My Brain on Hyperdrive

I don't know if anyone else wants to see the jewelry I'm making, but I'm using this outlet as a record of what I'm learning as I go along. I figure I can look back at this in a year and be amazed at what I've accomplished. At least I hope that's the case. I'm also using this opportunity to attempt to learn something about product photography through trial and error. First thing I've learned: I need better lighting. It might be getting close to the point where I need to invest in an off-camera flash... Anyway, here's the latest! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

I settled in to make another necklace today. I actually made a different one first, but I don't like the way it turned out and I'll be taking it apart soon. Tonight I started playing with wire working. Do you like what I came up with? I do! (Yes, I know the photography leaves a little to be desired. I wasn't concentrating on that, I was too excited to get the picture and share it!)

Thanks to my mom and mother-in-law, I can now get started on my new creative outlet, jewelry making! Both got me gifts related to the endeavor and I've jumped right in. This is a photo of my first project. I still have some things to improve, of course, but I'm really happy with how they turned out and excited to try more things!

I was a little delayed in uploading the final four images of the series due to having company for the holiday, but here they are now (along with a couple bonus recipe links). The first night they were here, we made cheesy chicken wild rice casserole ( recipe from Picky Palate ), one of my favorites. On Sunday, day 23, we made Spritz cookies. We made traditional almond flavor and a different raspberry gelatin recipe . Christmas Eve we opened gifts and celebrated with my parents. Look at all those presents under our tree! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like ...  This is probably the first year I wouldn't have minded if we didn't have snow for Christmas. Alas, it was not to be. We weren't hit too hard by the storm yesterday, but we did get a small share of the snow.

Ok, there's not really anything "Christmas" about these pictures to make them fit the 25 Days of Christmas theme, but basketball is a big part of our lives this time of year. It's something we look forward to, even when the weather leaves something to be desired, which it did today... So I tried my hand at some amateur sports photography. Not only do I not have the right equipment to do this genre justice, I'm not fast enough, either. Still, I think I got some ok shots. Take a look and let me know what you think.

The Iron Horse Hotel is celebrating the season in their own way...

It appears our record setting streak of days without measurable snow has sadly come to an end.

I started working on our Winter artwork tonight...

We have a lot of pots and pans. And we just got married, so we just got even more. Our cabinet where those pots and pans were stored was beginning to look a bit icky... We were running out of room and it was difficult to get things in and out. So I decided we needed a solution. Unfortunately, our kitchen is kinda tiny, so the options are limited. Doing some searching online, I found this idea . I thought it would be a great solution to hang the pots and pans in the cabinet. So I went to Amazon and ordered the suggested hardware and enlisted my dad for help over the Thanksgiving weekend. Cost: $44.66 (free shipping with Prime) That weekend arrived and we started planning and calculating and measuring. Then we noticed the rack I bought only had 6 hooks. You saw my cabinet. That's not even close to enough. So back online I went to see about ordering more hooks. That's when we discovered the nasty trick. Extra hooks cost $10 each ! If I wanted 4 more hooks, I'd end up...

We saw/listened to a beautiful Cantata at church today where I took this picture. 

It's that time again! When I turn this... into this... So yummy!

In memory of the children and adults lost today, an ornament from my childhood...

More Bokeh

11th Day: The first wrapped present under the Christmas tree. 12th Day: Macaroni Salad for our workplace potluck. Maybe next time I make the salad I'll post a photo montage and how-to along with the recipe. I didn't want to take the time last night. But suffice it to say if you ever need or want a pasta salad that doesn't use mayo, this one's a winner and the recipe was passed down from my grandmother.

One of many awesome wedding gifts we received was a cookbook titled 101 Things to do with Popcorn. There are some interesting recipes inside and some really fun ones. I've made a couple and decided to try something new tonight. I didn't have the right ingredients for anything specific from the book, so I mixed and matched and came up with my own concoction.  To start, you need some popped popcorn. We don't want the special butter or movie popcorn you can buy in the store because we're putting our own topping on it. So we want to start with about 1/3 cup of unpopped kernels and we're going to dump them in a regular old brown paper lunch bag.  Fold up the top of the bag so the kernels don't come out as they pop.  My microwave has a popcorn setting. If yours doesn't, just put it in for about 3 - 4 minutes and listen for the popping to slow.  After the popcorn is popped comes my least favorite step. It's a little awkward, but necessary if...

I know I'm a little late with this one. I remembered to take the picture right before bed, but I didn't want to stay up later to post it. So you get it today instead. In honor of the Marquette Men's basketball team beating UW-Madison on Saturday...

Today was our 2nd Annual Holiday Pajama Brunch. It was sooo much fun.  First a little setup... Then the guests started to arrive... Love that red hair! The kids had a blast playing with some new gifts... Yum! Time to eat! Always at least one shy one... Aww... getting tired... That's my boy! Doesn't everyone play under the table? Now an important task...  ...mixing up some reindeer food to make sure Santa's reindeer can find your house and have something to munch on while he's inside. Can't wait to do it again next year!