up in the blender along with the cloves of garlic. Use the water they were cooked in to help the blending process a long. Add garlic salt to taste. (If you dont' have a blender you can mash them yourself.) Then put beans in a pan with some butter and a lot of pepper jack cheese. Stir it all around till melted. YUM!

Carne Asada
Add the following ingredients to a bag and let marinate at least 6 hours but even better over night!

about 2 pounds of milenasa meat chopped in strips. (You can use whatever your favorite steak is, just be sure to cut it in thin strips. Milenasa is almost paper thin and it's amazing!)
1/3 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 limes juiced
4-5 garlic cloves minced
optional 1 tsp salt

Once meat is done marinating simply place in a pain on the stove and cook till cooked through.

Place beans, guacamole and carne asada on a flour tortilla and enjoy!

My Favorites Part 1- Decorating Blogs and Websites

I keep thinking I wanna start doing a weekly segment on my favorite things. Life is made exciting by the dreams we have and the things we love, so here's the first of my favorites- a review of my favorite decorating blogs and websites that inspire me. I hope to make my house look like these one day . . . even if it is in the after life!

The Inspired Room

Teens Themed Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Elegance Redefined

Kelly Rae Roberts

Material Girls

Absolutely Beautiful Things

Daisy Pink Cupcake

Anthropologie

Feed Your Soul

So there you have it. Enjoy!

And so it begins . . .

Last week, on August 24th, we started the 2009-2010 school year. I was thrilled because Sk8r and CR had been a bored all summer as I was swamped with emergency preparedness stuff for church. Therefore, to finally have something to do for them was fantastic! We spent Sunday evening packing up backpacks and making sure clothes were out and ready, pencils sharpened, snacks in lunch bags and so forth.

Excitement filled the air!

On Monday morning they both woke early and jumped into the outfits they'd picked out:

What cute little darlings!

I drove each one to school (they go to different schools now since she's in 4th and he's in 6th) and then came home to . . .

silence.

At first I wondered if it was the good kind, the I-dream-of-silence-so-I-can-get-stuff-done kind, but as soon as that garage door shut I realized . . . I was wrong.

Here's the door (yes, still surrounded by the ugly smoker tan). Look just to the right between the lock and knob . . .

Do you see it? If not, here's a close-up I darkened of it . . .

A sweet little hand print of one of those cute little beings on lend to us from God. How lucky we are! How wonderful and adorable those kiddos are and what joy and happiness they've brought to our family throughout the years.

I just stood there.

That hand print stayed for a few days till I could be okay with them being gone. They are so big now, to the point where holding your mom's hand at school is no longer cool. To the point that they long for name brand clothes or specific shoes and pants with certain designs. To the point of having favorite bands and wanting to collect big kid movies. To the point of realizing it's more fun to talk to your friends on the phone if you are secluded in another room where no one else in the house can hear you. Sk8r goes to the local Walgreen's all the time on his skateboard accompanied by his skater-buddies and CR is finally wanting to have her hair done every day.

What happened??

When did these little ones grow-up? I think I missed it and I feel ripped off.

But alas, it has begun and I can't stop it. I suppose all I can do is love them when they are home and spend as much time with them in the evenings as possible.

A friend asked me if I wanted to carpool but you know what? I'd rather spend the gas and have those few extra moments with them each day than to give them up and save a little money. Financially it might not be the best decision but in the long run? That money is well spent on allowing me to have just a few more magical moments with my babies before they grow up and leave us for good. And so I'll milk those drives and miles for all they are worth because those little hands have already grown so much and are only going to get bigger and bigger and farther away.

Decor Dreams

Everyday, for at least one moment, I find myself whisked away in a sparkly whoosh of glitter to daydream land. It's beautiful and bright there, bold and elegant and I feel so relaxed! It goes something like this:

Darn that Sarah Brightman, she's so amazingly beautiful! And her CD spreads are always topnotch. I'm gonna photograph people like this one day . . .

And sometimes those dreams look like this:

except I don't' have that much black eye shadow on cuz that's just creepy.

Sometimes they look like silly Nicole Richie. I can't decide if she's a good girl, or a bad one but still, she looks great all dreamy and such . . .


And sometimes, I just dream of this cuz it's really funny and makes me laugh every single time I think about it . . . what the . . . ???


But anyways, I'm mostly not really dreaming of me as some fabulous model or animal pilgrim but rather of another subject.

No, I'm not dreaming of finding my prince one day like I did as a school girl, cuz I've already got him!

And I don't dream of making it through college like I used to cuz I've already got my Masters degree and not anyone, I mean NO one can convince me to go further than that.

And nope, I'm not dreaming of summer because we've been kinda bored this time around.

So what am I dreaming about?

Decor.

I find these dreams sweet and delightful as appealing as those pictures above or a pint of my favorite Ben and Jerry's:

Mmmmm, Mmmm!

I dream of painting this home in bold colors that pop and bring life to space. Colors that say

"Welcome!"

and

"Stay a little longer!"

So in an effort to pop those dreams into reality I often plop into our big, comfy computer chair for a few moments to unwind for the day by searching Google for pictures that inspire me. Here's some of my favorites.

Maybe I'll paint the wall behind our red couch a lime green. That'll teach em! At least that's what it makes me feel like, like I'd be breaking a rule and it feels good.


Or maybe I should paint the brown couch room a rich royal blue with an orange accent for the fireplace and TV hole. Dang, I still need to build shelves for that hole. One day, one day.


Sometimes I think I'll keep the smoker tan paint and just add some crazy curtains. Why'd I think "smoker" tan was a good idea in the first place? Okay, it's really called "Pony Tail," but you catch what I'm gettin' at . . . and probably, since I'm a photographer I should probably actually print some of my pictures and put them on the walls. Hmmm, yeah, probably.


But isn't this pink wall so fun? I'm definitely not a total pink kinda gal, but shoot, this looks fabulous!


And you'd better believe I'll be doing this. This is gonna happen as soon as September hits, along with the rest of the soon-to-occur-different-holidays-decor. Watch out festive season, I'm gonna blow you away this time!


Maybe JoAnne's will have a huge sale on fabulous fabric. Oh, wait. That would mean JoAnnes would have to actually BUY fabulous fabrics first. Do it! Do iT! DO IT!


Or maybe I'll get creative like my Alicia Jane blogger friend who was really Danya's friend first but then I joined in the fun. She's so incredibly creative making photoshop art and stuff. Maybe I should figure out how to do something like she does, or like in this picture and just go wild with the colors and frames. After all, look how happy and relaxed those people are . . .


Or maybe I'll do something really crazy and bold like this dark greyish purple wall except darn! I just remembered I don't have a pink couch. Umph, scratch that.


I could do purple, that'd be crazy huh! Or a teal? But my mom says that could turn out too turquoise and tomahawk-ish so maybe I'll nix that one.

Or maybe I'll learn how to make my bookcases look super cool like these. This pictures makes me wish I'd have bought the white ones and not the black. I could always paint them though right???


And how about a zebra rug under the kitchen table?


Oh yeah, I already bought a zebra chair. If I'm not careful everything will be zebra camouflage and we won't be able to find anything.

Or maybe I'll go with some pale colors with bold accents. Is that boring? I feel cold.


Maybe just a simple cream with bright accessories and curtains?? Oh yeah, I've already bought like 12,000 different cream shades of paint and none of them are right.


So back to the dreaming table I go to hunt nightly for inspiration that will bring light and joy to our home . . . besides the light and joy Mr. Funny, Sk8r and CR already bring me. The more I think about it, I'm a lucky girl to have those 3 dazzling beings livening up my space.

Sweet Riley!

We ventured up to Riley's Farm yesterday for quite a delicious treat: divinely red raspberries and strawberries. I had high hopes that they would be yummy, but heavenly? I would have never guessed! I'm so used to sour, looks-ripe-but-tastes-totally-not-fruit that I had my doubts. I quickly learned however, that there's something about growing fruit from real dirt in real open space that makes it simply amazing! So if you have a hankering for something sweet, fresh, and fun, go up there soon because I'm not sure how much longer those berries are gonna last.

Irresponsibly Sparkley

The boys left last Saturday to join a dozen or so other sweaty men and boys on a 30 mile scout bike ride to a fancy-schmancy beach I've never been to.

And naturally?

CR and I went shopping. Mind you, I'm money conscious! Especially since I've got a Halloween shin-dig to prepare for and am constantly in the "emergency preparedness" mindset thanks to my job at church. But after having spent our free $150 Visa debit card from Verizon (for signing up for Fios) on water barrels I figured hey--this Walgreen's check that I got in the mail for a free $25 would be fabulous to spend on something . . . medicinee . . . foodee . . .responsibly . . . ??? NAH! Instead we spent it on something . . . sparkly! And this is what we bought:



7 bottles of sparkly nail polish.

And you know what? That much glitter really DOES make the world go round.

Thanks Walgreen's!

Pottery Barn . . . Are You Okay???

