Even though we should be packing rather than unpacking Christmas decorations, my roommates and I are not going to let our current landlord take away our Christmas cheer with his lovely letter making us find a new place to live. My one roomie, Karen and I went out this past week to find ourselves a proper Christmas tree. We entertained the though of just strapping it down on the top of my car, but thankfully Brian said he’d help us out with his truck. He took photos of our Christmas tree picking outting but its on my new camera… that currently isnt talking to my computer… so stay tuned for those (and Thanksgiving photos).

Isnt Linus the second just lovely? It looks so tiny in this photo and while it isnt a huge tree its not that small. Just a perfect size for our small little home. Our first and last Christmas in this house. My other roomie, Laura, saw all my Starbucks cups on the tree and thought it was a work related theme. Thats just sorta sad now isnt it? I didnt mean to make it a work theme! Lets focus on a different ornament…

Hippo ornament! Isnt he so cute? This is the first time since Alabama Ive pulled out my Christmas decorations and its been fun to unwrap all my ornaments that Ive been collecting. Maybe I will have too many boxes someday just like my mom. Speaking of my parents, I beat you right now their house is filled with poinsettias. That is the perk of growing up in a plant family, always flowers of some kind around. I cant fill my whole house with poinsettias as much as Id like but…

Tiny poinsettia for the tiny house. The little green pot there is a mini Christmas tree thats growing! Maybe by next Christmas time I’ll have myself a little tree. The white pot are my herbs that have come back to life after lack of water during my summers trip. Im surprised they have lasted this long actually, but I really do love my little herbs.

Oh yeah, Ive been packing a bit this week while Jason has finals. Next week I think every night but one is taken up with a get-together or a holiday themed thing. Im really looking forward to all of them, I know I wont have time to tackle any packing. All my books are packed (hence the boxes on the shelf where they once where) but notice to the left all my movies and TV shows are not packed. I mean, what would I watch while I pack the rest of my stuff up? Oh and my brown walls?! That was one of the first things I was very sad to leave about this house, my brown walls that Jason painted or me while I was away on a youth trip. But I can have brown walls again because my new landlords, Mike and Kari, are awesome and I am so thankful for their friendship extending to housemates.

I know, its just plain sad isnt it? All my hippos packed away in a box. I know they’ll be happy in their new home with new brown walls with Big Bunny.

Let me share with you part of a letter I received yesterday afternoon:

“This letter serves as a 45 day notice to terminate your lease as of January 17, 2009.”

Out of 8 total sentences in this letter, this is the second one. One that could be spoken to my roommates and myself since my room sits right above my landlords office. We share a two story house, and have for two years. Six weeks ago, my friend signed a lease to move in. December 2nd, that all changed.

After I read this letter, I was in a wave of emotion. Really sad, as I looked around at my brown walls, I love my brown walls. I called to share with my roommate, the one who had just moved in six weeks ago, to tell her the news. She was pretty upset and who could blame her? Why have someone move in when you are even thinking of doing this? Getting a couple months rent, thats really nice. I didnt call my other roommate, who was in the middle of a long 14 hour shift. I called Jace and read him the letter. I started to cry for a numbers of reasons when asked “What are you thinking?”

I know God will provide – He has already reminded me that I will have a roof over my head with a handful of offers from friends who offered my their spare room (but only one with a Big Bunny). Though that doesnt mean this isnt hard and put a lot of unknowns out there. My little house is going to try and look for a place together. We’ve moved on from bitterness to the pros we will have at our new place. Washer and Dryer! Living room! Dishwasher! Still, Im sad to have to leave my downtown apartment that Ive grown to really like. Moving is a pain and especially in the middle of Christmas time.

Wish me luck as I look for a new home.

Last couple of days I have kept the TV off to listen to music while I write, knit or work around the house. Its been really nice to my surprise. I get more done also because Im not stopping to look up from time to time at the rerun of Gilmore Girls I own on DVD but insist on watching on TV or seeing how unfortunate some girls outfit really is on What Not to Wear. Not only am I listening to music, Im listening to music in my iTunes that barely gets a listen. I have it for a reason, I liked it at one point enough to put it in my music library, so lets listen to it! I have reconnect with old favorites to new songs that are quickly becoming favorites.

Currently there are four pairs of shoes sitting on my bedroom floor instead of their rightful place in my closet. I had a bad habit of just coming home and slipping off my shoes whenever I happen to lay my purse down at (so usually around the edge of my couch). I wont notice this till about 6 or 8 pairs are shoes are out. I blame this on my couple years of Hawaiian culture upbringing of taking your shoes off when you enter the house. Time to break this habit and be rid of those shoes that rarely ever hit the floor.

