Hannah

This is Hannah. She is my little sister and yesterday was her 12th birthday! I can't believe she's getting so big. She's such a blessing in our lives and I love her!

Tuesday Evening Banana Bread

I decided to try a new banana bread recipe. Randomly, on a Tuesday evening. I like baking and I like photographing and I wanted to do both. Why? Because life is short. Sure, this didn't exactly turn out perfect. Shortly after I took this photo I decided to remove the loaf from the pan to help it cool faster so I could drizzle the frosting on. My impatience got the better of me and I really messed up the loaf by removing it too early. Life isn't perfect and a lot of times it's messy, but if you're doing what you love (and get to eat some banana bread in the end) then it's all good, right?

Ribs

My wonderful husband decided out of the blue that he wanted to make ribs for dinner on Sunday! I was a little surprised but was not about to complain about a night off from making dinner and getting to relax while he worked on the food. I love his dedication to smoking ribs and getting the right temperature for the right amount of time. I am by nature an impatient person so I always admire how he smokes and grills ribs. Needless to say they were delicious. I was busy with photo shoots all day so unfortunately didn't have the time to make homemade potato salad and baked beans so they were the store bought and canned variety, but nonetheless the ribs and sides were quite tasty! Although I love the great fall weather we're having, I'm a little sad that the ribs were probably the last until spring.

Margarita Pizza

I was given a pizza stone awhile ago but haven't really been able to utilize it to it's fullest because I haven't had a pizza peel, but my wonderful Mom got me my very own peel for my birthday in September and I was finally able to play around with the pizza stone. I've been experimenting with crust recipes and finally settled on one that I really enjoy that seems like a "real" pizza crust. A couple weeks ago my training partner and friend gave me a bunch of basil from her garden and I knew exactly what I had to make! My first ever attempt at a Margarita Pizza and my first time to use the pizza peel and stone was a success but not without some stress, but the end result was a delicious tasting pizza which myself and my fellow pizza tester (husband) happily ate for dinner while watching a football game!

Apple Pie

I made apple pie this past weekend. It seemed perfect since we have been finally having fall weather and my wonderful Grandma said me some beautiful apples in the mail. I received the surprise package just as I was feeling really down, mainly due to a wicked case of bronchitis but also the post-marathon blues (especially since I didn't run as well as I had hoped). The apples were just what I needed to cheer me up and motivate me to do something I love (bake and photograph...and eat). Thanks Grandma, I love you!

Recently

I have been so crazy busy that I haven't had a lot of time to post here. Between photo shoots, marathon training and life I just can't seem to find time for anything else! Training finished up and we ran the RnR St. Louis Marathon on October 23rd. I didn't run as well as I wanted, but the trip was great and I'm already back to training for my next marathon in 11 weeks! I love making these collages and will maybe post an add on collage to this post soon just added: