pumpkin. butter. cake. [and life. surprise.]

saturday night [october 22], lyddie and i made this.

you knew it was time for another food/recipe post, didn't you?

wow, this was when my hair was still blonde...lol.
mmm, butter :)

what was i doing here when rachel got it into her head to get this capture?
probably writing someone special . . . and reading blogs while waiting for this good stuff to finish baking. :)

short story, you should make them.
you really should.

on the other hand, this has been one of the best mondays ever.
paint, coffee, grandpa nate [an old family friend] coming over for lunch, and spontaneous errand trips with my brother, ben . . . plus writing someone, and bible study tonight . . .
yes. a very good monday.
even with all the clouds and no visible sun.
i don't normally call mondays good, even those with tons of coffee in them. but this day . . . yes, this day is very good.

what [small or big] thing has made this day good for you?

know how to live the time that is given you.
[dario fo]

friends, dresses, and a rainy night.

remember how i announced that dear heather is now engaged to her derek?
well, i'm in the wedding.
i don't know if i mentioned that.

and tonight . . . the other bridesmaids/friends and anna and i went dress shopping with heather. :)

it only took an hour and a half for heather to find The Dress...happy day!

all the dresses are going to be in plum, the color of my dress.

gray shoes and pearl necklaces...mhmm:) lovely!!

steph, heather's younger sister, and i found our dresses right off.
pretty much first dress, first try-on.
the one.

only me and steph found our dresses tonight, and darnit if i'm not tempted to re-dye my hair come march with this color for the wedding....or maybe normal dark blonde would be best. :P who knows. it'll be on the end of our loooong winter, so i might just go with some lovely change and do the dark red again. after, ya know, december-february of my natural color....el oh el.

happy-happy-happy.

we need another one of these days.
october was really lovely . . . but november's going to be a very good month.

my camera battery is dead.

isn't that sad?
but this afternoon is lovely.
well, it was --after i took an advil and slept off some freaking cramps.
i plan on chocolate, [the trader joe's dark chocolate covered caramel kind;] maybe anne of green gables, and to enjoy this gorgeous, peaceful sunset from this window because i want to stay warm.

oh, and this coffee.
it kinda helps.
it's all good, right? :)

this is me, thursday night, at the end of all the meeting and socializing and all that lovely stuff :)
and did i mention that i was called on to talk about my painting and photography [me and anna do it] business --spur of the moment-- to the more than 15 people that were there?
well, it helped that it was halfway through the night. therefore, i'd met a few people, warmed up,

isn't he awesome?

yay for red, right? :)
i quite like it.

oh, and on the note of anne of green gables, here's something super freaking sweet. totally might make you feel like a bucket of sap. let me know. hahahah.

To My Future Husband:

You’ll be my Gilbert Blythe.
You know what I love about that character in Anne of Gables? He was would always there to listen to her, faithful, always seek her out, continually infatuated with Anne, he never got discouraged, he periodically rescued her, sacrificed for her, waited for her, sometimes made her mad, and most importantly- he kept trying for her heart.
First, they were friends. He got to know her personality and understand her. He was in love with her since he first saw her, but Anne didn’t want to grow up and fall in love. For years, he was patient and persistent. He never gave up.
Please be that for me.

Love,
Your Anne of Green Gables

[did anyone go awwwwww? no? ok. nevermind then.]

i hope your nearly-end-of-october night is lovely :)
go get yourself some chocolate. or something.

Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second.
[Edward Abbey]
...so true! i don't go for crappy brews though. different places have different reputations in my head. :P

el. eye. eff. ee.

my littlest sister and her best friend:)

taken by rach.

this weekend is going to be freaking jam packed.
4th funeral of the year i get to go to [with the fam].
a kids night at church with games, food, music, and a movie.
hanging out with a family on saturday.
more music practice....
sunday: church, getting my hair trimmed, and dress shopping...
dress shopping? did i just say that?
why yes....

aren't they gorgeous? darling? absolutely too cute? 