Jackets in the morning a lot of times lose their need by the afternoon time. In the car they sit and gather in a group by the end of the week. I now have an unsaid responsibility to myself to take at least one thing out of my car (usually a coat or travel tumbler) when entering into my house. I just have found it funny that I have given myself rules to live by without really noticing it, even in silly little ways. Surely Im not alone in this – what rules have you given yourself?

Theres this Sweet Potatoes Bisque from Trader Joes that I just cant seem to get enough of. Just recently have I thought of adding something to the pure goodness in a cardboard box that I love so much. Brian and I discussed adding cheese and bacon – making it a gloried sweet potato in soup form. Then Brandi was discussing this Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup, which sounded fantastic. Only thing was, I was short on time the night I was really wanting this soup. So I took goodness in a cardboard box and added some sauteed sauage and onion, then sprinkled some cheese and basil (home grown I might add!) on top. It was positively delightful. Dessert? Pomegranate seeds – which by the way, after getting all the precious seeds out of the grips of the pomegranate, I understand a little bit more why pomegranate juice is so dang pricey! But, this is a luxury fruit as even with the labor I had to put into it, I paid good money for it. I remember eating one of these as a kid, we called it Jesus fruit, because apparently it was around when Jesus was so he must of ate it. We just grabbed a big mouthful, no need to carefully pick out the seeds. Usually I look forward to produce in the spring, but fall doesn’t bring about some pretty tasty foods.

This is my dinner from a few nights ago. It took about 20 minutes to put together, thanks to the wonders of Trader Joes. The pasta? Thats lobster ravioli and yes its a good as that sounds. The asparagus? Yeah I bought a pound of frozen asparagus for the same price a small bundle would cost me. Usually frozen veggies taste like frozen veggies, but not these. They tasted like they had never been frozen before. That is the beauty of Trader Joes, their food is just so good, frozen or fresh! Oh those round patties? They are from IKEA, they were tasty too. But this post is about my love for Trader Joes.

Ive grown up on Trader Joes growing up in Southern California. My family would shop there over the grocery store. It wasnt a health food store, but it was cheap and had a lot healthy choices. Most of the store is full of products that Trader Joes themselves has created. Other part is of the best brands and types of foods they cant seem to make better. I was sad to leave Trader Joes when I moved to Carolina. I thought for a very long time that this state didnt even have one till I found out that an hour away is a Trader Joes. It is worth the drive and the gas to get the foods that I love. I adore artichokes and there was no way I was paying $4 bucks for one like the grocery store wants me to pay. Trader Joes? 4 for $3s! New to me – boxed soups from Trader Joes and I was not disappointed.

Maybe one day my town will wise up and invite Trader Joes into its community. That day could not come soon enough.

Wolfgang Puck Chicken Tortilla Soup

I know nothing about Wolfgang, maybe he once was on Food Network? My only frame of reference for him is seeing him on my grocery store shelf selling soup. Nothing really struck my fancy till I was house sitting and saw that they had some of his soups. They told me to help myself to whatever, so I helped myself to some his Chicken Tortilla Soup. I figured since it was a mexican style dish that Id grill up some quesadillas to go along with. There are few things in this food life that I lead that is much better than this folks. Maybe not Wolfgang Puck’s version every time, but how have I not had tortilla soup before then? How is that possible? I really dont know. Maybe I have and it wasnt that amazing that I just dont remember it. But man alive, this bowl of soup was oh so good. So thank you Pell’s for stocking your shelf with this soup and offering it to me while you were on the west coast. My eyes have seen the light to the greatness that is tortilla soup.

I recently started reading the blog Apartment Therapy because a few other blogs I follow had mentioned them, one writer’s apartment even got talked about and shown on Apartment Therapy. I love seeing real life decorating as well, so much better than Domino if you ask me. Now, if I was a good blogger, I would of just added this to my links, which is to your left, on my blog but I havnt touched those in a very long time. Jason mentioned to me how out of date a lot of things on my blog are. Part of me felt like any day my other website was going to be along any day, I kept putting the task off. But since Ive been saying that other site is “coming soon” for over a year now, I should turn my energy to this little corner of the internet I have already poured myself into. A mini-face lift, or more so a little update of me on the internet. I tell you all instead of just announcing all the changes so that its somewhat of an accountably to myself. So stayed tuned for more on that. Going back to Apartment Therapy, its also bad for a person like me who should not go to places such as T.J. Maxx or Ross alone. Just yesterday I was in there shopping for size 11 high heels (it was for a game for youth group) and totally walked out with other decorating things for my house! There went my state tax refund! I couldn’t believe myself, but they have such cool stuff in there to make my living space look like the apartments at Apartment Therapy. And at a very responsible price…I promise I have self control when it comes to shopping. Just house stuff must be my biggest temptation of all, that made need some therapy, or accountability of not being alone in those stores. Do make sure to check out Apartment Therapy, you probably dont have problems like I do.

