DePhoMo: 8 - 18

8. Our hallway frames.


9. My parents-in-law at Tempe Marketplace.


 10. Sneakers.


11. Scotty and Raiden with Christmas crackers.


 12. Dessert one night. (Click on the image for instructions!)


13. Chris and Alicia's Christmas card photo.


14. Raiden and Scotty.


15. Some of our holiday decorations.


16. Loki in my hoodie.


17. My mom and stepdad's dog Ruger.


 18. My brother PJ with Raiden in his pocket.

DePhoMo: 1 - 7

Every December I like to try to do the DePhoMo project, which is one photo every day during December. Here's what I have for the first seven days in December...

1. Our new puppy Raiden (post on him coming soon!) playing in his room. Yes, he has a whole room to himself at the moment.


2. Raiden with a toy.


3. Looking in our front window.


4. Raiden in his sweater, wondering why he has to be outside.


5. Loki being chill.


6. The chair Scotty's grandfather made for him - only temporarily being used to keep the cat food away from the puppy.


7. Raiden.

A Spooky Trip to the Phoenix Zoo

On Halloween, Scotty and I both happened to have the day off. We took a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. I thought I'd share some pictures from our visit.

I love all zoos that are focused on sustaining wildlife and preserving the lives of animals around the world. The Phoenix Zoo is currently undergoing some renovations and there's construction around, but it was a really fun visit nonetheless. I was particularly excited to see the komodo dragon babies they have visiting from San Diego Zoo!

Making friends with a komodo dragon.

 

A baby - they live in trees when they are young to avoid predators (including adult komodos!)

An aldabra tortoise.

A cute cow in the petting zoo/farm area.

An iguana munching! I wish Loki would eat her greens with this much excitement.

The stingray tank!

Recipe: Cake Mix Cookies

I love these cookies.

I happened to have a box of devil's food cake mix in the cupboard and a hankering to make cookies, so when I spotted this recipe online I knew I had to give it a try. It's incredibly easy and the cookies come out so well!

The best thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever you like to the cookies and use whatever kind of cake mix you like. For these particular cookies pictured, I used a devil's food cake mix, about a cup of dark chocolate chips, and maybe a quarter of a cup of leftover chopped nuts.

Cake Mix Cookies
1 packaged cake mix, any flavor
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and any additional ingredients you would like (chocolate chips, nuts, etc). Spoon by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet(s).

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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Once these were done and cooled, I put them into my new cookie jar! My family gave this to me when they came over last weekend for breakfast. Isn't he adorable?



<3

Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Supper

I made this for dinner last night and boy was it good! My picture didn't turn out, but I thought I'd share the recipe. 

Cheesy Chicken Supper
1 package frozen broccoli, thawed
4 servings cooked rice
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 can broccoli cheese soup, undiluted
1/2 cup milk
Shredded cheese to preference
French fried onions to preference
Spices (salt, pepper, etc)

In a large skillet, add oil and cook broccoli until crisp and tender. Add the chicken, soup, milk, and spices, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through.

Add cheese and onions. Remove from heat and let stand until cheese is melty and yummy-looking. Serve over rice.

Halloween Decor

One of my favorite things about having a house is being able to decorate it! No kidding, this is one of the things I was so excited about during the buying process. However, I'm limiting myself to not buy a whole lot, and try to be creative and fun. I don't want to go overboard or spend a lot of money. I thought I'd share what I have so far for Halloween, one of my favorite holidays.

The front door... with our basketball pumpkin and welcome sign!

A spooky bottle from Michael's and a cute little ghost from Target.

Martha Stewart's Wriggling Snake Wreath craft project... not its permanent home yet!

And finally, vinyl bats on the garage door! This great idea was from Melancholy Smile.

Two printables

I made these graphics this past week when I had the sudden urge to fill some empty frames.

I found printables online for these, but a lot of people who make printables don't give them the right resolution or DPI/PPI, so they look pixelated or blurry when printed out, so I made my own versions!

If you'd like to download them, you should be able to do so by following the download link under each one. Just right-click and save, then print.

(download)

(download)