100% Chance of Snow Today

I love using snow as a background to pictures!

Pups!

A collection of recent pictures I've taken of Camden.

Late Afternoon Portrait

Who Barked?!?

The Sleeping PlaceCamden is so good at wandering into his kennel for bed in the evening while we're relaxing. I like how his fluff sticks through the crate - doesn't seem the most comfortable, though.

(Try to overlook the terrible lighting)

Last night I was reading while Ryan and a friend were watching the basketball game. Camden goes crazy when people are over so I kept him in our room. When he finally stopped pacing, whining and wishing to be part of the action, he settled in this spot providing a fun reflective view from my little nook on the bed.

PS. No, I don't keep my camera in the bedroom, I left to get it hoping he would settle back to the same spot.


Camera Curious

Don't you all love pictures of dogs' noses. Okay, maybe you don't... but I do.

Menu for week of Feb 21

Saturday: Roast Chicken with Lemons. I roasted a chicken for the first time ever and randomly invited some friends over. It was a delicious success!
Sunday: Dinner with friends (again), I'm taking broccoli salad
Monday: Chicken Noodle Soup, bread
Tuesday: Quesadillas, broccoli
Wednesday: Chili Burgers, fries
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chicken Cashew Casserole

And I'm off to bed to read after a rather lazy weekend day at home. Days like this are so refreshing.

The One with Trivia

I inheirited The New Food Lover's Companion from someone at work. It's kind a dictionary of food terms. Fun!

I copied this picture from Amazon, you can't really click here to look inside.

While browsing through it, I thought it would be fun to read a few definitions each day. Kind of like little pieces of trivia. I like learning, but I have a feeling I will not remember to take the time each day. Here are a few bits for you today:

clingstone A term used to describe fruit that has a pit to which the flesh clings tenaciously, one of the most well known being the cling or clingstone peach.

nigella seeds Also called black onion seeds, these
tiny, angular, deep black seeds have a nutty, peppery flavor. They're used in
India and the Middle East as a seasoning for vegetables, legumes and breads.
Nigella seeds are sometimes eroneously referred to as black cumin, an entirely
different species. They can be found in Middle Eastern and Indian markets.

Valentine's Day Eve

Spending fun time together.

The One with a Guest

Saturday: Bacon-wrapped BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes
Sunday: Pasta al ragu di funghi
Monday: Homemade Mac & Cheese with hot dogs, green beans
Tuesday: Left overs
Wednesday: Beefy Tex-Mex Stir fry
Thursday: whatever.
Friday: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, roasted asparagus, fruit salad, microwave chocolate pudding.

My college friend who's worked at major National Parks across the country is now moving 2 hours away!!! I'm very excited. She's coming to visit us Friday evening so it's dinner for 3.

Check out more menus at OrgJunkie.com

Why I call my neighbor dog Hops.

Excuse my yippy jealous dog that's making all the racket in the background.

It was so cute when "Hops" was just a little puppy with his big flappy paws doing these little hops to greet us. Our neighbor told me he has some fake bunny ears that he puts on the dog sometimes.

A few of my favorite sites

I admit I am quite the blog surfer. A lot of my 'down time' is spent clicking from blog to blog to website. So I thought I'd share a few - aside from those to the right, which are blogs of people I've actually seen face to face. This new e-world is so crazy.

Coupon, deals and freebies sites I visit:
Money Saving Mom
Common Sense with Money
Deal Seeking Mom
Coupons.com (printable coupons)

A few ways to s-l-o-w-l-y earn some extra cash.
(My experience has taken about a year to earn enough points or cash to get the reward. However I have friends who earn rewards quarterly. Not sure what I'm missing)
Inbox Dollars - earn cash for clicking through emails (pennies per email) and completing surveys
My Points - earn gift cards for clicking through emails, signing up for offers or online purchase. I basically just click through the emails and take a few surveys. I don't pay attention to many of the offers but I know some are free.
Cash Crate - I just started this one. It seems easy to earn $$ but the offers seem a bit more complex, and if I should admit, annoying.

Other sites I enjoy:
OrgJunkie - host of Menu Plan Monday
Biblical Womanhood
Pioneer Woman
All Recipes - I use this to get ideas and sometimes use the ingredient search.
Digital Photography School

Happy surfing!

WOW

I find this fascinating! It's the recording of air traffic control talking with the pilot of the plane that crashed into the Hudson River recently. I know this may hit a personal note for some, an not everyone will want to listen. But what stood out to me is how they all so calmly take care of business. There was definitely a sense of urgency, but no freaking out, or worry. I suppose any decent air traffic controller or pilot should have the same response.

And then there's all those numbers the air traffic controller had to keep straight! Sheesh.

The One Where I was Cold.

I know Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow; there's supposed to be 6 more weeks of winter. But somehow I am unable to grasp that it is still frigid! Two weeks ago when weatherman Tom told me all about the cold front from Alaska, I was prepared. I even wore a winter coat for more than a week straight. The 65 degree weather on Saturday changed my mentality and now I think it should be warm. No more winter coats or mittens was not the way to go. IT IS STILL WINTER. This is how I should prepare to go outside.

Add to that I received my first vegetable seed catalog in the mail today. I'm so confused ... and excited to plant a garden! :)

The One Where I wasn't Tagged.

I found this here while blog surfing. And most of you know I love pictures, so this looked like fun.


6th Picture Meme!
Here are the rules to the photo meme
1.Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures
2.Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder
3.Post that picture on your blog and tell the story that goes along with the picture.
4.Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them

This is my friend Kayla. We worked together at Payless Cashways in high school. Every other Friday in the fall, we would show up at work in our crazy red, white and blue school spirit outfits, pick up our paychecks, go to Wendy's then to Roberts Stadium for marching band practice before the game. She was in my wedding, too.
Now Kayla lives in Cali. We saw each other on Easter weekend last year. We met at Jitters coffee house. Yummm! This was one of about 5 pictures we took. We didn't like any of them, so we finally made crazy faces - that one was the winner. But it wasn't the 6th picture.

And, as usual, I won't tag anyone.