Drum-Roll Please.....

Ok, I'm trying to post more. I know that I forget sometimes and wait a week or two before I finally post again, but what can I say. I'm a busy person that really never has good ideas for a blog post. So I have decided that for this post I am going to google things to post about on your blog and I will try to do every single one of them. The first thing that I found is to, drum-roll please.......RUN A CONTEST! Now this is going to be a little bit tricky. The question is now...what kind of contest? Comment below what kind of contest you think should be held. That's all for today, I will post the conditions to the contest next post. Love y'all!!!

~Every gift which is given, even though it is small, is in reality great if it is given with affection.~

Pindar

Pure Randomness!!!

It has been a very stressful week because of mid-terms. I already dislike tests, but mid-terms are even worse. I still don't know how well I did on my tests, but at least there over. That's was pretty much my week. Fairly uneventful.

Anyway, it finally snowed today. It is the middle of December and this is the first time that more than 1 inch of snow has fallen in this month. I hope that it snows on Christmas. There has to be enough that there is a good layer of snow on the ground, trees, and rooftops, but not enough to prevent us from being able to go to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas. ~I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!~ Haha! Well, that's all for today. Byyee! Love y'all!!!

~I'm having an age crisis. I'm turning 18 in a few days and I got the sudden urge to get my tongue stuck to a frozen pole.~

Found on tumblr, poster by foryoubluebird

Easy Christmas Ornaments!!!

Christmas is just around the corner and we are all started to decorate for Christmas with trees, ornaments, lights, and much more. I was looking on Pinterest and found a way to make homemade Christmas ornaments that are adorable. I have not made these ones exactly, but I did make a bigger version of these for a different reason a year or two ago. It didn't hold together as long as these will because it was about 10x bigger than these are supposed to be. They are called Wonderful DIY Glittery Snowball Ornaments for Christmas. You should try them, I know I will. I will post pictures of how mine turn when I make them. Have fun making Christmas ornaments and check back for more soon because I will be posting more Christmas ideas later this week. Love y'all!!!

Since Christmas is in exactly (check the website) http://www.xmasclock.com/ it is time for Christmas quotes. This is a 21st century santa joke.

~As a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap, Santa asked the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?"

The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped, "Didn't you get my E-mail?"~

By Adam Sandler 

How to make glittery snowball Christmas tree ornaments out of water balloons and string? These glittery snowballs will be a great addition for your holiday decoration. and they are easy and fun for everyone to make. Just inflate the balloons, wrap the string around the balloons and dip them into liquid glue. After the glue is completely dry, poke and remove the balloons from the string. It’s a good way at a busy time of the year to spend quality time with your children. Enjoy ~~

Found on: http://wonderfuldiy.com/wonderful-diy-glittery-snowball-ornaments-for-christmas/#

Hint: To help the string hold onto the balloon a little better, dip the string into glue as you wrap it around the balloon. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I am so excited for today because we are going to my grandparent's and cousin's house to eat a lot of food and spend time together. We are also setting up our Christmas tree today and all of our Christmas decorations. As I have mentioned before (in my first post, I think), I LOVE the holidays especially Christmas. Most people think that why I would love Christmas is because of the presents. That is actually not true. I mean, I love the presents, but the reason that I love Christmas is because of the festivities and decorations. Christmas also happens to be the birthday of our Savior It is also a really fun time of the year for me and my family and friends. Anyway, back onto the subject of Thanksgiving, here are my 20 things that I am thankful for (I warn you now, they are kind of random #lol). I hope you posted yours. Love y'all!!!
I am thankful for:
1. Jesus Christ
2. My family and friends
3, My home
4. Food/water (provisions)
5. Freedom and the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving
6. Animals (especially horses)
7. Music
8. Snow
9. Rain
10. Rainbows
11. Stars
12. Sparkles
13. The color of the sky at different times of the day (especially the sunset/sunrise)
14. The aroma and color of beautiful wild flowers that are on our property (during summer, of course)
15. Starbucks
16. Candles
17. Christmas
18. Books
19. Warm blankets that are there to make me lazy
20. Being able to be in Guard
21. But most of all, I am thankful for my life

Most people take their life for granted. They think of it as a thing that they can bring to an end whenever they want. They honestly don't know how fortunate they are to be alive. The gift of life is the most precious thing in the world. Don't waste it!

~Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.~
Joyce Giraud

Since it is Thanksgiving, here is another quote that I like.

~I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that is centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance to me.~
Marcus Samuelsson

Karaoke night!!!

Who here loves karaoke?!?!?!?!?! I LOVE karaoke, but I am terrified of getting in front of people to sing. Well, we had a surprise birthday for my Aunt Holly. There was a disco ball and we had dancing and karaoke. It was soooooooo much fun. I sang two songs with my cousin Hannah (http://onceuponafantasy.weebly.com/) and was literally (#americanliterature #insidejoke) feeling shaky the entire time. Even though I was nervous up on stage, I had so much fun! My philosophy is do not wait until it's too late to try something new, even if you are scared of doing that something. Go out on the limb and jump. If you don't jump now, you may never have the chance to do it again. Trust me, you will most likely enjoy the way down. If not, then at least you can say that you tried it. (Don't literally jump off of a limb because you will most likely not enjoy your way down). That's all I have for today. Byyyeee! Love y'all!!!

~Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate in what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.~
Oprah Winfrey

Ok, so I just found this recipe on Pinterest for Pumpkin Cheesecake Snicker Doodles and of course I had to try them. I made a batch to bring with me to my Winter Guard practice. I am not joking when I say that everyone who tried one of these delicious cookies LOVED them! I would give these cookies a 5 out of 5 stars. They taste like pumpkin snicker doodles (duh) and kinda like a sugar cookie. They also, of course, have a touch of cheesecake flavor to them because of the cheesecake filling. These would be a perfect dessert for Thanksgiving with their festive pumpkin flavor. Happy Cooking! Love y'all!!!

~It's not the minutes spent at the table that put on weight, it's the seconds.~
Anon
(Remember this when you go back for that third piece of pumpkin pie with extra whipping cream on Thanksgiving)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snicker Doodles

AUTHOR: ALYSSA

PREP TIME:  30 MINS

COOK TIME:  12 MINS

TOTAL TIME:  42 MINS

SERVES: 24

Delicious soft and puffy pumpkin snicker doodles with a surprise cream cheese center.

INGREDIENTS

• 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. freshly-ground ground nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Filling Ingredients:
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Cinnamon-sugar coating:
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• Dash of allspice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.
2. In a kitchenaid mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until fluffy about 2-3 minutes.
3. Blend in pumpkin puree, beat in egg and then add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients on low speed just until combined. Cover and chill dough for an hour.
4. To make the cream cheese filling, blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Chill for an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and spices for the coating and set aside.
6. To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of the cookie batter. Flatten it like a pancake and place a teaspoon of the cream cheese in center. Form another tablespoon of the cookie batter into a flat pancake shape and place on top of the cream cheese. Pinch the edges together sealing in the cream cheese and roll into a ball. Roll in the cinnamon sugar coating and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
7. Repeat until the dough is gone and flatten the cookie dough balls with a heavy bottomed glass or measuring cup.
8. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!

I found this recipe on http://therecipecritic.com/2013/09/pumpkin-cheesecake-snickerdoodles/#_a5y_p=1002519. 

Long time, no post!!!

Hey y'all!!! As the title says, it has been a long time, with no posts. Well guys, we are back in business!
Thanksgiving is just around the corner (9 days to be exact), and everyone is getting out the turkeys, hams, and their turkey/ham ovens and preparing to cook for the holidays. I will be posting as many recipes as I can for Thanksgiving/Christmas. Be prepared for the blog to be bombarded with delicious foods and cool decoration ideas for the holidays.
This Thanksgiving I am going to challenge you all to come up with 20 things that you are thankful for. You may think to yourself, I don't have 20 things that I am thankful for. If this is you, then you need to suck it up and think harder. There is always something that you can be thankful for. It could be as deep and well thought up as "I am thankful for when this person did this for me and saved my life" to something as small as "I am thankful for the color of the sky when the sun rises." Nothing is too small as long as you are thankful for it. I will be posting mine on my Thanksgiving post that I will post on, you will never guess, THANKSGIVING!!!! You can post yours on one of my Thanksgiving posts now or then. Whenever works, as long as it is before December 1, because then, we will be moving on to Christmas challenges.
I have one more challenge for you all to accomplish before Thanksgiving. I want you to challenge your friends and family to think of 20 things that they are thankful for and post their responses on one of my Thanksgiving posts. On my December 1 post, you can all let me know how many people you got to come up with 20 things that they are thankful for. Ready, set, go and be thankful! Love y'all!!!

~We're having something a little different this year for Thanksgiving. Instead of turkey, we're having a swan. You get more stuffing.~
George Carlin

TV series/cousins/competition

Hey everyone, long time no see! It has been a while which is why I am finally posting again.  Anyway, I am trying to find a new TV show to start watching, but I am having a little bit of trouble actually picking one. I have tried several, but most of them are just stupid. If anyone knows of a good TV show, then post in the comments below the name of it and I will check them out.
So, our cousins are staying with us for 3 days while their parents are gone. They are all under the age of 11 which will be interesting (and loud). I hope that they stay out of my room. I will let you know how that goes.
We just had our second competition and we made finals!!! Unfortunately, homecoming interfered with us being able to stay and compete in finals. It's still awesome that we made it to finals even if we couldn't have competed anyway. Well, that's all I've got. Love y'all!!!

~I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.~
Author Unknown

Competition update...

We didn't make finals. I am disappointed and glad at the same time. I am disappointed because making finals was the point of our competition, but I am glad because I was so tired by the end of the day. When I got back home that night, I was literally acting like a zombie. I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and we took the buses up to Denver which took a while (#longbusride). We had to put our make-up on in the bus which was a pain. When we got to where we were competing, we got on our uniforms which are totes adorbs (I hate when people say that lol). They were white, though, and see through, so we had to where leggings and tank-tops underneath and a baggy shirt and pants over the top. We basically had three layers of clothing on in mid-70 degree weather. It was miserable! Anyway, when it was finally time to perform, we lined up with the rest of the band and went onto the field. We did our routine, but a girl from the guard threw-up on the field! She ended up finishing the movement with us. At the end, we were all sweating like crazy. We, finally, were able to take off our uniforms and we took a break for lunch. After lunch, we went to the bleachers to watch other bands and guards perform. It got even hotter while we were sitting there. We had to sit there for over 4-5 hours watching other bands perform in 80 degree heat. My stomach started cramping and my head was really hurting. After sitting there getting toasted for several hours, we figured out who had made finals. Once the announcement was over, we got back in the buses and headed back to the school. See why I was kinda glad that we didn't make finals?

Even though we didn't make it to finals (and me getting turned into a human marshmallow over a camp-fire), it was a great experience. I had a great time overall. Yesterday, our coach showed us a video of our performance, so that we could see what we needed to work on and what we did really well in. I think we did pretty good for our first competition, we were also competing against the best Color Guards in the state. The only thing that we can do know is keeping pushing forward and getting better so that we can do even better in our next competition this Saturday. Love y'all!!!

~If the broom fits, ride it!~
Unknown

Competition

So, we have a competition for Color Guard tomorrow. I am soooooo excited!!! I'm also a little nervous. Haha! I am going to have to wake up, like, super early. EEEEAAAHHHH!!!! Anyway, it is going to be a lot of fun. I hope that everyone on my team does well. I will let y'all know if we win, so check back soon!
Ok, I tried a new recipe that is within my special diet (my special diet is explained a little more in my post "Hey hey hey"). This time I tried making brownies!!! I absolutely LOVE chocolate, so I had to find something with chocolate in it that was on my diet. They were really rich and don't taste as good as a typical brownie, but they still were delicious. Considering that they were pretty much everything free, I wouldn't complain, just saying. I give them a 3 1/2 stars out of 5. Try them and post below what you thought of them. That's it for now. Love y'all!!!

~Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.~
Mark Twain

Fudgy Coconut Flour Brownies

Yield: Makes 16 brownies

Dense and fudgy, these coconut flour brownies taste rich and decadent. If you prefer a more bittersweet chocolate flavor, use only 1/2 cup honey/maple syrup. If you prefer a sweeter brownie, use 3/4 cup of honey/maple syrup.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup minus 1 Tbs. coconut flour (use the "dip and sweep method" to measure or use a kitchen scale and measure 50 grams of the flour) I use this coconut flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder - substitute carob powder (this stuff) if there is a chocolate sensitivity
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. butter, melted
• 3 eggs, at room temperature (egg substitutes will not work)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 and grease a glass baking dish (8x8 or 9x9).
2. Mix together all ingredients. You can do this by hand or with an electric mixer or high-powered blender.
3. Pour into the baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes before cutting or removing from the pan.
4. These store well at room temperature or in the fridge for a few days. Make sure you keep them in an airtight container.

I found this recipe on http://empoweredsustenance.com/coconut-flour-brownies-paleo/.

My homecoming dresses

So here is a pic of my red dress!

This is a closer view of the front.

This is the fabric. This picture didn't capture the sparkles as well as I would have liked it to, but it still pretty. 

Here's the cream dress.

And the pretty beads on the top.

So, those are my two dresses. I am going to get some other accessories to make it a little bit...something. I have to go now. 

Instead of putting a funny/inspirational/random Halloween quote, I am putting a story/joke type of thing. This is called Chiseling with Fear. Bye for now and love y'all!!!

~Two men were walking home after a Halloween party and

decided to take a shortcut through the cemetery just for 

laughs. Right in the middle of the cemetery, they were

started by a tap-tap-tapping noise coming from the misty

shadows.

Trembling with fear, they found an old man with a hammer and

chisel, chipping away at one of the headstones.

"Holy cow, Mister," one of them said after catching his

breath. "You scared us half to death -- we though you were a 

ghost! What are you doing working here so late at night?"

~"My family are such fools!" the old man grumbled. "They misspelled my

name and here I have to correct it!"~

Found on humormatters.com

Homecoming dress update...

I went shopping for homecoming dresses again yesterday and found a dress, actually two dresses! This happened in only 2 hrs. 30 min. which, if you know me at all, should have taken like 5+ hrs. I am really indecisive when it comes to buying dresses. One of the dresses is a creamy off-white color that comes a couple inches above my knee. It has an empire waist and has black, white, and bronze beads sewed around the rib cage. It is gorgeous! The other dress I got, which is my favorite, is a deep blood red color. It is simple, yet elegant at the same time. It has purple-y sparkles all over with it. It has a v-neck that plunges pretty low, so I am going to sew something on it to make it a little less revealing. The skirt is about 5 inches above the knee-cap. This dress would be perfect for a Christmas party because of it's red color. Anyway, that's all I have for now. Love y'all!!!

~Dear Jedi, Today is Halloween, there's never been a better time to join the Dark Side.~

Found: http://jokes4us.com/holidayjokes/halloweenjokes.html

I hate trying to think up titles!

I can't believe I am posting again and it has only been 1 day!!! Ladies and gentleman this is a first! Let's have a virtual round of applause. Anyway, I made the Coconut Flour Applesauce Spice Bread. Like I promised, I have a 1-5 star review and have posted the recipe because it was delicious. I am going to give Coconut Flour Applesauce Spice Bread a...drum roll please...4 out of 5 stars. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars instead of a 5 out of 5 because it had a little bit of a weird consistency. This is not surprising, though, because coconut flour is normally more dry. I still am giving this bread a higher rating because it tasted really good. It had a nice spice flavor with a hint of molasses. If any of you end up trying to make this bread, please post a picture of your bread and a 1-5 star rating with an explanation of why you liked/disliked it. Check back soon. Love y'all!!!

~True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about but few have seen.~
Anonymous

Coconut Flour Applesauce Spice Bread

Posted At : September 1, 2014 1:34 PM

Coconut Flour Applesauce Spice Bread

photo by recipe author

Servings: 10
Preparation Time: 1 hour

Dry Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger

Wet Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, butter, or ghee (melted)
• 1/2 cup raw honey or grade B maple syrup
• 1/2 cup unsweetened, natural applesauce
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon organic molasses

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees ºF.

2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.

3. In a medium bowl, combine wet ingredients (by hand works fine).

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and blend until evenly combined.

5. Grease pan(s). Pour batter into 3 mini loaf pans or 1 large glass loaf pan.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes in mini pans. Bake 65-70 minutes for 1 large loaf.

7. Allow to cool completely. Store in fridge

This recipe was found on http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2014/9/1/coconut-flour-applesauce-spice-bread.

Hey hey hey

So, right now I am studying for a Spanish test for tomorrow (yes, I do procrastinate, so wish me luck) and making Coconut Flour Applesauce Spice Bread. You might be thinking something like "Why the crap is she making coconut flour bread!" I do have a weird diet. Am a health freak? No. I like to eat healthily, but I do not eat "bran muffins that taste like ply-wood" (from the movie While You Were Sleeping, which by the way is my absolute favorite!!!), brussel sprouts for lunch, and salad for dinner. I am not a rabbit (sorry to all of you that happen to have this very diet). I just get stomach cramps when I eat certain foods, which is why I am making coconut flour bread. I will post a picture of the bread and a 1-5 star rating later. I might post the recipe if I liked it enough.
For an update on my homecoming dress, no, I have not found one yet. I am hoping to find one this Saturday because homecoming is in 9 days!!! Just so you know, I absolutely hate shopping! I know, I am probably one of the only girls that you will ever meet that doesn't like shopping. Sorry for betraying the female race, but you know what? I don't care!
Anyway, I have to go and finish studying for my spanish test. I will let you all know how the bread turns out and, of course, how my test goes. Love y'all!!!

~I'd dress up as Siri for Halloween if my life didn't already entail being asking stupid questions all day.~
Unkown

First Post (Duh!)

Hey, I'm starting a blog for the 3rd time. Yes, I am horrible at posting things and yes, I will say that I will post every week, but it will never happen. Anyway, this is my first post (duh!). I am just going to say sorry in advance because I'm bad at staying on top of blogging. Sorry! Since I am in high school, I don't really have a lot of time to blog, but I am going to try. Also, being apart of Color Guard takes up a lot of my time. Staying on top of life can be challenging.
So, I went homecoming-dress-shopping with a bunch of friends today. We were at the mall for 3 hours going from store to store looking for dresses and I came out with absolutely nothing. I am really picky when it comes to dresses, especially when it is going to cost me over $100. I had a lot of fun anyway!
One thing that you all should know is that I LOVE everything about winter and Christmas. I love the decorations, snow, music, food, festivities, etc. Just giving you a fair warning, I might ramble about winter and Christmas in the middle of summer. Another thing that you should know is that I will end each of my posts with a random quote that is somehow related to the nearest big holiday (since I love holidays). The next holiday that I think is relevant is...HALLOWEEN!!!!! So, until Halloween is over, I am going to end all of my posts with a Halloween quote. They will be a mixture of inspirational, humor, and randomness. I hope you all will check back here for quotes each time I post, which I promise to try (I said try) to do.
By the way, my cousin just started a blog called mylifeisinsane1.blogspot.com. You should go and check that out. True to its name, you will find a lot of fun randomness about her insane life. That's it for today. Love y'all!!!

~I've put more thought into my Halloween costume than into me career.~
Unknown