About 4 Things...

Nothing reminds me more of fall than the smell of apple cinnamon roasting... er- dehydrating!  Joe and I picked up on my Dad' tradition for the first time this year- on a much smaller scale.  Smaller because Missouri apples are pretty small and we don't really have a desire to run a 3 dehydrator 24/7 apple shop.  If you want to try this- it's pretty easy!  You chop the apples, shake on some cinnamon, and wait for a while for the dehydrator to do it's thing and you're done!

We made some fruit roll-ups too!  I have to be honest here- Joe did all the work while I documented the experience- hehe.  What a guy:)  Here's what I think he did... chopped apples go in the blender along with a package of raspberries and some white grape peach juice.  This mixture gets poured on a fruit roll up tray (you normally have to purchase this separately- you can find them on-line) and put on the dehydrator overnight.

Hmmm- what else have we been doing... here are the 3 pictures I submitted to the photo contest...

We'll see how that goes!  Oh- and here's What I Wore Wednesday- only got one day recorded and it was a Monday, but I give myself an A for that effort...  Linking up with Pleated Poppy again...

Where I wore it:  Work- crazy amounts of meetings that day...

Dress: Target Clearance- bought like 2 or 3 years ago and just took the tags off this week.

Cardi:  Banana Republic

Tank: Target

Belt:  From a bridesmaid dress- shout out to Cat Standfuss!

Necklace- from that same bridesmaid ensemble

Tights- TJ Maxx

Boots: Target on-line

One last thing- Happy Birthday Mom- 29 and fabulous!

Keeping it Real

Well everybody- if you read my last post, you konw I'm entering a photography contest.  Turns out that if you want to win said contest, you need to start by taking pictures of the right landmark.  LOL- here are some new images- let me know what you think!  I can submit 3.  I didn't get to spend nearly as much time on these- such is life:)

Need your vote!

I just got a new camera!  I've wanted an SLR for quite a while now and I decided it was finally time to just bite the bullet and buy one.  After doing a lot of research I decided on a Nikon D3000 D-SLR.  I am loving it so far... I'm not so much in love with the amount of money I spent on it though!  So- what better time is there to enter a photography contest.  If I win...maybe the camera will pay for itself.  I can enter 3 images... which ones do you think look the best? 

What is that thing?  It's our campus stonehenge... not quite as attractive as the real thing- but kind of fun to have around.

Here are some other shots I captured today and the haircut pictures my mother requested- hehe:)

Leaves in the nuclear reactor barracade cement planter

My office windows- notice the top of the soil testing trailor right at the bottom of the shot- opps!

Pretty flower!

Stella

Mr Carl- very grumpy about the new camera- all his shots look just like this!

Ta-dah- the back is real short.  I still need to mail off my ponytail to Wigs for Kids.

What I Wore Wednesday!

So- I'm linking up with the The Pleated Poppy blog this week for What I Wore Wednesday! Lots of women link up to this blog to show what they wore that week.  I'm kind of a busy girl and let's face it, I am not really on top of things all the time, so  I recorded 2 of my last 7 days- woot! Here we go!

Sunday:  Church, out to eat, Wal-Mart run

Dress:  Target

Necklace:  JC Penny

Merril Sandals:  TJ Maxx

Wednesday:  Work and out to lunch with a friend

Shirt:  Old Navy

Pants: The Limited (actually- they are The Limited pants, but I got them at Marshalls)

Shoes:  Weddings on First (yup- I wear my wedding shoes about once a week!)

Bracelet:  Thrift Store

Ring: Art Gallery in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Yay! Head on over to The Pleated Poppy to see what are people are wearing this Wednesday!

So, lately my dear cats are creeping into just about every conversation I have... what can I say- I'm one of THOSE people!  Here is some evidence that they are getting along famously!

Doesn't Carl looked thilled?  He loves to give Stella baths- what a guy.  Here's what they do when they are not lounging angelically...

Carl has a leg up on this activity- obviously!  But, Stella holds her own.

STELLA!

Joe brought home a surprise the other night....

I almost started to cry- I was so happy to get a girl in the house:)  Her name is Stella and she weighs about 1 pound at 5 weeks of age.  She was a campus stray that got separated from her Mom and brothers. 

Her and Carl are getting along pretty well so far.  Initially there was some cranky hissing, but now he has taken on the role of Daddy- watching Stella play and sometimes carrying her in his mouth by the scruff of her neck just like a Momma cat!  Nice to see Carl can be domestic!  He looks like such an old kitty compared to Stella!

In other exciting news- here's our new fence!  Up just in time for the proverbial wild neighbor people to

re-inhabit their house for the school year.  Good deal I guess!

Cribs

This post is for my sister!  As promised... pictures of the new place.  Be sure to look for Carl... he was in a Where's Waldo kind of mood during the townhouse photoshoot...

Let Them Eat Cake

The following recipe has been flying around my family's e-mail accounts this week...

 It's a chocolate cake you make in a coffee cup!  It only takes about 5 minutes in the microwave...

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 4 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! This is definitely enough cake for two! 

Now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!