I dont bake nearly as often as I like. Usually its becasue I dont want a good amount of bake goods lying around to eat becasue I just might eat them all! But when asked to bake something for an event, I love doing it. Tonight Im having a fancy home-made dinner with two couples from 514 and offered to bring the coffee and desert. There was a request for chocolate so I found this cake:

I put the photo of the recipe’s cake to compare, which is probably a bad idea. I dont want to try and measure up to a picture prefect cake (which is probably photo shopped just like anything in magazines these days are). Probably only thing that really bothers me in looks is that I couldnt get the circle of strawberries on top to look like theirs. Whats funny, is that I chose to make this not thinking about the fact I dont own round cake pans. I try not to buy a lot of kitchen stuff since one of my roommates who moved in used to live alone and has tons of kitchen stuff that takes up all the space (which isnt much) we have in the kitchen. We now own two round cake pans becasue I just had to make this cake.

Look at all those yummy looking layers! Its going to be hard to wait…I just want to try a little bite. The description of the cake is that it tastes like chocolate covered strawberries. How could one really pass up on that? I really hope its good!

One of my favorite things about Real Simple is that you can put in a food item and it will list recipes that called for that ingredients. My cupboard was full of a lot of staples that I needed to use up. I had a can of coconut milk (okay so everything wasnt a “staple” per say) that I bought on sale with a coupon in hopes to use it for something Thai tasting and it came up with Curry-Coconut Sauce . Perfect! I had chicken in the freezer, so I cooked some thin slices over a skillet for my very own Chicken Curry! You never know its really going to taste curry enough after being to Thailand. But this recipe was so spicy and tasty, that even Thai people would approve. The best part about it is, it was really easy to make. Though I do recommend a tall glass of milk near by becasue when I say spicy, I do mean spicy.

Chicken broth and me have a love hate relationship. I dont really care for chicken, so right off its broth has a bad name. But, when added to soups and and the like its always better than water. Real Simple came up with Tortellini Soup for my answer to my overly popularly pantry of chicken broth. I simplified the recipe by using just what I had in the house. So swiss chard wasnt in the cards for my version of this soup. Instead I sprinkled some cilantro on top along with the grated parmesan cheese. Somehow, most everything taste better with some cilantro on it.

These are two are my new favorite recipes. Sadly, its Spring time so its warming up and not really soup season anymore. But the nights are still a bit chilly, so until the hot summer nights come, these recipes will be enjoyed by me.

I made a New Years resolution to make my bed everyday.

Silly resolution? Sure for those of you who make their bed all the time. I dont remember growing up with strict household of bed makers. My parents bed seems to always be made, and I know I was told to make mine. As an adult I didnt binge on eating junk food three meals a day, I just simply didnt make my bed.

And so I havnt been completely faithful to making my bed every single day, but its pretty often. Its nice since I dont have a desk anymore, my bed is my desk. Many a days Cheswick is in the center of my brown comforter circled by my day planner, check book, bills and receipts. Ive learned to have my own little home in one room for a while now. Though I cant wait for the day when I have a small house (why would I want a big one? Im not cleaning a big one. Small is just fine.) that separates my household activities a little more.

For now, Im happy with my new defined space.

Aw man. I wrote everyday since the first of the year and yesterday, my full packed day, I missed a day. Not that any of you probably noticed I was trying to blog something each day. Oh wells, onto this wonderfully snowy day we are having! I could live through winter no problem if its snowy like this all the time. Im waiting for it to stick, but its fun to catch snowflakes on tongues.

Oh and Im enjoying a mojito right now. What? Yeah yeah its a summer drink but I feel warm on the inside! Thats all that matters.

