Senior Logan [Wenatchee photography + design]

Little sneak peek of a session I did this afternoon. We had to reschedule twice because of the smoke. It paid off when this morning dawned to actual sun and some fairly clear skies. Let's hope it continues!

I've shot Logan more times than anyone else (well, tied with his sister.) Several family and holiday sessions over the years and now he's a senior preparing to enter the Air Force upon graduation. Always makes me happy to hear plans that include military service. I grew up around the military lifestyle and I'm so grateful for those men and women who serve on our behalf. "Aim high" Logan!

Apricot Exotic Chai Spice coookiiieeees [Wenatchee Photography + Design]

We have staff meetings at work about once a month. Each month it is assigned to one person to provide a safety tip and (in the past) provide a treat. Months ago, we all agreed that the treat was not necessary and that "we won't be doing that anymore." Well each month the treat (NO TREAT) person STILL brings a treat. Not required of course, but "hey, I did anyway..." Well, September rolls around and it's my month. Or I think it is. I don't remember if I am September-person or October-person but someone comes to me the night before and says "oh hey, you're safety tip tomorrow...so bring a treat." And we all kinda' laugh and I say "but we're not doing that anymore...?" And everyone AGREES, we are NOT...but ya know...if you wanted to...

So that night I decide there is no way I'm going to be the person who doesn't bring a treat even though we ALL AGREE we are not doing that. Not me, no way, not on my watch. A quick scan through my pantry reveals an assortment of partially filled (but not completely gone) things. Half a package of still-moist, dried apricots. About one-third of a package each of unsweetened and regular sweetened shredded coconuts. Some walnuts. Three-fourths of a pack of white-chocolate chips. Two almost gone boxes of cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats and Rice Krispies.) A box of Chai Spice tea. And my saving grace, a new box of Spice Cake mix.

I can work with this. Those can all go together and spice is perfect for September/October. Now, I'm not even sure if it's really MY TURN to be the safety tip/treat (no treat!) person ANYWAY, but I've been tapped to provide/not provide a treat, so spicey it is. I'm calling these "Apricot Exotic Chai Spice cookies" because "Apricot Exotic Chai Spice Coconut Walnut Honey Bunches of Oats Rice Krispies White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies" is a tad long-winded.

So here we go:

1. 1 regular package spice cake mix
2. 1 cup butter, softened
3. 2 eggs
4. 1/4 cup strong brewed Chai tea (I used 3 tea bags)
   
5. 1/2 cup crushed Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
   
6. 1/2 cup Rice Krispies cereal
7. 1 cup quick or rolled oats
8. 1 cup shredded coconut (I mixed sweetened and unsweetened)
   
9. 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
10. 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots (the moist kind)
11. 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
    
12. 2 tablespoons sugar (I used chunky Demerrera, again because it was in the cupboard and almost gone)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, brewed Chai tea and eggs; mix well. I used a hand mixer. The mixture is thick.
3. Add cereals, oats, coconut, walnuts, white chocolate chips and dried apricots; mix well. Now it is really thick. I used the hand mixer and then my muscles to try and get all the add-ins distributed as evenly as I could.
4. Use a big cookie scoop (mine was a 3 TBS scoop) to scoop and drop dough 2 inches apart onto parchement-lined cookie sheets.
5. Take a flat-bottom glass, rub a bit of butter on the bottom and dip in the sugar. Use this to flatten the cookies. (repeating the sugar-dip between each one and re-butter as necessary to keep the glass from sticking to the cookie.)
6. Bake about 14 minutes, or until set. Let cool 5 minutes then move to wire racks and let cool completely. Well, eat one first while it's still warm. Then let the rest cool.

This made about 20 large cookies.

To do [Wenatchee photography + design]

2 days to the weekend (never enough) and my list of TO DO's is growing.

