*After*

Here it is!!
Isn't it cute?
I love it.
The best part is that it was such an affordable project. I had never heard of ttv frames, but fell in love with the concept when I saw Kelly's sister, Andrea's blog. I had actually planned on doing the 20x20 ones, but couldn't get it done in my timeframe. Also, Ikea didn't carry the 20x20 frames in the Portland store.
So, I decided against the 20x20 and picked a different wall to put them on.
These are 9x9 pictures. I formatted them to 9x9 but put them in a 12x12 frame, ordered them from costco and cut them out. (thanks for that tip Andrea) So the pictures were only $2.99 apiece for a total of $26.91, gotta love Costco. And the frames are from Ikea, and holy cow, they were only $2.99/2pk for a total of $14.95. And a grand total of $41.86. Pretty good I think.

Here is a closer look at each picture...
This is a pic that I took on our front porch of Wyatt's feet.

This is one of my favorite recent pictures of Wyatt that I took on our trip to Cove Palisades.

This is of Wyatt, seconds after he was born. Look at those eyes...I tell ya, I knew I was in for it when I saw those eyes. He just couldn't wait to take on the world by storm.

This is of a beach trip that we took with my parents this last March. It was very unseasonably warm for a March trip to the Oregon coast. We had a blast.

This is from last week...wait... are you paying attention? This is almost 6 years ago, at, you guessed it....our wedding.

This is a pic of my brother Nate (1 1/2) and me (3)

Another family picture at the beach

This is from last weekend...a camping trip and hike to Horsetail Falls.

This is VBS...Carson and Wyatt.

So, there you have it.
I really need to be working on other things, but I just found myself a tad self conscious about my house. So this makes me feel a little bit better.
What do you think?

Copy of a Copy

I've been thinking about movie "Multiplicity" ever since I decided to do this little home project, which was a copy of this one.
I don't know why it's been in my head so much, I've just been thinking of that part in the movie. If you've seen it, you know the part where Michael Keaton says something like, "What's wrong with him?" and one of the other clones says something about it being a copy of a copy not as sharp as the first one.
Well, dang it all, I couldn't find that clip. But I did find a good clip with the "copy of a copy" in it. Just look for the crazy one if you haven't seen the movie.
Oh my goodness, I have to watch this movie again. I own it. Hilarious.



...Anyhoo

Back to the project at hand...

So, I am hosting a baby shower this Saturday for my good friend Jackie. There is nothing like having a party at your house for people who have never been here, to kick you in the butt and get you into gear. Whew! There is alot I'd like to do, but one of the big things, is that my walls are painfully bare. Aside from the picture my Grandma gave me that has adorned each of my houses...well...let me just go take a picture of it... Ok I'm back. So this picture hung in my Grandma and Grandpa's house for as long as I can remember. And when I was little I would sit on her lap and she would rock me and tell me stories about the cowboy and the lady. I've always loved this picture. It's very special. She knew just how special it is to me, so when we bought our first house, this was the housewarming present.
This house is different from the other houses we've lived in. All of the pictures that I have, somehow just don't work on my walls. I knew one thing. Grandma's picture went up first.
Aside from that, the great room's poor walls have been bare. I've had ideas, but haven't landed on anything of substance. Until now.
So, Ryan still has to do his technical part, you know, hanging them. But other than that, they're ready to go.
So, I give you....
the before picture. Oh and please don't mind the antenna poking into the picture. I can't help that one bit. We're not getting satellite/cable anytime soon, so even though it's an awful eyesore...There is just not a thing I can do about it.

Hopefully I'll post the after pictures later tonight.

Next on my list... paint the hallway/entryway.

Life Is So Fragile...

...you just never know when it may come to an end.
My good friend Dana just lost her 26 year old best friend, Jessica.
She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last September (I believe).
She has a 3 1/2 year old precious little girl.
I can't get her out of my head, not that I'm trying to.
She was just so young.
This just gets me to thinking that no one knows what's going to happen tomorrow. Or in the next 5 minutes for that.
I didn't really know Jess, but I've been to a few functions that she was a part of. So, this has just really made me stop and think about life. (you can read Dana's blog post here)
I think there is just something about that, when a young life is taken, it makes you think about life.
It makes you think about just how unimportant all of the little mundane worries really are.

"Special" Brownies

Ok...not those kind of "special" brownies.
Get your mind out of the gutter.

You'll see soon what makes these brownies "special". The "special" ingredient IS green though...
Well, green and orange. This is my variation of a recipe from
Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious.
I saw this recipe on an episode of Oprah.
She was raving all over herself about these brownies and I decided to see if it was all an act or not. (I couldn't find a link to the real recipe so if you want it, run out and buy the book. It's full of lots of fun recipes to trick your kids into eating healthier. *evil laugh*)
So, last week I made my first batch of them.
The next day, I had 2 friends (Jackie and Bonnie) over to plan a baby shower.
I put these brownies out, and yes, I did warn my guests about the "special" ingredients in them.
Despite this knowledge, the pan was almost licked clean by the time we were done. (well maybe not licked clean, but you get the idea).
So, I'm making them again.
And I decided to share the process with you.



