A family thread.

A little while ago, my cousin posted a photo of our grandmother on Facebook and when I saw it, I was stunned. There, looking back at me was my grandmother with a camera looking so much like me! I wanted that photo, or at the very least a copy of it. She has been on my mind lately and the photo seemed to be her speaking to me from the dust. The last time I saw her was when my mom and I had the good fortune to travel back to Sweden together for my cousin's wedding in the summer of 1999.

(At the wedding)

A few days before my mom and I left Sweden we visited Langgarn, a small island that is part of Stockholm's archipelago. My grandmother's family had 3 cabins on the island that have eventually been passed down to my Uncles who live in Sweden. For fun, I was mowing the lawn at the middle cabin with a push mower while my grandmother sat and watched me, but pretty soon it felt like it was more than just watching me. She was memorizing me, absorbing me.

Finally, I stopped, went over to her and sat down beside her and said,

"I know what you're doing."

"What?"

"You are soaking me in because I'm leaving."

"Yes. You know that there are nine of you over there now."

She was referring to my family of six at the time and my parents and younger brother who all live here, in the United States. I realized then how much time she spent thinking about her family that lived an ocean away. 

An hour or so later my mom and I walked down to the dock so my uncle to take us back to the mainland. My grandmother sat in a chair at the top of the pathway leading to the dock with another uncle standing at her side as she watched us walk away. She looked like a grand dame, sitting there watching me go. She was my last living grandparent, the matriarch of my father's side of the family. I am so grateful for such a clear memory of our last visit together. She passed away 3 months later. Our conversation became more poignant knowing it was our last one in this life. 

My Aunt was nice enough to send a copy of the photo so here it is:

I love it! And this is also why I love photography. Photos enrich our memories and preserve them for future generations. What a treasure.

How do they do it?!

You may wonder what this is. If you know, then I am impressed. 

After being in the courtroom for two days,  I couldn't help but wonder how the court reporter did her thing. I got a little closer look this morning, but still couldn't see how so few keys could allow her to record everything that was being said. I found the whole thing rather intriguing and often found myself staring at her typing and the narrow strip of paper that kept feeding through the machine. So tonight, while I am waiting to get sleepy, I decided to satisfy my curiosity. That's the great thing about the internet. You can find out just about anything. The above are the keys on a court reporter's machine and you can learn all about how it works here.

There...now I think I can go to sleep. One less thing to wonder about.

Scout Camp...Adam's home.

Adam has been at Scout Camp all week and came home yesterday. Hooray! We missed him while he was gone. When Brian picked him up from his Scout Master's house he said, "Mom's got to get a picture of you!" Having sent many boys off to scout camp and seen what they look like when they come home, I wasn't surprised when I saw Adam. He was wearing his week of camp ALL over him from head to toe. I love that he is still such a boy. I keep telling him not to grow up. 
First of all, his uniform is a little embarrassing for me as a mother and fills me with guilt. It's most likely NOT his shirt, but a hand me down from one of his brothers and I'm sure the rank patch isn't right AND notice the "chalk outline" of what was once a patch above his left pocket. It looks like it was "glued" on. It's not the only patch I have glued over the years. Eeek! BUT...he has a smile on his face and doesn't care about his uniform. I might get that right one of these days.

Aside from all of that, let's move in for a closer look....

What I'd like to point out here is the mustache. His fellow scouter and friend, John, told Brian that Adam had a mustache the entire week. I thought he took soap with him. Maybe it wasn't on the list.

The dirty, untucked, half unbuttoned shirt. The t-shirt underneath doesn't 

look much better.

The shorts had to match the shirt. I asked him if he showered and he said, "No, but I jumped in the lake a couple of times, but that doesn't count." At least he changed his underwear.

He said he was the only one who got this many mosquito bites. Hmm...I guess we forgot the bug spray along with the soap. But seriously, with legs that cute, what bug wouldn't want to take a little bite?!

He came home with his watch, which I was very happy about since I borrow it 

every other day.

They were up in Flagstaff at Camp Raymond, but fortunately not near the big fire.

Just stuff he came home with. I am kind of wondering about the two belts, since he was wearing one. I guess we have 3 scout belts now? Anybody missing one??

Basket Weaving and Woodcarving merit badges. Is it only a mom who would get all mushy looking at these little handiworks? I guess I just picture him sitting up there at camp, with his half buttoned, dirty shirt, mustached face and his grubby hands deep in concentration working on his little baskets and remembering the same boy at the age of 3 sitting on the floor of his grandma's house in his p.j. shirt and little boy underwear, deep in concentration with his coloring book and wonder where the time has gone. I guess he's not listening to me growing up anyhow. 

