The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER!

Well it's been a while.  I've started a new job and it's taking some getting used to but I am a person who embraces change. The leaves will hopefully start falling soon and the cool weather will soon follow. In the meantime, I'll let you know who the winner of the Container Store gift card was: It was number 27! Thank you so much for entering. Your card will be in the mail shortly :) Now, back to business. I love me some baking. I especially love chocolate chip cookies. So what happened one night while I was craving them? Well, I started to google some recipes for the best chocolate chip cookies ever!! And boy did I score! I tried it out immediately and they weren't kidding. I followed this recipe:   Ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vani

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HDR Photography

It is now the weekend and I've been feeling kinda devoid of any creative craftiness :( That is until I sit down in front of my computer and edit photos. I've been editing some of my sessions for the past few days, but now I 'm all caught up :) And this is what I've been working on:   This was taken last year at the State Fair of Texas. I had so much fun taking her picture ;) This was edited using something called HDR. My camera has something called bracketing where it lets you take 3 shots of the image in intervals called EV's.  I won't get into the technical details but it's so much fun to edit and share with you all! Granted, I don't do this type of editing on my family and baby sessions because it's more of a surreal look. But isn't it fun to look at something like this in HDR? Here are some more I took:   I loved this door and the entrance to this home in Laredo, Texas. Don't those strawberries look am

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Tasty Tuesdays: Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

Well hello, hello! How's everyone's week going? I've been busy home schooling, cleaning, doing laundry, and all that fun stuff a mom does.  I've also been looking for some new recipes to share with you my sweets :) And speaking of sweets, I have a delish recipe for you today. Now, I love me some peanut butter and I love me some pudding. So what did I find while scouring my latest issue of  Southern Living Magazine? Why, nothing else but a peanut butter and banana pudding recipe. I made this the other night and just added a couple of tweaks of my own.  Here's what you'll need: 3 cups of milk 4 egg yolks 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup all purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 2 medium bananas ripe, diced 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups coarsely crushed vanilla wafers 2-3 large Reese's PB cups :) chopped pecans or other nuts 1/2 pint or 1 pint mason jars  Cook first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan over

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Container Store Giveaway-Organization

Happy, happy Saturday :) We're just rollin' along here at our house and looking forward to a so-called cold front.  I tell you I am dying to have it be cooler. I love fall and the colors and wonderful weather that comes along with it. And after this horrible NATIONAL heat wave, I do declare everyone is looking forward to the FALL. And with the holidays coming up everyone needs some organization.                                                                        image source: bestlaminate.net                                                                  image source: BHG.com   image source:Pinterest {I'm sorry I couldn't find the source}    image source: apartment therapy   Well, my sweet friends do I have a cool giveaway for you! A $25 gift card to the Container Store. Have you ever been to this place? If not, you're missing out BIG TIME! No kidding, but you have to stop by or just go online. The things they have to o

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Thatsa Tasty Pizza!

Home made Pizza! Hi, hi, everyone. Well end of the week again and boy has it been hectic! Between us getting back on a schedule again and my trying to grow my photography business plus home schooling my little guy, well it's a wonder we even eat at all! {wink} One of my favorite foods, if not my favorite of all time is pizza. Who's with me here?! I love a good crust, cheesy goodness and lots of sauce! I love to add on lots of veggies for my toppings but my kids love the pepperoni and the meats. I mean, what kid doesn't, right? Well today I am here with my favorite pizza dough recipe. It's a little bit country, a little bit rock n'roll. Umm...never mind. That'sa TASTY Pizza {say it with a cheesy Italian accent. Get it, cheesy}.Okey Dokey here it is: Ingredients:  2 cups warm water 2 packages active dry yeast 6 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt Bake 20 minutes at 425 F In a l

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First Week of Home School Recap and Autumn Ideas

Well that went by FAST! Our first week of school met us with a new guy in high school :-o and my little guy being home schooled. Big learning CURVE for the both of us. My big guy seems to be taking to the 9th grade pretty well and seems to be handling the extra time practicing in his school's band. Which is VERY demanding. I wouldn't do it. LOL  And to top it off, teens in our church get to attend seminary school for the four years of high school to prepare them for life and missionary work.  Whew! It will be a l-o-n-g day for him.  Thank goodness he is very organized and independent. Anywho, back to my little guy and me. The home schooling part is very challenging. We are doing an online school curriculum and I am so glad  we opted to do it this way. There's no way I'd be able to figure out what to teach him when and all that jazz!  Plus all the books come with a teacher's manual with the answers to help ME! HA!  I haven't done 4t

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