Snickerdoodles

Let the christmas baking begin! My first cookie of the christmas season is a simple but delicious one. Below is my snickerdoodle recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tblsp white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, and the vanilla.

3. Blend in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Mix in the 2 tbls white sugar with 2 tsp ground cinnamon in a small seperate bowl.

5. Roll 1.5 inch bowls in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Then place 2 in. apart on baking sheets.

6. Bake 10 minutes and remove immediatley from baking sheets.

Christmas Tree Decorating

One of my most favorite days of the year is here, Christmas tree decorating day! This year I bought my own frasier fur christmas tree for my apartment and got to decorate a second tree with my family! I also had a big ugly sweater party at my apartment which made it a very busy weekend but a great start to the holiday season. 

 Now, there are no Christmas tree farms in Arlington and we didn’t have the time to drive out to the country to cut one down so David and I settled on a buying a live tree from the nursery down the street.

 

So many tress to choose from....



David with our tree!

Yep, we fit an 8' tree in my prius

Getting the Christmas tree in the car was easier than we thought and once inside the house I even taught David how to put the lights on. In my family putting the lights on correctly is a big deal so now that David is trained he will have to help every year.

Christmas tree with lights on

Decorating the tree is my favorite part. I don’t have as many ornaments as my parents but I am lucky enough that they have donated me ornaments from my childhood and my grandmother has also given me great ornaments over the years. I love taking out the ornaments and thinking of who gave them to me and why they are so special. It was extra special to decorate the tree with David and tell him about all my family stories and traditions.

Some of  my ornaments



Our tree all decorated

I already have most of my presents wrapped as well so those will soon be underneath the tree and waiting for Christmas morning. Once the tree was decorated it was time for the ugly sweater party. Here are some embarassing pictures for your enjoyment!

David and I with our matching ugly sweatshirts

My roommate Kevin and some of his friends (including Grace)

My great friends that came for the party!

David decided Grace needed to wear his ugly sweater for a little bit

I absolutely love the weeks leading up to Christmas. They are some of the happiest times of the year for me. I hope you and your family have a very merry holiday season and enjoy the fresh smell of your Christmas tree everday!

My new camera!

My new camera came a few weeks ago and I have been having so much fun with it! I am definitely not a photographer but I have always loved taking pictures, scrapbooking, and recording my adventures. When my new camera shipped I started looking for my old camera bag. When I found the camera bag there were 3 other cameras inside! I knew I loved cameras but I don't think I realized how many I had accumulated over the years. So you don't think I am crazy, below are my cameras and the reasoning behind each one.

My first camera was a Nikon D90. My parents gave it to me for my 16th birthday (although neither of them seem to recall this) and it was my first really nice camera. The fact that it was a film camera really dates me but nevertheless this camera provided me with tons of amazing pictures.



My Nikon D90

My next camera was another birthday gift from my parents. It was a Minolta digital camera and to this day still takes great pictures. It is only 2.4 mega pixels but I still swear by this camera for some of my best pictures.

My Minolta

After having my awesome Minolta digital camera the only reason to buy another camera was for additional features so I bought the Olympus Stylus 850SW. This camera was purchased due to its water proof features and ability to take underwater video.

My Olympus 850SW

Most recently I bought the kodak easyshare camera. Since I had used my Olympus waterproof camera for several years it was time to replace the waterproof seals. However, I had another vacation coming up and finding someone to replace the seals for a good price was proving difficult. Therefore, I bought the waterproof kodak easyshare. Not the most amazing camera but for a vacation in Mexico it did the trick.

Kodak EasyShare Sport

And now I have my new baby. I am still trying to learn all the new features and have a lot to learn myself about composition and lighting but this is a good starting place. My Dad was previously a professional photographer so I am hoping he can give me some good tips!

My new Nikon D3000

Hopefully I will be showcasing my increased skills in blog posts to come! Any photography tips are welcome as well!

San Francisco Day 2

After our amazing first day in San Francisco I wasn’t sure Day 2 would live up to it, but it did! We started our morning at Muir Woods. Due to the time change we were able to get there early and had no trouble with parking or fighting any crowds. The Redwoods were unbelievable and the silence of the forest was so peaceful.

After we finished in Muir Woods we decided to go to Muir Beach. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. It is a relatively small beach but absolutely breathtaking. When we arrived we saw so many dogs off-leash just hanging with their families, people eating lunches by the fires they had just made, and a surf camp full of kids. You could tell that people came here to relax and to be with friends and family. There was nothing pretentious about it and to sit there just put me in a better place. I think that beach may be one of my favorite spots.

We eventually had to leave and decided to try another brewery in Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay was a little over an hour away so we decided to take US-1 and again saw spectacular ocean views the whole way.

 We also got to cross the Golden Gate Bridge which was awesome. The view of San Francisco from the bridge is stunning.

 Half Moon Bay Brewery was another great stop. We had delicious oysters and more great beer!

 Once we finished at Half Moon Bay we drove up to San Jose to prepare for our week of work. We made a few pit stops along the way, David was obviously excited about the dinosaurs!

