Good Summer Reads

In April of this year I finally took the plunge and bought myself a Kindle Touch. To my surprise, I absolutely love it!  Since purchasing the Kindle, my completion rate on reading books has definitely increased.  The Kindle Touch has renewed my love for  reading in a big way. I love having a book or two at my fingertips, ready and waiting at any given moment. I really had forgotten what it feels like to lose yourself in a good story, to feel your heart racing or breaking, to want to jump into the story and laugh or cry with the characters, and to literally not want the story to end...happy ending or not.

I recently finished the two-book New York Times bestselling Slammed Series by Colleen Hoover. The two books in this series, Slammed and Point of Retreat, had me at hello! The storyline, the characters, the heartwrenching twists and turns, from beginning to end, are superb. Both of these books will tug at your heart strings as you follow each of the characters through their struggles and triumphs - all which overlap with one another. I also found the heart of the story, what "slammed" stands for, to be a breath of fresh air as the characters try to problem-solve and communicate their innermost feelings of hurt, anger, admiration and love.

Slammed and Point of Retreat will make you believe in the power of love, laughter, forgiveness, gratitude, and compassion. It may even quite possibly move you to reflect on your own life and realize that this one life that we get is simply too precious to waste and that we should take chances to bare our souls, to be honest, and to look within for answers when life throws you a curveball. Don't dodge the curveball. If you are brave enough to catch the curveball, you will learn a valuable lesson.

I found myself not being able to put the books down! You will laugh. You will cry. They're just that "butterflying" good!! Thankfully, the author is working on a third book to which is due out by the end of the summer. The third book in this series, Will's Story, is already on my list and I can honestly say I have never had a "reading list" before! Be sure to check out Colleen Hoover's website where she shares a sneak peek at the first chapter to Will's Story I cannot wait to see where she takes the story from here!

If you are looking for a good series to absolutely devour this summer, I would HIGHLY, without hesitation, recommend the Slammed Series.

Happy Reading!
Michelle

Chocolate Swirl Delight - A Delightful Dessert

My husband says that we rarely eat the same thing twice. He is right, in part. While I do have my standard go-to dinner and dessert recipes, how can one want to make the same thing over and over again? I cannot and do not. With the internet and new sites such as Pinterest placing beautiful food right in front of my eyes each and every day, I rarely even "search" anymore. It's more like they magically appear! I see new recipe every day that I want/need to try. Hence, since I do most of the cooking, my little family is at the mercy of my recipe curiosity. They graciously go along with it, most of the time. In fact, rarely do I fail when it comes to testing dessert recipes. I even dedicated one of my Pinterest boards to desserts only, Decadent Desserts.

I was on a search, a search for a real crowd-pleasing dessert, when I stumbled upon the Chocolate Swirl Delight recipe. This dessert was replacing a traditional birthday cake, so it had to be special. Well...first, I saw the picture. Then, I read the recipe. Four, yes four, ingredients and no baking! I'd be a fool NOT to make this, right?? And, so I did. It won the crowd over just as I had hoped. It turned out as pretty as a picture and tasted spectacular! The best kept little secret here is that the only "effort" required is slicing the Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls and even that was kind of fun.

Chocolate Swirl Delight

This dessert was delightful, melt-in-your-goodness that got rave reviews from family and is bound to be requested and repeated!

Michelle

Excellent Summer Read

I recently finished reading On The Island:A Novel by Tracey Garvis-Graves on my Kindle. I loved this book! It was the perfect summer read to keep me coming back for more. I read this book in under a month and that says a lot, for me. I thought the book was well-written and had a superb mix of suspense, despair and romance, with a few surprises sprinkled along the way. It will tug at your heart strings in no time. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending as well. If you are looking for a good summer read to get lost in, I would highly recommend this book. In my opinion, it was a 5-star read and worth every bit of the Amazon Kindle price of $5.99.



My First Archiver's Scrap Mania

A couple of months ago, my girlfriend and I went to a Scrap Mania night at our local Archiver's store. I wanted to make this night about being productive, not about shopping and adding to my already-overstocked stash of scrapbooking supplies. I decided to "prepare" for the crop. First, I went through some of my older photos (all the way back to 2009!) and selected photos for my page layouts. I then moved onto paper selection. I chose the patterened papers that I wanted to use first and then coordinated with a few sheets of solid cardstock. To keep my "page ideas" together and organized, I placed the photographs and scapbook paper into a page protectors. I transported them to the crop in a plastic tote. I think I took about 20 page packets to the Scrap Mania. I also took some (okay...way more than I needed) basic tools, alphas, rub-ons, and embellishments. With only three bags in tow as I walked into Archiver's, I was excited and ready to scrapbook. The crop time actually went by way too quickly. Going prepared was key! 