Spent some time in the kitchen this afternoon. I remembered bookmarking some homemade Mac ‘n Cheese via Tom and Alissa I believe. Now, I might of missed the point of this recipe since calls for organic milk and butter and totally used non organic butter and might of thrown in a 1/2 cup of half and half for the past part of the milk. It was non-fat half and half at least! I loved having the tomatoes on top of the Mac ‘n Cheese. Only thing Id change is the amount of bread crumbs. It calls for a whole cup, but I think half of a cup or less would of done the job of a crispy top.

I was a little hungry when I started fixing the Mac ‘n Cheese and it takes 40 minutes to cook so I made myself a little appetizers to hold me over. This might be the best fancy sounding but so easy to make thing ever. Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes . I only made about five slices of this yummy treat, but I could of consumed the full 4 servings the recipes makes no problem. I had a hard time saving the last two for Jason. If you like Italian food and easy things to fix, this is the snack for you. I might be on a tomato kick for a while now.

This morning I tired out some blueberry and almond oatmeal I picked up at Target. They have this food brand that every time I try something its good. This oatmeal was no expectation. I didn’t nearly bring enough for my brake this morning. Im packing extra in my purse for tomorrows early rise of an open shift.

Today I received a birthday package in the mail. As its been said, mail is a very dying art. Funny its turned into an art, isnt it? I love to send out notes and thank you cards to help keep that alive. I have a handful of new friends who birthdays are also in the month of January and Ive been running around finding gifts for them. I love celebrating birthday week, but knowing its been shared with friends makes it all the sweeter. Plus Id rather focus on them turning another year older than I turning 26.

Weekend began early Saturday morning as I mixed together the beginning stages of Pioneer Women’s Cinnamon Rolls. I headed over the Emily’s house few hours later when the yeast was warm and happy. We chatted and tried not to think about the amount of butter that was going into these cinnamon rolls we were so excited to be making.

Told you there was a lot of butter.

This is Emily putting on the cinnamon. Lots and lots of cinnamon. She was brave and rolled the first rolls that spilled out the sides every which way. We learned and better luck on round two. Thicker the dough the better.

This is me rolling up them round two. Less messy and you feel a bit like a pro at this point. Round two, this is such a piece of cake. Why was this ever something we had trouble with? Silly us.

After spending a lovely morning with Emily I headed to Starbucks for some tea. Brian was drawing coworkers as part of Starbucks ‘Cheer Party’. He is so stinken good. I could of watched him draw all day. I then came home to help prepare our home for a late brunch with friends from work. Its funny I say friends from work since none of us really see each other at work anymore. We had our brunch at three in the afternoon over good conversation and of course venting. Jason and I then had dinner a short while later with Brian and Sarah. I got to met the new kitty who likes to give people hugs. Such a sweet cat. It was good to visit my first home here in North Carolina.

Sunday, today, I slept in for the first time in quite a while. Ive been working lots of hours in helping the load while Im gone, so its been early mornings for me. I joined Mike and Kari for burgers at Natty’s. I havnt been downtown in quite a while, since is sad since you know live there. Theres a little Christmas tree lot covering up the ugly wall. A copy cat of Natty Greenes have moved in next door to Natty Greenes. I will have to talk a walk down there again soon. Straight from lunch I went to a birthday party for an 8 year old. The guest list was mostly women 20 years older than her. Its a tradition their family has done with their children. Asking for the older and wiser to share their life and experience with them before they hit their teen years. To encourage them in the characters we already see in her as a girl and how to keep blooming as an amazing women. It was a very sweet time to be apart of. After that I was at the Core again for a much better of a night then last week. I just love being there, even if I miss 514 as Jason and I swap stories after our evenings are over.

We are days away from leaving for California. Ive started to pack. Last minute errands to do and people to see before our early flight on Thursday morning. My weekends might not be as full of plans when I return. I may not know what to do with all that time on my hands.

In my different circles, there has been a common factor, that keeps popping up. A lady who has nicked named herself Pioneer Women . She writes a few blogs, but the cooking one was the one that made me become a fan. When Im looking for a recipe, Im always drawn to the one with a picture. I need to know what it looks like for two reason. One, Im a visual person, step by step pictures work well for me. Second, I want confirmation that it does in fact look like this. Disclaimer about this post, its very Pioneer Women style and well, my roommate already made fun of me for taking photos as a cook but dang it, it was fun! [ Brandi, I hope you took photos as you made your Pioneer Women Thanksgiving dinner.]

