Oh how I love chocolate!

And last night I needed a fix. Read about these great little red velvet chocolate chip cookies over on Jessica's blog, then read about Rachel making them on her blog...I think it was the Lord leading me to make these incredibly easy and incredibly delicious cookies. I'm hoping they'll be a hit at the beach this weekend, but I don't see how they won't be...especially if I'm there.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the process with the in-between moments:


There's my dinner I tried to eat while making these delicious cookies. I was hoping it would help curb my appetite and keep my fingers from eating all the dough and then eating all the cookies when they were done baking. Yeah, didn't work...but I tried.


Oh yes, I definitely watch my cookies bake in the oven. You know you do it too.
Man down!!! 2 men down, actually!
Guess I'll just have to eat these...ya know, so they don't feel bad.

And there we go, the finish and final product. They don't look too red...oh well, they still taste dang good! And less chemicals, right? Anyway, I think I ate about 4 of these, two right off the cookie sheet and, just like everyone else who has made these, burnt my tongue on their chocolaty hot gooey goodness.

Oh, and you may notice I sprinkled some salt on a few of the cookies when I put them in to bake...DELICIOUS!

I'm sorry...

but I'm not sorry.

I'm playing Christmas music.

Birthday wishes to you

Melissa had a birthday back in late October and we all came together to celebrate with her. My mom took this opportunity to make us have a big ol' family photo shoot.
I guess that's what mom's do.

Wowzers! I just noticed the knife laying on the table.
Apparently we do not mess around when it comes to cutting a birthday cake.
Watch out kids, no complaining, momma's got the big knife!

A hug for the birthday girl

Me and my two fave men.

Me, Melissa, & Sam

The whole gang
(minus Karl, he made sure he was taking the picture, he's so sneaky that way)

All the kiddo's
(including Karl...not so sneaky this time, were ya?)
ps. check out my sister's fun shoe laces.

I. Can't. Stop. Smiling.

My mom's birthday is November 16th and we decided to celebrate with her a little early and with just the girls. We took her to Cha! Cha! Cha! Such a great Mexican restaurant...sorry, though, no pictures of the food (I forgot).

I have a problem

Yesterday morning, after I make myself some coffee and head back to do my makeup...I see this:
This morning after I make myself some coffee and head back to do my make up...I see this:And as I'm heading out the door to head to work and I take one last look in the apartment to make sure I have everything...I see this:
I told you I have a problem.

I'm naked.

I left my wedding ring at home.

This is a cardinal sin for a newlywed. (Okay, a distant second to losing the ring - but still)

Pumpkin patch shenanigans

A view from the top!
(aka. a view from the middle)

Okay, seriously? How can I NOT love this guy.

Reading the clue and thinking very hard about where to go next.

What is it? Can you figure it out?

YAY! We made it out alive!

Of course the duck had to visit the duck.

Our yummy pumpkin cookie treat for braving the corn maze.

So chewy and sweet and delicious!

We also bought some pumpkin butter. SO GOOD!
I am kicking myself for not taking Scotts suggestion and buying two jars.

Best way to end a weekend...

Having your husband take you out on an impromptu dinner date after a very miserable afternoon in the kitchen with uncooperative banana bread (not to mention last nights oat bread that wouldn't work either).

Wine, beer, cajon tots, a Wilbur burger, a veggie pizza...yummy food that I didn't have to cook and that was ordered by my husband.

Having one of those great conversation with my husband that includes laughter and learning new things about who he is and why he does what he does.

A yummy banana cupcake from New Seasons that 1) smells amazing and 2) I didn't have to make. :)

Seriously, even if this weekend had sucked (which it didn't), it would be my favorite weekend just because of the last 2 hours.

I sure do have a wonderful husband. (Love you babe!)

(ps. the cupcake was every delicious...but the pumpkin cupcake that we shared yesterday was even better...just thought I would share)

Quotes galore!

Now this is a food mantra I can get behind: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

"The only thing you can control is your own effort." - Theodora van den Beld

That's the truth!

"The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting." - Fran Lebowitz

My husband sure would love it if I put this into practice a bit more. ;)

"Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness." - modified from : Edward Stanley (1826-1893) from The Conduct of Life

"I'd heard it all the time, 'Live in the moment.' But if I did that, I'd weigh more than a dump truck. Losing weight wasn't about the moment at all; it was about having faith in the future. It was about knowing there would be another meal in a few hours." - stephanie Klein

"What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease." - George Dennison Prentice

"When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. It's also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be." - Molly Wizenberg

Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you! ~Tommy Smothers

Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables. They probably get jet-lagged, just like people. ~Elizabeth Berry

We think fast food is equivalent to pornography, nutritionally speaking. ~Steve Elbert

It's a cruel season that makes you get ready for bed while it's light out. ~Bill Watterson (which is why I love fall and winter and the time change that comes with it so very much!)

If people were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters. ~Author unknown, attributed to Jim Davis (hahahaha!!! I must sleep in a toaster...which is so annoying to my husband :)

The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald (SERIOUSLY!)

Nothing cures insomnia like the realization that it's time to get up. ~Author Unknown (so true!)

The feeling of sleepiness when you are not in bed, and can't get there, is the meanest feeling in the world. ~Edgar Watson Howe

So, eat, sleep, and live. :)

And those are all I will share with you today.