Hanging out in trees

In my last post, I told you guys that I was having a good friend coming into town. And that I would share pics afterwards. I guess the Christmas rush got ahold of me and I hadn't been able to post an update until now.

They made their way into town that night and spent the night at a hotel on base, across town from us. The next morning we invited them over to our house. We figured instead of going out to eat lunch somewhere, that they might appreciate a home cooked lunch for a break. Eating out on the road day in and day out can get really old. They had already driven from Washington state, all the way down here to Texas. And have more to go after their Christmas break with family.

After eating, and before her young son could get too tired, we took off for a park that my daughter had found that morning. It had really cool trees with branches that just about touched the ground! That spot will definitely show up again in future photo shoots. I guarantee!

Here's a small dose of the trees.

And without further ado....Andrea and her beautiful family!

The only regret is that we didn't have more time to get to hang out. But we enjoyed the time we had. After letting the kids stretch their legs at the playground, they were on their way to her mom's house for the holidays. I'm so glad that we finally got to meet everyone. Some day, it would be great if we could all be stationed in the same area. But until then, we'll continue talking on the phone and chatting on Yahoo messenger. Right, Andrea?

"Healthified" Pumpkin Bread

I have to admit even after seeing all the fall posts all over blog-land, that I have not been able to get into a fall mood recently. We live in Texas and it's no where close to being fall weather quite yet. (Although the last couple mornings have been a LITTLE cooler, it quickly warms up by noon.) But it all started when we had a bunch of bananas go bad.

And what else do you make when you have an abundance of overripe bananas? MAKE BANANA BREAD!!

Oh it was so delicious. I used this recipe from All Recipes.com.
But it really wasn't what finally put me in the mood for fall.

It was Andrea's Healthified Pumpkin Bread that did me in. Oh boy did it!

I had remembered seeing her post about the recipe on her blog, but at the time I didn't really see myself making anything "healthified". Which due to some recent back and forth healthy debating, I feel obligated to mention that in no way does she claim that it is "healthy". It's just been modified in a way to use ingredients that cut down on some of the "yucky for you" stuff. (Can you tell that was in my own words?? I'm sure she could do better at explaining)

ANYwho.....I decided to make it today! We had most of the ingredients already, so that was already a plus. A quick trip to the grocery store was in order for the can of pumpkin and whole wheat flour.

Before doing a single thing this morning, I started on  the recipe. I let it bake for 50 minutes instead of the hour / hour and a half that was in the instructions. And that was only because my banana bread had cooked in about that time the day before.

Cue the angels!!

How do you like my makeshift cooling rack?
It's the rack that goes inside of my microwave,
on top of 4 cans of corn. Does it make any more
sense if I mention that I'm not usually a baker??

Ok so you caught me. So I sprinkled some powdered sugar
on top of some healthified pumpkin bread?? Don't judge me!

So far I have managed to ONLY eat 3 slices. Hey! That leaps and bounds better than I did with the banana bread the day before. Oh and I also have to share that this is the very first baking venture that came cleanly out of the container on the first try!! It's the small things people! No matter how well I grease cake pans, muffin tins, and now loaf pans......my food always sticks. Not today baby!!

Whooo Hoo!!

Total random sidenote...Blogger spell check highlighted

Whooo for being misspelled but didn't get Hoo????

So excited!!

I am beyond myself at the generosity of people some times. I try to do things for others a lot. Unfortunately it feels a little one sided at times. But when it reciprocated, it's oh so sweet! Don't get me wrong, I don't do things for people in the search for something in return. I am a natural born giver.

But just the other day, I was chatting with my friend, Andrea....and she offered to make me one of these!!

A ruffled camera strap!!

So I know you're pretty jealous right about now. I would be for sure! So I showed her a few fabric patterns that I like, but ultimately left it up to her as to which fabrics to use. My only requirement???

That it includes my signature green of course!! But the best part was that she said she already knew that that would be a must.. :)