November 2007
I looked up “zig-a-zig-ah” on Urban Dictionary and almost peed my pants laughing:
1. v. To enjoy oneself
2. v. To partake in enjoyable activities of the PG kind.
3. v. To wear excessive amounts of makeup and platform shoes and sing about absolutely nothing.
4. n. What Scary Spice really really wants.
LOL
I’ve recently re-discovered the joys of digital scrapbooking. It was something I very briefly got involved in after Mike and I got married but within a year of being married, we were house hunting and I was pregnant with Ian. Translation: all my free time was sucked away. 😉 I literally only made one layout before I stopped.
Literally.
One.
Layout.
Behold, my first digital scrapbooking page EVER:
Don’t you just want to gag on its sugary, sweet cuteness and the newlywed glow I was clearly suffering from? 😉
I will say, that page was a labor of love. I had nooooo idea how to use Photoshop Elements and nearly ripped all my hair out trying to figure out “layers”. I literally went out and bought “Scrapbooking with Photoshop Elements” and poured over its pages trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. 🙂
Now that I’m doing all this blogging and photographing, the computer stuff comes much easier. I have years of Photoshopping under my belt. And although I am still a newbie and have tons to learn, I am much more proficient.
Since I am blogging so much (I doubled 2008’s total post count!!!), I decided a few months back that I wanted to personalize my blog a bit. Since I was too cheap to pay to have it done, I played around and created my header using free scrapbooking supplies I found online. Working on the header reminded me about how much I enjoyed digital scrapbooking. I created a few more headers and then decided to just jump back in.
Behold the majesty of my second layout EVAH!
I have no doubt that there will be more to come. I have a few ideas up my sleeve for 2010 so hold onto your knickers, girls! (Spice World reference! Zig-a-zig-ah! That’s for you, Rachel! LOL)
This blog post is dedicated to my scrapbook-crazy Aunt Marsha. I bet she’s really proud as she was the one that got me interested in scrapbooking to begin with. 🙂
Crockpot “Baked” Potatoes
(Like my pink kitchen counter and backsplash?!?)
Well, for me it was a win. No one else in the house seemed to be too interested in it. 🙂
I saw a recipe online for “baked” potatoes made in the crockpot. Since we work full time and don’t have an hour or so to make dinner after work, we really never have them. (The fact that Mike hates potatoes is just a minor point, right? LOL) A crockpot-method of cooking potatoes could make baked-potato-eating a reality in my life. Hurray!!!!
I really liked them. I will say they had a *slightly* different flavor and texture than they do after being baked. I liked it a lot but crazy potato purists (*cough*mymom*cough*) may not be as okay with it. They were more moist than potatoes that have been baked and really didn’t need butter or sour cream. The meat of the potato was a little brown vs the light tan color you find after they’ve being baked.
Mike didn’t like it but he doesn’t like any potatoes so he doesn’t count. 😉 Ian and Matthew wouldn’t eat it either. Ian is kind of touchy about his food (and was hankering for cookies) so I wasn’t too surprised about that. I will say, I was a little surprised that Matthew didn’t eat it but he’s getting a little more unpredictable in the food department as he gets older.
We will be having more of these, even if it is only for my benefit. It’s a quick and easy way to make something I love that takes too long to cook on a normal weekday.
Crockpot “Baked” Potatoes
INGREDIENTS:
4 russet potatoes
toppings (sour cream, butter, cheese, chives, etc)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash and scrub potatoes until clean. Dry thoroughly.
When dry, prick potatoes with a fork and wrap in aluminum foil.
Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4.
I was sitting in the glider reading a book early Sunday morning when Matthew came over. Actually, he kind of does this running-dive, “throw himself at you” kind of move. If you’ve been around him, you know what I mean. In Matthew-language, it means “hug me and pick me up”. I was cuddling with him for a bit when Ian decided he wanted picked up too. Nothing better than cuddling my babies. 🙂
This is love.
(By the way, we found Matthew STANDING on the end table (behind me in the picture above, with the basketball toy on it) and beating the hell out of the screen/window overlooking our backyard. We have no idea how he got up there. I swear that boy finds new ways to get in trouble every single day. LOL)