Pumpkin Season is upon us.

I always feel kinda dumb when I come to blog these days. I don't have the same drive and I hate seeing how close I am to the next 12 for 12 Update, especially since I know there's so much that I haven't reached yet. I thought 12 for 12 wouldn't be so hard. Just so you know, it is.

Well, I'd like to let you know about a wonderful discovery that has been made: Pumpkin Mac & Cheese. Oh yes, you read that right. My Dad and I teamed up to make this delicious concoction come true with what ingredients we had bought - and which ones that we had left at the store.

We used this recipe from the Spoon Fork Bacon blog and threw out half the ingredients and a good deal of the directions too. Our recipe had double the sharp cheddar and no white cheddar and elbow macaroni instead of fusilli pasta. We threw out the butter, thyme, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, flour and cloves. I told you we got rid of a few things. We also added some shredded spinach to the mix. We threw the seasons, milk and pumpkin in a sauce pan and let it simmer before dumping it with all of the cheeses and the pasta in a pan to bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about half an hour. It turned out delightfully but I forgot to take a picture. Trust me though, it was worth it.

In other pumpkin related news, if you have a Keurig and have been using these little cups of joy, may I suggest that you use them with pumpkin coffee creamer? It's like double wham of pumpkin power and it's definitely seasonally worth it. It's also good with a mixture of pumpkin and vanilla creamer.

Well, I guess it's time for me to get back to rewatching last weeks' episode of Once Upon A Time while I enjoy my pumpkin coffee and actual fall weather.

Hope your Sunday is just as pumpkin filled and relaxing as mine is turning out to be!

Dearest Fall, Hello!

Fall has officially come in Texas. By officially has come, I do mean between the hours of 8PM and 8AM. A girl can still dream though, right? Who knew Fall could be so hot?

Boots. Scarves. Typewriters. Nail Polish. Fun Navajo Inspired Patterns. Fleece Blankets. Star Gazing. Pumkin Spice Lattes. Bowties on Dogs. What makes you think of Fall?

160! 161. 162. 163. 164. 165! 166. 167. 168.

onehundredsixty. unseenbeauty: Bellaandsoccer.

Gracie'sphoto. unseenbeauty: breakswhilecleaning.

onehundredsixtyone. unseenbeauty: bedtime.

onehundredsixtytwo. unseenbeauty: organizationsthankstoDr.Chele.

onehundredsixtythree. unseenbeauty: listening.

onehundredsixtythreecontinued. unseenbeauty: family.

onehundredsixtyfour. unseenbeauty: facingyourfears.

onehundredsixtyfourcontinued. unseenbeauty: universallanguages.

onehundredsixtyfive. unseenbeauty: caughtiguanas.

onehundredsixtysix. unseenbeauty: laughablemoments.

onehundredsixtysixcontinued. unseenbeauty: newtoothbrushes.

onehundredsixtysixcontinued. unseenbeauty: firsttimebrushingwithanewbrush.

onehundredsixtyseven. unseenbeauty: beingreallyclosetowildlife.

onehundredsixtysevencontinued. unseenbeauty: coffee.

onehundredsixtyeight. unseenbeauty: selfexploration.

Internet Finds Are Intriguing

I've been looking at some blogs on my study breaks and just saving neat things to share. This may be long, but it ranges from being creative to wildly entertaining. Enjoy.

The perfect indoor igloo.

Graffiti your way to your loves' heart.

Yes! No more losing my wallet/keys/phone.

The Kea fascinates me.

Take me to this airplane hotel, please!

Hot air balloons and planes? My walls will be happy.

I'm a big fan of coffee facts.
So much a fan, I have different lists of facts.

My kitchen counter was never so jealous.

Compassion and softball. That's a beautiful game.

Reasons to not let your parents pick out your date.
(No offense Mom! I know you wouldn't do this anyway!)

Star Wars and Cereal. I love breakfast.

True character.

Now, that's a proposal!

I guess I'll stop there... :)

My Undying Love... for breakfast.

What could be better than pancakes drenched with maple or blueberry syrup, fried eggs and toast buried under the sweetness of a freshly opened jar of blackberry jam, some pieces of bacon so crispy that you pick it up and it crumbles as you throw the pieces into your mouth and a glass of apple juice and a mug of coffee to top it all of? This is only one of the many meals that I would love to wake up to and have the time to fix every morning.

There's something so savory and relaxing about even the thought of a bowl of cheerios and a mug of coffee on the bistro table on my porch while I read the daily newspaper that I don't get at my house. If you have guessed that my college lifestyle doesn't have time for this kind of thing, you are right. In fact, this morning I grabbed two muffins I baked on Saturday night and carried around a cup of yerba mate as I got ready for my 8a.m. class.