Brownies

*nonstick cooking spray
* 3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips(I used a shot glass for measuring)
*1/2 cup carrot puree
*1/2 cup spinach puree
*1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
*1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
*2 Tbsp trans-fat free margarine
*2 tsp pure vanilla extract
*2 large egg whites
*3/4 cup all purpose flour
*1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp salt
*2 handfuls chocolate chips

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8x8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Melt the chocolate in a double broiler
(This is where it gets a little weird)

3. In a mixer, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth, about 2 min.

4. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.
(It must not be that bad, Wyatt licked the bowl and the spoon)

5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 40 minutes. Cool and cut into 12 squares.

What I See vs. What You See

So, I have had this problem with my computer since we bought it. It may seem like a little problem, but it can be very frustrating at times. It was purchased through the company that Ryan used to work for in California, and originally it wasn't "my" computer. It was for him to do some work for this company from Oregon, while they looked for someone to replace him. Well, that work is over and Ryan has a laptop now from his new work so this computer has been passed on to me. I remember when we bought this computer, the IT lady told Ryan that if we were going to use it on the internet, it wouldn't work quite right because it would need a different graphics card. Well, I've lived with it for about 2 years now. Most of the time, it's ok. But sometimes depending on what website I go to, I have to hunt around for buttons because I can't see them. (does that make sense?) It's like a layer is missing or something.
Ryan has had multiple people tell him that it must be some kind of setting in the computer, but we have exhausted our resources. And I can't find a new graphics card for it
So, I've been having some issues with my blog. I have to tweak and tweak and tweak to make it look right. Well come to find out, I'm tweaking for nothing. I checked my blog from my mom's computer, and was horrified to find vast spacing between pictures and words. I can't even see the background color on my computer.
So here are a couple examples:
Notice the lack of color!!!
...and here, on mine, no spaces. But on yours, this is how it looks! (granted, it took me forever to get it to look like this on my computer.)

So, I'm not going to tweak it now.
Even though, heavens, I know that it's going to look awful to me.

I'm going to let you be my eyes.
How does it look with zero tweaking.

Don't you think I need a new computer. Tell Ryan, because he reads this blog!!!


*can't you see me batting my eyelashes?*

New Me!!!

I have always preferred my hair short.
I also have a phobia of going to a new hairdresser.
The lady that I like moved to Ten Buck Two...Ok, never mind, maybe I moved there...
...at any rate, it would take "forever" to get to her now.
So, back in March, Ryan and I went to an auction for the private school I went to. (I hope I'm not sounding snooty here it's not as glamorous as it might sound)
I don't know what possessed me, maybe the smell of competition. But I bought a haircut for half the price there at the auction. That's all we bought. We spent $20.
I waited until yesterday to use that gift certificate. 4 months.
I'm pretty sure the reason for waiting was my fear that it was some granny that would give me a "chop job".
I was pleasantly surprised, the salon was beautiful. The gal that did my hair young, vibrant and beautiful, not a granny at all. And the best part is, I love the new do.
So, usually I don't post pictures of just me, but I'm excited about this new cut!!

After-

Pool Party

It was pretty hot here last week...
Wyatt and I were in town for VBS all week anyway, so we went over to Becky and Ray's (Babu and Papa's) to swim in the afternoon.
It was so much fun to cut loose and go swimming.
Becky bought Wyatt this "life saving" contraption....(when I say life saving, I mean it saves my life too cuz I don't have to hold him all the time) He swims all over the pool all by himself and jumps in too. He's becoming quite the little daredevil.
Here are a bunch of pics from our little shindig.







































































































































































































































































Oh dear...How did this picture get in here.
Someday I will have to do a post about the love that my husband has for our cousin Doug. But for now, this picture makes me smile. Scratch that, it makes me chuckle. They are so silly. I just love 'em.

Blogging Frustration

The above post was supposed to be a very simple one filled with pictures that basically told the story. But in order to get it formatted correctly, it took forever.
I'm not sure why this is so hard to use sometimes, and other times it's simple.
But I'm pretty frustrated right now.

VBS Update!

We have had some fabulous weather for VBS so far this week!!
Wyatt is in a class by himself with Carson. His teachers are Aunt Da Da (Cresslyn) and Aunt Lisa. These 2 are so cute together. What a pair they make.
I'm having a fun time, not having any real responsibilities. I get to float all over the place and take pictures wherever my heart desires. My only other little job is taking care of the attendance paperwork.
I am also working on a slideshow presentation for the family picnic that we have on Friday.
Seriously, it's quite a drive for Wyatt and I in the morning, and we have to get up at an ungodly hour. (ok that might be a little dramatic...7 am??? The horror) I've had to wake Wyatt up 2 days in a row and just put him in the car with his jammies on.