Train Track Adventure

I had a very lovely weekend yet again. It was very relaxing and fun. I especially enjoyed Monday. After we had a lovely dinner with my fam Stephen and I went for a walk down the railroad tracks by my house. We had no idea where they lead since the train always stopped right outside my house. We walked and we walked and we met a turtle! We named him Benny the Turtle and we struggled with what we should do. After all the poor little guy was right in the center of the tracks. We decided to leave him though. He looked tough. Then we came upon a bridge what was rather creepy. But decided that we should climb up to the road and see where we were and have my parents come pick us up. So as Stephen was seeing the best way to climb up he stepped into the underbrush and a turkey flew out!!! It scared both of us out of our wits! But when we climbed to the top (after being assured nothing us would fly out at us) and found ourselves looking at a very lovely view of Spruce Run reservoir! And when we found the road it was quite a long way from my house! It was a very good adventure to say the least. Stephen took this incredible picture of me too!

58 Days...

I almost cannot cantain myself for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!!! I almost can't talk about because I get so excited and so full of questions that I want answered! I am extra excited because I will be reading it aloud to my mom as we drive to Kentucky this summer. It's hard to believe she is actually reading the books! And then when we arrive in Kentucky Sarah will be reading it and we will all be reading it together and... and... and.... I am so excited!!!! This will also be the first time I'll be going at midnight to retrive the book. I'm nervous someone will be a big jerk and shout the ending out like supposedly people did last time! Poo on them because that is mean! I mean if someone does that to me I can shout swear words at them and do another rude things back but little kids read these books! Those kids would be so sad to hear the ending of something that means alot to them (and me!). Hopefully that won't happen. And if it does I'll cry but there are worse things in life... right?

Well our plans got cancelled for tonight. Actually our friends aunt is very ill and he is going down to Virginia to see her... I really don't like sad things like that...

But on a lighter note! My Key Lime Tart came out amazingly well! It's smooth, creamy texture goes perfectly with the graham cracker and nut crust. It's tart but with the smoothness of it is perfect in your mouth. I love it. I think it'll be one of my favorites for the summer!

Key Lime Tart!

Today I am making a Key Lime Tart. Stephen and I are having a pirogy cookoff with some friends of ours and I of course thought "Hey I need to make something sweet!" So I asked Stephen what he thought was best and he said Key Lime Tart. I am of course not squeezing my own juice (I did that with Lemon Squares and it took me ages!) and I don't think I could find Key Limes anyway. But I am excited since my grocery store has bottled Key Lime juice and that is what the recipe calls for anyway. I have to buy a tart pan though and with money low this week... But ack! who cares?

Can't.Stop.Baking.

OK so my baking as almost moved beyond being a hobby. Or it is a obsessive hobby at least. I have now ventured into the land of creating my own recipes! How exciting. See with knitting (as much as I love it!) I was never comfortable enough to try my own things. I mean I did a few times and maybe it needs more years of practice but with baking I feel like I could make anything (as long as it is fairly simple). This Friday I took a recipe I liked in theory and made it better with my own twist. I changed quite a bit so I feel confident to say it is my own recipe. I changed the flour, sugar, and flavorings. I'd say that's pretty adventurous. I'm happy and I just did some research on baking and all the ingredients involved and feel ready to tackle something maybe like a coffee cake or muffins. Yay for baking and yay for creativity!!

I love the warm weather. I am so happy it has arrived. The change of seasons always reminds me of new life. I always feel a sort of awakening at each new season. Even winter. But spring is particularly special. All the flowers bloom and the grass turns green again. It reminds me of Gods love and how he renews our hearts. It's quite amazing.

Aunt Poopy

I am so excited to be an aunt. I can't get over it. I think tomorrow I'm going to start knitting some baby booties for the little one. I can't wait for this little child to be born. I want to kiss it and love it and spoil it absolutely rotten! I'm so excited about it I can't imagine how I'll feel when I have children of my own! I also decided for good that I want to be a kooky Aunt. One who always breaks the rules (in a good way) and is just kinda crazy and fun. So I think in order to be kooky enough I have to be Aunt Poopy. Now it must be understood that my sister for a long time now has called me Poopy. So it's not like I made it up out of the blue. So I think Aunt Poopy adds just the right kookyness! I'm so excited!

Book Worm

I have become quite the book worm lately. In the past few weeks I have read: The Diary of Anne Frank, "Misery" by Stephen King, "Dolores Claiborne" by Stephen King, and "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis. And I just started "The Count of Monte Cristo". I have never read books this quickly before. I am reading a book in about 5 days! It usually takes me at least 10 days to finish something and thats if I really like it. But I think it's because I haven't been watching really any television. I have been spending most of my mornings and afternoons in the kitchen with Gus. So I just sit with him on my lap and read. It's really nice! I love reading and I'm finally getting around to reading the books I've wanted to read for years now. My brain was getting kinda mushy there for awhile. It's also made me rather excited to go to college. After all I think I want to study literature.

Another Great Weekend

I had another great weekend! On Friday after work I just hung around and watched Spiderman 2 in preperation of the 3rd! And then on Saturday Stephen and I went to the Mexican market and made some enchiladas! They weren't the best but we made our own corn tortillas for crying out loud! But I think with some more practice our enchiladas will be fantastic. It was nice because we spent about 3 1/2 hours making everything. Starting with the tortillas and finishing with Mango Cream. It was fun and I really enjoyed it. And then after dinner we walked to the park and swung on the swings and then I drove Stephen home and I went to bed early. On Sunday I just did alot of catching up. Started my laundry and finished up a book I was reading. It was relaxing and in the evening my parents and I went to Diary Queen which is one of my favorite summertime traditions. I never seem to be too old for that! It was just another fun and relaxing weekend!

Dresses Galore!

I went shopping today and realized that I have become completely obsessed with dresses. I now have a total of I think five sun dresses. That is from last summer and the ones I've gotten recently. I just love them! I love to put one on on a saturday or sunday with a cute pair of wedges and just feel cute as can be. And I love feeling girly. And if there is one thing a sun dress does is make you feel girly and pretty. So I'm happy with the fact that I almost have enough dresses to fill an entire summer week. I am looking foward to being able to wear one on a wednesday and not look silly since it's still a little chilly.

Leaving the Nest

So just a few weeks ago my parents told me they were planning on moving to Florida next spring and that I was more than welcome to go with them but I frankly don't want to do that. So I made the decision that come next spring I would move out on my own. And ya know what? I think it was just the push I needed. I really feel like my parents are saying "OK it's time to fly" as they push me to the edge of the nest. I don't mean that in a bad way though. It actually is one of the best things they could possibly do for me. As the thought sets in I'm actually looking forward to it. I mean of course I'll miss my parents and my dog and my home but I'm excited to start something new and by staying to Hunterdon County I think it'll make it easier than if I were moving to a strange state and city. I feel good about this and I am getting truly excited! Since I was planning on moving back in September I already have a lot of what I need so all I need to do is secure my full time job (which is basically done), look for an apartment come January, and find a roommate. Not too bad. It's kinda fun growing up.

Baked Goods Taste Good!

So I have become crazed with the baking bug! I have been baking non-stop for about three weeks. It all started with a need for perfect scones. And now I've made dozens of scones, a banana cake (see picture), butterscotch congos, cranberry pistachio biscotti, and I just pulled a pinapple upside down cake out of the oven. Most things have been very delicious. I took a book out of the library and read through it and have about 25 things book marked. So this gal is going to be baking for a few more weeks!