A pig, a water filter, and a coconut...

The title will make sense (kind of) later on.

Sitting around with a teen and two pre-teens, over Spring Break

I wondering what their thoughts about life...

well, mostly just random things about life.

So I forced them to put away their cell-phones,

turn off the TV, and answer these fascinating...

okay, they're still just random questions.
So...Whatcha Thinkin'?

Very Important, Random Questions

Favorite place in your house?
Jorden- living room, because there's a TV
Joe- out in the front
Leanna- my room, because I can put headphones on and ignore the world.

Favorite place to visit?
Jorden- beach
Joe- I don't know... Miami if I ever go
Leanna- mountains cause its quiet and peaceful

Favorite food?
Jorden- pancakes
Joe- dairy-free ice cream
Leanna- depends on the day (today) a pear. A green one, not a yellow... Just enough swish to be juicy.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Jorden- ?
Joe- S.W.A.T.
Leanna- FBI in the behavioral analysis department- (So I can stare at people and get paid...I added that. In fact any time you see the parentheses it's me...I have a hard time not commenting.)

What is the #1 most played song on your iPod right now?
Jorden- "Remember When" Chris Wallace
Joe- aaaa....nothing.
Leanna- "Mirrors" Justin Timberlake
              "Kiss tomorrow goodbye" Luke Bryan

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
Jorden- Rebecca because its my favorite character on NCIS
Joe- James, like Lebron James
Leanna- Vanessa, because I like the name Vanessa

If you could be a character in a book what character would you be and why?
(Duh...I had to ask this.  The teacher in me was dying!)
Jorden- Katniss-I like her
Joe- ?
Leanna- Alice- in "Go,ask Alice" (me-why?!?) I don't know it's the only book I've read recently"

If you had to pick one animal to describe you, what would you pick?
Jorden- Flamingo, because it's pink.
Joe- Lion, because their called the king of the jungle and Lebron is called the King
Leanna- Squirrel...because I look all sweet & innocent but if you mess with me, I'll go crazy on your butt.

If you won the lottery right now, what is the first thing that you would do?
                               (Please say give money to Auntie!
                                Please say that you would give money to Auntie!)

Jorden- Get a corvette and go on a whooping spree.
             Out have of the money in my college fund...then go shopping. 
Leanna- Custom Hummer...right there. I'd buy several cars
             (How would you drive? You don't want to get your license?)
              I'd just sit in my driveway and be like ya I got this.
             (Hmmm...still nothing for me...maybe I should rethink my will...)

What do you think is one of biggest misconceptions people have about teenagers?
Leanna- that....um... all...why do people ask me these things? That they all are...deceitful, irresponsible people.

You have to eat the exact same meal for the next 12 months. What would you pick?
Jorden- fruit salad
Leanna- Mac 'n Cheese

If you were stuck in an elevator for 24 hours with one person,
who would you like that person to be?
Jorden- Kennedy, a friend that moved to Germany
Leanna- wait, I have to have someone? I'd like to be alone.
(Seriously, I'd pick Ryan Reynolds or someone funny like Sandra Bullock)













What about laughed until you cried?
Jorden- scaring Leanna- the day before yesterday...
Leanna- my brother running across, no photobombimg Caleb yesterday

If you were stranded on a desert is,
and and you could take three items,
what items would you take and why?
Jorden- 1) 20 year food containers
             2) water filter
             3) pop up tent
Leanna-1) pig, because they're 'funner' to have around
                 and I could eat it-ham
             2) Water filter-self explanatory
             3) Nails- I can build stuff! I don't need a
                 hammer...I'll use a coconut!

 Yeah...good luck with that coconut hammer Leanna! 
Haha! It probably won't work, but I like the creativity. 
www.bonappetit.com

Red Velvet, and Cheesecake, oh my!

Ah, Valentine's Day...

The day of love...

...which just gives me an excuse to try out new recipes,
(with my fabulous niece, Jorden)

And look for ones that would help me raise
more money for something that I love.
Pups, Dogs, or Fidos...
no matter what you call them, I love 'em!


Plus, I can make people happy through my baking.
People love red velvet, especially for Valentine's Day.
People love cheesecake.
Plus, cookies are my favorite, FAVORITE desserts...
and other people love cookies too.
So, what could be better than Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookie? 
Not much...
These are fabulous!

Chewy cookie, with a slight crunch and a creamy cheesecake center...so delicious.
I highly recommend it!
If you would like the recipe,
please head over to Two Peas and Their Pod.
To entice you a little bit more,
here is a look at my cookie making adventure...
with a few tips and tricks to help you along the way.

Lovely little globs of cheesecake.  It's really important to keep

putting the plate back into the freezer so that they are easy to handle.

Jorden and I tried a couple different ways to put these together, but here's what we found.  The best method we found was to make discs and sandwich the cheesecake in the middle.

Step One: Make two discs.                                                 Step 2: Place a glob in the middle.

Step 3: Place the second disc on top.                                  Step 4: Pinch the edges closed.

     TADA! This is how it should look going onto the cookie sheet.

 Murphy LOVES his Jorden. 

 He hung out here, basically the entire time.

His persistence worked in the end...

...she loved on him while the cookies were in the oven.

 Even without the white chocolate drizzle, these cookies are beautiful!

Jorden was an expert drizzler!

 PERFECTION!

These cookies are definitely more time-consuming than others to make,

but I think that they are so delicious that they're worth the extra time.

 

This is just one of the cookies that I will be making for my

Valentine's Day Bake Sale benefiting Fences for Fido.

A Dog's Christmas

Christmas came early for Murphy.

Christmas Eve to be exact.

When you only trust 13 people in the world,

it can be a scary and anxiety producing place.

Especially when your human keeps putting strange ears on you!

(But, in my defense, he's sooooooo cute!)

But, Christmas, well it's all about joy...happiness...and spending it with the people that you adore.
Murphy only needs HIS people by his side to have a Christmas of love.








 







This is his story of love and his people.
....well at least a few of them.
Now...a photo journal of puppy love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Receiving loves from my brother...

 Even this really strange Santa got the Murphy seal of approval! 

I guess he smelled too much like his grandpa to fool him.

 Now, this is the "Gpa" that Murphy knows and adores...not that weird Santa Dude!

 Nothing makes him as happy as getting love from his GREAT Grandma! 

He loves to cuddle up to her and get cookies too! 

 Leanna, she might get taller, but he can still get to her lips for a big smooch!

Jorden still has his favorite lips to smooch,

but she's learned to be a quick move...she's difficult for him to catch!

 Murphy was happy to see that he wasn't the only one that had to put things on their head!

 

At the end of the night,

he was sad to leave all of his favorite humans,

but thankfully he had a new moose-friend to ease the pain.

Exhausted pup, ready to dream the night away,

 with millions of pets and endless love dancing in his head.

Merry Christmas to all

and to all a beautiful New Year!