dug post

hi everyone.  my name is dug.  i'm a beagle.  life's been pretty good.  i went camping a few weeks ago.  i loved most of it.  my mom and dad took me exploring on the sandbars.  it smells amazing - lots of fishy smells and wet sand for me to run around on.  i liked chewing on all the drift wood, too!

i had a lot of fun sniffing around and exploring too!

my favorite part was the warm campfire.  i love to sun tan, but this was even better!  plus, mom and dad fed me a hotdog.  i was in heaven!

my least favorite part was sleeping in the tent.  i'm an indoor dog, but a tent dog.  hearing all the crickets and coyotes really scared me.  i stayed on watch for most of the night.  boy was i tired the next day.  welp, that's about all.  i'm gonna go sniff out some kibbles.  bye.

camping

jake took me camping about 2 weeks ago.  i had never been camping before.  my idea of camping is staying in a sketchy motel.  since it was my first time, we went to a little campsite about 1 mile from my mom's house.  remember this place?  seriously, (and secretly) i figured i would end up back at my mom's house, but i did it.  i stayed the entire night.  on a hard floor.  in a tent.

dug had the time of his life.  he sniffed, and ran, and sniffed, and ran some more.  we even decided to let him eat a hot dog since we were out camping.  he enjoyed every bite.

along the campsite runs a river.  it's been so dry this summer that river is really dry and has plenty of sand bars to walk along.  jake taught me how to skipped rocks.  i'm pretty bad at it.

we ended the night with a campfire and all the fixings - hot dogs, dill pickle chips, and s'mores.  it's so weird that something as simple as building a campfire and sitting around it is so relaxing.  i had a great time and actually would love to do it again, despite the fact that i barely slept due to a hard ground, and dug pacing the inside of the tent determined to protect his beloved mom and dad.

anyway, tell me about your camping experiences!  the good, the bad, and the ugly...ok, go.

back to school!

today's the first day of school!

zucchini brownies

my mom made zucchini brownies last week.  i was working on consuming the entire pan, but then she gave some away to a neighbor (without my consent)!  they were so good i had to make another pan.  don't worry, i already told myself i have to share these with someone.  my waist thanks me in advance.

the recipe is from a small town newspaper that my mom clipped this summer.  the newspaper actually has a column titled "recipe corner".  an  (probably cute) old lady submitted it.  you know it'll be good if that's the case.  women in small towns only share the best of the best of their recipes. 

here's the recipe. 
(with a few adaptations i made marked by *)

zucchini brownies

ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

2 cups all-purpose flour *i used whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder *i used dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups shredded zucchini *i peeled mine first

1/2 cup chopped walnuts *i skipped on the walnuts and added some peanut butter chips because i had some leftover and i have a serious peanut butter addiction

frosting

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 

1/4 cup margarine

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

directions

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.  in a large bowl mix together the oil, sugar, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until well blended.

combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture.  the mixture will be really dry as pictured below.

fold in the zucchini and walnuts *in my case, pb chips.  spread evenly into the prepared pan.

bake for 25-30 minutes until brownies spring back when gently touched.  *i used the trusty toothpick method.  

to make the frosting, melt together 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool.  in a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  stir in the cocoa mixture.  spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

confession time: so... we ate these so fast, i forgot to snap any pictures.  furthermore, i didn't even bother to frost them.  i don't really love frosting so i just left them plain.  the frosting is good, but i enjoyed them just as much without it.

try them!

bad attitude? read this.

jake and i have had some bad news lately.  i won't go into details, but it has placed me into a spiral of bad moods and an attitude so embarrassing i'm cringing as i type this.  don't feel bad for me.

when i get into these circumstances i throw my faith in the trash.  which you know is totally the wrong time to do this.  with my bad attitude i feel as if Christ wouldn't want me...i'm a jerk, why should He love me?  i become ashamed and push further and further away.

i was reading a devotional book, Jesus Calling by sarah young,  a lady from church gave me after hearing our news.  today's reading referenced a passage that changed me.  a light bulb went off.

"throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life...instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy."

-ephesians 4:22-24 NLT

powerful stuff to swallow.

last day of summer vacation

today was my last day of summer vacation.  tomorrow starts up bright and early with teacher meetings and such for the rest of the week.  on monday, we have a work day and tuesday is the first day of school!  i am excited for this school year and all my new students, but i will miss summer and all the relaxation it brought.

this was a good summer.  i feel as if i were productive more than i usually am during the summer!  i made a list at the start. here it was:

1. read 10 books

2. lose 12 pounds

3. make 5 pinterest projects

4. organize literacy materials at school

here is my progress

1. read 7 books

2. lost 6 pounds

3. made 3 pinterest projects

4. completely organized literacy materials

granted i did not succeed in all areas of the list, i feel as if i accomplished a lot.  i also learned a lot about myself.  i re-realized how much i love reading.  i figured out i really DO enjoy making projects and creating.  and, i've decided i must continue to read, make projects, and keep up with that weight loss.  i need to make a first quarter goal list for myself!

here's how i spent my last day of summer vacation:

making spaghetti sauce

sewing a skirt - more photos to follow!

my mom fixed my school bag for me!

supper

my sweet little boy

care package

remember this post?  since revealing my pinterest project list i have had a chance to complete some of the projects.  i started with an easy one and made my friend jessica a pink care package.

jessica and i met our sophomore year of college.  we were dorm mates both paired with freshman roommates.  we met around october/november and were acquaintances.  at the end of first semester my roommate was moving out of the dorms leaving me without a dorm fridge or warm carpet to cover the cold tile floor.  it just so happened that jessica had everything i didn't and vice versa.  so, she moved into my dorm and we quickly became best of friends.

               

                                 

jessica gives me the excuse and support to continually watch disney movies, eat endless amounts of goldfish crackers, and introduced me to the concept of wearing sweatpants to classes.  yes - i do confess i never, ever, ever, ever would have been caught in public wearing sweatpants until jessica.  anyone who is around me today knows that is quite the opposite. :)

                                               

ok, so i bet you're dying to see the details of the care package, right?

i started by making my own envelope with leftover scrapbook paper.  i just took apart an envelope and traced around it.  another helpful hint is when you are folding the new envelope, place the old envelope on top and fold one section of the old part and then that same section on the new envelope.  it helped my lines stay straight and even.

for the actual care basket, i just searched for fun pink items.  jessica is also a teacher so this is more of a teacher basket.  here's the breakdown.

1. pink basket

2. pink dispenser of white out tape

3. pink chap stick

4. pink erasers

5. pink life water

6. pink sticky notes

7. pink nail polish

8. pink gum

9. pink pencil sharpener

in case you're counting, that would be TWO of the projects i hoped to make!  anyway, this is well on its way to jessica.  i hope she enjoys it.  if you were to make or receive a color themed care package, what color would it be?  what items would you put in it?  i would love to hear your thoughts.