Simon Goes to Camp

We got to do a little road trip with just the girls to visit Simon up in Prescott yesterday: Emma, my mom and me. Simon is working as a counselor at Friendly Pines Camp. Brian's brother, Kevin runs it. It's a great camp; well-run. Simon looked camp-y and outdoorsy and is taking good care of all the little campers that come his way. We had lunch at Wildflower, shopped a little (sorry, Simon) and saw Toy Story3 in 3D, where my mom and I both caught a little catnap. I didn't want to sleep, but with 3 hours of sleep the night before not even TS3 could keep my peepers open. Still love that movie, though...and 3D glasses have improved a ton since the last time I saw a 3D movie.

Music to my ears.

      It's been such a long time since I've posted anything, but I'm just going to jump right back in. I finished my semester at MCC's Red Mountain campus and now I have the summer to play catch up on other things. I made new friends, loved being a student and had fun learning again in a school environment. Overall, I was happy with how the semester turned out. I could not have done it without the support of Brian. Thank you, thank you. He joked all semester that he was dating a college girl. I do still feel like a girl on the inside, so I was always surprised when I was reminded in one way or another that I might not be as young as I think I am. I was mistaken for a teacher on my first day in the cafeteria when they were trying to point me to the teacher's lounge! I met some great "kids" in my classes who are impressive and then there are the slackers who don't know how lucky they are to be in school. So that kept me very busy on top of everything else. Happy to have summer here.

     Jon-Erik has been living in his own apartment with 1-2 other guys since January. It's fun when he drops by for a visit. He stopped by yesterday and said six words that are music to my ears, "Want to give me a haircut?" How about YES!!! I would love to. Let's go. Right now. Aside from the actual haircut, there are so many other nice things about this little ritual that goes way back for us. With just a few exceptions, I've always cut my kid's hair. When they were younger, they hated it. They thought it took SOOOOO long. "Are you done yet?!?" (Hey, I'm not a professional. I go at my own pace. Precision takes time.)

"Owww, you're digging!" 

"Hold your head straight or I'm going to take a chunk out and you're not going to like that."

"Sit tall like a giraffe, please. Almost done." 

"Just have to blend it."

"This is taking SOOOO long!!"

"We're almost done."

"Just think of how much money we're saving."

Sometimes I would threaten to take them to a real barber and for some reason that WAS a threat. I don't know why. I would have thought it would've been a treat for how much they complained about the job I was doing.

But now, it's different. They ask me for haircuts instead of the other way around and we get to talk and laugh and it's fun. I occasionally have to remind them to hold still or sit straight or explain that I'm almost done. So, when Jon-Erik asked me for a haircut yesterday, the haircut was the bonus, but the time we got to spend together was the real treat.  We tried out some different "looks" along the way to help build up my haircutting portfolio.

Shmansome! I'm a sucker for short hair.

Dinner.

     This photo has been sitting on my desktop for a while, waiting for me to do something with it. It's been a month since I last posted something, so it was time. I have so many things in my "blog bucket" that I needed to put a little dent in it.

     I enjoyed this dinner so much a while back, I had to take a photo of it. When I feel like I can't ever think of anything to cook, then I can look at this and be reminded that a little effort goes a long way. The Salmon patties are sold at Costco and are so versatile. I use them like I would a Salmon Filet. I've used them in tacos and just had 1/2 of one in a salad today. They do not taste like something processed, but actually satisfy my craving for fish. I made the risotto from leftover brown rice, adding diced yellow peppers, onions, dill, parmesan cheese and chicken broth. It was creamy and lowfat. The salad is also a Costco favorite: The Parisian. Love the dressing. My mom and I once ordered a whole box of the dressing we loved it so much. We had to take a break from it after that, but it's back on our list again. Time to get a little inspired about dinner again and make a little effort. Sometimes it's just going through the motions and other times it's a creative outlet. I'm ready for creative outlet. If you have any quick, easy ideas for dinner, send them my way. Would love to hear what's on your table for dinner. 

Have a great day!

Cindy Standage: Country Singer

Every day I think to myself, "I need to post something on my blog. It's been a while." And until today, that's as far as I got. I started school in January. I'm taking 10 credits at MCC @ Red Mountain: Sociology, Small Group Communication and Biology. 10 credits doesn't sound like much, but I feel like it's full time! I can't imagine taking more than that. It is more than enough AND has kept me very busy, so blogging has sadly fallen by the wayside. I'm working towards completing my pre-requisites for the Dental Hygiene program. After this semester, I'll have one more year to take 4 classes...science classes with labs. I might sound a little whiney, but I'm really loving it, even if my brain feels like I'm making it run a marathon nearly every day. No pain, no gain, right??

So, I am still doing photography jobs when time permits. One of those jobs was working with Cindy Standage. She has a new CD coming out. I believe it is printing as we speak and she wanted some images for her CD. What she wanted and what I do were a perfect fit. She has a fun personality, a lot of spunk and I would use the word "pizzazz." These were the images that she selected. I may add more later, but for now here they are:

She chose this one for the cover.

I love this kind of one on one shoot. So personal and fun. Can't wait to see the finished product.


Update on Cindy as of 4/7/2010: Her CD is now finished and can be previewed here. Congratulations, Cindy!

Olivia turns 3.

My niece, Olivia, turned 3 last Friday and on Saturday she had a birthday party with a Princess theme. It's fun to look back on Olivia's birthdays and see how she has changed. For her 1st birthday, it was mostly family and she wore a cute outfit that stayed pretty crisp and clean. She was shy about all of the attention. On her 2nd birthday, she had a lot more people and bouncy house and didn't mind the attention, her parents still ran the show, deciding when they would open presents, etc., Her brother, Christopher was still growing in her mommy's tummy. Then this year her cute face was already smeared with stuff, her pigtails almost falling out and her knees scuffed by the time I got to the party. I love seeing her  emerging independence. Opening presents was the first order of events, initiated by Miss Olivia, herself. Christopher was now part of the family and party. Olivia was a girl on the move, so I had a harder time catching her with my camera.

(Those cute little hamburgers are actually  2 vanilla wafers with a peppermint patty and green and red and yellow frosting for the condiments.)

Here is a collage of some of her guests, small and well, not so small.

The kids and even some of the grownups had fun bouncing in the bouncy house. I loved the pile of kids that came spilling out of it.

By the end when things started to quiet down, Olivia and her friend found a quiet corner in the bouncy house where they could play with some of her toys.

What do I love about Olivia at this age?

1. Her warm greeting whenever she sees us.

2. Her cute lisp and "w" sound that she makes for r's.

3. Her cheery nature.

4. Her independent streak.

5. Her hands and cute feet.

6. The determined look she gets on her face when she's doing something that requires concentration.

7. She makes me (and everyone else) feel loved and that is no small thing. I love being her Aunt.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Olivia!

Engagement: Austin & Niki

Austin and Niki are getting married next month. Photography by Jo is capturing their wedding. Jo is my good friend, who moved all the way up to Idaho last year. I love when I get a chance to work with her. I got to do Austin and Niki's Engagement session for Jo this past weekend. They picked the Tempe Center for the Arts as their location as they spend time together down there going for bike rides and walks along the water. They were a lot of fun to work with, relaxed with each other and pretty at ease in front of the camera. It's always fun to meet people and see if you share any common interests.  We did! We all have an interest in the dental field. Our paths may cross again. 

I'm so glad they brought their bikes.

Light Alfredo Sauce: A recipe for a rainy day

What to serve with chicken that I cooked in my crockpot? I found this recipe for a Light Alfredo Sauce yesterday on sparkpeople.com (they include nutritional information, still checking it all out, but it looks interesting), a new website that I happened upon in my search. It got good reviews. It is a little thinner than more caloric recipes, but the flavor was still good. I followed the advice of one review and let it sit for a bit to thicken it up. I added a cup of uncooked spinach as a bed for the whole wheat pasta, chicken, mushrooms and alfredo sauce.

Light Alfredo Sauce 

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups skim milk 1 cup chicken broth 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden brown.

In a small saucepan, stir together milk, chicken broth, flour, salt and pepper over low heat until smooth and thick. Stir into garlic. Continue to cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Number of Servings: 8 - (1/3) cup servings or 6 (1/2) cup servings

And the finished product

This got great reviews from both Ben and Emma, which is saying a lot. Ben wanted seconds and Emma readily ate pasta and told me that she really liked it and that she liked it better than the red sauce. They skipped the spinach and the mushrooms, but either way, it's a winner.

Corey: Head shots

Corey is studying music up at NAU. He has a beautiful tenor voice. He needed some head shots for an upcoming recital. Here are a few from our session.

Food, Glorious Food!

I know it's  cliche' to make New Year's resolutions regarding food and exercise, but I don't care.  I welcomed it. I knew I was on a slippery slope and by the time January 1st rolled around I felt like I was so ready for a change. I don't think eating sugary foods for every meal can be a good thing. That was the day I said, "No more!" I had pushed myself to the edge. I had abused my relationship with food. I had cheapened it and lost respect for it. I was eating without thinking of the consequences. So, the first thing that I decided to do was a sugar detox. Nothing too scientific or regimented, just eliminate the desserts and candy...just for a day...and then for another day...and another...it wasn't even that hard to do. It felt great in fact. It boosted my confidence about other changes to come. I decided to get back to my Weight Watcher's way of eating and cooking. I joined Weight Watchers 4 years ago on January 16. I lost 20 lbs. and it felt great. (Yes, past tense...I got distracted by life and some of it came back...but I am still a believer.) I pulled out my WW stuff last week and got back to eating the way that I know is right and I feel more in control. My refrigerator went through a makeover, too. I cleaned it out to give it a fresh start. Food and I are starting to work things out. I feel like we're getting back in the groove and I'm loving it all over again, with greater respect for what kind I choose to associate with and put into my body.

