Happy Father's Day!

Last year for Father's day, we thought it'd be fun to go to a national park for a hike.  You can read about how that fiasco went here, but long story short, we ended up getting lost in the woods without any food or water, hiking up and down cliffs for three hours, and being eaten alive by mosquitoes...This year we decided we'd rather stay home and have a nice quiet dinner with a movie =P.

My dad's favorite foods are cheesecake and caramel, so I mixed the two into one scrumptious dessert...I had planned on making my own caramel like I normally do, but our refrigerator has apparently broken, so all our milk and cream has gone sour =(.  Luckily my mom had some caramel left over from our vacation when we made sundaes, so I just used it instead.

Crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup margarine
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Filling

24 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup caramel

Crust

Combine all crust ingredients and press into 9-inch springform pan.  Bake 10 minutes at 325 degrees F. and remove from oven. Turn oven to 450 degrees F.

Filling

1. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla extract, mixing at medium speed until well-blended.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Reserve 1 cup of cheese batter; stir 1/2 cup of caramel topping into this reserved cup of batter.
3. Spoon half of plain batter over crust; cover with the caramel batter, spread remaining plain batter over the caramel layer.
4. Bake 7 minutes at 450 degrees F, then reduce temperature to 250 degrees F and bake 40 to 45 minutes more.
5. Remove from oven and loosen cake from rim, but do not remove rim until cool.  If you have any caramel left, you can drizzle some on the top of the cheesecake to make it look a little more fancy ;).

Hope you all had a lovely Father's Day! =)

Awkward/Awesome...

Awkward...

...completely forgetting about Father's Day until yesterday =O

...losing my brother in a bookstore...after assuring my mom I most certainly would not lose him in the bookstore...

...being sick (aaaaaggggaaaiiinnn) for two weeks and being to weak to even get off the couch...

...having a staring contest with a dragon fly...I lost ;)

...trying to order some books from the library, and discovering my card expired a year ago, and the library is apparently only open between 1:00 and 2:00 P.M. on days that do not contain an "a" in their name and only after a full moon... =P

...the temperature being an average of 100 degrees every. single. day...

...having to convince a waiter at a wedding reception that, yes, despite appearances, I am twenty one, and yes, I can drink champagne, and no, I do not want sparkling water...

Awesome...

...when I was finally well enough to go to Mass again, not only my own girl friends, but all of my brothers' friends as well, came up to give me a hug and tell me how much they missed me the last two weeks...made my day =)

...the wonderful feeling of jumping in the creek after getting all hot and sweaty...

...my dad bringing home another rose bush for me to plant...our yard is going to look so pretty by the time we're done!

...the boys being almost finished painting the whole house...the poor guys have been working on it for a couple months, but they're very close to being done and it looks lovely...

...hearing my dear friend whose wedding I decorated for is now expecting!

...a very successful shopping trip to several thrift stores with my mom and my brother...

...finally getting our wood burning stove! Of course, now we have to rearrange our whole livivng room...

...driving with my brother, singing with the radio at the top of our lungs...=)

Awkward/Awesome...

Awkward...

...the weather apparently not being able to decide whether (see what I did there =P) it wants to rain or be sunny...just in-between days for a whole week

...making sauerkraut, and my hands smelling like garlic and onions as a result...

...trying to find some good pictures of my siblings and I to hang up in our home...and realizing nearly every picture my parents/grandparents took from our childhood is of (cough) me...

...attempting to drink the bubbles from the top of my glass of kombucha and nearly choking to death in the process...

...losing my notebook with *all* my editing notes for our favorite TV shows...uh-ohhh...

...my team losing every. single. round. of Family Feud...=/

...my swimsuit FINALLY coming in...and it's in the wrong size =(

...the look of absolute betrayal Mishka gave me when I hid her toy and told her to go find it...

...my brother pronouncing "Lasagna" "Laz-sag-a-na-na" because he thinks the correct way to say it is "boring"...

...my brother telling me that if I were a character in a movie, I'd be the Ice Queen from Winter's War...XD

Awesome...

