Party in Puerto Rico.

A few things about Puerto Rico...

1. Cats. Everywhere! It must be where cats go when they die beacause the ammount was kind of scary. Cat lovers, get yourself to PR and your life will be made.

2. COLOR! Finally a place that believes in color, and lots of it. I'll have pics of San Juan and you will see the greatness I speak of.

3. There is such a thing as Island time! Or, people on PR are seriously influenced/inspired by molasses because things are slllloooow. But that makes it all the merrier and more of an adventure. So yay for island time!

 Look at that view! 

Anyway, peace out Puerto Rico! You were cool. Just kidding, you were REALLY hot. (90 degrees on December 20th anyone? I didn't think so.)

Pizza on Earth, Goodwill towards men!

Does posting on Christmas mean that I really don't have a life? Either way, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you had a magical day doing everything Christmasy, including celebrating JESUS. Some days I can't even believe how incredible the story is and all he has done for us. It's just so amazing.

The candle light service is always good (um, glow sticks, but whatevs.) A lot of crying babies and shuffling papers but a lot more people coming to know the Lord! We sang Love Came Down and even though I've heard it a ton, I've never really thought about it (typical for me. I'm trying!)

____________________________

 Love came down and 

rescued me,

Love came down and 

set me free,

I am Yours

Lord,

I'm forever Yours 

_________________________

Because of Christmas, we are free! Isn't that just the most beautiful thing? Free and saved and wrapped in Grace. THAT is what Christmas is all about...

Aaaaannnnd puppies in holiday dresses! Of course!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight! I'm off to go dream of sugarplums or bacon. One of the two. Cheers!

THE GREAT CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR!

Oh where to start? Emily and I have the funniest friendship. And ever since I moved back, singing has been our way of expressing our love for the world and carbohydrates (the ravioli song!) So naturally with Christmas and all, a round of caroling was in order, fondly dubbed the Christmas Spectacular because it really was just that!

Okay, so basically all we did was run around her neighborhood singing Christmas songs several octaves higher than what's socially acceptable. But it was grand and we ended the night with 15 waves from strangers, 2 honks, 2 people stopping to watch and a grand finale of Deck the Halls with the kids across the street.

There has never been a merrier day than the 23rd of December. Now, for awkward photos!

▲▲ As you might notice, the lantern is a KEY element to a wonderful Christmas spectacular! Also, this is just a small sampling of Emily's collection of interesting facial expressions.

 ▲▲ And also, sparklers! Provided by our local wanna be pyrotechnic , thank you Andy for such a sparkly contribution! (or contributation as I said earlier...)

▲▲ This photo is oozing with tradition! Emily's family (my family too! who am I kidding?!) has put up this nativity scene ever since I can remember. And when I was little I would always make everyone bow to Jesus. And now I'm not little and I still make everyone bow. It's just one of those things you can't ever not do? (like eating only one potato chip.)

Thanks Em, for caroling with me, and to Emily's parents for pretending we didn't sound as bad as we did. And remember, the best way to spread Christmas Cheer is to sing loud for all to hear! As of now, Emily's neighborhood is drowning in Christmas cheer....

That's how we do  it!

Christmas is for cookies!

Happy Eve of Eve friends! After being up for 23 hours yesterday, today seemed like the perfect day to share a cozy cookie recipe. You know, for munching on as you curl up on the couch with cocoa and a sappy movie. Staying up for 23 hours is optional and not advised.

CHOCOLATE MINT CRINKLE COOKIES

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon pure mint extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Step 1

   Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring.

2. Step 2

   Whisk together flour, baking powder, and cocoa in a small bowl.

3. Step 3

   Whisk together granulated sugar, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in melted chocolate and mint extract until smooth. Stir in flour mixture. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

4. Step 4

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls using your palms, then roll in confectioners' sugar to coat. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart. Bake until slightly firm in the center, about 15 minutes.

5. Step 5

   Let cool slightly on sheets set on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely.
   
   
   
   
   
   Serve with a cup of cocoa and and a side of Christmas carols! And share with a fluffy puppy and you'll know what Christmas cheer is.
    

Faux-togropher! (Instagram Apps.)

In Follow up to my most recent post, I appreciate every comment you leave, whether you complement my good looks or tell me I have broccoli in my teeth. Either way, I love them and appreciate them!

I would NEVER say I am a photographer, but I am a fauxtogropher! And that's just where I take a cruddy photo and edit the living daylights out of it so it looks halfway decent. My Blog is a prime example of this. And also my instagram feed, which we are talking about today. Thankfully there are a ton of apps to help us faux-togrophers feel like the real deal. Obviously in my world, applying a artsy filter and a clever caption (#never) automatically makes you legit. It's a very nice, imaginary life here!

Read on to see my 3 favorite apps for Instagram......

VSCO Cam is heavens editing app, for sure! The presets can really rescue the ugliest photos, which is very handy since I always find myself with quite a lot of those!

Afterlight is my favorite for if I wanna make a cruddy photo work, they have lots of light leaks to cover up things. And I ALWAYS use it to sharpen, it makes a world of difference.

Retouch is a great little mini photoshop. I kind of have a no photoshoping my face policy so I just normally use to remove ugly things (in this case, that doggone cord.)

Tell me friends, what are YOUR favorite apps? Any good ones I can't live without?

XOXO, K

GIRLS GUSH...thoughts on Instagram comments and the like

A few days ago my brother mentioned how irritating comments girls leave on Instagram are. And I'll have you know that at that point I ran to hide in my closet. Um, i leave those comments? And um, I like those comments! On the one hand, I see it. Especially from a guy's point of view, for them it would be weird to say "You are so pretty!" and the 10000 variations that stem from it, all of which I can never remember when I'm leaving a comment so I'm just like" umm...you look nice." Awkward.

But then on the other hand, I totally get it. I get that every, single, day, girls need to be told they are beautiful. In a world full of models and photoshop (that's the worst one.) ,  it's hard to feel like you are anything special at all. I believe that every day girls need to be reassured that they are wonderful, whether it's their heart or their looks or their passion for life. Heck, I need to hear it all the time! And sometimes it's the encouragement from friends or affirmation from a stranger that helps a girl stand a little taller and feel for, even just a second, that she's wonderful.

And I don't know about you, but I'm all for girls knowing they are beautiful.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Do you find the comments annoying or uplifting? And n the spirit of this post, here's a selfie! You know what to do....

ON THE 11TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS....

A few days ago Mom and I were listening to the radio and the announcers said something about last minute shopping and We were just like "Heck, we have not even STARTED Christmas shopping!"

But really, doing anything Christmasy before December 10th would really be a sin in our house. Except of course, dreaming about what you'll get for Christmas, as that is acceptable ALLLLL year. As of yesterday, we have a tree! 11 days before Christmas, that's how its done.

▲▲ This is the point where I apologize for the ugliness of this photo, but I love it so! On my birthday Emily came over and we had a fondant Santa competition which quickly turned into a snowman and gingerbread house competition. Pictured is Emily's penguin snowman/hybrid (it's a new breed, still in the development stages. