fall begins

so, ive been in the mood too bake...and today being the first day of fall, what better way to celebrate it than with some pumpkin whoopie pies! mmm!

oh heavenly little yummy delights! so light and fluffy

i got this recipe out of one of those recipe books you get at the grocery check out.. i really like it.. but i think i would either add more pumpkin(might change the consistency though??) OR add some pumpkin spice to it?.. overall.. very yum, light and fluffy. YAY fall!

on other randomness of my day.. the kids and i had running club this morning. oye.. the morning always comes too soon.  but somehow we managed to get out of the house and to the school. what a great surprise it was to feel the cool breeze and the LACK of humidity! wooohoo!  i think it made me run faster???  i only ran a mile.. but it was an 8 minute mile.. HELLO?! if you know how i run, you know i run slowwwwwwwly.  and i know me.. and know that theres no way in heck i couldve followed it up with a second mile at that pace-haha:) but hey, just gonna celebrate my teeny accomplishment.  so.. after the kids had their breakfasts..and i took lio to school i passed havanas  http://www.havanacubanfood.com/  remembering the conversation i recently had with jennifer about havanas breakfasts, i turned the car around and headed for the walk up counter.. this is what i ordered.. MMMMMMMMMM!  breakfast egg, cheese and uhmm bacon. hello bacon- you are delicious and i love you..  

needless to say, it was pretty filling and i was unable to finish(for all those locals- great sandwich to share with a friend! ) 

so from me to you..wishing everyone a happy fall.  i hope you get to breath in some crisp air, drink at least a few glasses of hot cider and walk through some rustling leaves :)

and the baking begins!

soo.. i dont really know how much baking ill end up doing this holiday season..(yes, im already starting with the holiday stuff)  but, my intentions are high!   i really dont want to bake and stuff my face with lots of delicious, calorie-loaded treats. and watch my waistline expand.. and EXPAND and.. disappear..:(  BUT- id like to taste them.   and i really, just enjoy baking in general.  ok, sooo.. first up:

rocky road peanut butter brownies.... oh my- soo good!

oh hello there cute little brownie..

a close up...just incase you couldnt see all the peanut butter cups in the first picture;)

profile..

im so glad i gave most of these away..thank the Lord we have six teachers to disperse them amongst

ok, now this is the REAL close up.. yum yum yum..

the recipe .. easy as pie..or brownie-whatever:

make brownies as directed by your choice of brownie mix.. let cool completely.

then beat 1 (7oz) jar of marshmallow creme, 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter, and 1 tbsp of milk

spread evenly over top of brownies, then add 1/2 cup of chopped salted peanuts to the top. followed by 30 mini reeces peanut butter cups (chopped up). then drizzle with 1/4 cup of semi-sweet melted chocolate.. let set up and cut into however many pieces you want.  they are rich, so i made them smaller:) hope you make them and enjoy!

a morning swim

its not easy getting up at 6 am on a saturday morning, much less getting up to exercise. but this particular saturday i managed to drag myself out of bed to go for a cool swim in the ocean....and if im being honest here, i got up mainly bc my friend, rachel, had gone completely out of her way friday evening to get my swim cap to me..and if by any chance she happened to ask how swimming was..and i DIDNT go??? uhm.. id feel like a punk friend.. so, all that to say, im SO glad she went of her way, giving me that extra motivation i needed to drag my tired self to the beach:) bc, golly- it sure was beautiful. thanks rach!!

vegatation, sea grapes, palmettos and funky old branches

bright blue sky, sandy dune

yes, that would be my foot.. with the worn off blue polish;)

i love this beach  because it has such unsual rocky terrain

the water collects in the divots. i think it kindof looks like moon craters..dont you think?

so calm, so early

i seriously could sit and watch the waves pour over these rocks all     day      long.

close up of the super cool plant life that nestled itself in among the rocks

i dont know if you can tell, but the rocks are covered by a cool carpet of fuzzy moss.. i think in my "mountain" post i mentioned how much i love moss?  ok, this isnt mountain moss, its sea moss- but, i SO love it. 

seafoam pouring over the top, just like icing a cake.

the water finding its way between the mossy rocks, mezmorizing..