Ah well this has been something Ive been doing before on this blog. Its just been a while since we’ve seen random play list brought to you by the shuffle feature on my iPod. I havnt been on walks in a while. It was too hot during the summer. Fall got busy for me. I need to get off my hinney and go now that weather is pretty awesome. Anyways, I wanted some tunes to cook my green beans and heres what I got:

All Right Here by Sara Groves (Good girl power song. A favorite for sure.)
And Can It Be by Sandra McCracken (Good upbeat hymn.)
Across the Universe by Rufus Wainwright (Beatles cover. Bringing two awesome things together. Yes.)
Magic Trick by M.Ward (I just adore this song. I dance around a sing a little every time its on.)
God Rest Ye Merrt Gentleman by Barenaked Ladies (CURSES! Emily Freeman are you in my iPod turning on the Christmas music two days early? CURSES!)
On the Divide by Bebo Norman (Its been a while for me and Bebo. I didnt know who this was a first.)
Wish In This World by Edwin McCain (What? You know you like some Edwin McCain too.)
I Want a Broken Heart by Derek Webb (This song seemed really out of place.)
The Best Is Yet to Come by Frank Sinatra (Its as though he was singing of the green beans.)
Jessamyn’s Reel by Chris Thile (Wonderful song. I rarely say that about an instrumental. Makes stirring around things fun.)

Alright, now we have our Green Bean Mix going, onto the production. Now, this is no means a step by step on how to make these green beans, whos recipe is titled “The Most Delicious Green Beans” . Well see if it holds up to its name tomorrow. This is just more of you sitting in a chair in the kitchen with me as I fix these green beans.

Ah my little kitchen space. I make it work though becasue I love my house despite its lack of counter space. So we’ve got a hot pan from IKEA (love my IKEA cook wear) and bacon. One pound of bacon (which I use all but two pieces of).

This is not becasue I love bacon a lot. This becasue the pan on the bacon package and my pan match. Confirmation Im using the right thing! And yeah its Costco bacon. You dont even want to know how much more of this stuff is in my fridge.

So, the recipe said to have strips of bacon. I always burn bacon when they are in long strips for some reason. And I didnt really get down with a big fat layer on top of the green beans. Wouldnt that cause problems when taking a soup to it to dump on the Thanksgiving plate? Kitchen scissors to the rescue!

Do not judge! There is nothing wrong with canned green beans. Look I even got the no salt added kind since you know, there is ton of bacon in this dish.

I know they look funny. Its not becasue they are canned, its becasue the flash colored it funny. They are shiny! Pretty green beans.

Those are pretty bubbles of grease! Crispy brown bacon! YUM!

I know, I know. Its like McDonalds putting calories on the side of french fries. You dont want to know how much fat drained off the bacon. I just kinda had to know sorta thing. (Its little over 1/2 cup in case you cant read it.)

Jason rented a Wii game Ive been wanting to try called Cooking Mama. Its pretty fun and very Japaneses. Well, Im awesome at chopping on Cooking Mama. Not a whole lot other than that, but I always get those points and cream the computer when I chop. Then real life comes and Im not so awesome at chopping. Though this is the first time I didnt cry when cutting an onion. That in itself is a victory.

Dont worry, it isnt more bacon fat. This is apple cider vinegar that goes into the bacon fat. With some sugar. But this little beauty is one of my favorite new kitchen items. A measuring shot glass. Its way too fun and great for small liquid measurements.

Final product! Okay well not final, final. Its gonna sit in the fridge over night then cook at 350 for 45 minutes tomorrow before I head to my friends home after a little morning shift at the ‘Bucks (time and a half!). And I left the almonds at Jason’s but they will go on and be awesome along side the bacon and green beans. (Another shot glass appearance, I love it so much.)

A close up of the pretty green beans and toppings. Have a great Thanksgivings!

My church was talking about living simply last night. This could be about a few couples getting together and buying bulk at Costco together. It could be about managing your time better. Could be about just being instead of being busy all the time. Simple isnt so simple to me. I think being simple takes a lot of planning which at times can be far from simple. Maybe it just takes practice for it to become simple. I have a stack of Real Simple magazines and time managing websites bookmark to help me to simple. But then I find myself managing my time, then not leaving room for the spirit to just be. Usually those simple things happened when they are unplanned. Do you plan to go love on your neighbor? Do you plan to help someone out in a time of need? I cant think of a time I have planned for those things to happen. They just do, in a wonderfully unplanned matter.

