Class of 2014 / senior pictures

                      Thanks Angie for doing my senior pictures! You did a fantastic job, and it was fun to work with you. :) 

Abraham Lincoln(charcoal)

breakfast with Sarah

1 piece of toast

1 fried egg

1/2 avacado

splash of lime juice

salt

pepper

inspired by Hannah Nicole

Independence day

We had a memorable Independence day, Thursday. The temperature was very tolerable and it only rained for a half hour. 

Every year I like to make something festive! This year I made little cupcake cheesecakes. Cute?  

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

Yield: 32 cupcakes

               INGREDIENTS

For the crust:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs(I used gluten free cookie crumbs)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar

For the raspberry swirl:
6 oz. fresh raspberries
2 tbsp. sugar

For the filling:
2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar.  Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  (I like to use a small drinking glass to easily and evenly press the crumbs down.  One of Andrew’s sippy cups works wonderfully.) Bake until just set, 5 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack.

• To make the raspberry puree, combine the raspberries and sugar in a blender or food processor.  Process until smooth, then pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
• To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy.  Blend in the sugar until smooth.  Mix in the salt and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• To assemble, spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner.  Dot a ½ teaspoon of the raspberry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling.  Use a toothpick or a wooden skewer to lightly swirl and create a marbled effect.
  
  
  
  Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  (They will look quite puffed initially but will return to normal quickly.)  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.  Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
  
  
  *recipe from http://www.annies-eats.com/

Pictures from the day:

 Jack (photo credit: Kathryn)

 Mary and Luke

 Mary and Dessa

 Dessa

This was delicious!

My great grandma(photo credit, Kathryn)

Playing Volley Ball(photo credit, Kathryn)

awkward and awesome thursday

Awkward: 

- spring snows...

- a little old man in a scooter chair at Walmart asking me to get him down a pack of pudding from a shelf. Okay yeah, I can do that. I reach up and get the pack, but also proceed to knock cups of pudding all over the floor. He felt sorry for me and kept apologizing.

- walking past the kitchen counter and unknowingly picking up the handle of a 2 cup measuring glass with my pocket and spilling it all over the floor. #imsosmart

- trying to make homemade cough drops. My mom said it smelled like I was making cigars.

- skipping out to the van and missing the door and banging my head on the doorframe. It was loud.  ouch 

- explaining..... to the doctor that I was skipping out to the van and banged my head. *sheepish* 

- when the dr. tells me to repeatedly touch my nose as fast as I can. okay...

- the man at competition who joined our chatting group of girls to tell us that we make his heart flutter. I believe it was the first time that none of us had anything to say. um....thanks?

- all my failed projects lately... *sigh*

Awesome:

- a grandpa that brings us donuts in the morning!

- peanut butter banana smoothies. I am in love.

- having more time to think up projects that will admittedly probably result in failure...

- the key change in this song

six years

This little princess turned six this week. It's hard to believe. I remember when we first brought her home from the hospital all sweet smelling and wrapped up in a blanket. I remember peeking in the bassinet at her literally every five minutes, hoping that she would wake up and cry so I could hold her. I remember mixing up bottles for her(that awful smelling baby formula is one thing that I do not miss!)and mom teaching me how to feed her. I remember whispering in her ear that someday she would learn to talk too. I remember when she learned to sit--I took her too my room, sat her on the floor, put pillows all around her, and taught her how to play tea party. I remember the way she said "yes, ples" when I asked if she wanted some tea. I remember the day she took her first steps and the day she learned to ride a bike, too.

Now, six years later, she brings the same smiles to our faces as she jumps around the room like a monkey, looks up "how to tie shoes" on youtube by herself, and randomly quotes lines from movies. She's such a ham. But a smart ham. This girl is a reading whiz. Some days she sits by me when I'm doing school and tries to read my books. "Aren't you done with that page yet?.... I am."

Ah Mary, It's been fun. It IS fun.

hello again + an amazing day!

Hi guys! Soooo, I took a blogging hiatus. No, I didn't know I was going to take one....it just happened. But I'm back with a lot of new ideas!! But first, let me tell you what I've been up too.

Yes, this thing. It pretty much took me all of January, February, and half of March to get ready to compete. But it was all worth it! Every bit, because Thursday was a phenomenal day! So many memories.

The day started early at 5:30 in the morning. I mean, let's face it girls, it would be a shame to go to competition and not look your best, right? So yes, I got up at 5:30. My hair had different plans--it looked like second day hair...you know, the smashed frizzy curls? meh. oh well :)

Things were pretty normal at first. We had a long drive, donuts in the car, and butterflies in our stomachs. The college was filled with people--girls in long dresses with big gorgeous hair, and guys in suits and teasing smiles.

