New Background

Blogger has all these cool things you can do with your blog now! I have been messing around with them and I like this new combination. For some reason it did not change my last post about the cookies, but that one's old and you've all read it so it's okay. I am hoping to maybe come back to blogland, but don't hold your breath!

My cookies!

I am so proud! After an hour of trying I finally got a picture of my cookies! This is a major accomplishment for me, the computer illiterate. These cookies were the result of an accident, I was making German chocolate brownies and accidentally opened condensed instead of evaporated milk. So, I had this extra milk, my mom found this recipe for these cookies off of the bake of a Betty Crocker measuring spoon package. I changed the recipe a little but you can go to Betty's website and see the original. Here is my new and improved recipe:

Fiesta Fudge Cookies (weird name I know, I said they looked like dirty snowballs.)

1/3 cup butter

6 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

1 can 14 oz sweetened condensed milk

1 pouch 1 lb 1.5 oz sugar cookie mix

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Powdered sugar to roll the cookies in

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large microwavable bowl, microwave butter and chocolate on High 1 minute. Stir; microwave on High 1 minute longer or until butter is melted and chocolate can be stirred smooth.2. Stir condensed milk into chocolate mixture. Stir in cookie mix and cinnamon until well blended.3. Using 1 level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, shape into 60 balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.4. Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until edges lose their shiny look (do not overbake). Cool cookies on cookie sheet 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Store covered at room temperature.
Mine made 36 cookies, they said that they were supposed to make 60. I will make mine smaller next time because they are really rich. I also added nuts to the last dozen (for my mom) and didn't powdered sugar roll those. The powdered sugar really adds a nice sweetness. I hope you like them!

Leavenworth Trip!

So, this weekend Lindsay, Miss Ann, my mom, and I went to Leavenworth. For those of you unfamiliar with Leavenworth it is a mock Bavarian village right here in Washington. We started out the trip by me, my mom, and Kelly driving up to Puyallup to meet there with Lindsay and Miss Ann and drive together. Also, I got to squeeze in a piano lesson which I do whenever I can. Anyways, we got to Leavenworth and found our resort, which was really fun because it was more like an apartment! It had a master bedroom and bathroom, and a bedroom with two twin beds, a kitchen, living room (complete with murphy bed), and a deck. Lindsay and I took the master bedroom and let the adults sleep separate.

On Saturday morning Lindsay and I made Rhodes cinnamon rolls, they were the good kind that you have to let rise. We ate them both mornings because it made twelve. After that Lindsay and I took a walk around the resort which happens to be by a river. It was beautiful! We were surrounded by mountains and some were still snowy but the weather was nice and fairly spring-like. Then all of us left to go to the shops. We then shopped all day, because there is tons of fun shops. We went to lunch at a great Italian place called Visconti's they have amazing bread. (Lindsay knows this because I think she ate two loaves! :)) Lindsay and I bought matching freshwater pearl bracelets for $10 at the Pearl Haus. Miss Ann and my mom bought matching ones too, but they were different. We got dessert from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, where I got a delicious caramel apple. After that we went back to our apartment-thing, and played some Yahtzee. Then when it was time for dinner we searched around and then settled on a place called Gustav's. It was delicious! I had the Gustav burger which was like a regular sort of hamburger except for it had a giant piece of Canadian bacon on it and Swiss cheese. It was one of the best burgers I have ever had and it was only $6.50 with fries! When we went back to the lodge Lindsay and I talked and watched some What Not to Wear.

The next morning we packed up (which was easy because Lindsay and I had hung up all our clothes and put our stuff all neatly in the drawers which made it all a snap to get together.) and headed out. Oh! and we had to have a Bible study because it was Sunday. So, my mom lead us in exploring and telling some of our favorite characteristics of God. Mine was Lamentations 3:22-24, which tells of His compassion, mercy, and faithfulness. Then we were on the road. We made a stop at the Factory Outlets at North Bend, and did some more shopping. For lunch, we went to Los Cabos, were I tried arroz con pollo. It was super tasty, especially the mushrooms! Then we continued our trek back to Puyallup, where we then picked up Kelly from a friends house where she had been staying the weekend, then went back to Lindsay's where we picked up our car and headed back to Vancouver. It was a super fun weekend and we all had tons of fun!

