checking out for a while...

WARNING: some material in this post may not be suitable for those with squeamish stomachs...
i'm just sayin'...

i might be MIA for a while. i would like to think i won't, but just in case i am know
that all is well. :)
i am scheduled for surgery tomorrow. i think i've mentioned it here before.
i have to have some parts removed or if you want the correct medical terms,
i am having a hysterectomy. i am having my uterus and fallopian tubes removed and
will still have my ovaries--which means i won't need to worry about hormone replacement.
i clarify this only because when you say "hysterectomy" most people have assumed i am
having the whole SHE-BANG removed!! ;)
i have been dealing with lots of fatigue issues lately and came to find out that enormous amounts
of heavy bleeding is NOT normal!! who knew?
the heavy bleeding is likely due to the presence of a uterine fibroid as well as some ovarian cysts that like to flare up from time to time.
i had other options such as hormone treatment, ablation, etc., but that doesn't guarantee that the fibroid would go away. my mother had the same thing done around my age and i figured it was the best option for me with the family history. ( and it also means no more periods!!! yippee!!!! )
God has given me much peace leading up to this...i am extremely grateful.

also, i have known for the past 12 years that i am DONE having children!
i'm still young, but y'all this factory is closed!! ;)
i am anticipating my recovery going well and being somewhat similar to recovering from a C-Section, only with a little more abdominal pain/bruising due to the laproscopic procedure being used.
i am also hoping that since i have been more active and having changed my eating habits over the last 2 years will be a plus in recovery as well.

truthfully, i am looking forward to being chaffeured around and being relieved of some of my household duties for a few days!! :) as well as sneaking in a little more scrappy time!! ;)

there ya have it!

happy monday!! and i hope i didn't make anyone lose their breakfast!! :D
xo
and here's to the turning of a new leaf!! and then my leaves can settle down for a while!!

Samoa cupcake adventure

We had a list of sorts this past week over her Spring break... just me and her and fun things to do.
We would go outside, walk the dogs, shop, chill out and laugh,  have lunch at Panera, eat Dairy Queen--all the fun things an 11 year could think of to do. I knew that there was an especially important item on the list of to do's--make Samoa cupcakes!!
My online friend Jenny featured these Samoa cupcakes by the Sugar Duchess.
Thursday we tackled those cupacakes!!
The night before I did make homemade chocolate sauce since I did not have any on hand.
I would recommend this highly. Easy, cheap and well worth your time.

First of all, I am NO baking aficionado by any means.
I don't bake a lot mostly because I don't particularly enjoy baking.
BUT I am a pretty good cook and can decipher/ tweak recipes to my liking.
I will tell you that after having made these cupcakes once, there will be some tweaking
if we ever make them again.

What would I do differently?
* I would probably not use the icing. I would either omit it entirely or use a different recipe.
For us, the icing completely overpowers the chocolate cupcake. After making our initial iced cupcakes, we actually went back and scraped the icing off of some cupcakes, made holes in the top of the cake, drizzled more chocolate sauce on top to soak in and covered them with lots of toasted coconut and more chocolate drizzle. For us, this was a more pleasing taste. The icing in the recipe is very sugary and rich--I LOVE icing, so this was pretty major for me.
The chocolate cake and coconut got lost in the icing.
*** (Then,  I found myself asking if we watch too many episodes of Cupcake Wars on Food Network!!) ;)***

* Make sure the coconut is toasted. It isn't specified on the recipe, but I knew that it needed that flavor and crunch that toasted coconut brings. Incidentally, I made a little too much of that stuff and it is quite yummy to snack on. ;)

*Make sure your butter is unsalted. Luckily, I know enough about baking that unsalted butter is normally used and that is what I had on hand, but if you didn't know that, well...you could end up
with salty cupcakes. Just a tip because it wasn't specified on the recipe either!!

* Give yourself enough time!!! I can't stress this enough. I thought I would be a smarty pants and do a bunch of housework like scrubbing my floors and doing laundry. 
DON'T DO IT!!!!!!
I found myself not enjoying the process quite as much and being a little stressed in the process.  Another glitch that I couldn't control was having an electric stove top at this house--I have always cooked on gas and found myself talking to the stove saying, "How do I know this is med or low or simmer???" I thought I had lost my ever-loving mind!!! :D
By the time we got to decorating the cupcakes I was OK, but I really regretted not giving them
(and her) my full attention. Your morning, your afternoon, your evening, whatever...just don't attempt to multitask like I did. Also, making the icing the night before would be a time saver as well if you choose to make it.
At the end of the day, I was completely whooped!!


our next cupcake attempt will be Nutella cupacakes that Jenny posted about just today!!

I feel like having done an official batch of cupcakes for the first time has been a learning experience and the littlest and I should have a fun summer ahead of us baking together!! :)
and that is what matters most.

happy, Friday friends!!
xo

little fun :)

i got my big camera out yesterday. just to hold it and take a picture or two...
had to make sure i remembered how to use it, as it has been sorely neglected lately.
Lincoln happened to be home and he said, "it's good to see you with your camera..."
to which i replied, "what? you mean something other than my iPhone?" ;)
it's true...my iPhone has pretty much become MY camera of choice these days.
it's easy, it's light, it's available! badda-bing!!
but you really can't beat the outstanding quality of a "real" camera.
for me the real camera in my life is my SLR. i have had an old Canon 5D for a while now
and i absolutely love it!! {although, i do admit to swooning over a Nikon or two!!)
so, i snapped a few pics of the dogs--they LOVE having their photo taken...NOT!!
then, i turned to snap a few of him.

hee! he's so serious and black and white images are so perfect. not that he isn't fun, it's just serious is a better reflection and when he tries to smile...he kinda looks like he's in pain!! haha!
all in good fun here, people!! ;)

i turned this photo into a quick digi layout...

99% of the elements are from Paislee Press

as i was talking with a friend online yesterday, i realized i hadn't done anything scrap related in weeks!! yikes! i had been on such a roll, but since the move my steam has quickly dissipated.
doing a digi layout always helps get me back into the swing of things!!

so, here's the kicker!! as i was taking pictures of my guy, he took the camera from me and wanted to take some shots of me!!
"what??", i said, "do you even know how to work this??"
to which he replied, "just put it on auto and i'll be fine."
no way Jose! we shoot manual 'round here!! ;)
he did fine. but i couldn't resist being a little goofy.

and i decided to share this because this is me at my finest!! :)
i might be a little shy/quiet when you first meet me, but this is the core of who i am.

truth!

happy Wednesday!! (i had to think about that for a minute! ;))
xoxo

she's on a journey...

my family. my life. me.
working on taking a deep breath. letting it go.
closing some chapters and waiting for others to open.
through it all, i have a blessed life.

i made a new ^banner^ to reflect the journey! :)


switching gears...
i just got back from a beautiful trip to Cancun with my husband.

this is probably the 2nd time we have gotten away for any length of time
with one another in almost 20 yrs. i am rested. i have a tan. and it is snowing today!!
ha! we are expecting 3-5" of snow. cray, cray, CRAZYYY!!!

i have been a little mini book obsessed lately!!
making them for myself and some friends.
planning on filling one up with trip pictures.
this one was waiting on me from my friend Nicole

she makes and sells them in her Etsy shop, PROMPT.
she just added some unmounted stamps, too!! ;)

i have felt like such a paper hoarder lately and these albums help me to use up my stash!!



ok...what a random post this has been! ha! ;)
it's Monday and life has taken off full swing!
have a blessed week!! :)
xo

PS: if you've been here before y'all KNOW how much i LOVE a good font!! :D

my most recent find is the one i used in my header above: soymilk from dafont.com

it's fun and different, right?! ;)

rethinking...

I have all of these creative ideas swirling around in my head!
it's great!!! I get excited! then the internet makes me wanna.... stop.
I read this post from Tina this morning and I was like, whoa...
1) because I feel for her
2) because I don't EVER want to be that "other" person
3) because I wonder if I have come close to being that "other" person

the internet is great to get/share ideas. it truly is a community! i love scrapbooking and photography--it's where my creativity thrives. i like LOVE making stuff.
but lately I am questioning originality vs. being inspired.
I don't want to step on toes. Honestly, I do my best to link back to someone where
I get an idea from. And I would expect those in my "creative army" to bust my chops if I did anything less than that. 
that being said, I need some time to rethink and re-evaluate.
because I wonder if I ever have crossed that line... 
just being real here.


I will leave you with an image that I just came across that spoke to me :)

happy Friday, peeps! xo

taking a break...

it's Spring break here for my younger 2...
the middle is on a trip of her own and the big is back to college,
so i get to spend a lot of one-on-one time with my baby :)

i will kind of be around, but for the most part i am going to
be enjoying my time with her.
i am putting people over tasks and nourishing my relationship
with her!!

peace, yo! ;)
xo