hey! whos that??? jessica!!:) my awesome swimmer friend, who took the time out of her morning routine to give me some swimming pointers.. thanks jessica- youre a swimming rockstar!!!xoxo

getting up early pays off.. i hope this might inspire an early rise to see the peaceful and beautiful creation around us.

to the mountains we went

i love the mountains, they are peaceful and their beauty is captivating.  this summer we took a family vacation with my mom and stepdad, jack, to north carolina.  they used to take me there a lot as a kid.. i kind of forgot how beautiful it is there..how it feels to be surrounded by Gods mountainous creation.  this trip woke up my warm memories....so, up to the mountains we went..      

our week was full... packing in everything from gem mining, white water rafting, visiting an alpaca farm, hiking, campfires, playing in creeks, exploring cherokee and then wrapping it up with a family reunion in charlotte. below are some of the highlights of our trip. i took way too many pictures to share them all.

 the alpacas....

  

these are pics from the alpaca farm. these animals are SO so sweet and cute! they had just been sheared so they were all skinny looking:) we purchased some roving from this farm. my mom and i were on a felting kick during this trip.. it has kindof died off at the moment, but im anxious to start felting again..

ok.. i had to post one of these pics.. boiled peanuts.. they are everywhere.. people love them. they are kindof mushy for me though.. i like the kind you get from roadhouse or the ground round..and they let u throw the shells on the floor.  how fun is that???

we saw this indian show in cherokee, nc.  i loved the way their songs had that chanting beat.. it was really beautiful to see them dance and play the drums.

i love the worn moccasins and tattered ribbons on this guy..

more of their dance.

they asked if anyone from the audience would join them for a dance( only children went.. why do adults always shy away from this stuff??)  i was tempted.. but i wanted to take pictures of the boys dancing with them. so i stayed put, watching from the sidelines. and at the end of the dance they said whatever name the dance was.. and that all those brave enough to dance it would now live to be 100 yrs old. why did i sit out?!?!?  now i have to go back and do this dance sometime before i get to be too old.  hey, you never know!;)

this is duelio, feeding the cute duckies.  this cool mountain stream ran through town.  it was great to dip our feet in, hunt for smooth river stones and float in the current(lots of people tubed here).  this fun pit stop occupied us for two hours as we were waiting for the guys to finish golfing.. which i heard was amazingly beautiful.. but we unfortuantely dont have any pics of that little excursion:(

super duper cool bamboo forest we stumbled upon as we left the creek.

i cannot get over the skies.. everyone of them was just so brilliant.

this is kindof a little family joke.  my mom always talks about how she used to roast potatoes in camp fires when she was growing up.  unfortuantely, we dont do a lot of camping or make lots of fires.. so our opportunites to do this are slim.  i dont know if you can tell, but there are little balls of foil- wrapped potatoes deep in the glowing cinders of this fire.. we ate them for breakfast the next day, they were a little charred, but i really liked them:)

and here we have gem  mining, folks!  we actually did find some great stones.. but getting them cut and polished..thats another story..

duelio, hard at work..

i LOVE, love, love, love. love moss.. i love how it grows and creeps its way up and around anything in the forest. the green, so vibrant and foresty feeling. ahhh...:)

jack, pausing on our hike.. what is better than hiking in the mountains??

finding a cool forest mushroom on a hike-thats what! (they sure are pretty, no wonder people want to eat them) 

and a waterfall, of course!

"last of the mohicans" is one of my all time favourite movies.. i love these skies, bc they make me feel like im in the movie.

of course, i was dying to pick my own veggies at a farm.. so we stopped at this charming and ever- so- delightful little place, just perched up on the side of a mountain. what a happy little place for a garden:)

cole picking a watermelon

the boys picking grape tomatoes

and now, moving on to charlotte... unfortunately, i wasnt as good with taking pictures there.. but i do have a few!

as if it needs an introduction....but just incase some of you havent heard me go on and on about it.. ladies and gentlemen................ BUBBLE TEA!

dwill was upset they were out of "bubbles" so he had "jellies" in his.. poor little guy..

and you here have it.. a close up.  i just cant get enough of this stuff.. SOOOOOO good!  i owe this fascination and obsession all to the lovely, courtney reichely.  thank you, love.. yuuummmmm!!!!

and as all adventures come to and, this one did too.. back down the mountain we went.. back to our life by the sea..