sigh. what adorable babies they're going to make. :P ;)

because heather dear is now engaged. to her dear derek. :)
and i'm in the wedding.
my first time being in a wedding!!
i'm slightly excited.
the colors are . . . as of the last i heard . . . plum, gray, white.

so i had this box of dark brown-red on my dresser, and my thought today was . . . hmmm. once i'm dark blonde in a couple weeks, i'm staying dark blonde for a veryveryveryveryvery long time. so why the heck not put this stuff on, too.
a more thorough job, and plus, red is more fun.
oy, kelsey. you got your wish, as per your comment in the last post. heheh.
red is just so darn fun.
or, in my case, in some lights, a plum....or a fire....or, ya know, fill in the blank.
then, tonight [from 5-8] i was the featured event photographer for a business to business thing in our county. held at the awesome store of one of the couples who go to our church....lots of interesting people there, nice and down to earth, good food, wonderful atmosphere, and made friends with the sweet string photographer lady to have fun conversation with :)

wow, look.
i just blogged about my life . . . [shocker! this hardly ever happens anymore!]
hahah.
and i finished off my day [ahem, 11pm] with writing a dear friend [this is where a smile is], and eating some reallygood potato, egg, cheese, and of course salsa...all done up in sizzling butter. because, you know, that's important. carbs. gotta love 'em.
oh! and listening to frank sinatra on spotify. mhmmm. :)
hardly anything better.
but i'm already looking forward to that first mug of coffee before everyone gets up tomorrow. [a rarity! hah! i'm a night owl. ;) indeed, i am.]

if i take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
[psalms 139:9-10]

a letter.

dear certain natural hair dye brand,
why don't you have a dark/ash blond that actually dyes right?
certain people in my life would prefer i go for more natural stuff...but this is not working. for me. at all. i've tried.
ya know, something that looks like my real color . . . ?
i don't want bright blonde and i didn't want to go back to brunette....
i give up.
run-of-the-mill, unnatural-as-heck, hair dye, here i come. :P
sincerely, a frustrated user.

yeah, no title comes to mind. :P

this day has been gorgeous.

the sort that makes you feel better just looking out the window.

contracting a cold [nose and throat horribleness] was not part of the plan for this week after being busy with church for the first part of it.
oy.
this afternoon i started feeling better, though.
:)

yesterday, me and lyddie took a walk. she was getting cabin fever, and i got a bit cold on the walk, but still...it was worth it; pictures, really fresh air, and beautiful weather... it all evened out in the end.

now i have a kitchen to clean...

good music to listen to... [take ryan mcallister, for example.]
and an utterly vegan version of broccoli potato hot dish to make...
and reading the post stuff jesus never said: by the bohemian husband.

also, i sold this and this canvas this week...
which reminds me: i need to paint. more. often.
i would write more deep, wonderful thoughts, but it's already 4:53pm, and it just occured to me that i'm pretty darn hungry, and i've got things to do....
so, here's to a better blogging record in the future. :)

artistic endeavors: shakespeare.

remember this day?
september 5.

that was when autumn started.
hence the scarf, the sweater, the skinny jeans and tennis shoes.

seeing as how i had never painted a shakespeare quote, this was the day to do it.

. . . and that's how it turned out.
:)

so, for current news:
tuesday i woke up with a slight sore throat.
wednesday i woke up feeling better.
today i woke up feeling eh.

 today. yeah. lucky you guys. a preview of a custom canvas i just finished!

i've hardly taken any pictures, made food, much less painted more than a swirl, in the past week.
it is not fun feeling less than 100%.
oy.
we're going swing dancing tonight: martha, anna, me, and we're meeting up with a few friends there --annie, heather, derek, and who knows who else.
it should be fun . . . i'm hoping the social situation brings me my second wind, because honestly, with this windy, cold, utterly overcast day, i'm not feeling that energetic.

well, now. she & him are always good. peppy, cute music when the day isn't making sense in the fog of blahness.
and . . . unfortunately, i haven't been able to find the vhs of anne of green gables.
who knows where in this house it is . . . dangit.
i really want to watch that. really. really.
we need to remedy that.
maybe the library has it? ;)