For the Love of (Raking) Leaves

The changing of the leaves in fall always seems so magical to me. Walking out into a brisk, chilly morning with the sun beginning to stream through a thick canopy of reds, oranges, and yellows really makes me put my life into perspective. There is such much beauty around me, but most of that beauty has become regular or nothing special to me because I neglect to take the time to stop. To stop and just be.

There was nothing to do on a warm, sunny late afternoon (a perfect combination for a photo-shoot, wouldn't you say?) and so I decided to rake me some leaves. A lot of leaves. For those of you who don't know me personally, my family lives in the middle of no-where-man's-land. And no-where-man's-land + mountain = a lot of trees. A lot of trees = a heck of a lotta leaves...and I think you know where this is going.

I snapped pictures as my siblings jumped (and disappeared) into my large mound of leaves and wondered to myself when the last time was I had enjoyed jumping into a leaf pile. Maybe age 6?

So I stopped and put my camera down. With a smile on my face, I took a great leap into that pile, and decided to just be.

Risk Taker

If you know me well, then you know that I am not a baker. My baking skills pretty much start and end at pre-made cookie dough. Since my family does not eat dairy, it can be somewhat difficult to substitute in ingredients that sort of make the desert...a desert. But, for my youngest sister's 4th birthday (and my dad's birthday), I wanted to try something new. Take a flying leap into the newly bought Holiday Treat Cookbook and risk my already shaky reputation as a baker.

I skipped the cake section (those are for advanced....waaay advanced bakers) and decided on the peanut butter - chocolate shortbread bars. Ingredients: peanut butter, chocolate, sugar, flour, water....sounded easy enough. Or, so I thought. Four hours (and an incredible amount of praying) later...the peanut butter/chocolate shortbread bars were finished. Perfect and beautiful. Just like the picture in the cookbook. I didn't even want to know how they tasted at this point.

But, I DID want to take pictures of my lovely creation (I mean, come on...me baking something good? This definitely needed to be documented properly) 

Oh, and the family said they were A-MA-ZING. sccoooore

Happy 4th Birthday!

Yesterday was this little girl's birthday! N is such a spunky, sweet, and sassy 4 year old and I don't know what I would do without her! She makes life more interesting and a whole lot more fun. Love you bunny! :)