Halloween Cookies!

Okay so I've been a little bit lazy lately - Clark has spent a lot of time at the office, and it's easy to just kinda hang out on the computer and not really do anything. So, I decided to once again try to be domestic and cute, and copied these cookies from Bakerella.

Of course, mine look nothing like hers! Our local grocery store didn't have any Trix, so I used marshmallows and iced them. I used the same cookie dough, though. Anyway, here's my version:

Please excuse the photography - our kitchen is sooo dark - I gave myself a headache making the spiders!

My Costume

I decided to not be a party pooper this year, so when a girl at work was trying to get everyone to dress up, I decided I would. Except that I couldn't think of a costume!! I was running late for work (Clark already left - he went at 7 am to STUDY!) and stil didn't have a costume. I scoured the Internet trying to find 'last-minute' Halloween costumes, but came up with nothing. We don't have a lot for materials around our place! Anyway, I went back into our room, frustrated that I hadn't come up with anything, and guess what I saw?? A blue and white dress I bought from American Eagle back in the day, but don't wear much cuz I think it looks like a little girl dress.....and shiny red flats....and it all reminded me of when I was in a play back in elementary - the Wizard of Oz! Haha so here's me as Dorothy:



Clark gave me this stuffed lion back when we were dating, and I thought it might help people guess what I was. :) One guy actually got it!

Our friend Ethan had the most hilarious costome - old school nerdy missionary?? Haha here's a pic of some of us at the office:





I'm not sure what we're going to do for the actual day - everyone around here is sick with the flu! Apparently it has really hit this town. Kids in school with diarhhea and puking...ugh. A girl at the office said on the news they were warning people about letting trick-or-treaters touch all the candy - they said to disinfect your doorknob a lot and hand the candy out instead of letting people rummage around in the candy with their hands. Sheesh maybe it's good we don't go out much! I also heard that the best place to get infected is the grocery store, and that's pretty much the only place we go around here, so I'll keep my hands washed!

Cooking

I have been so bad at meals lately. Clark was in Calgary for the weekend for his CASB program, and I went and hung out at my parent's house for the weekend. I got back and knew that we didn't really have any food, but I was determined I was going to cook something.

Clark had to race off to a rehearsal for a church fireside, so I looked in my cupboards. Wow - I really had nothin'! Haha so I started flipping through a family cookbook and found this casserole recipe my great grandma used to make. It didn't take very many ingredients, and the only meat it called for was tuna, which luckily, I had 1 can of! So, I start melting butter and adding flour and then stopped, wondering if I actually had any cream of chicken (or cream of anytihng!) soup. I checked the cupboards - nope. So I utilized google, and get this - there are substitutes for cream of chicken soup! Lol, there are substitutes for anything! I wasn't actually totally surprised that there was a substitute - I was surprised that I had everything to make it. So, I made homemade cream of chicken soup substitute. And it wasn't too bad!

Now the casserole is in the oven, so we'll see how it worked out. Oh and of course halfway through the recipe I realized that my dear grandmother didn't remember to include a baking temperature or time, so I guessed on that, too. Story of my life - I'm a mess in the kitchen. I redeem myself with mashed potatoes. Thank goodness Clark is such a big fan! :)


Update: Okay, the casserole turned out!! And I'm not as much of a mess in the kitchen, as that I MAKE a really big mess in the kitchen. :) I guess I'm off to do clean up...

He's in! and other stuff

Clark did it! He finished off two accounting classes in the last month and starts the CASB program on Monday, right after he takes his last test Monday morning. What a guy - I don't know too many people who can finish a semester-long class in two weeks, let alone doing it twice in a row, but I guess he's always done better in school under pressure. ;)

Since he's been crazy busy working and finishing these classes, I really haven't seen much of him. Tonight we went with his parents to a show here in town called "Broadway gone Country." It was a bunch of country numbers, and really good! They even had some favorite songs like "Cowboy Take Me Away" - my theme song until I met Clark ;), and "Some Days are Diamonds" originally by John denver, but this guy mixed it up a little bit and it was amazing! He had a CD for sale outside, but neither Clark nor I had any cash - dang it. The John Denver song reminded me of my dad - I love that man.

Clark's back at the office tonight studying for the test. He got home 10 minutes before we left for the show and he left 5 minutes after we got home. It's just a little ironic that you marry someone to be with them more....only to be with them a lot less than you thought!

I used my new mop today, which was cool. You know how exciting your life is when you're excited to mop a floor! Then I went and broke a glass all over it. And the carpet. And we don't have a vacuum. Clark carefully scrutinized the carpet and picked pieces out, and he was going to go borrow his parent's vacuum, but he forgot and now it's late so I guess it'll get done on Monday sometime! We're not supposed to wear our shoes on the carpet - landlord rules - but I'm ignoring that rule until we get a vacuum over here.

I had another fun photo session today - Clark's cousin and her two kids. They were way cute and came up with lots of their own ideas for pictures. Her little girl was such a poser! Haha it was awesome. Hopefully she loves 'em! I ordered these cool CD cases today for giving discs to clients. I'm excited. I was going to do another sister session today, but my poor sister was really sick so we'll have to reschedule.

On Monday I should have some news on what Council decided about a new position in town. So, cross your fingers for me! :)

I want stairs like these!

This looks like fun!

Check out this video, it's short:

Crazy Pics!

So I just realized tonight that I'm a little busy with pictures! I am finishing up the editing on two shoots, I have a few more to start, and I am doing three more shoots this weekend! It's crazy but fun - Clark studies all night every night so I'm glad I have something to do. The weather hasn't been my favorite ever, so it's not exactly torture to stay inside, either. Anyway, I love family shoots and can't wait to shoot one tomorrow!

Check out the latest here. I just put up more pictures of my sister-in-law's family - cutest kids ever!


On another note...Thanksgiving was great! We got two Thanksgiving dinners - we spent Sunday with Clark's family and Monday with mine. I even made the mashed potatoes for Sunday - they weren't my moms but I think they were edible. So, I'm proud of myself. :)

In a few weeks (or more probably) I'll find out if I have a permanent job or not, so that's good but crazy. They have to decide whether they're going to create a new position, and then if they do, I'll have to apply and then actually land the job. No pressure!

Clark and I sold the Jeep. It was a sad day around here. We're looking at buying an old truck, which is cheaper and perfect for building a house in the spring! And, we know Clark's love is in good hands - his dad bought it. :)

Love my husband!

Clark surprised me the other day with these!

Toothpaste Cupcakes

So I decided to be domestic the other day and make cupcakes to give away to somebody. I made my own icing, and when I went to ice the cupcakes, they were too soft, so I decided to get creative. I wanted an icing bag with a tip on it, but I improvised with a ziploc by cutting off a corner. I thought I did pretty good, but when I showed them to Clark he started laughing and said they looked like I squeezed toothpase all over the top. The icing was a little limp, I'll admit - apparently it wasn't as stiff as I thought and when I warmed it up with my hand it got a little soft. So here are some pics of my toothpaste cupcakes! :)

Parade of Homes

 

Okay, remember how I was so excited about Parade of Homes? Well here's a peek at what I saw! Clark and I liked two by Avonlea Homes, but we're still looking for a 1-story for our first house. It was fun to see different layouts and my mom and my sisters and I saw a really nice custom house that is owned by one of the builders. His wife was from Montana, so it had a couple of rustic touches that appealed to a few ranch girls I know.... :)

And no, I didnt take these pictures!

Photography Blog, etc.

My photography blog has been ugly for a long time, so I've finally started re-doing it! If you check it out here, and you came to or saw pictures of my wedding, you might be able to figure out my favorite color(s)! :)

I just took pictures of Clark's sister's family, and it was a little crazy! I had scouted out a location that I was really excited about, with fall leaves and tall grass, etc. and she even brought a cute white chair. Unfortunately I'm not the world's most amazing kid photographer, and my niece wanted to explore way more than getting her picture taken. I'll be putting up a couple of pictures soon. We only got a few where she's facing the camera, but none where she's happy about it! Gotta love family pictures!

This year the Parade of Homes got moved to the fall!! I really wanted to go walk through some new homes to help out with the house plan decision, but the POH is usually in February, I think, and I wanted to have my plan decided before that, so I got over it. BUT - my mom was driving home yesterday and heard on the radio that they moved it to the fall this year! Even before I decided to get married, build a house, etc. we always went to the Parade of Homes cuz we're cool like that, so she was so excited she called me at work to tell me! And we're probably going every night next week to try to get in all 34 homes. Can't wait!