Check out this cool cooking blog I found...

http://creatingpostitnotes.blogspot.com/

Recipes complete with detailed photos! Doesn't get better than that!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (=1-1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 pkg (11-1/2 oz.) semisweet chocolate chunks, divided
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
18 mini chocolate-covered peanut butter cups, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl; blend well. Add butter; stir until crumbly. Remove 1-1/2 cups of the crumb mixture; set aside for later use. Press remaining crumb mixture firmly onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes or until crust is light brown around edges.

Microwave 1 cup chocolate chunks in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 minutes; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add milk and peanut butter, mix until well blended. Spread onto crust. Combine remaining chocolate chunks, the peanut butter cup pieces and 1-1/2 cups reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle evenly over filling.

Bake 25 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into 40 bars to serve.

This takes about 45 minutes total, but only about 20 of it is hands-on...the other 25 is waiting for it to bake.

It even comes out like the photo that was on the original recipe...which doesn't always happen! :)

*** *** *** ***

I got two thumbs up from Greg on this one!

Recipe and photo courtesy of www.simpleanddelicious.com

A new layout...

On one of my scrapping message boards, someone asked to see examples of two-page layouts with lots of photos. That inspired me to scan and upload some pages I did this summer but haven't taken the time to share. So here's some fresh artwork for you all, especially since it's been a month since my last post.

These are pictures of our family members at my husband and nephew's joint birthday party back in July. I love all the candid photos.

The papers are by KI Memories, the flowers are by Prima, the letters were cut from a Doodlebug Cricut cartridge, and the buttons are by SEI.

another...

This one is of photographs taken at the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center. I love showing this attraction off to visitors because even if they don't particularly enjoy art, the sculptures are memorable and it gives you a chance to get out and walk around, see something unique to the cities and it provides a great setting for catching up with each other.

The papers are by Luxe Designs and the title is American Crafts Thickers.

another...

This layout is of pictures we took over Memorial weekend on a visit to Omaha. The people in the pics are me and my husband, my mom and my grandma. I was so pleased with how the photos turned out I just had to find a way to get lots on a page. For you scrapping types: the paper and brads are by Little Yellow Bicycle; the paper flowers are from Close to my Heart and the title was cut from a Cricut Cartridge (one of the Doodlebug fonts).

The Very Hungry Canerpillar

This is the second year Greg has been involved in a great cause: Canstruction! Greg's work put together a great team of people to build this replica of the classic children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to raise awareness and donations of food for the Second Harvest Food Shelter.

The event is organized by the Society of Design Adminstrators, of which I am a member and treasurer on the local level. Events like this happen all over the country throughout the year, so even if you're not from the Twin Cities, be on the look out for one near you.

Greg's team spent all day yesterday building this structure, and has spent the last few months organizing, designing, practicing, and fundraising/donation collecting.

This year's event raised over 14,000 pounds of food and over 14,000 cans which will be distributed to people and non-profits in need. As you can see, Greg's team did a fantastic job on their giant sculpture and were rewarded for their efforts with the "Best Use of Labels" and "People's Choice" awards as well as an honorable mention for creative and quality and creation of an icon. The other three entries can be seen below:

A Minneapolis Icon

The team from ATS&R took home the "Best Meal" and "Juror's Favorite" for this can-made replica of a Minneapolis icon: the cherry and spoon sculpture from the Walker Art Center & the skyline in the background. Their theme was "Tuna Salad in the Park" and was created from, among other things, the canned and boxed goods needed to make a Tuna Pasta Salad. The Juror's noted the great ability to carry theme through, the attention to detail (like the cherry is made with cans of cherry pie filling and the back of the sculpture is the logo for the event), and the quality as reasons for picking it as their favorite.

St. CANthony Falls

The part of downtown Minneapolis that is depicted here the St. Anthony area. The most iconic part of that district is the Stone Arch Bridge, which you see depicted here in the black and gold cans on the right hand "wall" of this sculpture. You can see the river depicted on floor, including a reflection of the bridge. The back wall depicts the city skyline. This sculpture was created by a team from LHB, who participated in the event for the first time this year. They were the only brand-new team this year, and were very perseverent...their structure fell down about a third of the way through the allotted construction time yesterday, and yet they started on over and succeeded in creating this sculpture by the end of the day. They were awarded an honorable mention for the sensitive use of organic foods.

And last but not least...

This can structure was done by the team from Cuningham Group and their theme was "wiping out hunger one can at a time". So they had this tornado tearing up the land, and aiming for the word hunger, which was most legible when viewed from above, but also legible from the side view. Considering the venue (Mall of America) where the upper stories of this area can overlook the sculptures, it was neat to see them play up the two views. This structure won the "Stuctural Ingenuity" award for the design of their tornado.

Cardmakers: Check out this cool blog!

I found a great card-making blog with lots of sketches and ideas. Take a peek...it's very inspiring!

http://cardsketchaday.blogspot.com/

Have a great day!
Michelle

All of this....

This is what I started with this year (back in May). When I was growing up, my mom and I planted flowers on Mother's Day weekend. So, around that time in May is when I start keeping an eye on the weather to gauge exactly when I can start planting. As you can see, I waited long enough...my hostas and irises and lilies were already going to town. So, one fine afternoon I set out to the garden stores and filled up my basket with all kinds of lovely things (also shown above). Went home and spent about six hours planting, weeding, transplanting, mulching, and watering. About an hour after I got done, a huge storm blew threw town, dumping hail on my flower bed and just shredding all my plants. Needless to say I was pretty sad that all by efforts had been for nothing. Of course, it was still early in the season, and they did just fine...

...Lead to this...

As you can see, the hail ended up not ruining my garden in the end! Hurray! I was so excited to see how my garden filled in, and except for some planting at the beginning of summer, and good waterings throughout, it was pretty maintenance free! It has taken five years for the perennials to fill in like they have, and now I have things in bloom all season. I have really enjoyed this little flower bed, and look forward to the day when we have our own house with a yard (which equates to a much bigger canvas) to build a garden we can permanently enjoy. It's getting to be that time of year when you don't know how much longer these flowers will last, so I thought I would share them with you.

Do you see it?

The ever so slight hint of fall!?! I'm so excited. Fall is my favorite season of the year. I love the crisp cool air tinged with the smell of fires burning and the sound of leaves crunching. I love the abundance of color in nature and the cool nights with windows wide open, sleeping under piles of blankets. I love the scents and tastes of fall foods: beef stew, apple crisp, roasts, pumpkin bars. I love the return to routines. I love Sunday afternoons of football (not because of the game, but because I get to scrapbook or read or stitch while Greg watches the game)...time together but enjoying our own thing. I love fall activities: Halloween parties, pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and corn mazes. I love the cozy feel and a great preamble to the warmth and glow of the holiday season. It's when we celebrate our anniversary. It's when we practice and celebrate thankfulness. It's when we get out the warm comfy sweaters. Can you tell I love this season?

Birthday Layout

Here's a layout I did with pictures from Greg's 31st birthday this year. He had celebrations stretched out from late June to the first weekend in August, by the time we were able to travel to see all sides of the family and he enjoyed that. He went on a bike rally the weekend before his birthday, so I was able to greet him with a deluxe birthday dinner upon his return: beer can chicken, potato salad, bake beans, and strawberry meringue frosting on homemade white cake.

Papers by Creative Imaginations, scallop edge created with Fiskars threading waters punch, scallop circle punch by Marvy Uchida, rubber "happy birthday embellishment and photo turns from a CKU kit, numbers cut from a Cricut cartridge, then covered in Stickles by Ranger Industries.

Zoo Layout

Back on the first weekend in August, my sister-in-law and her family went to Omaha to visit the zoo. Because we were in town visiting my family, we were able to spend part of the day with them. We didn't have a lot of time, we did manage to get through the aquarium (one of my favorites) and grab some ice cream. I also got pooped on by a bird! Can you believe that? I worked at that zoo for 5 years and never once got pooped on! And then we're standing there, minding our own business, waiting for ice cream and I become the target. Oh well, we still had a great day. This was one of the first times, too, that Jaedon was able to recognize us without prompts from mom. He greeted us "Hi Gegg. Hi Shell." Lovin' that for sure!

For you scrap-minded readers: the paper is We R Memory Keepers exclusive line for Archiver's, the stickers are by EK Sucess, the scalloped rectangle cardstock is by Bazzill, the lines for journalling were created using an Autumn Leaves stamp, and the circle behind the pelican sticker was created with a Close to my Heart Stamp & ink topped with Stickles by Ranger Industries.

Kickball season end...sniff

We had our last game of the summer kickball season on Tuesday. It was a tie and because the games were already behind schedule we couldn't go into overtime. But that's alright. The other team showed up in punk wigs so that set the tone for a fun evening. Fall kickball starts up in a few weeks and I can't wait. My highlight of the summer season was kicking the game point a few weeks ago! Sweet.

Softball Tourney

This past weekend Greg and I went to Iowa for the softball tournament my work sponsors every year. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year's tournament. I did pretty poorly at playing...the fact that I haven't played since third grade proved to be a disadvantage for me, however Greg had some great games. Greg's mom, sister, grandma and our nephew came out to to see us for awhile which was great. The tourney is all day Saturday but we got from Friday to Sunday to allow time to tour the host office, meet people and tour the town.

Our company chartered a bus for us to get to and from Iowa. The ride there was pretty lively with food, drinks, poker, music and lots of talking. By contract, the ride back on Sunday was very quiet...everyone had fun all weekend long and took advantage of the long ride to rest up. The company also hosted appetizers on Friday at the Iowa office, meals at the tourney on Saturday and tee-shirts to commemorate the weekend! A great time was had by all.

The top photo makes me smile, it's Greg's softball uniform for this year. Greg wore that to the tourney and I wore a hot pink shirt that matched my hot pink and black glove. Needless to say we got a few comments...him on his swirly socks and me on my overall color coordination. One cool side effect: we were both so bright it was easy for our nephew to spot us on the field and cheer for us!

The bottom photo was taken on the bus ride down. We all chose to wear Hawaiian-themed attire. Another office all showed up with mullet wigs on! It was pretty funny.

Long time, no post

I can't believe how quickly the summer goes. It surprises me every year. Perhaps it's because it started so late this year. In any case, we've been keeping busy with softball, wiffleball, kickball and weekend warrior-ing.

Two weekends ago some girlfriends and I went on a weekend kayak/canoe/camping trip and had a blast. Well, minus the bajillion mosquito bites we endured! Yes, literally a bajillion! I have never had that many bites in my life combined before that weekend.

We went down the Kickapoo river in Wisconsin. Friday night we went to one of the girls' dad's house to spend the night because he lived nearby and that enabled us to get an earlier start on the weekend bright and early Saturday morning. Saturday we kayaked/canoed about 10 river miles, then set up camp along the river, about 10 feet up a hill so that we wouldn't get washed out by the storms that came that night. We played a dice/quiz game and cooked dinner over a campfire and enjoyed some adult beverages.

Sunday morning, we woke up to find a weird scraggly fishermad hanging around our campsite. Needless to say we scrambled to get our stuff onto the boats and boats onto the water ASAP! When safely down river a bit we stopped for breakfast and to load up on sunscreen. We ended up have to portage around a first obstacle where several trees had fallen across the river. We came upon a second that was impassable by canoe. We got two kayaks past and went further down river only to find more impassable obstacles. SO we kayaked back to the first blockade, told the group we had to pull out, and then the whole group (3 kayaks, two full canoes, and 7 lovely ladies) went back upstream to the last bridge we went under and pulled all of our gear up the bank to a dirt road. We were lucky enough to have a park ranger pass, so we flagged him down and talked him into escorting our outfitter back to get us and our gear and their watercraft. If he hadn't come along, we would've had to carry that all 1/2 mile down a dirt road to the highway (apparently, the outfitter is not allowed on park property normally).

In spite of all this, or perhaps because of all this, we had a blast and I can't wait to go again next year. The scenery was beautiful and company was even better.

About Me Quiz

I got this from my friend Bonnie's blog and thought it was fun...

Ten Years Ago:July 1998 - was the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. I was in London with my friend Kelly taking a History of British Rock 'n' Roll class...yeah, life was pretty rough! :) We (Kelly and I) were preparing move out of the dorms and into our first apartment together with our other friend Jana. It was the summer I started seeing my first boyfriend (we broke up a year-and-a-half later). I think I worked at Eddie Bauer for a few weeks that summer before and after hour trip to London.

Five Things on Today's To-Do List:

(1) Organize for the canoe trip I'm going on later this month.
(2) Plant some coral bells in my flower bed to fill in the dead spot where the squirrels stole all my bulbs.
(3) Go to the gym
(4) Do some paperwork for a professional organization I'm in.
(5) Go to happy hour with some co-workers

Snacks I Enjoy: I'll agree with Bonnie on this one: fresh guacamole! I also love that People Puppy Chow (chex cereal with chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar), almonds (fresh or lightly roasted with salt), and beef sticks.

Things I Would Do If I Was a Millionaire: buy a house, upgrade our cars, invest like crazy, and pace ourselves spending the rest on travel (Italy, Key West and Hawaii would start the list), starting a college fund for any future kids we may have (no, this is not an announcement) and our nephews and then give to charity. I would continue to work, though!

Places I Have Lived: Omaha, NE; Ames, IA; St. Paul and Bloomington, MN; and part-time in Chicago, IL for awhile.

Scrapbookers!

Check out this lady's blog, she's got some great sneak peeks for the summer CHA show:

http://moniquemclean.typepad.com/scrap_etc/summer-cha-2008-sneak-pee.html

New Layout

This is a layout I did yesterday for a challenge on a scrapping message border. These are photos of my nephew and I in May.

Floral Cards

Got some craftin' time in this holiday weekend.

I made a set of 8 of these, all are similar but not are exactly the same due to the flowers I had available to me (they were handcut from a sheet of patterned paper).

I cut the flowers out of this sheet of paper by American Crafts...yeah, it took awhile but I caught up on some Oprah while I did it.

The textured cardstock is Bazzill, the patterned paper is from the American Crafts a la Carte line and it's called Vinegarette. I found it last week while strolling through Artsy Tartsy. I'd seen it several times before but this was the time that I found it inspiring. The scalloped edge was cut with the Fiskars Threading Waters punch. You can't tell from this scan, but I did put Close to my Heart Liquid Glass on the flower centers to give it an epoxy look.

Happy Fourth of July

I hope you all enjoyed the day safely! This was my view of the fireworks tonight...very Minneapolitan. Thank you to all of the servicemen and women who guard our freedom and keep us safe.

Happy Birthday Boys!

This weekend we celebrated my husband and my nephew's birthdays...ok, so we were a little late for J's and a little early for Greg's, but who's counting anyway?

We had a great time celebrating at my sister-in-law's new house with both her (our) family and her in-laws there. J and Greg had a fantastic time with their Pixar Cars-Themed birthday party, ice cream cake, presents and plenty of good times outside with family and friends.

Happy birthday, boys! You know I love you both so very much!