Wow! It's been a loooong time!!! And this is a loooong post...

So, I sorta gave up the blogging for a while.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it anymore:

*I don't sell anything - although I make stuff...

*I don't have a huge circle of people to say "Read my blog!" to so it felt like a waste of time

*I felt like I had to write like someone else and not be totally myself

*Life got frustrating for a while...I bet blogging, even if just for myself, would have kinda helped with that...

*Did I really have the time to commit to pics, posts, etc.?...

*And (not) lastly, after reading so many of my faves, mine seemed, well, amateurish to say the least; and not that that has changed just yet, but hopefully it will...sorta. :)

In spite of all this, I blogged daily (if not hourly!!) in my head.

Looking back on what I was writing about, I guess it got kinda monotonous. Disneyland, hockey, random pics...blah blah blah. Not that I don't love the things I wrote about, they just seemed I don't know, lame, after a while.

So.

Some things have change radically (I mean that literally and figuratively!). The biggest thing being we took the leap and moved from my hometown (born and raised) of Orange County, CA and moved to Spokane, WA one month ago!!

What a difference!

I came here in June with my best friend Heather, who lives in Seattle, to go to the Farm Chicks show. LOTS OF FUN!! Before I left, hubby said to 'check it out'. That's his way of saying see if you wanna live there. I did and now we do. YAY!

So far so good. If you leave out the part where the movers seriously damaged some of our stuff - I can't even begin to tell you..sadness. And the fact that my Grandma is none too happy with us for leaving. :(

We moved into the coolest house I've ever lived in. Big front porch, huge yard, squirrels in the yard, massive trees, leaves that change color and so many other things this Cali girl has never experienced!

We got an awesome dog (a rehoming from CL) named Grizz...we're all in total love with this guy...

He's an 11 month old St. Bernard/Husky mix. The best dog ever and the cat doesn't even mind...really.

This is gonna be fun and I wanna write about it! I also want to write about other stuff, so I hope you'll stick around!

Wish me luck

Today I'm off to do a 'working interview' at SusieCakes. It's a great little bake shop that has everything...and it's all homemade. Now, I've been a cake decorator in the past for lots of years and loved it, but for some reason I'm getting terribly nervous about this. I guess it's because I haven't had 'formal' training, just on the job kind. :) I know I can do it, but having not been in the workforce for a few years has me feeling old.

In the Kitchen: Strawberry Jam

So I used to think making jam was really hard to do. With this little cookbook it's so not!! I bought it a few years back in the bargain section of Barnes & Noble for the pictures inside not thinking I'd really ever make jam. Well, I did and I loved it!! It's so fun and it's a great gift...I now give it at Christmas to family. Cover the lid with some pretty fabric, tie on a vintage spoon with some pretty ribbon, add a cute tag and you're good to go!

The recipe for Strawberry Jam seriously could not be any easier. For real. Here are all the ingredients you need:

Strawberries, sugar, lemon and butter. And about an hour and a half to commit to the kitchen.

I forgot the picture of the berries just chillin' in the pot, but you get the idea. Here is the 3+ pounds of sugar going in...the little black pot in the back is my tiny double boiler I use for melting the wax. You can use the microwave and a bowl that you don't use for food; I recommend glass.

Be sure to keep an eye on things...a boil over means a very sticky clean-up. Luckily this didn't get too out of control. :)

Prep your jars by sanitizing them either in the dishwasher or a hot water bath on the stove. I prefer the dishwasher because I do a lot at once and it's a time and space saver to not have to keep switching out jars in a bath. Also, they stay warmer longer so that when you ladle in hot jam, you don't risk any breakage of a cold jar.

I bought a canning kit at Cost Plus a few years back and it had this handy-dandy big mouth funnel that works with all canning jars. It has some other goodies in it too, but this is the one thing I use the most. It is possible to do this without the giant funnel, but it's messy. Trust me, I know.

A bunch of pretty and yummy jars all ready for their wax job. ;) Pouring the wax always seems weird to me, like it's going to go down into the jam and penetrate it, but it just sits right on top and hardens there.

The wax. Not too pretty, but necessary. It pops right out with a knife when the time comes to use the jam.

The finished product. Homemade goodness at your fingertips. I will say this recipe is a bit on the runny side (I haven't perfected it just yet), but that's o.k. because it makes an awesome syrup for waffles, french toast, or even over ice cream. Maybe plain yogurt. mmmmm......
Here's the recipe:

1. 3 lbs. 5 oz. fresh whole strawberries. No blemishes, hulled and rinsed.

2. 2 freshly squeezed lemons, juice strained. In a pinch, of course bottled works too.

3. 3 lbs. 5 oz. sugar

4. 1 tsp. butter

Place strawberries in large pot with lemon juice, and simmer over gentle heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the fruit has collapsed and is very soft.

Add the sugar and heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the butter, then bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 10-20 minutes or until setting point is reached.

Let cool for 8-10 minutes, then skim. Pot into warmed sterilized jars and cover tops with wax. Be sure to cover all fruit and side to side of each jar and wipe away any excess fruit.

Makes about 1 lb.

I have no trouble finding all canning items: jars, lids (if I need new ones, the seal only works once, so you'll need new disks if reusing a jar), pectin and wax in the baking aisle at the grocery store.

Enjoy!!!

It's all too much

And I need one of these. This size would do quite nicely too, I think.

I am finding it hard to prioritize these days and get thrown off track rather quickly. I have many many projects that need my attention; not just the daily one's, but the fun one's too. Yesterday I went to a local antique market that comes around once a month, and let me tell you.....the stuff is incredible. I never take pictures (Maybe next time), but just trust me when I tell you that it's awesome.