Last week I had a meeting at my new job and was given the history and low-down of the current state of the youth group. My friend and boss came from the same church to where we are now. We both felt that our past church was good about just being – but thats it. There was no vision most of the time because we kept waiting to be sure it was Jesus calling us to do this thing. Where at this church, theres a lot of doing and not much waiting. Is there a balance to all of that? Id like to fool you all that I find the happy medium ground between doing and waiting on God’s voice on things in my life. Truthfully, I dont. I want to be that very organized girl who has her time managed well and does thing God has told me to and doing it well. Most of the time I just do things I think God is saying to do but not out of waiting on Him. Do I take the time to simply ask? Sometimes but not all times. Not in the daily things. Because well that takes time which we seem to run short on a lot of times. Excuses that make a wall to keep me boxed into this westernized Christian culture that frustrates me to no end.

Maybe planning a day of just being. Wait, a day of rest. This isnt a new idea of course. Its what God did after creating the world. One of my favorite books talks all about taking time out of the week, to plan around that day, of resting. Hard is it for us to do that. Really hard. We are called to such a life as Christ followers though. We called to stop, be still and listen. Jesus isnt going to shout at us, as much as I wish he would most of the time. I do think the road down this life of being simple will be in small steps. Instead of great leaps I think we want to take. Its sorta madding how those steps are easy at first then get hard in the middle of the journey. Or to feel defeated in if a few steps are backwards rather than forward. Im thankful for a Savior who is there, with open arms at all times. In the celebrating times and in the hard times of this not so simple of life we have created for ourselves.

What? Didnt you know that October means everything pumpkin?

Growing up in pretty much 72 and sunny weather, I didnt really change my wardrobe too much. Here in beautiful Carolina, I hear all the time about people having winter and summer wardrobe. This is the time of year where they move thier summer close into thier chest or box or whatever confines their other season wardrobe. This is sort of a mystery to me still. How does this really work? I have all my my wardrobe in my closet and a dresser. What if you have unseasonably warm day in December? Do you go and get down that box of tank tops? In California we had cool nights most of the year. Sweaters where a good thing to keep along side our tanks. When its warm here its warm, day and night. If I did this two wardrobe thing, I more than likely would buy more clothes. Right now, Im pretty much full as far as space goes in my closet. It could probably take a few more items and maybe even say good-bye to a few. But if my “winter” wardrobe, things I regular wear when its cooler out, were not in there all summer, Id have a closet full of tank tops. Not that I really believe having a closet full of tank tops is a bad thing. My pocket book on the other-hand would disagree with me. If I make this place, (land of where women tend to have two wardrobes they store and rotate) a long term dwelling place, am I going to have to learn this system?

Welcome October! What a wonderfully chilly weekend, too bad the week doesnt look like its the first week of October. I drove by a pumpking patch yesterday. A pumpkin patch! I must confess, couple weeks ago the store had mini pumpkins and I just couldnt help myself. Soon, I will be picking out my own pumpkin. I think Im going to make mum-pots this year. Or something else crafty besides craving, I leave that to Jason anyhow because he is so great at it. My roommate wants to take some photos with her boyfriend in a pumpkin patch soon. Should be a fun photo shoot to do. Hopefully I can take lots of couple photos this fall, I personally think its the perfect season to capture. Soon I will be making my friend Kari’s famous pumpkin muffins. There will be fall soups to be made and have. Its good to focus on fall food in till I can actually wear sweaters and cute closed toe shoes again.

Currently Im dinning on Andrea’s world famous Strawberry Salsa. What you havnt heard of it? You must live in some dark corner of the world then becasue this stuff is amazing. Amazing! Every time we girls have a get together I beg Andrea to please make her salsa. I went to the store to get some last minute ingredients for my cheese and broccoli soup and saw strawberries buy one get one free. How could I pass that up really? I even added my own twist to it, some avocado. Yes! I found a good tasting avocado on this side of the country. And at all places, Wal-Mart. They were on sale there and looked very decent so I splurged with hope and was very much rewarded.

Oh and by the way, I got a Mac. I cant believe I havnt written about him yet. Hes shinny and new, maybe Ive been too busy playing with iCalendar to share the news. Im the last in my family to get a Mac, they’ve all had one for years now. Im still unsure about the new Mac, becasue it is so different from PC. Plus, I dont want to make Marla feel left out. (No, Im not writing blog entry on her at all. I dont know whatever you are talking about.) Hopefully I will get the hang of being a Mac user soon so I can use it to better my photography side. Which was the main reason I purchased a Mac after all these years of being a die-heart PC user. Now all I need is a name for him.