Let me introduce you to some of my new (old) friends...

From top to bottom, L to R: (hiding on the top row) Better Than Bouillon, Trader Joe's Natural Peanut Butter, Light Coconut Milk, brown mushrooms, lemon (love 'em!), ginger, leftover yummies, spinach, leftover Thai  chicken wrap filling**(recipe below), peanut sauce in the back**, chicken apple curry sauce that goes over rice. Some people don't eat leftovers. I am not one of them. I recycle them into something new and improved. Some of my kids see through this attempt at serving the same thing two nights in a row. Too bad. 

Other things I have on hand: the bacon bits in a bag from Costco (so versatile...and a little goes a long way), cheese (I would rather use less real cheese and real butter than fat free or light), tomatoes, cilantro, lime, cucumbers, and beans among other things.

So now when I open my refrigerator, instead of standing there and staring and wondering, "What (yawn...) am I (yaaaawwwwn) going to fix for dinner??" I smile and say,  "Oh, I can't wait to have you for dinner!" Fruits and vegetables have moved back home.  My food world has color once again and I am so dang happy about it.  I want you to feel what I'm feeling so I'm going to give you two recipes that you can get excited about and try. If you're not a big ethnic food person...change...and I mean right now. I'm not kidding. By the way, a taco from Taco Bell is NOT an ethnic food. There are so many good flavors out there just waiting for you to embrace them. 

These recipes both have a Thai theme. Use the leftover peanut sauce on the wraps the next day. We had them both this week. The first one is from the Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites cook book (I saw this book at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. Would have bought it if I didn't already have it).

Thai Chicken Satay

(serves 6, normal portions)

Chicken marinade:

• 3 T. Asain fish sauce** 
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 T. grated fresh ginger
• 2 tsp. grated lime zest
• 1 T plus 1 tsp. lime juice
• 2 1/2 lbs chicken (cut into strips that you can either broil in oven or BBQ on skewers)

**(now don't you say, "Eww!" to the fish sauce...give it a chance.  It's a seasoning, just like soy sauce)

Directions: Place marinade ingredients in a large zip lock bag, mix, then add chicken and refrigerate from 1-6 hours, turning bag occasionally. If I had skewers I'd BBQ them as my first choice. You can also broil the whole breasts and then cut them up. Cook 6-8 minutes or until they look done, turning once.

Peanut Sauce

(serving size: 2 T)

Whisk together until smooth:

• 3/4 c. light coconut milk
• 6 T. creamy peanut butter
• 2 1/2 T. honey 
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 T. fish sauce
• 2 T. lime juice
• 2 tsp. lime zest

(I like to heat the sauce up in the microwave before I serve it)

Serve with rice and asian salad. For salad try Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame dressing on lettuce greens with orange slices, sliced almonds, cucumbers, green onions and tomatoes. So de-lish.

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

This next one I found on the internet.

Thai Chicken Wrap

recipe courtesy Rachel Ray on FoodNetwork.com

makes 4 BIG wraps

(I used leftover lean pork chops from the night before instead of chicken)

Ingredients:

• 3 (6 ounce) chicken breasts
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1 T. grill seasoning (whatever you want)

(I would just throw this in the crock pot in the a.m.)

Salad:

• 1/2 seedless cucumber, halved and sliced thinly
• 2 c. fresh bean sprouts
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 4 green onions, sliced in thin slices
• 12 fresh basil leaves (This is what go me excited!!)
• 3 T. chopped mint leaves (This just added to it!)
• 1 T. sesame seeds

mix and pour over salad:

• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 T. rice vinegar or regular white vinegar
• salt

Her spicy peanut sauce(did not try)besides, I love coconut milk instead of the oil:

• 1/4 c. room temp chunky peanut butter
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. rice wine vinegar or regular vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 T. vegetable oil

Add cut up or pulled apart chicken to salad and divide into 4 servings on 4 (12-inch) tortilla wraps.

Pour 2 T. of leftover peanut sauce from night before on each wrap and then roll it up. 

I used Clay Oven Baked whole wheat Lavash Bread, cut in half instead of the tortillas. I found them at Trader Joe's. They tasted lighter to me than a tortilla.

So, there you have it. These recipes are tried and true. I hope they add a little zip to your dinner menus.

Bon Appetit and Enjoy!

Cynthia

Cynthia attends ASU. She's applying for a job with Disney Channel and needed some headshots. I love doing headshots! They're like a little burst of energy. Speaking of little bursts, that could also describe Cynthia. She is cute as a button and I hope she gets that job with Disney!

Go get 'em, Cynthia!