Escape

How many people out there enjoy reading? 

I sure do. 

I love to escape into another world, 

that is much different 

from the one that I am living in. 

A little while ago I read a book, 

that I absolutely loved. 

It is called "The Book Thief"by Markus Zusak.

It is set at the time right before, and during WWII

in Nazi Germany. 

It is about a little girl who is sent to live 

with foster parents,

who manages to escape death

three times. 

The foster family is German, but is the

type of German family that 

only does what they have 

to do to follow the Nazi ways. 

They don't believe in the 

Germans being the 

"one true, and pure race."

They help the Jews, and those who are 

hiding from the police. 

One thing that I found extremely interesting was

that it was told from the point of view of Death 

(ya know, the Grim Reaper)

Some of the passages in this book 

were amazingly beautiful and 

extremely disturbing at the same time. 

The way the author described 

the sky during 

different parts of the story was

simply amazing. 

Read this book! 

You won't regret it!

I know you won't

Have you read a book that you are 

sure to remember for a long time to come? 

What is it? 

Please share! 

I'm in need of another amazing story!

Caramels

This year, i got a recipe for  the most delicious caramels

from a lady in my neighborhood. 

They were super easy to make, especially for 

someone who has never had candy making experience before. 

A lot of people have asked for 

the recipe. 

So I decided to share!

Caramels

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cup Dark Karo Syrup
• 2 Squares Butter
• 2 cups Heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, karo, butter and 1 cup cream. Stir and bring to a fast boil for about 5 minutes. Add another cup of cream, slowly, one tbs at a time stirring in between. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reached *soft ball stage. Add Vanilla. Pour in buttered 8x8 inch metal pan. Cool in refrigerator. When cold, go around edges of candy with a sharp knife. Turn upside down (hard) until candy falls out. Cut into strips and then into pieces. Wrap in wax paper and enjoy!

*Soft ball stage- after the caramel has been boiling for awhile and you can feel it start to thicken, but it in a bowl of cold water (to cool it down) and you can roll it into a ball and it will kind of hold the form. 

You don't want to cook it too long, or it won't be soft chewy caramel!

If you have any questions feel free to email me! 

If you liked it, let me know by commenting and leaving some love!

sugar cinnamon almonds

so i'm finally getting around to doing a 

pinterest review. 

the first item up come from detrimental beauty and is a recipe for 

crock pot sugar cinnamon almonds. 

the original link came from 

here.

here is the recipe:

1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1 1/2 C Sugar

3 Tbsp. Cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Salt

1 Egg White

2 tsp. vanilla

3 Cups Almonds

1/4 C water

In a medium sized bowl, mix together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the egg white and vanilla until it’s a little frothy. Add almonds. Make sure the almonds are thoroughly coated in the egg white mixture. Add cinnamon mixture to the almonds and toss until coated.

Thoroughly spray with Pam, or whatever, the stoneware of your large crock pot. Add the divine mixture of almonds and sugars to the crock pot and turn it to low.

Cook ( with the lid on) 3-4 hours stirring every 20 minutes (I only did 3 hours). In the last hour, add the 1/4 C. of water and stir well. This ensures a crunchy yummy coating. (*make sure after you’ve added the water that you continue to cook the nuts for another 45min to an hour.)

You have to stir really well, especially as it gets later in the cooking process.

Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the almonds flat to cool. The almonds will be sticky at this point, so make sure you separate them a little and have no large mounds.

here is a picture of my finished product. 

i am giving it an A+ rating. 

these are so incredibly delicious!

i made them to give out as neighbor christmas gifts.

i did make one little change to the recipe, i just added a few more 

almonds to the mixture, because there seemed to be a whole lot

of leftover sugar, and i was giving quite a bit out so it worked out better 

that way for me. 

thanks again to detrimental beauty for the absolutely delicious almonds!

2013

at the beginning of every year, it is customary to write "resolutions"

things you want to change about yourself. most of these consist of 

"go to the gym" "quit drinking soda," you know the usual. i don't love

all the cliche resolutions because, at least for me, it is not doable. 

so these are my goals for the beginning of a new year.  

not really things that i want to change about myself, but things i hope

to expound on to make myself a better wife, mother, friend, and person. 

2013

i hope to become a more

patient person. 

to teach love and 

understanding to my 

children. 

read to my children 

each night. 

spend more time

as a family, 

and less time with 

electronics. 

become more spiritual.

be more

genuine and

 loving to all 

those around me. 

what do you hope to do with the new year? 

Time

wow, 

time sure flies by quickly. 

i can't believe it has been so long 

since i've posted something

on this here blog

i'd really like to get back 

into the swing of things and

really step up 

the life on this blog.

my life is great

super crazy

but mostly sweet. 

life as a working mother 

is sure a fun one, 

but definitely 

has its challenges. 

i am making a

personal goal to write

at least twice a 

week. 

here is to 2013

and to being 

a better mother

and 

person in general!

pinsperation

wow...

summer has done a number on me this year. 

i feel like there are just not enough hours 

in the day to accomplish everything that i want to get done. 

i have way to many projects that i want to do, 

and dinners that i want to try. 

and activities with the family that i want to do. 

dang you pinterest!!!

i love pinterest, 

but i blame all this wanting on it!

my husband tells me 

quite frequently, 

that i need a "pintervention."

which gave me kind of a good idea. 

since pinterest is the "in" thing at the moment 

that everyone 

wastes all their time on. 

i thought it would be fun 

to do a little 

"segment" 

on my blog

about pinterest ideas 

and if they work, 

or are worth you time. 

if you have something 

that you want me to 

"test" 

or something you've been wanting to try

email me

 and i'd love to be the guinea pig.

it can be anything from:

cleaning tips, 

crafts, 

desserts (my husband would love that)

or anything you can throw at me. 

And while your at it, 

link up to my pinterest page and see all the projects 

i've got lined up for myself!

I have done some of these already, 

including a beautiful scarf i just finished last night!

so i will post my thoughts soon!

complain much?

i am a big time complainer,

a lot of the time it is mostly in my head

but sometimes it gets said out loud. 

this week from the writing workshop i chose to write about

what i complained about last, and how it was resolved. 

this actually only goes back to a few hours ago. 

i had a HUGE laundry pile that was sitting in a basket in my bathroom

right in the middle of the entryway to my closet, 

in a spot where i was 100% certain my hub couldn't miss.

he knows that i hate carrying the laundry basket to the laundry room, 

especially when it is so big. 

he is the one that was given the big strong muscles not me,

(plus i kinda like to see how tough he really is)

so he is always the one i ask to carry the basket for me. 

well, i know that he walked past it at least twice, 

once last night to get ready for bed, 

and again this morning to get ready for work. 

as i got ready to go do my laundry i looked with dismay

 at the basket still sitting in my bathroom. 

somehow, the hubs figured out a way to slip past it into the closet

without knocking anything off, 

and still managed to add to the pile. 

but there it sat, 

in all it's glory waiting for me to take it. 

the resolution to the problem is this, 

me complaining under my breath, and an occasional curse in my head

as i made 5 trips to the laundry room carrying armloads of clothes. 

i guess that men really do have to be told what to do, 

and how it needs to be done. 

they definitely cannot read minds, 

or not so subtle hints either.


What was your last complaint? How was it resolved?