...while at a friend's house for dinner, I was just walking around their house minding my own business, when I suddenly stumbled upon a full-blown Nerf war going on between my brothers, the boys whose house we were visiting, and their four year old sister.  Before I knew it, someone had shoved a gun and some ammo into my hands and I was fighting for my life...XD

...coming home from vacation to find a box of goodies from my friend Angela waiting for me!!! Glittery nail polish, homemade jewelry, perfume, even an adorable little stuffed fortune cookie; you're a darling, Angela ;)

...yet another wedding this weekend! Hopefully I won't get sick again and actually get to make this one...

...this lovely article about motherhood

...Mishka watching the rose bush outside the library window EVERY DAY to make sure it doesn't run away...


...one of my little friends coming up to me out of the blue and saying "Maddi, you're my favorite thing ever!" XDDD

...The look on the same little girl's face when I let her wear some of my pink, sparkly, lip gloss...her older brothers still won't forgive me for "ruining their sister"...=P

Missouri Vacation...

Hello everyone!!! =D

My family has never been on a "real" vacation before (yes, Mom, I remember going to that water-park when I was eight, but it doesn't count ;P), so after our incredibly eventful last three years, we figured this would be a good time to escape for a little "family fun time".

Mom had found a really great deal on Craigslist for a timeshare at a resort in Missouri, so after many weeks of anticipation, we finally loaded up the suburban and headed off for a week of adventure...

The place we were staying at had multiple pools, but our absolute favorite was the "secret" saltwater pool that we found hidden behind one of the buildings.  We were able to swim there nearly every day, and had it to ourselves the whole time...it was soooo lovely!!!

On Saturday my parents rented a boat and we got to spend the whooole day out on a beautiful lake; swimming, relaxing in the sun, and then swimming some more...I got thrown off the boat by my brothers at least twice =/

By accident, all our swim suits ended up matching XDDD

By the end of the day we were all pret-ty sunburned and tired, but we'd had so much fun...everyone slept well that night, for sure ;).  The boys' sunburned skin turned brown after a day or two, but, as usual, mine went straight back to being white after being embarrassingly red for a day or two =P...despite being part Indian, my skin never tans =/.

I showed this picture to a friend, who said it perfectly captured of all our personalities...Truer words were never spoke...=P

We had a massive thunderstorm come in one of the days we were gone and we were unable to go swimming, so we decided to scope out the little town we were in and find something fun to do.  My youngest brother found a "fun park" with go-carting and lazer tag, so he and I tried it out.  The go-cart track was a FOUR. STORIES .HIGH. , circular ramp, with slopes and sudden curves that made you feel like you were in Furious Seven =p.  My brother and I had loads of fun chasing each other, and got to go around several times before our time was up...

After we finished go-carting, and we'd been completely bested in lazer tag by a kid younger than all of us, we checked out an exorbitantly overpriced chocolate shop and tried some of their goodies...

Our last (and probably favorite) fun activity was our first archery lesson.  My brother's have their own bows and have gone hunting with them before, but none of us had ever really been taught the correct way to use them, so it was a great learning experience for all of us.  And, yes, I did manage to hit the bulls-eye a few times =P...

We left Missouri sore, tired, and sunburnt, but with many lovely memories and plans to return next year.  Mishka was *so* happy to see us and didn't leave my side for several days; she'd even curl up around my feet when I was standing up =).  My brother is making a video of our trip, with lots more pictures, so I'll share that with ya'll when it's completed ;)

I hope you all are having as lovely a summer as I am!!! If you have any vacation stories you'd like to share, tell me in the comments...I'd love to hear them =)!

Awkward/Awesome...

Awkward...

...my new swimsuit not coming in yet...it's been *three* weeks now and I need it before next Thursday =/...

...nearly breaking down our shed door because I couldn't figure out how to work the lock

...our cat knocking a can of paint over ...of course our dogs had to step in it and leave footprints ALL over the porch 

...Mishka being scared to death of her new toy...apparently she does not like the color white

...the smell of stain all through our house because my dad is finishing up our kitchen cabinets

...going running for the first time in years and having to admit to myself that if I ever have to run for my life, I'm probably going to die =P

Awesome...

...lemon sour cream pie...mmmmmm!

