Jamming Away

To all my fellow foodie bloggers out there...check out this easy recipe for making homemade rasberry jam. My friend Amber helped me make my first batch! A couple simple steps and you've got some yummy jam: Rinse, Blend, Boil, Sweeten, Pour and Seal. She and I have boys the same age and they had a great time playing and watching movies and eating popcorn together while we worked in the kitchen. I couldn't resist the cute picture of them in their chairs.



INGREDIENTS
32 oz. fresh rasberries
1 box pectin
7 cups of sugar
1 tbs of butter
5 Jars (boil lids in water)

First, rinse rasberries, then blend until puree. Pour into pot, add 1 Tbs butter, and pectin, stir frequently until boiling. When it comes to a rolling boil, add all the sugar at once while stirring. Let that come to a rapid boil and then cook for 1 minute. Pour into jars. Seal and tighten. Place under canning steamer for 10 minutes. then, you're done!! Let jam sit for 24 hours before eating :)

P.S. Since I don't have a canning steamer, I'm going to do freezer jam next, which I believe is even easier than this. All this time, I could've been making homemade yumminess.

Baseball Song

I heard this song for the first time this morning on the radio. I loved it!!! I thought it pretty fitting for baseball season...especially for the recent Diamondback/Padres series. Listen to the song to the very end. And then you'll know why I love it. I wish we all still looked at life the way this little boy does. What a great message of seeing the glass half full. So, today, I'm looking for the silver lining. :)

I always knew I was a star!!!

Isn't this fun!! My whole life I've been told I look like Kirsten Dunst or Reese Whitherspoon. Check out your own and see who you could double as!!

I Must Confess

I have a confession to make. Last Saturday night, I fell upon HSM 2 on Disney Channel and I watched it...and liked it! I guess I was late in the game because I just only watched HSM 1 like 2 months ago for the first time. And it wasn't until seeing Hairspray that I realized who Zac Efron was. #2 was pretty cute and they actually have some good songs in there and some that are so ridiculously corny! I do have fleating moments while watching it, that I think to myself, this is so beyond corny, but I love it!

And yes, I am 26 years old and I like a teenie-bopper movie. It's the kind of movie that you secretly want to see, but wait till it's out on TV, so you don't make too big of a deal about it. And then, while flipping through the channels, you see it on and think...hmm...I wonder if it's any good? There's nothing to do but watch it and decide for yourself. Even though your husband is looking up sports on the internet in the same room, you know he is secretly interested in what happens next. But, don't get too excited, the second he recognizes that he's watching, he immediately comments about how cheesy it is and how he can't believe you're watching it. :) Good cover. Gotta love these cheesy films!!!

P.S. I heard that they are filming a Footloose remake with Zac Efron and I'm not sure how I feel about that because nothing could compare to the first -- it's a classic!!!!!! I guess we'll see.

The Joy of Camping

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from our recent camping trip! We had such a great time. Jace was in heaven with an unlimited access to dirt, trucks, and running around!! I don't think I took enough pictures of him in the dirt...but I assure you there was plenty of it. While we had some mean dose of badminton, board games, campfire stories, creek trips, truck rides and bugs, we still had a lot of relaxation! I really love camping and had a blast this year especially because Jace could enjoy it so much more! I had a fun time doing the following: starting and finishing a Mary Higgins Clark mystery, cooling off in the water, roasting smores, playing games with my nieces and nephews, playing in the dirt with Jace, sleeping in a tent (truly fun), watching shooting stars, driving through a beautiful forest, seeing a dear in our camp, spending time with Heath!!, and somehow escaping any misquito bites. What more could you ask for?

Sneak Peek

So, here's a sneak peek of the Shade Clothing Fall Line. I can't wait until it's available! I still haven't committed to becoming a Personal Shopper where I would get better discounts, but I'm still considering it! Mark your calendars because I am hosting a Shade Clothing showcase in October....where you can try on the different styles and colors and decide which you can't live without!

October Showcase...more details to come

In the bag

This is one of my favoirte Disney cartoons!!! It's a classic. My family and I all used to dance around while we watched way back in the day. :)