Black and Whites

I was checking out some things on DPS (digital photography school) and found this article by Natalie Norton. It's got some great info about converting photos to black and whites.

I tried it out on this picture of Maria.... here it is in color, which I love:



Here it is converted into B&W:



and here it is a little warmed up:



I'm a fan of them all.... but that could be because I'm just a little bit biased.
What do you guys think? Do you have a favorite?

Pugmire Burgers

We call them Pugmire Burgers, they call them BBQ burgers... although you don't actually BBQ them... whatever they are they sure are delicious. A moist burger covered with oodles of onions and loads of sauce.

Pugmire Burgers

Hamburger pattys (we just use ground beef and form our own), browned
1 (or 3) large onions, sliced into rings (depending on how much you like onions)
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp mustard
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Saute onions for a couple of minutes in a large saucepan just to get them started. While onions are starting, in a bowl combine ketchup, water, worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugars, vinegar and cloves. Pour this sauce over the onions. Add the hamburgers. Cover and simmer 1 hour. Remove cover and simmer 15-30 minutes uncovered so sauce has a chance to thicken. Serve over buns.

Becky

This is Becky:



She is my old doll from when I was a little girl. A few weeks ago Maria and I were looking around the garage and Maria caught a glimpse of Becky. Now, when Maria wants something she spreads her arms out wide, opens her mouth, and shakes. That's what she did when she saw Becky. Becky has been one of Maria's favorite toys as of late.... but if you look at her hair :



it's just a little bit gross. It's plastic, and it looks as if it encountered a blow dryer somewhere along the lines of it's existence. The thing is, Maria likes the hair, its something that she can grab on to.... something that she can put into her mouth.

Yesterday Mom, Maria, and I went to the Walmart for a couple of things.
For an art project:



and for some color on the back porch:



We swung by the toy department and saw some dolls there. We showed Maria a few and she was in heaven!! The last doll we showed her had a pacifier... Maria played with the doll for about 30 seconds and then took the pacifier out of the dolls mouth and proceeded to put it in her own mouth. Smart girl... knows what she wants!! We didn't end up getting a doll.... I'm looking for one that we can just throw in the washer after Maria has chewed it and it needs a good wash. Does anyone know where I can get one like that?

Planting Combos.

I asked my mom (gardening queen that she is) and Marigolds are great for repelling slugs.

Then she whipped out this handy book "New Complete Home Landscaping" by Catriona Tudor Erler which is a great resource for all types of landscaping and gardening.



She showed me page 292 which has a table on "Combining Plants to Repel Pests".

Lately...

... we've been watching a little bit of this guy here:

(Thank's for the image Google!!)

oh so funny.... I like the part where one of the "good guys" tosses a microwave at one of the "bad guys" and then says..... now that's how we move merchaindise.

We've also been doing some gardening. I'm really not a good gardener, but I'm trying. I'm learning about planting in an organized fashion... I'd like to learn about planting what next to what to keep the bugs away... I figure if I learn a little every year then by the time I die I'll know quite a bit.

We put some lava rock down between the boxes this year... last year the grass grew really high because the lawnmower doesn't fit between the boxes, and it takes a whole lot more effort to get the weedeater out than it does to hop on the lawn mower.... so viola! a little round up and lava rocks solved that problem.



Here's Mom getting all that pesky grass that sprouted up out of the garden boxes and Marco puttin' down the lava rock. I was the designated picture taker, and baby holder.



and here is a picture of my dear ol' dad. I think he's just a punkin'. I got this shot off the other day:


I think he looks quite handsome... but he's not a real big fan of getting his picture taken.... these are a few that I got when we were in Idaho for Christmas:







I'll just have to be sneaky around him when I've got the camera out.

...to the beach with Nanna

Wednesday afternoon was beautiful!! Nanna, Maria, and I cruised on down to Birch Bay for a leisurely bike ride. It was a whopping 52 degrees.... and I was amazed at how many people were working on their tans. A little crazy, but this is Washington.





Half way thru the bike ride we stopped and played on the beach for a little. Maria liked the rocks, and I was amazed at how good she was. She didn't want to put everything in her mouth, but she did want to touch and pick everything up.