The problem is that it sends my mind on a trip to la-la land and my brain is swirling with "I could do that..." "oh, wow, I have that, I should do this with it..." you know what I mean. Anyway, so then I go home and look around and have to do something, but can't figure out where to go first.

Usually that starts a cleaning frenzy because what's better than a 'clean' slate? Nothing. So now I have a partially cleaned kitchen with the family room and dining room right behind. Not that these rooms are dirty in the literal sense, but they could use some sprucing up. Then from there, something else will come up that takes me away from the project aspect of my never-ending to-do list.

After that I have a million things to make that I have purchased all the 'doings' for and just haven't done them. Too many things to even speak of. Kind of shameful. ;) Also, I recently received a suitcase full of my great-grandma's dishes and aprons and have yet to photograph them like I said I was going to.

Sigh.

Inspiration and motivation certainly don't go hand in hand around here! Any tips on getting my head straight?? Nike knows.....'Just Do It'.

*the cupcake is from Disneyland...apparently I take a lot of pictures there. :)

Apron-o-rama!!

Today my mom shared with me that she had some contraband. She was given some items that had belonged to her grandmother, Little Mama. That nickname was given to her a L O N G time ago by her grandson. She was small, but she could do anything. And she had. She and Granddaddy had survived the depression without too much strife. Farmed. Drove to California from Oklahoma in 1939 with her family in tow. Set up house with not too much. Just the basics. (Boy, could she cook!!!) They had five children: Edsel, Marjorie, Bobbie, Bill and Fadwa. Fadwa is my grandma (named after an Indian friend of the family). Bobbie died in a fire when she was around 16 years old. Little Mama and Granddaddy survived that, too. My aunt Margie is still alive (as is my grandma), but the boys have passed away many years ago now. They were so funny!! Jokesters deluxe. I really, really miss them.

There is so much more, but you get the idea.

Anyway, when my great grandparents passed away, there was a lot of 'stuff' left behind. That turns the most sane people into crazy people as far as I've seen. Everybody wants something and more often than not, they want it all. Certain things were sold off and given away, but there were more personal things that found homes...some things took longer than they should have to get there, but I guess that's par for the course. Sometimes.

So today, my mom opens up this huge suitcase full of china my great grandfather had bought for Little Mama and aprons. The cutest aprons I think I've ever seen. And she made them all. Well, all but one. These items were given to her a few years ago and nobody knew that she had them. I know it sounds awful, but it is what it is. And now it is MINE! ;)

I'm going to take pictures tomorrow. I can't wait to share them with you.....

Disney details

When we went to Disneyland for my son's birthday, he wanted us to be touristy. That meant dragging around the big camera and going on all the rides we could and doing all the things we always overlook.

I always have my little camera, but having my big Nikon...even if it meant one more thing to stow away on rides and it's weight adding to the neck strain already caused by my bag.

Anyway, here are some fun things we saw.....

This giant watermelon slice was part of a ride in California Adventure and it squirts out water that smells wonderfully like watermelon. Very cute.

This was a bloom on a tree (forgive me for not knowing what it is, if anyone knows, feel free to shout it out) and I thought it was so beautiful; the shade of pink was perfect, so I had to shoot it.

The lady wearing this hat sat in front of us on a ride and I loved that her hat had a smiley face.

Again, I had to get a picture. I was trying to be stealthy about it, so it's not quite as good as I would have wanted, I wanted the side without the pin, but it's still cute.

Also at California Adventure in the Bug's Life 'land'. They have quite a few water features and it's actually a wonderful thing on a hot day! Even the adults get into it. The sheer size of these features is awesome and it truly feels like being a bug. You look up and there are leaves of fake clover and other grass type 'structures'....very fun.

I can't be sure, but these yummies may have been my favorite things of the day. There's a little bakery in Disneyland way in the back where Winnie the Pooh hangs out (I love that willy nilly silly old bear!!) We always get a cupcake there, but maybe one day we'll get one of these beautifully decorated apples. It's a bit hard to see in this photo, but there's a tiny bee on the 'Hunny' pot....

The details put into Disney are amazing. We go often enough that it's a bit redundant at times, but on the days we really look, well, it's a feast for the eyes and could make a fun day even if you don't get on all the rides.

~I used Picnik for the polaroid frame, what a fun site!!

Summer is coming

And that always make me look around and want to change everything in our house! I want to go from warm colors to cool and bring out every seashell we've ever found, every bright colored anything we have, spruce up the bathrooms, make the living room like a magazine cover for almost any June issue you can think of and redo the kitchen entirely. Get rid of the red and green affects, clear off the counters and go light and beachy. I suppose these things are possible and can be done with minor pain, but usually once I do something like that, I want all the old stuff back immediately.

This is a great piece of plant life I found at the beach during spring break. I left it behind because they ask you not to take anything, but boy, I wanted it so badly!

Also, as much as I tell myself it won't cost anything, that is almost never true. Yes, I 'shop' at home first, but let's be realistic. We all want at least one new thing. Right? I take away one thing and all of a sudden there's an empty spot that needs something. That puts me in the car on my way to Homegoods, Target, thrifting, or anywhere I can find a little something to fill said space. Then, come next season, I have too much stuff and can't decide what to keep.

I'm sure this is normal and as much as I try to control my urges, it doesn't always work out. I'm sure in the next couple weeks, there will be major upheaval and deep cleaning going on and a bright, relaxing lightness to our house. And maybe a few new items that were added to the mix....

What do you do to change with the seasons at your house? Major things or just a few little tweaks?