just be ...

happy halloween!

i cant believe its halloween already!  where has the year gone?  this is my favorite holiday, is it even a holiday?

i love all the costumes, the excitement of getting all this candy, the jack-o-lanterns, the ghosts and gouhls in people's yards.  its the one time of year that i feel neighborhood-ly.  though we all talk to our neighbors throughout the year, but this is the one day where we are all out and about.

today as i was driving home from work, i passed up three boys riding their bikes, wearing those presidential rubber heads.  one was george w. bush, one was clinton, and i think the other was nixon ... i couldnt keep staring otherwise i would have drove up into someone's front yard! 

how funny is that?  three boys, dressed as people they probably dont even know who they are other than they were presidents at some point.  where was my camera?  at home.  damn!

happy halloween!

i cant believe its halloween already!  where has the year gone?  this is my favorite holiday, is it even a holiday?

i love all the costumes, the excitement of getting all this candy, the jack-o-lanterns, the ghosts and gouhls in people's yards.  its the one time of year that i feel neighborhood-ly.  though we all talk to our neighbors throughout the year, but this is the one day where we are all out and about.

today as i was driving home from work, i passed up three boys riding their bikes, wearing those presidential rubber heads.  one was george w. bush, one was clinton, and i think the other was nixon ... i couldnt keep staring otherwise i would have drove up into someone's front yard! 

how funny is that?  three boys, dressed as people they probably dont even know who they are other than they were presidents at some point.  where was my camera?  at home.  damn!

do you have cash stashed between the mattresses?

i dont, but i am not sure that isnt a bad idea these days!  yesterday, doris, a fellow co-worker, had kept an eye on the stock market all day ... for fear of what was going to happen.  she is very knowledgeable about her money.  she knows where its going, where its been and where she wants it to go ... up! as do all of us. 

my saturday-before-leaving-for-the-gym ritual is to surf the money stuff, to see what i can do to make what i have grow, how to save and to make more.  today i found this site, smartypig, a savings account/goal setting site. 

you set your goal, ex. a fence for my yard, and provide how much it will cost, ex. $2000, and date of goal, ex. april 2009, and they will tell you how much you need to contribute to the savings account each month, ex. $333. 

they will then auto-deduct it from your checking/savings account at your bank.  when the goal has been reached, they will send you a lovely debit card with the total saved, plus interest.  all free.  

in our economy today, the use of credit cards is taboo, especially if you have a very tight budget.  this would be a good way to save for the things that we really want and not have to pay 3x as much because of compounded interest from our lovely creditors. 

check it out!

do you have cash stashed between the mattresses?

i dont, but i am not sure that isnt a bad idea these days!  yesterday, doris, a fellow co-worker, had kept an eye on the stock market all day ... for fear of what was going to happen.  she is very knowledgeable about her money.  she knows where its going, where its been and where she wants it to go ... up! as do all of us. 

my saturday-before-leaving-for-the-gym ritual is to surf the money stuff, to see what i can do to make what i have grow, how to save and to make more.  today i found this site, smartypig, a savings account/goal setting site. 

you set your goal, ex. a fence for my yard, and provide how much it will cost, ex. $2000, and date of goal, ex. april 2009, and they will tell you how much you need to contribute to the savings account each month, ex. $333. 

they will then auto-deduct it from your checking/savings account at your bank.  when the goal has been reached, they will send you a lovely debit card with the total saved, plus interest.  all free.  

in our economy today, the use of credit cards is taboo, especially if you have a very tight budget.  this would be a good way to save for the things that we really want and not have to pay 3x as much because of compounded interest from our lovely creditors. 

check it out!

inspiration & creativity

they go hand and hand ... i am always looking for inspiration to feed my creativity.  i have a few people i call on religiously for inspiration.  whether its for cooking, baking, scrapbooking or photography, i look to them and they always deliver. 

one of my favs, donna downey, has done it again.  just reading this has ignited me to start looking outside the box.  check it out ... see the new link i have posted on the side here ... see what she can do for your inspiration. 

inspiration & creativity

they go hand and hand ... i am always looking for inspiration to feed my creativity.  i have a few people i call on religiously for inspiration.  whether its for cooking, baking, scrapbooking or photography, i look to them and they always deliver. 

one of my favs, donna downey, has done it again.  just reading this has ignited me to start looking outside the box.  check it out ... see the new link i have posted on the side here ... see what she can do for your inspiration. 

unconditional love

i cannot imagine life without her.  i am eternally grateful she is my sister.  i am so happy that i am a sister.  and to her.  she always always makes me feel better about things.  we just hung up the phone not too long ago and i feel 100% better than i did before we spoke. 

i wish the same for all women.  and if you dont have a sister, hopefully you have a friend that is close enough to call a sister.

 

unconditional love

i cannot imagine life without her.  i am eternally grateful she is my sister.  i am so happy that i am a sister.  and to her.  she always always makes me feel better about things.  we just hung up the phone not too long ago and i feel 100% better than i did before we spoke. 

i wish the same for all women.  and if you dont have a sister, hopefully you have a friend that is close enough to call a sister.

 

high fructose corn syrup

since basically everything made shelf stable these days contains this devil of a sweetener, including bread, popsicles, soda, cookies, some cereals, etc...i decided to take a few things into my own hands.  also reverted back to the days where meals were made from scratch with fresh ingredients.  not only am i getting the benefits of homemade, no chemicals, i am also saving some cash!

found this super easy recipe for homemade tortillas.  mind you, they are no where near comparison to the homemade-fresh-out-of-the-over corn tortillas i had in mexico city, but they passed the taste test. 

(taste test = add peanut butter, taste.)

i didnt add any flavoring but these could easily take on a sundried tomato or pesto or garlic flavor.

ingredients:
6 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
2 1/2 cups warm water

-place flour in bowl of mixer.  add baking powder and salt.  mix.
-add shortening.  mix on low while adding water, slowly.
-mix on low for 90 seconds until well blended.

-on floured surface, empty dough and divide into two equal portions.
-wrap with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

-divide each half into 8 equal portions.  roll out on floured surface to 8" round.
-stack rounds on baking sheet with plastic wrap/wax paper in between each tortilla.
-let stand 10 minutes.

-to cook, fry in frying pan over low heat until lightly brown and bublly.  (no butter or grease!)

found recipe on budget101.com

enjoy! 

     

nothing like a good pile of leaves

and here's one colossal pile of leaves that is worthy of some jumping in, some rolling-around in and definitely some tossing up in the air.  eight years ago when this tree was planted, it had high hopes of what it could be.  today, i was witness to that hope!