A friend of Mr. Funny's balked in his face last October, when we told him we loved the Fall leaves of Canada.

"What? How could someone love Fall leaves?" he clambered.

And then, with disdain he quickly explained that Fall and it's leaves represented nothing but rot, decay, and a bland, boring death!

Wow.

Hmmmmm.

Mr. Funny and I sat there very confused. Too bad that guy's so blah on life!

And merrily we went on our way enjoying the falling leaves, the beauty of the patterns they made as they floated and twisted through the air, the smell of crisp evenings and the ever creeping closer nakedness of the forests in which we lived. It truly was marvelous . . . for a while. By January we were begging, ready to give up all we had for green and airy and potent colors of flora here . . . there . . . anywhere!

But no such luck was had and I quickly realized why those sun-lamp companies were still in business. I also found myself agreeing with Mr. Funny's bald friend. Fall did indeed mean the beginning to a long journey of death of all things fun and beautiful. Death of outdoor play without frozen limbs. Death of beautiful leaves that smiled happily at us each morning as the suns rays danced about their green surfaces. Death of light shining through windows to happily visit and remind us it was a brand new day. The nightlight in the hall was a self-starter, smart in the ways of knowing when to turn itself on and off based on the amount of light around. Mr. Nightlight? He never once turned off in those long, dark months. He dutifully ran and ran and ran some more. Indeed, the forest was now dead and so seemed life in general.

We packed our car and trailer and left the great far-east in Spring and yet it still felt like Fall-- decay, dirty snow, brown, burnt colors everywhere the head turned. Naturally, we were thrilled to hit Connecticut and see green-- in fact a sea of green continually covered the highways we traveled with blankets and canopies of luster for mile after mile. Heavenly. Pure heaven! It was a gift and boy did we need it! Pink flowers, purple flowers, red, yellow and magenta graced the homes of happy people playing in their yards. Bicycles, jump ropes, kiddie pools and sunshine. Sunshine everywhere! Sunshine lighting up the trees and kissing the skin of those little ones as they ran and played. It was a beautiful site to see and a wonderful beginning to the rest of our lives.

We returned to our little city and walked through our newly un-rented home. It was clean and even smelled good. The paint was in tact and so were the appliances and carpeting. We knew we'd been blessed to have renters who'd cared for our little abode and we were grateful. But something was drastically wrong. Even though the sun shone brightly through our small windows which now seemed huge in comparison to those in the place we'd been renting, and the green grass of the front and back yards blew happily in the breeze, this home with is Tuscan inspired colors of burnt reds, yellows and browns was dead. No longer a feeling of life and glee filled the rooms like it did those streets of Connecticut in April or Canada in July, as it had before our move. Indeed death had seemed to taken grasp of the place and I knew there'd have to be change.

So what did I do? So far not much. But most of the rod iron is now tucked beneath our bed and sleeps in close quarters with the Tuscan paintings of some burnt colored place in the hills of Spain and the likes. We are in need of some bubbly, spunky, gleeful decorating inspiration and so naturally, as I've done in the past, I turned to The Pottery Barn magazine.

I love Pottery Barn, not because I have the kind of money to shop there, because I don't-- but because I think a lot of their ideas are charming and wonderful and Ross Dress for Less is only 7 miles away.

Ross?? I love you! You sell such great knock offs at knock off prices that I can virtually mimic anything I want from Pottery Barn for about 10% of the cost. Thanks Ross, you make all my dreams come true!!

So I've been waiting for my new Pottery Barn subscription to arrive and that blessed day came yesterday! I couldn't wait to peruse it's pages and see how it was going to change my deathly home into pure bliss! But alas, I had dishes to do, photo shoot things to clean up and children to spend time with, dinner to warm for my handsome, sweaty, just-come-from-the-gym husband and so on. Unfortunately, PB had to wait until around 8:30pm, when CR and I finally snuggled down on her bed and peaked inside the magazine to see what treasures PB had in store for us to recreate.

And . . . . . . . .

It was horrifying!

"What happened to Pottery Barn?" we cried.

And truly, what did happen? Has the Fall and Winter of Canada taken hold of the company? Shall we send them a sun-lamp to brighten their minds? Ohhhhhhh Pottery Barn, we've lost you!

You've lost you.

I realize these days are hard ones. Our country has been hit financially. More and more people are now out of work or scrambling to figure out what to do with all their amounting financial debt and the problems associated with it. It's truly sad and disheartening and leaves everyone feeling a tad bit helpless and on edge. However, does that make it okay for PB to advertise such bland existences??? Their entire magazine this month is dedicated to the bland, dead, decaying, boredom of lifelessness that sooo many of our good friends and neighbors are experiencing. I see their possible desire of wanting to relate to the general public, but so horribly bland . . . and still just as expensive as always?