The choir was our first group performance. All went well--definitely not our best year, but not bad considering the practices we missed because of snow and sickness!

My flute solo was at 2:30. I had practiced earlier and was having a rough 'lip' day. I nervously sat down by my assistant band director, Adrian, to await my turn. That's the hardest part...waiting. I must have looked as nervous as I felt because she told me to remember to have fun. This is suppose to be fun? Oh yeah, I forgot. Soon it was my turn and I had to introduce myself.(Seriously, that's almost the worst part. lol) I played it...I didn't do very well. I wasn't relaxed and so my notes came out a bit pinched and I had a small memory lapse at the end. I won't pretend that I wasn't upset afterwards because I was. You practice for months and months and then you only have one chance. One chance. I won't lie....I did cry. But tears aren't a sign of weakness, they are a sign of strength trying to peak through. The next hour was difficult as I had to go on practicing and performing in our small instrumental ensembles when I really wanted to get away from everybody. But I am grateful for kind judges I had. The older of the group walked up to me with a smile and said, "Thank you so much for your hard work, sweetie"

Of all the people there that day, there are a few that I am really thankful for. My band director(whom we shall call Mr. H) and his daughter Adrian are two of them. Both of them being performers themselves understand more than anyone what it feels like to be disappointed in your performance. Though they may not have realized how upset I was, what they said afterwards was encouraging and helped me.

And also my parents were great support. It didn't really matter how well I did because I knew that they would always encourage me. And like my dad told me, it doesn't matter whether you get first, second, third, or don't place at all because what you learned... it's still there.

And last but not least, our group!! They are an awesome bunch of kids! I really appreciate their hugs, high-five's, and good luck's! It's really sweet to me how we can be such good friends... even though we are quite spread out in ages. I can tell you from experience that not every group is like that ;)



As it neared the evening awards ceremony, I walked out into the main lobby to find Mr. H motioning me over. He asked me where my parents were. I told him. Then he said, "I wanted to tell you together, but you got best of show!" Woah. Wait a second. That flute piece that I stunk up earlier got BEST OF SHOW? Yes, I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor. The excitement lasted for about 2.5 seconds before the nerves hit. Wait. I have to play this tonight in front of a couple hundred people? gulp. 

I didn't play till near the end of the awards ceremony. Let me tell you, it was torture to sit there with butterflies in my stomach through all of the elementary and junior high awards. Finally I was called down from the balcony to get ready to perform. As I stood at the bottom of the stage waiting for them to finish the senior high art awards, I heard my name called. My pencil drawing got first place!! 

Now it was time.  As I walked up on the stage, strangely, my fears decreased. This is going to be fun. And it was. This time I was able to relax more and let the music flow out. Oh I still made a few mistakes, but I was pleased that I didn't bomb it. I'm so thankful that God gave me the strength to do my best, and for the support of all those who encouraged me....and were secretly nervous for me :P



  

It was the most thrilling experience of my life and I'm glad I have it on video. But I want to remember more than that. I want to remember how it felt, how it sounded to me to have my flute echo throughout the auditorium, and the butterflies in my stomach. I want to remember what it was like to look out over those hundreds of people looking up at me expectantly. I want to remember the whispered "good luck's" from the guys and girls in my group as I left to play and the smiles, cheers, and high-fives when I got back. And I want to remember my parents proud eyes and hugs afterwards.

This is only some of us, but luv these guys! 

I owe a lot of my success to Adrian, Mr. H, and my family. Honestly, this was no easy song to learn. I think I cried almost every time I played it for the first week or two. I'm so thankful for the encouragement from my family when I didn't feel I could do it. I'm thankful for the assurance from Mr. H, that even though I couldn't play it perfectly, it was still impressive. And I'm thankful for the advice given to me by Adrian. Not only did she correct several of my mistakes, she gave me the courage that it didn't sound as bad as I thought. She probably doesn't realize it, but I'm confident that I could not have done half as well without her...mostly because of one thing she said. "loosen up. You're too tight" I know it sounds simple, but without her saying that I know that I would have tightened up when I got nervous and pinched my high notes until you could barely call them notes. Loosening up made all the difference in the world. :) :)

I would say that placing first with my drawing; placing first, getting best of show, and a scholarship with my flute made it a pretty amaaaaaazing day!! And all the tears and struggles made it just that much more of a beautiful and amazing victory.

More video's from the day can be found here and here.

I'm also really proud of the band! They went as a junior high band this year, and did great!! The junior high girls ensemble also did fantastic!! I'm also proud of all the individuals who played! Way to go guys!

Congratulations if you made it this far! You're a really amazing follower/friend!! :) :)