...and here's my little sweetie working on her raspberries:

Days for Girls

Our ward/stake has the privilege of being able to participate in a humanitarian project called "Days for Girls". We are making washable feminine hygiene products to send to girls in Africa. Yesterday my mom and I met a group of ladies at the church and worked on sewing bags that the kits will go into. It was fun getting together with them, being social, and doing something for a good cause. When we were nearly done I got my camera out, so I didn't happen to get pictures of everyone there... but here are a few shots:

Happy Easter

Layered Ranchero Dip aka 7 Layer Dip

Layered Ranchero Dip

(1) 10 1/2 oz can refried beans
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/2 packet taco seasoning
2 ripe avocados
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
grated cheddar cheese
green onions, chopped
tomatoes, diced
olives, sliced... minced... cut up however you like them.

Spread beans on platter. Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, and taco seasoning. Spread sour cream mixture evenly on top of beans. Mix avocado, lemon juice, salt and garlic powder; spread evenly on top of sour cream mixture. Top with grated cheese, green onions, tomatoes, and olives. Serve with tortilla chips.

Easter Photos

I set up shop this morning and took some Easter photos of my darling little girl. Here are a few of my favorites from our little session:

She is her own best friend.

Maria still has a few problems when it comes to stability. Sometimes when she is sitting she looses her balance and tips over. This happened today when I was taking some pictures of her and she started crying. So I took her into the spare room so she could look at herself in the mirror, that always seems to cheer her up.

She is her own best friend.... I hope it's a good thing.

discombobulation... is that a word?

I get my shampoo and conditioner in bulk. It's cheaper that way. This morning I used up the last of the conditioner so I decided to fill up the empty conditioner bottle, and near empty shampoo bottle. So I get out the big containers, and fill up the shampoo fist, then I start filling up the conditioner and realize that I just put the conditioner in the shampoo bottle and I am now putting shampoo in the conditioner bottle. Man, I just hate it when I get all discombobulated.

My sister came over today and told me some news.... she's ENGAGED!!! I'm so totally stoked for her! You guys have no idea how exciting this is.... well maybe you do - really ridiculously exciting!!
Anyway while she was here I was telling her how Maria has a lone tooth. It took me forever to tell her where it was, bottom right btw. I knew it was on the bottom, but those darn lefts and rights have always gotten the better of me!! Maybe it stems from that time when I was just a wee-one and I asked my mom which side of the road the train tracks were on. She told me the right. So when we were heading back I told her that the train tracks were on the right.... and she tried to correct me saying that, no, now they are on the left. Key word there being tried, I was a stubborn little girl and said that you (mom) told me that they were on the right so they're on the right. And to this day I still have problems with left and right.... although, there is one thing that helps. When I was in third grade I had soccer practice after school. We were practicing kicking the ball. I guess I was kicking ambidextrously because the coach told me to kick with my right foot. I felt like a dummy because I didn't know which one was my right foot. He was kind and told me and I kicked the ball. Now, the thing that helps me determine my left from my right is if I look to the east and pretend in my head that I'm kicking a soccer ball. Then I'll know, hey that's my right foot, so this is my right hand, and if I turn in this direction, I'll be going right. I know it's ridiculous, but that's how I roll.

Snickers Salad

I got this recipe from Relief Society when I was in college at BYU-Idaho. Good times. This is a great summertime salad, and can be multiplied as many times as you'd like to make as much as you'd like.... it's great that way.

Snickers Salad

1 red apple, cubed
1 green apple, cubed
1 snickers bar, cubed
1/2 c whipped cream
4 Tbsp powdered sugar
6 oz strawberry yogurt

Place cut up apples and snickers bar in a bowl. Whip together remaining ingrediens and then fold into apple mixture. Multiply as desired.

Baleadas

This is one of my husbands favorite dishes from his homeland, Honduras. I think it's a breakfast food, but he'll eat it any time of the day. Generally we prepare the beans ahead of time so its a really quick breakfast.

Baleadas

2 cans black beans
1 Tbsp butter
salt to taste
Cojita cheese, shredded
small flour tortillas
scrambled eggs

In a blender puree the black beans. In a skillet melt butter, add the black bean puree and season with salt. Heat thru. You can store this in a container in the fridge for the whole week.

Heat tortilla. Spread a thin layer of beans (warmed) over tortilla. Then some scrambled eggs (my general rule is about 1 egg per tortilla). Sprinkle with cheese. It's as simple as that. Enjoy.

Marco cooks...

or should I say grills. Last night he made some yummy carne asada!! The weather was screaming "YOU NEED TO HAVE CARNE ASADA FOR DINNER" to us yesterday. So while we were picking up some more rice cereal for Maria we picked up cilantro, raddishes, and steak. They didnt have any of those thin cut carne asada steaks, and I didn't know what to ask for... but it turned out just fine. I sliced the steaks thin, pounded and marinated them.... just as good as the original. and boy howdy, Marco grilled the steaks and tortillas to perfection! maybe we should have it again for dinner tonight... looks like its going to be another beautiful day!