I did not get 20 pages done that night, however, I was happy with what I accomplished. For $5, I got myself organized and finally completed some scrapbook layouts. I also left the store spending under $15 after using my $5 registration credit! Pretty much a bargain in my book. I have avoided going to crops in the past because I did not want to, 1) get EVERYTHING ready to scrapbook away from my home, 2) transport ALL of my scrapbooking supplies to/from the crop (because I would have to take nearly everything plus the kitchen sink, just in case) and, 3) I felt that I would visit way too much and get absolutely NOTHING accomplished.

Preparing for the Scrap Mania by creating page packets helped me tremendously! One of the unforeseen bonuses...coming home with uncompleted page packets. Half the work is already done and this has made my scrapbooking at home much more productive and rewarding! I love completed scrapbook layouts!

~Scrapbook layouts completed that night featuring my gorgeous subjects~

My Scrapbook Layouts gallery has been updated so check it out, if you like.

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

If you are looking for an easy made-from-scratch muffin recipe for those busy mornings, then these Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins might just be the ticket. These yummy muffins have been tried, tested, and approved by my family members. If you recall from an earlier post, I/we love muffins, especially for breakfast and warm out of the oven. This is a simple recipe that I can have oven-ready in about ten minutes...from scratch! No box mix here. Trust me, these muffins are really that easy.

Here is the Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffin recipe I used. This recipe yields 12 perfect muffins. If you need a recipe that will yield up to 24 muffins, search Pinterest, there are many. You can find this muffin recipe, and many others, on my Pinterest Board: Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

And, they taste as good as they look...scrumptious! 

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins fresh out of the oven.

Grace approves her last-day-of-school special breakfast!

Happy Monday everyone!
Michelle

Back to Crafting - Card Creations

One of my favorite gifts to give to teachers, day care providers, and friends is handmade card sets.  I try to create card sets that feature an assortment of greeting cards that can be used throughout the year.  One, it gives me a reason to get creative and come up with new designs and, two, they always seem to really like them. Grace gave her teacher an end-of-the-year thank you gift consisting of cards I made using the adorable My Mind's Eye Be Loved Paper Kit. I have always loved My Mind's Eye products and I was drawn to this kit immediately. The Be Loved double-sided patterned papers feature fun color combinations and whimsical designs. The Be Loved kit also coordinates beautifully with one of my favorite background papers, Kraft paper. I had no problem creating both scrapbook  layouts and handmade cards with the Be Loved kit and I still have some left over, even after quite a few completed projects. With a little help from my Cricut, circle punches and rub-ons collection, these cards were both fun and easy to make!

Here is the complete MME Be Loved Kit.

I will share some Be Loved scrapbook layouts soon!

Michelle

Where did I leave off?

So, I took a little time off from my little blog. Like everyone else, my life is busy, at times crazy, yet simply extraordinary at its core. I enjoy writing on this blog, however, there are times when it just won't happen and I've come to realize...this is okay. I will come back to it eventually and it will be fun and make me happy. This little blog is not to be a source of stress in my life, i.e., no deadlines. Rather, it is my "don't worry, be happy" place...that place I can go to to share some of the wonderful things that make my life happy, albeit a Beautiful Mess! Let's rewind to see some of the highlights from the past few months, shall we?

• Grace's 1st Science Fair - she was very excited and diligent in her efforts. So proud of her!

• A Baby Shower -  for our daughter Anne and her husband Zac who are expecting their first baby, our first grandchild. The anticipation of this little one's arrival was a wonderful day of food, laughter, celebration and quality time with family and friends at our local Toffler's Pub & Grill!

Our proud parents-to-be!

Baby bottle drinking contest=much laughter!

Good food!

• Florida Vacation - soaking up the sun and sights. What more is there to say!? Life was good, actually GREAT, for one week.

Sea World was perfect in every way!

Grace made the most of her pool time.

Who wouldn't love a day at St. Pete Beach?

• Alexa's Junior Prom - a splendid, exciting day for her. Where have those 17 years gone??

Alexa and her date, Rustin.

• Summer arrives - finally! We start off summer vacation with a bang, boating on the Mississippi River with family. Summer lovin'...

Grace with her fabulous cousins.

Grace hath no fear!

Repeat... Grace hath no fear!!

• Joni Mae Walter makes her debut - right on her due date, July 11, 2012. What a spectacular, memorable day for our family. She is absolutely perfect and precious in every way! I believe the very proud grandparents have unlimited bragging rights...

Joni and Daddy sharing some special moments.

Joni and Aunt Eve!

Joni and Aunt Chelsea!

Joni and Grandpa Dan!

Joni and Grandma Beth!

Joni and Grandma Michelle!

A new life..a beautiful gift to our family.

• Grace turns 7 - our baby girl continues to grow up right before our very eyes. She is a lovable daughter, sweet (at times crazy) sister, and now a beloved aunt. What will the next 7 years be like??  No one knows. I just look forward to enjoying each and every day that she sprinkes with her smile! 

