Frye Mesa Reservoir

a better day.

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This morning... i felt like i had it all under control. Everything was good and wonderful. Ean and i are a blue and white striped checkerboard (if you can picture it...), we spent time at the park, an hour at the library, picked up our 25 lb order of oatmeal from the heathl food store, etc... sometime during all that good, the smallest grain of sand must have shifted and Ean wouldn't eat his lunch (his favorite lunch in the world - oatmeal), he was terribly, terribly tired but didn't want to nap (though he did eventually), got a request for prayer that weighed on my spirit, i tried to knit, but failed five or six times at the very easiest bit i know, decided to put myself down for a nap and then the boy decided to wake up an hour and a half early from his nap screaming bloody murder for no apparent reason, so i soothed and comforted and eventually he was off and running again like a banshee. The man is home from work and is keeping Ean preoccupied and i am taking a much needed opportunity to stuff my face with chocolate chips (it happens to be the only chocolate in the house).

...ahh... the healing power of chocolate. I bask in it.

peace †

June One, Two Thousand and Eleven

So... as you can see, i am having a very hard time deciding on a blog template. tis harder than it would seem.

I have been so productive today. you should be proud of me! ^_^

My mum, dad and two little brothers are coming in less than two weeks! I am so thrilled and blessed. To have seen my lovely sister last weekend and to see more family from far away in such a short amount of time is more than i could have hoped for!
The man is at Bible study tonight. Ean is freshly bathed and fast asleep in his bed.

I am listening to my story: The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas and enjoying my clean and quiet house... and feeling a tish sick.


Look ma, I'm knitting!! *grin*... it has actually become a little bit of a thing with me, i even attempted a dishcloth with a basket weave stitch and it turned out great! (pictures to come). Guess i must have gotten my fill of crochet for a while after finishing the fairytale afghan from a few posts back!

It's terribly hot here. and so dry. My fingers and lips are splitting at the seams. The other day there was so much dust blowing in the air that we couldn't see the mountain and it looked like the sky itself had turned tan. I'm used to whiteout blizzards, but tanout sandstorms... not so much.


Tis good to be blogging again. I forgot how very enjoyable it was.

It's a pretty good life all in all.


peace out.

Abi

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Eight Dollars.

Look at my new favorite piece of furniture!!! It's a sewing/craft table! It's already jammed full of cotton yarn and that handy center tray is holding all my stitch markers and crochet hooks. so wonderful to have it all contained!

I <3 Savers (especially it's memorial day 50% off sale). And even though i had to battle an angry mob to retrieve the above table and all my other assorted treasures, it was so very worth it!

Along with this i got some much needed summer clothing staples for myself and the man and some shoes for Ean. To be more specific... i pair of cropped pants and shorts (Tommy Hilfiger), 5 tank tops (good brands - loft, banana republic,etc..), a couple bras (also good brands) for me, 4 t-shirts and a pair of black pants for Michael, a onesie and a pair of shoes for Ean... you curious to know the grand total i paid for this haul... $55. *happy dance*

I was pretty pleased.

peace and love.

Abi

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Currently

listening.

watching.

reading.

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

Blend:
1 whole orange (quartered, seeds removed)
1/2 c. orange juice

Add and quickly blend:
1 egg
1 quarter lb. (1/2 c.) butter, softened

In mixing bowl, sift:

1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp salt

Pour orange mixture into dry ingredients; stir only until moist. Add 3/4 c chocolate chips (semi-sweet). Drop spoonfuls into muffin tins &/or papers--- approx. 2/3 full.

Bake 400ºF. ~ 15 min or till light brown and centers are set.
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We enjoyed these with some English breakfast tea the other afternoon and the rest the next morning for breakfast (also with tea), and in case you were wondering... they are delicious with a cup of tea ^_^.

Abi

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Journaling

It has been a part of my life off and on for the past, oh.. (counting backwards, trying to remember how old i am)... fifteen years or so probably. pretty rough and first and probably still pretty rough to anyone besides myself looking on, but i love it. and I need it. Just recently i have been thinking about/exploring the possibility and looking for inspiration to start an art journal. I can't bring myself to show you today's page, but I was rather pleased with it. Not art, just doodles and the joys in my day... but it brings a different sort of peace to have written the good things from my day and focus on them surrounded by my multicolor designs and not anything negative that might try to creep into my mind and heart. It's good. And it's fun. Try it sometime.
Peace.
Abi
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My boy

Sweeter, cuter and more challenging every day.

IT'S FINISHED!!!!

No more WIPs on this project! Aren't you glad?! :-) I am more than thrilled to have it finished. It's perfectly bright, colorful and cheerful draped across our bed.
it's good.
What's next...?
peace.
Abi

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and then...

about half way through the day, i decided my outfit wasn't what it could be... i added a turquoise belt and it made all the difference.

for the love of color.

and the library, my boy and our reflections...

skirts.

and braids.