She's a doll... and likes 'em too!!

Sunday I was looking for something in the garage. I had Maria in my arms which made the task just that much more difficult. I can't remember what I was looking for now... my poor memory these days. But Maria found what she wasn't even looking for. A doll. I don't know if she thought it was another baby, but oh man, was she ever excited to see that doll. It's this little doll that I had from when I was a kid, so it's probably at least 20 years old. I believe it is one of those dolls that you didn't know if it was a boy or a girl until you got it home and got it out of the package and did something to it... and i think it came with a "birth certificate". Anyway, that's beside the point. She loves her new (to her) little dollie. She tries to eat it's head. Or maybe she's giving it kisses. Who knows. Her communication skills are lacking these days.

Speaking of her communication skills.... they may be lacking where I'm concerned, but she sure likes to talk to herself. She'll sit in her walker sometimes and just babble away. It makes me smile!

Another thing that makes me smile (there are a lot of them today) is the fact that she is now rolling over... both ways!! She started this weekend. Nothing, there was absolutely nothing, and then all of the sudden something just clicked and she's all over the place.... sitting, on her stomach, on her back, 3 feet away from where i put her down. As much as she tries though she still hasn't figured out how to sit up from a lying down position yet. During feedings last night, and this morning when I got her out of her crib she was on her stomach, which was a first. Up until now she's preferred sleeping on her side to sleeping on her back, but now I guess stomach is the new favorite... takes after her mama.

First Bike Ride of the Year

...and Maria's first bike ride EVER. We headed over to Birch Bay earlier this afternoon for a cruise along the beach. It was warmer than it has been, but still not really warm. Summer is just way too short here. We had a good time. Maria stayed awake the whole time just looking around.
Here she is all bundled up in the bike trailer:


While we were riding along we noticed that a bunch of people were stopped looking out towards the water, so we stopped and joined them and saw that they were looking at a bald eagle. It was pretty cool, I'm not sure what it was doing, it might of had a fish, but I couldn't see from the distance.



Maria made it almost all the way thru the bike ride without fussing. She started complaining the during the last 2 miles. Here she is all happy after she got out of the trailer:



And here is one with her daddy after he loaded the bikes onto the car:

Words...

I finished reading "The Reader" last night. I wasn't totally impressed. I think that the idea of the book was very good, but the execution of it didn't keep me interested the entire time.

I started a journal online today. I'm really excited about it. It's host is LDSjournal.com. You don't have to be LDS to use it. I like it for oodles of reasons. Numero Uno is that it is online, which seems to make things easier. #2- it gives you journal jar ideas- things that you can write about if you're stumped that day. It helps to keep you going and also keeps things interesting. Trois: you can get your journal pubished for a pretty reasonable price. Its setup is a little different, as in, if you ad pictures they are added as footnotes. I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes... right now I'm excited... so hopefully I'll be able to keep my enthusiasm going.

I'm getting caught up on laundry!! I'm hoping the never ending monster will disappear, if only for a few minutes, later this afternoon.

Picture of the Day

I was going thru some pictures and found this little gem of my nephew Hayden from Christmastime.

I love Spring!!

The reminders of new life are everywhere. Gaggles of geese have been in the cow pastures all around. I've never seen so many geese around here. Ever. It was weird to see them padding around the fields nibbling at the grass as if they were cows. I wish I had gotten pictures of it so I could show you all. The other day we were driving to the post office and and we noticed that one of these groups was in what seemed like a big gray puddle. Nope. It was a bunch of fuzzy little chicks. I guess that was why they were hanging around for such a long period of time.

And because posts are better with pictures, here is one of Maria. My lil' spring chick.

African Peanut Soup

African Peanut Soup

1 med. onion, chopped
1 lg carrot, peeled & diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 green pepper, seeded & sliced
3 Tbsp flour
5 c chicken broth
2/3 c peanut butter
1 can (28 oz) chopped tomatoes
2 c chopped chicken
1 c milk
pepper, cayenne pepper

Saute onion, carrot, celery, and pepper. Stir in flour. Slowly add broth. Stir frequently, heat to boiling. Add peanut butter and simmer 15 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken, and milk. Season to taste and simmer 30 minutes.