...discovering Light In the Box...haven't ordered anything from them yet but I've got my eye on these sandals...aren't they cuuute? ;)

...finally setting a date to go see Captain America Civil War with friends

...hijacking my brothers' movie night...at their request, ;P

...only a few days left till we leave for our first vacation (!!!)

...watching "The Huntsman: Winter's War" for the first time...needs editing, but it was REALLY GOOD...

...taking a psychology class on my personality type...nice to know I'm not completely crazy, I'm just an Empath =P

...homemade coconut rose bath salts

...reading The Phantom of the Opera for the first time...love the music from the movie, but the book is 100% better

...sleeping for *FOUR* nights in a row!!! I get so much more done in my day when I sleep at night =)

Hope you all had a lovely week! =)

Mother's Day Dinner and Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites...

I'm actually quite proud of this card ;)

Happy Mother's Day! =)

In my family, we never need much of an excuse to make something special to eat.  All of us love to work in the kitchen and the slightest hint at it being a "special day" will send at least two of us into our favorite room of the house to make some goodies.  This Sunday being Mother's Day, I wanted to try out an idea I had for Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites.  My family and I could very well live off cheesecake, and my mom loves dark chocolate, so it seemed like a good choice ;).  I couldn't find a recipe anywhere that didn't include a crust or peanut butter (Mom doesn't like peanut butter), so I made one up myself, and surprise, surprise! it actually didn't turn into a giant gooey mess like I expected it too.  In theory, my brother helped me, but in reality he was taking pictures, singing, and sneaking samples...=)

Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients:

Two 8 oz packages of Cream Cheese

1/2 Cup Sugar

Two Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

11/2 Cups of Chocolate Chips

One Tablespoon shortening

Instructions:

• Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a glass bowl
• Mix together with hand mixer until smooth and creamy
• Fold in about half the chocolate chips with spatula
• Put bowl in refrigerator for thirty minutes
• Meanwhile, put the remaining chocolate chips with the shortening into a double boiler and slowly heat until completely melted.
•  Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator and roll it into small bite sized pieces (if it gets too warm, put it back in the fridge for a little longer)
• Using a fork, dip cheesecake bites into the chocolate and coat well
• Place on a tray covered with wax paper (or one of these amazing silpat tray liners) and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat them (it won't be long ;)

Next time I'm going to try to make these with vanilla ice cream instead of cheesecake...if it's not a total disaster I'll share pictures of them too...=)

For dinner, I made a pork tenderloin for mom and I, pork chops for the boys, broccoli with cheese, and my first ever homemade chipotle sauce...

My dad usually buys my mom roses for Mother's Day...this year she got a whole bush ;)

(I need to find this sign for my mom...=))

I hope ya'll had a lovely weekend and a very blessed Mother's Day!

Awkward/Awesome...

Awkward...

...the stomach flu =(

...getting two different friends birthday gifts every year for a over a decade, and not realizing until today that they are the SAME AGE and have the SAME BIRTHDAY

...going through old photos and realizing that even at three years old my little brother was still the most photogenic out of my whole family

...being told by aforesaid brother that I shouldn't refer to him as my "little brother" anymore because he's now a full head and shoulders taller than me...too bad, brother, you're the baby of the family, you're stuck with it =P

...the look of betrayal I got from Mishka when I ate roast chicken without giving her a single piece

...my family and I looking through our passport photos taken about eight years ago...oh, sweet mercy, DID WE REALLY LOOK LIKE THAT?

Awesome...

...friends who turn decorating for a wedding into a spontaneous dance party

...not enough wall space in my room for all the pictures I want to put up...just too many lovely memories ;)

...reading out on the trampoline, when a little bird landed next to me and stared at me for several seconds before flying off again

...planning our first ever family vacation (!)

...re-reading "Catholic Prophecy" by Ives Dupont for the umpteenth time

...being at home by myself and singing "Mamma Mia" karaoke as loud as I want without disturbing anyone

...my brother's response when my mother asked him if he had been plucking his eyebrows: "Me? Heck, no, my eyebrows are awesome..." =)

...bee-u-ti-ful weather and sunny days all week long

...my favorite couple finally getting married and looking so adorably happy together! 

I hope you all have a blessed week and a lovely Mother's Day! =)