Random Assortment of Stuff I Like

Since I like to copy what other people do rather than think of things by my self, I will do a favorite things list like my sisters. My 5 recently favorite things here it goes:

1. I love painted toenails. I do not like to paint my toenails because I feel like I am bad at it. Also, if the paint gets one scratch in it all of it has to come off. So usually I have painted toenails for about 3 days.

2. Cooking shows. My sister Kelly and I have just recently got hooked on the Food Network. We love Iron Chef America, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Ace of Cakes.

3. Dresses. I have quite a few dresses for spring/summer so I have been wearing dresses a lot. I like them more than a skirt because they already have a top so you don't have to find a matching one.

4. Two Hands. It is a song by Jars of Clay that they play on our radio quite a bit. I really want there new CD, The Long Fall Back to Earth.

5. Sunshine! I would love some 70 degree days. But alas, all we get around here is cloud coverage.

So that is my little list. If you haven't already join the fun and post your 5 (or 10 or whatever) favorite things.

My Crazy Spring!

I haven't died my few blog followers, I just haven't really had the time or the want-to to actually post. But, I am so excited that the weather is actually acting like spring! On Saturday I wore shorts for the first time this year with flip-flops. Today I wore a dress with sandals to church and NO TIGHTS! Yes, I was very happy. I just love when the seasons change; although I get bored with them after about a month and wish they would change.

On a different note, I have already finished three of my school books and this week I should finish a fourth. I finished science in March, literature in early April, and history shortly after that. I am glad because then this gives me time to focus on Algebra and English. I need to work on those because soon I will be taking the Christian Liberty standardized test to place me in the CLASS program.

I am also working furiously to perfect my piano recital pieces. One of them is a really tricky classical piece (Fluttering Leaves in A Minor by Kolling) and I must practice it 30 times a day. The other one is an easier piece, it is a variation on Crown Him With Many Crowns. I am also working on a play for my co-op.

Well this was just a little catch up with my life for my few devoted fans. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with my blog a little better in the coming weeks.

A Day in the Life of a Page

Today was my first day of paging at the Capitol. If you don't know what paging is, it is a program for 14-16 year olds and you spend 1 week at the Capitol. You are sponsored by a representative, mine is Dan Roach, and you pretty much do errands and scut jobs that no one else wants to do. Your day as a page is different everyday, today I started out in the John L. O'Brien building (JLOB) on the 4th floor. You sit by the receptionist until she tells you something to do. I delivered mail to the representative's offices and other things. That was from 8:00 to 9:00. Then at 9:00 I moved down to 3rd floor JLOB, and did the same thing until 10:00. Then at 10:00 I went on the House floor. I was the Rostrum page so I sat at the front near the Speaker of the House, in case he or one of the other people up there needs something. You have to set there perfectly still because all the reps. can see you. It is very boring luckily I only had to do it for about 20 minutes,because then the House went to there cacuses. So, I sat around and delivered a few notes to the Democratic (yuck!) cacus room. At 11:00 I went to the page room were I did a bunch of supply runs for people. The supply room is all the way on the other side of the campus and I had to go there 5 times in a row. Did I mention we have to use the stairs all the time and I think I walked up and down 90 sets of stairs today, at least? Then glourisly at 12:00 I got lunch, pretty uneventful. At 1:00 I went to Page school, which is taught by an extremly liberal former school teacher. I didn't really learn much for the 2 hours I spent sitting there. When I was done I went to 2nf floor JLOB and did the same thing as at 9:00 and 10:00. At 4:00 I went on the House floor again, this time I got to deliever things to the reps. on the floor. The floor is very confusing to try and figure out. At 5:00 we were free to go home and get out of our hideous clothes. (more on those later in the week) Well that is a day in the life of a page! More to come.

Owls and Cupcakes

I love Valentine's Day! Especially this year, because at Target their decorations etc. are full of cupcakes and owls, which are two of my very favorite things. When I went on the blog background site I saw this background with an owl on it! Sooo my year for Valentine's Day stuff! But, back to the reason I love Valentine's Day. It is a low stress holiday, not like Christmas or Easter, it is just candy and hearts. It is also an opportunity to eat chocolate, and I love chocolate especially assorted boxes with all sorts of tasty delicacies in them. Valentine's Day is a mostly pink holiday another one of my very favorite things. I have two very cute pillows that I got around Valentine's Day, one that I got last year and one that I got this year. The one I got last year was a giant cupcake complete with pink frosting a a big heart on top. The one I got this year is an owl with giant eyes who is also pink and has hearts that look like feathers. See why I love Valentine's Day? I think it was invented especially for me.