The Other Woman

Or should I say the OLDER woman: Sigma is 52 years old today!! Well, technically she has only been on this earth for 9 years but sorry honey you just age faster than me – darn the bad luck and bad genes.

I am a woman who loves a man who loves a cat. I walked into my boyfriend’s life with a little competition on my hands, and not your typical competition. She had already been living with him for 8 years; she had these gorgeous big blue eyes, beautiful hair, and already had him wrapped around her little paw. But with time Sigma and I have learned to share, and for the most part I think she just learned to tolerate me. She is a unique creature, and anyone who has met her has met her inflamed, pissy attitude. Every once in a while she looks at me as if she were better than me, but then that cute sweet playful side comes out.

She fetches, just like a dog, her favorite toy of choice: my ponytail holders. She has an old pair of socks that she thinks is her baby, and she brings the baby to us when we watch movies. She loves to show off by racing up and down the stairs with you, and sometimes she ‘lets’ you win. She has an obsession with licking plastic and loves when I bring shopping bags in the house. She thinks Britt hung the moon just outside the window. And she is always perched on the end of the couch waiting to welcome you home after a long day.

For the love of feline, Happy Birthday Siggie!!!

Hello Lover

Barefoot Contessa has an amazing cake recipe, Beatty’s Chocolate Cake, or as I like to call it ‘you won’t be single for long chocolate on chocolate cake’. I will admit right off the bat that I am a bit of a cake snob, but this cake is finger licking good (sorry KFC). It's probably one of the easiest cakes I’ve made from scratch, the secret ingredient: coffee. This is added to bring out the chocolate flavor, but the cake does not have a coffee taste. Just remember, if you fatten up everyone around you then you look thinner.

Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup hot coffee

Grease 3 round cake pans and preheat oven to 350. Sift the first 6 ingredients into a bowl and mix. In a different bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Use a mixer on low speed to slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Add the hot coffee to the mixture and stir just to combine. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for about 30 minutes, until tooth pick comes out clean. Let the pans for 30 minutes, then put the cake on a cooling rack and let it cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 extra-large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Cut chocolate into small pieces and put it in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir often until melted and set aside to cooled. Use an electric mixer on medium-high to fluff the butter for 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 more minutes. Put mixer on low and slowly add the confectioners' sugar, mix well on medium speed until it is smooth and creamy. In a small bowl mix coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hot tap water. Add chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until blended. Spread on cake.

I know you next question: How many calories in one piece of this chocolate cake?

Who Cares?

Dear Santa

Amongst my many interests is photography.  A few months ago I took the plunge a bought my first digital SLR camera.  I had been a very good girl last year, and as a special Christmas gift to myself I went to the B&H Photo website and clicked purchase on the Nikon D40.  Don’t get me wrong this decision was met with much debate, all the Cannon verses Nikon fuss.  After months of research and a few sleepless nights, my heart was set and my new hobby would be flying high.

My father dabbled into photography when I was a young child.  I remember his workspace was a darkroom; he would let me sit and watch him develop pictures.   It was a lengthy process in which you would dip the photo paper in different chemical trays.  I watched as the faces and places would appear on the pain white paper, and he would always let me hang the photographs to dry.  For a young child it was pure magic, it’s such an amazing process to watch an image form in a darkroom.  The digital age we now live in has left the dark room behind, but it’s a memory I will hold onto forever.   

So, without further a due I wanted to introduce you to my new baby.  Most of the pictures you will see on this blog will be a product of her expertise (and yes she is digital): The Nikon D40!!

Thanks Santa!  This year I promise to be naughty and save you a trip. 

QUOTE

Mr. Sandman

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." 

—Robert Orben

A few of my favorite things in this life is the beginning of a long vacation, going on a road trip, that first sip of cold beer, and the ocean. So imagine my delight as we geared up to go to the beach.

Britt and I spent a few days in Florida with my sister, her family, my cousin Rachel, Jud and Haden.  We floated the lazy river, played beach volleyball, soaked up UVB, built sand castles, buried each other in the sand, rode the waves, and acted silly.  My only motto on vacation is "You can do whatever you want" so yes, I ate chips for breakfast and had a drink before noon. And my sweet little niece Emily: no one ever got tired of you saying "Where's my Nanny?"

 

 

First Official Post

   

Here we go, I am going to give this blog thing a try.  My hesitation thus far comes from not being that great of a writer, but what I lack in words I seem to make up for in my photos and humor. 

So, just like walking into a room full of strangers - let me introduce myself. I have a great life, a small life, but a great life.  I grew up in a little town in Southern Louisiana with an amazing family.  I did the college thing because that 'would make Dad proud', and the second they put that degree in my hand I decided to sell everything I owned to travel the world doing mission work. Two years later I figured it was time to start living in the real world.  So, here I am today, working 9-5, falling in love, and having the time of my life!!

It feels kinda nice to have my own personal place to share my thoughts, wisdom, hobbies and plain old life experiences.  My life has taken me on a very interesting journey, one that has left me at times feeling scattered and confused.  But I have become aware that the past is important and necessary in discovering myself and finding true happiness.  

There you have it: my birth into the blogosphere word as we know it.