I read a blog that is solely pictures of breakfast. The pictures of certain breakfasts the blogger creates cause my mouth to water with the sheer desire to be able to have that kind of time.

Breakfast, I love you.

Here's one of my bests "breakfasts" from this semester so far:

Studying on a Friday Night

This week, I've been a horrible student. I don't even want to tell you how I finished my two papers for today, how long I had until the deadlines when I turned them in or what time I woke up to get this all done.

Actually, I will tell you what time I woke up. 4AM. That's a little on the ridiculous scale, but I got everything done and then some. So why am I studying so late at night? Shouldn't I be snuggled into my bed with a mug of hot cocoa and a good read instead of laboring away at my kitchen table while overlooking a game of Quelf.

This answer is simple. I am enjoying studying. I'm not studying for my classes, but rather for photography. Tomorrow I'll be out in the world with a lovely model, Calli, as I attempt to practice my photography skills. In preparation for this, my camera is lying by my side as I pour through the quick start guide that came with the camera as well as websites such as Ken Rockwell's that make photography a bit easier for those of us who don't really know what they're doing. I've taken notes. There might be more notes on this notecard over things like ISO, aperture and exposure than I have taken during some of my classes this semester.

One of the things I came across makes me want to rethink the photography side of my life. This is the typical day of a professional photographer:

• Before dark - wake up and get to location
• Dawn: shoot
• 8 AM: breakfast, shower, nap
• Day: scout out new locations
• Afternoon: lunch and/or dinner
• Sunset: shoot
• After dark: later dinner
• After dinner: shower and bed early to shoot at dawn

The beginning before dark is the part that gets to me. I woke up at 4AM this morning for school. I can't imagine getting up this early always for photography, granted I'd probably love it. I'd grab a cup of joe and drive in the wee hours of the morning with no one on the wide open road with me as I get to a location to watch the sun peep around the world as it causes the sky to wake up in an explosion of color. Maybe that's a good idea after all, it could be the love of my life.

Forget soul searching, I asked my coffee who I am.

Some days, it seems like college is all about defining yourself - who you are and how you relate to the world around you. Forget college because my coffee told me about my personality in this interesting article about coffee personalities.

Personally, I tend to switch between a wide variety of coffees mainly sticking with iced coffees, frappacinos and the occasional black coffee laden with sugar and sometimes creamer. I guess this makes me a laid back, spontaneous and flirty person who is also adventurous, flouts authority and is ready to enjoy life although at times I can be ambitious, focused and goal-driven. I guess that's accurate?

However, I overall have begun to prefer green tea. This makes the last line of the article cause me to giggle some.

I Really Should be Asleep...Why Am I Awake?

Edit: It's 4:08AM and I can't sleep. This just can't be good.


I'm working two Princess Parties (Girly Lock-Ins) back to back. Exciting. Will I survive? We'll find out Friday morning at 6AM.

If you haven't been to a Borders lately, go. I've got some great book suggestions if you need a good read. Also, try their Cold-Brewed S'mores Mocha. I'm not always a fan of iced coffee because like most beverages with ice, the amount of ice versus the amount of beverage is wildly unequal. I enjoy a good Cold-Brewed S'mores Mocha though. It's currently my favorite coffee beverage.

I'm slowly succumbing to the idea of getting Twitter. To tweet or not to tweet? Thoughts?

Also, I finally added all my Nicaragua photographs to facebook. You might want to check them out. I miss it there.

My Heart Has Been Stolen By The Band

Things lifeplanwise are looking up. I still don't know what I'm doing, but I'm more okay with that tonight. Coffee, friends and a bit of Jesus are all great things.

Some of y'all know, or do y'all?, that I am a David Crowder Band fan. [As well as a fan of blogspot and the way that your internet can shut down on you in the middle of writing something, but it saves your entry, so you don't have to start over. How thoughtful.] They are just plain cool. They have a xanga and a keytar. Need I really say more?

I'm even a fan of theirs on facebook, which is saying a lot because I'm not a facebook fan of just anything - although I do enjoy hot showers and chocolate chip cookies. I think I'm a fan because of their humor. It's very me. I'm going to stop rambling with how I love DC*B so much, because it's starting to be a tad embarrassing. Almost as much as me just going to look up the spelling of the word "embarrassing" to make sure it's correct.

Either way, you should really watch this video: DC*B's Rockumentary 4: Twitter Will Kill You:


Ironically currently listening to: Home - Shawn McDonald