Easter Sunday

May 2011

My boy. Sandwiched by spring tulips and chocolate cheesecake. What could be better?!

peace.

Abs

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Another WIP Picture

Making good progress on the Fairy-tale, Klimt, flowers in the snow, memories, prayer blanket... yeah, the name has grown and changed. This project has a lot of personal meaning for me and I'll let you know more about that in another post.

That's all for tonight. Hope you lovelies had a great Wednesday!

Peace and love.

Abi

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A Recipe

This past dish is in dire need of a decent name. I found it via allrecipes.com and it was simply titled "Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream"... how uninspiring, right?! So.. i haven't found it's perfect match and wondered if anyone had suggestions for a name. It is really quite a lovely dish. I don't usually cook much pasta other than the monthly (or so) batch of spaghetti and the Tuesday night mac and cheese, so this was a fun challenge and an unexpected new favorite!



Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes
Servings: 6









INGREDIENTS:
1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can Italian style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped (I used 5 off the vine fresh tomatoes coarsely chopped with a tsp Italian seasoning)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.

2. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage and pepper flakes until sausage is evenly brown. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley

Enjoy, my friends!

WIP • Klimt Inspired Fairy-tale Blanket

mm. mm. good.

all my little circles... as of right now...

such a good feeling to finally see them all laid out.


coming together for real.

I cannot wait for this to make itself comfortable on my bed with Arizona morning sun spilling in all over it!

Will keep you posted!

Pax

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Hey Hey Everybody!

I have the urge to blog! Ta-Dah!

That's right. I obviously cannot drum this up on my own, it takes extra inspiration... (or maybe just enough months of cumulative silence so i know i can't possibly go over everything that's happened and I can simply make a fresh start of it!)...

So...

here's a picture:



you couldn't have possibly thought it would be a picture of anyone or anything else did you?!

sillies.

Arizona is still beautiful. I may or may not be saying the same thing in July.

We've been on the road for the three of the past four weeks. two of which we have spent in the same hotel and room even though the weekend in between we were in another hotel a hundred miles away. weird things happen. anyhow... waaaaaay to much time in hotels and restaurants for my taste! I'm a homebody thank you very much and come about 9 tomorrow i'll be gratefully galloping in that direction! thank the Lord!!!

in other news..

crocheting has totally taken over my artistic sensibilities for the moment. will probably be moving on as soon as i finish this fun project (it's a big one at that!):



I realize you can't really tell too much from this picture, but i happen to take a lot of pictures on my phone and sometimes forget to take comparable ones on my camera... so i'll try to put one up so you can have a better idea of the project as a whole.

Looking at the above picture again and thinking about a time when I was growing up and i'd look at pictures that other people/parents would take and/or post and was always surprised by the amount of pictures that had a laundry basket somewhere in them. I never understood this... until now! They are the most wonderful invention ever!... (except that they're so dang ugly. If anybody knows of something with the miraculous toting abilities of a laundry basket that also has aesthetic appeal, let me know!!).. so yeah. I use them for just about everything. and I'm sure you'll see other specimens from my growing collection of them soon enough :-)

Feels so good to be here.. i'm in such a good mood that i'll even post another picture!



This is my favorite "accidental magic" picture from March. Taken on top of a mountain on my baby boy's first birthday (the same day the top picture was taken on aforementioned mountain). Good times.

*sigh*

I missed you, bloggy-poo-land *sickening baby voice*.

Random ramblings time:

Tucson has a Savers!

The story Michael told me of a "jumping cactus" attacking him the other day had me in stitches... (don't worry he wasn't (seriously) injured)...

Does a parentheses in a parentheses work?

I hear toenails being clipped a room away *raised eyebrows*

Baby bear loved mushrooms and krab tonight. weird.

A tish homesick for my wonderful mum and dad and the craziest, cool brothers in the world (and those are just the ones at home).. I miss my whole family. a lot. *musing on what i or Arizona could possibly offer to get them here in the next... uh... year...*

anyway... if you're reading this and if you're directly related (or even if you're not), just know what my/our door is always open. really. anytime. We love visitors!

Alright, well... enough is enough. one last picture?... i think so...



so there you have it.

Tune in next time to see more of what Arizona has to offer... and possibly my current and future crochet projects!

Peace and love!

Abi K

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Better Pictures Coming

More on Winter

Winter.

Fall is Soon Over

1-3 inches of snow in the forecast this evening.

happy winter!

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Ean

Eight months old tomorrow!! He is a blessing to my soul, every day!

Thank you, Lord!

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