1. Take my 13 year old on a taste test + compare of the two, newish frozen yogurt places in town.
2. Help above child clean her overwhelmingly messy bedroom (the above which is the activity we'll only do after the room is done) in preparation for the school year starting in less than 2 weeks.
3. Something fun. Movie? Splash in the river?
4. Normal laundry/kitchen/chores/daily life.
5. Bake something from among the number of recipes I write down + tweak throughout the week.
6. School clothes shopping for 13.
7. Gym or hike once.
8. Walk once.
9. Crafts, of course, in the in-between times.
10. Farmer's market.
11. Grocery shopping.
12. Prep my lunches for next week (I'm certain this breathtaking salad will be on the menu.)
13. Go through and donate clothes and shoes that I don't need in my life and my space any longer. And actually take them to Goodwill, rather than let them sit in the trunk for, oh, 6 months or so.
14. Try not to buy myself anything for the next couple weeks. I have enough. I need nothing else right now.

(Paleo) Banana Zucchini Cherry Walnut Bread [Wenatchee photography + design]

Found a recipe that lived up to it's claim to be Paleo, easy and yummy. From the What Runs Lori blog comes this moist, hearty, delicious sweet bread (recipe on that link). Since it was Saturday, and we'd just gone to the Farmer's Market, I happened to have everthing on hand. It was all mixed in one bowl with no difficult prep, as can be common in trying to paleo-ize "regular" recipes and after one taste I knew I'd found my go-to recipe for using extra ripe bananas. I'll still consider it a treat and not a staple, but I'm happy to have found something like this my family and I can enjoy on occasion.

My only mods to the recipe as written were I used coconut oil (melted) in place of the olive oil, honey instead of maple syrup (on accident, I just put it in before I realized it wasn't syrup) and I used the NuNaturals MoreFiber insterad of the plain BakingBlend, because it's what I had on hand. Once they're out of season, I might sub the cherries with some chopped extra dark chocolate next time. Or maybe blueberries...I see a lot of options!

Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

1. So, yesterday we had to say goodbye to our oldest daughter as she heads to her new life with her Army husband in the very far-away state of Kentucky. Easy to say it was one of the toughest days I've ever had. Of course, I am excited for her to "start her life" but I would be lying if I didn't say it breaks your heart when they finally go. We love you Shadey-shoe, more than you can possibly know until the time when you have babies of your own and experience that gut-wrenching emotional tie to another living being. You are amazing and a big reason why I am the person I am today. You were the first to make me a mom and it's totally honest to say I learned as much from you as you from me.
2. Linda Woods and Karen Dinino are two of my favorite authors. They write books about art and life and a lot about their love for cookies and Trader Joe's and, as sisters, for each other. Their latest book, You Rule: The Art of Taking Charge, recently came out and I was thrilled to create a piece inspired by it and them. Their stories of current predicaments and vivid memories of a self-described erratic childhood help share their wit and wisdom while encouraging us each to take charge of our own lives. They are big proponents of journaling as art and each of their books go further in helping you get out your own story in your own way. It was a great exercise for me to try and document a few of the "rules" that I try to love by. Things I've never really put into words but help guide me anyway, when I take the time to really listen to my own heart and head.
3. We got a new car. And by we, I mean, my husband talked me into it, but I get to drive it mostly and at first I thought it unnecessary and then we roadtripped in it and OHMYGOSH I LOVE IT. A Ford Edge in the most delicious magical raisin color. A red-brown-cinnamon-mexican-hot-chocolate-mole-sauce and fresh plum COLOR that I can't really describe without all those food adjectives. And the whole roof is one big sunroof that opens up and lets in the breeze and it has navigation and Sirius radio and when my cellphone rings it answers it in the car so I can just talk through the stereo and, did I mention I LOVE this car?
4. Just documenting my complete love for blueberries right now. They've always been my favorite fruit, but growing up but that just really meant "I love Betty Crocker blueberry muffins." We live near a pretty awesome U-pick blueberry farm and they are the biggest, sweetest berries you'll ever have. No kidding, look at these pics, they're as big as quarters!
5. Haven't had a whole lot of movement on the scale front for a while, bouncing up and down through most of the summer. I suspect that's because I've lost a lot and now is when it starts to slow down. I'm down 65 lbs and want to lose about 50 more. Still a lot of work ahead of me, but, since it's just a part of my lifestyle now, I have no doubt I'll get there someday since I'll just keep on keepin' on. 65 lbs is 25% of my previous weight, I have lost one-fourth of me!