Even though it was a short weekend trip we definitely made the most out of it and had a wonderful time. Who knows maybe my work will allow me to spend some more time on the beaches of California.



San Francisco Day 1

Sorry for my lack of recent blogs but I have been in California! David and I both had meetings in San Jose this past week so we decided to take advantage of our travel and head out to San Francisco for the weekend. We had the most amazing time!

When we arrived in San Francisco we had very little in the way of an agenda for the weekend (this is very unlike my type A personality but very much like David’s). So when we arrived we looked at a map and randomly decided to go to the Golden Gate Park. We parked about half way through the park and headed towards the beach. On our short walk we could already tell how different the west coast was from the east coast. Everyone was outside with their dogs and extremely relaxed. It is difficult to explain but the atmosphere is just more stress-free.

 

One of the gorgeous gardens that we walked by

When we made it to the end of the park the beach just opened up in front of us! At that point I think David and I were sold on moving to San Francisco. We relaxed on the beach some before heading to Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant.



The gorgeous beach

  

David and spent the afternoon trying the locals brews and watching the sunset over the beach. It was perfect.

Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant

 We then headed to Fisherman’s Wharf to meet up with one of our friends. We ate at the Crab House and had a huge skillet of mussels! The seafood was unbelievable on this trip. I think I gained 10 pounds from all the delicious food and beer.

Skillet of mussels

Stay tuned for Day 2 of San Francisco!



UVA Quilt, Finished!!

It is finished!!! I finally finished my UVA quilt and despite all of its flaws I am in love with it. Since I loved the fabric so much I didn’t want to waste any and may have gone a little overboard with my squares. The quilt was originally suppose to be a lap quilt and ended up being 7’ x 6’ which is just perfect for two to snuggle under but much bigger than originally planned.

Below is a picture of the quilt right after I finished the basting process. With a quilt this size the basting process was difficult for a novice like me so I used quilt basting spray. I laid the backing out first and then the quilt batting on top of that. I cut the batting to size and folded it back so I could start spraying. I worked from the middle out to ensure there were no wrinkles. I then did the same for the top. It is still difficult for me to get all the wrinkles out but it turned out pretty well. Even though you do not need to secure your quilt sandwich with pins when using the basting spray it makes me more comfortable to add a few (as you can see in the picture).

My quilt sandwich ready to be quilted

I decided on straight line quilting each line about 2 inches apart. This took much longer than I expected and my walking foot quit on me by the end but I finished. None of my lines are perfectly straight and it will take more practice to learn how to handle such a large quilt while sewing but I am getting there.

Straight line quilting

 

Finally I had to sew on the border. I went with a yellow border to balance the orange and teal on the back of the quilt. I also like the contrast on the front with the large gray border. I use Elizabeth Hartman’s tutorial for attaching borders.

Pressing my border

And here it is! All finished.

My UVA Quilt

 

Believe it or not, I am already planning my next quilt. I have once again been inspired by Elizabeth Hartman’s Mod Sampler Quilt made by Goddess in Progress. She recommended it for a beginner and it is smaller than my UVA Quilt so hopefully it will take a little less time.



IT Band Problems

For any runners out there, I know you will feel my pain. For the last 4 weeks I have gone to physical therapy twice a week and stretched and strengthened my knee on my own every day.  I have been the perfect patient and yet my knee is still killing me. I have been dealing with this knee pain for over 2 years now and have been told several possible causes.

1.       It is my IT band. I should rest and ice. This hasn’t worked.

2.       My knee did not heal properly from my original surgery. I should go to physical therapy. This is proving not to work either. I had electric stimulation, deep tissue massage, and ultrasound. None of these seem to be working.

3.       There is scar tissue from my previous surgery restricting my muscles. I should have surgery. Ha, after my last knee surgery I am not going through that again.

So, where does that leave me now? I can still bike, go to my classes, hike, and generally enjoy life. But does this mean I will never be able to run again? Maybe, but I am not giving up until I have exhausted every option. So below is my plan:

Continue to use my foam roller every day to continue to loosen my IT band.



My foam roller
photo courtesy of Amazon.com



I also purchased the Pro-Tec IT (Iliotibial) Band Compression Wrap. I will wear this during all workouts to help stabilize the IT band.

My IT Band Compression Wrap
photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Lastly, I am changing my workout schedule. On Mondays and Fridays I will start with a little cardio, probably elliptical to keep to low impact, and then focus on core and upper body. I will also do all my physical therapy exercises to continue to strengthen my leg muscles. Tuesdays and Thursdays I will continue to spin. This is a reduction by one day a week but I think it will be good for my knee which is now starting to hurt while spinning. Wednesdays I will still do my boot camp class but make sure that I am keeping my running to a minimum and focusing on my form. Hopefully my lower impact Mondays and Fridays will allow me more time to heal. The weekends I usually take off except for my long walks with Grace which don’t hurt my knee. If my knee begins to feel better I hope to slowly add running back into my regimen.

I will keep you all updated on my progress and hope that things turn around. Please let me know if you have any tips for IT band problems. On my bad days I cannot bend my knee past 20 degrees which limits by ability to walk so any help would be appreciated.