Blueberry Muffins and Refreshing Rain for Muffin Monday

Today we are starting 'Muffin Monday'. It's been too hot to bake lately but school just started last week so I decided since there are a million and one ways to make a muffin and we could start trying some out and have an extra easy breakfast idea for the weekdays. What comes to mind when you think of muffins? Blueberry of course. I searched through Foodgawker I found this one over at Cookin' For My Captain that looked like a good first choice to start with. Here's how they turned out:

Super easy to make.

Blueberry Muffins:

2 cups of flour

1 tblsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

• Preheat oven to 400 °
• Whisk flour, baking powder, & nutmeg together in a bowl.
• In separate bowl, whisk eggs, milk, sugar, butter, & vanilla.
• Add flour mixture just until mixed together.
• Fold in blueberries.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Yields 1 dozen.

Hubby called me from work about an hour after he left for work this morning. He started out with "I do NOT like blueberries." but before I could tell him I knew that he probably wouldn't like these muffins he followed it with "but I LOVE these muffins!". I think they were a winner! Ella really enjoyed them too. Audrey still is not a big fan of blueberries but she is not the biggest eater so I don't gauge a food's success on her take at this point in her life yet.

And, OMG we had the coolest day of the summer today. At least this morning. My 5th grader, Ella is in safety patrol and just as soon as she was about to take off early to school to start her 'shift' it started raining! I was so happy to drive her with the windows down. Not just a few drops, actual RAIN. It didn't last long but after this summer's drought it was the greatest thing ever. I just stood with the door open when I got back home, while talking to Corey about the muffins, and inhaled that smell. I adore that smell. I wish I could bottle up that smell and light a candle that smells like fresh rain whenever I was feeling down. That has to be on my list of top 3 smells ever. Also, just-out-of-the tub babies and fresh baked bread! But these freshly baked blueberry muffins aren't far behind.

It Never Fails....

I'm coming to the realization that I am my own worst enemy. Lately, many of my thoughts have revolved around what direction I want to be headed in. Not just career, but life's purpose. What will make me happy. I have figured out I have to have a creative outlet. Photography has been filing that void lately. I hadn't thought about why or where, but I am just doing and enjoying.

Unfortunately, here comes the logical side of my brain mixed with the seed of doubt that is trying to ruin the fun. It really never fails and I know I must have had some voice, in the form of a parent or a teacher, at some point in my life telling me why I can't and shouldn't. And, I'm finally realizing this is not my voice and I can tell it to shut up! I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject and of people that are successful at being creative. I just need to keep pushing on and shutting down that voice that asks why I would even try and that there are a million other people out there that are better than me. But really, who cares if there are. That means I have a million people to learn from.

And since pictures are where it's at here are a few of the latest from this morning. The first could be titled "What happens when you leave your camera in the hands of your 7-year-old". I was talking with a friend and had taken a few pictures of the girls so I checked the camera when I got home and found this first one. Love it!

This is one I took while waiting for my friend to arrive:

And one more I took after I told the girls they look so pretty even when they aren't smiling and they decided to make serious faces the rest of the morning:

As they say: Just keep swimming.....

New camera?

Well, so I won't be using the camera much longer and now I have a choice of just not taking pictures or buying a good DSLR of my own. And, we will be going on vacation in a little over 2 weeks so do I go ahead and buy the new camera now? I think I've figured out which one I want, the Canon Digital Rebel XT. It has great reviews and I can pick one up under $500 all day long. So, do I want to shell out the money and have the camera for the cruise is the question? I need to make a decision and will be pondering that over the next week since I need to order one very soon if I decide to buy used or online.

Until then, here are some new photos. The first was taken in the school's garden. Again, since we have had 100+ temperatures nearly every day over the past month or so many of the flowers have died off but this is a pretty little yellow one with beautiful coloring:

One of the few here that still looks good. Most are on the way out:

A pretty cone flower that was in my garden but has since kicked the bucket:

I had to do a little editing on these. This is my BIL, Marcus and this whole scene just screams vintage look so vintage editing it is:

and one more shot with the vintage type screen edited in Picnik:

This shot was actually taken by our cheap point and shoot Sony digital but it was such a cool shot I had to edit it and include it. We found this bike sitting outside of a little strip of shops close to downtown Dallas:

This is the runner up on a shot I did for the MCP project 52 with the theme: Sweet Relief. The other shot that I chose to submit can be seen here. I didn't get chosen still as one of the top 10 but I did get some encouraging comments. That makes me feel like I at least am learning each week.

I may be getting my hands on Photoshop for free so that is really exciting. It makes the thought of shelling out the money for a nicer camera that much easier but still, I'm pretty frugal so I need to be sure this is something I will be getting my money's worth with so I am still a bit hesitant. I know this would be easy for most people but I just can't go out and spend money without thinking about it. I have to be absolutely certain that I will not have buyer's remorse. Right now, I'm about 70% on the side of buying one but will be adding a new post here when I make my final decision.

Lake, Storms, & a Drop-In Visitor

I feel like this past week was kind of a bust as far as photography. I had a great idea to go to the lake, which is a few miles down the road and has a great trail around it. Problem was, by the time we got there the storms were bearing down on us somewhat and we only had about an hour.

I got a few good shots & experimented more with photo editing. I'm just using Picasa now but if I'm still interested 6 months down the road I'll probably invest in Photoshop.

This shot is one of the few flowers blooming down by the lake. Here in Texas it's been over 100 more days than normal so most of the prettier flowers have died as far as I could tell:

This is one of the shots where I tried to get that vintage-y look to it. It was pretty plain before but I think it looks neat now:

A palm tree base that someone apparently took down. You don't see a lot of these trees around here. I'm guessing it gets too cold in the winter for them:

In this one Audrey was trying to show me the tiny flowers that she picked and when I took a shot, Ella walked over in the shot. So, it looks like one of those shots where she's the same size as the flower. Or, I'm squishing your head:

The "I'm 10 and contemplating the universe" shot, aka the Mom thought it was cool for me to stand looking in the distance with the storm clouds rolling in:

Of course when we drove back home the sun was starting to set and this is the best shot I could get with the clouds & the rain in the distance:

A night shot & some fooling around in Picasa:

The day after the storms I was working at my desk and heard birds going crazy. My desk backs up to the back of the house where we have lots of windows facing the backyard. There were 2 birds chirping and flying back and forth between the house & our tree (the one in the picture above), and swooping down towards the dog, Ace. Here is the little guy on the roof:

And his friend in the tree:

When we ventured out after the ruckus we found a nest that had been knocked down and a dead little baby bird (awww) on the ground which I'm guessing came down in the very high winds we had the night before. The birds had flown away to make a new nest somewhere:

Good luck little birdies.

Crave?

So, you see, over the last week this is turning more into a 'me learning photography' site. Just cuz. I'm mildly obsessed and I can't get enough. I'm reading everything I can and trying to get the difference between apertures, ISOs, and such.

Anyway, this was taken a few days ago. I seem to do the best at flower photos but I'm trying to at least get the hang of indoor and people shots. At least I have my little freckled one to practice on:

Don't believe that innocent look. She's guilty of something. *note the slight smear of chocolate on her mouth.

So, remember that online photo site, MCP Actions? Yes, well the theme this week is crave. I am really trying to think outside that box but I keep coming back to chocolate. I like this shot from the muffins Ella made for Father's Day. The blues are so pretty & I want to do something similar but it's zoomed way in and too grainy. We are going to head up to the store today to get more chocolate chips and make a 2nd batch. 1. Because they are hella good & 2. So, I can get a good shot for this week's entry.

So, Audrey's favorite pose as of late is this. I think her Aunt may have had something to do with this but I have at least 10 shots over the past week of her doing this. Could be that her mother's dorkiness is shining through too.

I had an idea for the crave theme with Ace dog & his birthday bone but he just looks too sweet.

This one was a little better but still not it. Any thoughts on cravings? I'm open & willing to make food to get a good shot. For now, I'll just go with the muffins unless I get a better idea.

TTFN.

E & Flowers

Today is Father's Day. Ella made chocolate chip & oatmeal muffins for breakfast. While we were waiting for them to cook I noticed that our 2nd sunflower had fully opened up. Here is a nice majestic shot of it. It's probably a good 7 feet tall. I had to stand on my tiptoes to get this close.

Here is another shot of that Arizona sunflower from last time. Not the greatest shot but was trying to get that bee on the top.

Ella was just sitting on her scooter and I nabbed a few shots while she wasn't paying attention. This one has a soft focus :

This one is warmed up:

This is probably my favorite for the day. I played around a bit with the color palette available:

In sepia:

The look I got when she noticed I was taking pictures of her:

And then one more where I told her to stop looking at me and just play around:

Back?

So, things got pretty hectic for a while. I'd like to say I'm back but I just don't know. The summer is upon us and I do have more time but let's just see where this goes. Over the last few weeks I started screwing around with my MILs camera she told us to play with and got some cool shots so this is what I've been up to & wanted to put them somewhere.

This was taken in my garden this morning. These flowers, Arizona sunflowers, are just so pretty. I love the colors and couldn't pass up this opportunity.

This one was taken a little earlier in the morning. I think because the background looks so dark it almost looks like the flower is giving off light:

I have several of these flowers in my garden to ward off pests:

I joined a group yesterday that has themes each week for photos and encourages everyone to join. It's called MCP Project 52. This week's theme was Make it Tasty. The picture below is one of the shots I took but not the exact picture I used.

Another pretty flower. I have lots of yellow flowers & I like to shoot my yellow flowers in the morning:

Ok, so sometimes I mix it up a bit with some purple. I'm a little picky. I like color schemes in the garden so I tend to pick blues, yellows, & purples. I love those colors together.

Here is a picture of Ella & her good friend, Meredith. It was a beautiful evening and they just finished practice. I wonder what they are talking about. Probably something about the crazy woman who won't stop snapping pictures behind them.

This is Meredith's little sister, Ava. She's so cute. Her hair reminded me of the roaring twenties so sepia seemed to fit. It almost looks like she is setting up for a day at the beach, doesn't it?

Well. That's all for now. I'll be out and about taking pictures and learning new techniques. We'll see where it goes.