Grace turning 7!

Whew!! With that, my little blog is now up-to-date for just a few of the many good things that have touched my life in the past few months.  I told you it was crazy but I wouldn't want it any other way!

Until next time,

Michelle

Photography Cheat Sheet...Genius!

Finally, thanks to Pinterest, I think I have found something that can hopefully help me deviate from the "safe" automatic setting on my Nikon DSLR. Maybe it will help me, maybe it won't, but it's worth a try at this point. I plan to print it off and put it in my camera bag. Now I just have to remember that it is in there. Happy shooting!

Source: piccsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

January Take 12

Twelve photos from January 2012 digi-scrapped ~ check!





Easy Morning Muffins

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #13

Jan. 26th - I don't know about you, but I LOVE muffins, especially in the morning, still warm, fresh out of the oven. My kids love them as well and it's nice to be able to change it up for them and give them a reason to detour from the cold cereal or frozen waffles that they seem to like so much. This morning I made blueberry muffins (out of a box...am I a bad mom?). Maybe someday I'll take a run at made-from-scratch muffins but for now this working mama is good with making muffins from a box.  Muffin mixes make great-tasting muffins, are super convenient, come in many flavors, and are way less risky for me. The worst I can do is overbake them right? I have been known to do that by the way. So, today I am grateful for EASY MORNING MUFFINS. Another bonus to buying muffin mixes is that certain brands offer the Box Tops For Education labels  (which we diligently collect). Can't get that with homeade!

Blueberry muffins fresh out of the oven!

2012 Take Twelve Photo Challenge

Once again it is the beginning of a new year and I need, yes NEED, some scrapbooking motivation, a project of some sort, a goal, a renewed purpose of why I scrapbook in the first place. I need to be held accountable for preserving all of the wonderful memories that I capture each year. Accountability is the catalyst to turning my "organized" stash of photos into beautiful scrapbook pages and put to good use the amass of product I have managed to acquire. What can I say?? I am a sucker for pretty pretty scrapbook paper.

As yet another package of a couple 100 developed pictures arrive from Snapfish, I am resolute in taking action and thus begin the search for my "motivation". I love Two Peas in a Bucket. Their website is my go-to for inspiration and motivation so I start (and end) there. I have found my motivation...the 2012 Take Twelve Photo Challenge hosted by Ella Publishing. What is Take Twelve you ask? Take 12 is both a photography and scrapbooking challenge. You take 12 photos on the 12th of each month in 2012 and scrapbook them. They even have a Take Twelve Inspiration Kit to guide and inspire you through the journey. How cool is that?! It is exactly what this girl needs. I am officially signed up and plan to dive in this weekend! While it does not necessarily help me with my backlog of unscrapped photos (still searching for that scrap-your-stash class...), it will certainly spark my creativity and provide me with a "project" that is very meaningful to me. I am also hoping to discover new ideas and become a more purposeful scrapbooker through the process. If you are looking for a great project to throw yourself into this year, you should check out the Take Twelve challenge. It may be just what you need, too!

Date Nights

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #12

Jan. 22nd - We did it! We finally  had a date night and it was wonderful. Grace had a birthday party sleepover so we got to hit the town, just Dan and I. We went to Madison and had a wonderful dinner at Johnny Delmonico's Steakhouse thanks to our wonderful kids who gave us a Food Fight gift card for our birthdays. Delicious food, fabulous waitress, awesome atmosphere, great conversation, and the best date ever! There was nothing not to love. We then took a stroll to the Argus Bar for an after dinner drink. Took me back to our days of actual dating...exactly what date nights are supposed to do! I am so thankful for our DATE NIGHTS and I look forward to many more!

Johnny Delmonico's - downtown Madison.

Weekends

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #11

Jan. 21st - Missed my posting yesterday...it was a TGIF day and what a day it was!! Our first real snowstorm and it was a blast. Even the dog had fun and got nice and tuckered out! I went into work for a little while and made it home before the big snow. Got to spend the day with Chelsea, Brandon, Grace and Sammy. My first run ever with our beast of a snowblower thanks to Brandon getting it started for me. Two hours later I had the driveway, sidewalks and our  neighbor's sidewalks done so Dan didn't have to do it when he got home. It was very cold which made the snow light and fluffy and sooo pretty falling from the sky. You can see the snow falling in a few of the pictures I took. I love taking pictures of my kids in falling snow!

I am so thankful for WEEKENDS and especially those when we have nothing going on. My favorite part of any weekend is waking up on a Saturday morning and not having to rush to get everyone ready and out the door to school or work. Today is Saturday...I got to wake up, enjoy my coffee, download some pictures, surf the net, and blog a little. Typical. It's going to be a good weekend and I am looking forward to our big "little things" for today...Grace has a basketball game and a sleepover birthday party and I hopefully have a date night with my hubby!! Here's to the weekend!!