A sample, so you'll believe me:


PB? Why not give us something to hope for! Give us bright and airy and sparkling dreams for a better future! Give us spunky and fun and the ability to hope for a better way, a happier life!

So, with PB's musings of what we know everyone is already going through, I feel I'm on my own. My own journey to discover what next. Where shall I turn? This home is in dire need of a spruce-up before the big Halloween Party it will hold in October. I'm racing against the clock . . . and although I love the ghouls and goblins I'm truly not fond of death and would love to keep it at bay. After all, that's one of the big reasons we live in Cali, the year round life of sunshine and goodness for the soul!

Therefore, I will sit and surf blogs and pictures until something catches my minds desire and I can drive to Lowe's and buy some paint that will jump start my life here in this structure we call home.

Petty?

I know.

But you can't say you don't dream . . . can you?? Cuz if you really can't dream? Be sure you don't read this month's PB magazine cuz if you do you'll have nightmares for sure and feel you're at a dead end with no hope and nothing in site for a better future. In fact, you'll probably have to go out and buy a sunlamp to feel better. And honestly, do you have money for that right now?

Hang in there Pottery Barn . . . I hope you feel better next month.

Welcome!

You've just opened the creaking door a smidge to a peak in my crazy little life. Not that it's always crazy but I enjoy the crazy when it comes because crazy means not bored right? And I don't like bored. Then again, I do like Pirates of the Caribbean old-man-on-the-porch part of the ride calmness too! You know, he sits there . . . rocking back and forth . . . just thinking . . . amongst the glittering fire flies and cricket chirps . . . ahhhhh, my heart sparkles with happiness!

So here's the deal. I'm remaining anonymous because there are entirely too many weirdos out there and so from here on out I'll be known as "The Pumpkin Queen." Why? Because I luuuuvvvvvvvvv Halloween and think it's a most terrific holiday! It's once a year when no matter the age, job, income, status, etc. you can be anything you want and no one can stop you. And yes, Nightmare Before Christmas is at the top of my list of favorite movies and soundtracks of all times!

The hubby? He's funny! In fact, we'll call him "Mr. Funny." Back in 1998, when he proposed he promised to make me laugh every day and I dare say he has! I adore him and think he's sexxy and I'm thrilled every time he comes through that door. Mmm, mmmmm! Anyhow, when I told him his screen name he wanted it changed to "Cap'm." Needless-to-tell, but I'm gonna anyways, my original name was going to be "Ms. Halloween" as in Mr. Funny doesn't like Halloween as much as me so I didn't wanna imply he DID by calling myself "Mrs." and hence the "Ms." But then Mr. Funny called me a "fema-nazi" and I thought, hmmmmm, no good! But then I didn't wanna call him "Cap'm" cuz I don't like They Might Be Giants as much as he does . . . so there! We're even. We changed both screen names and everyones happy.

Anywho . . .

The boy? He's just recently fallen in love with his skate board. He's out there practicing everyday and I'm so impressed with it! I got on one once and biffed it . . . hard! It was right next to where the egg plant in our front yard was growing . . . yes, right next to where it was growing in sand . . . where our cat used to poop. I could never eat that egg plant . . . Anyhow, we'll call him "Sk8r" cuz yes, that's what he is and hot-diggity, he's good at it! The boy wanted the name to look super cool and since I'm a nice mom I let him decide how to spell it.

The girl? Wow is she ever a doll! She sings and dances and loves to paint her long fingernails. How'd she get those anyways? Mine aren't long . . . not since the piano teacher told me I couldn't play with my fabulous long nails and then CHOPPED them off! It was like a scene out of a horror movie. Ever since then they've become brittle and pathetic! Anyhow, the girl loves Disney's "Camp Rock" just as much as I love Halloween so we'll call her "CR." She's thrilled!

I'm a fan of Stephen Colbert and CJane because both know how to just speak their minds about life and get away with it. For years I've been writing to my fancy sister-in-law, she's my Ann Landers and I write really well . . . to her . . . in Stephen Colbert an CJane style and it pleases me. So this is me going public with just being me and sharing it with whomever wants to read. I'm not nearly as funny nor witty or as great a writer as either of them, but still, I think I'm funny and heck this is my personal journal so what do I really care . . .

Anyhow, if you're intrigued feel free to come along for the ride.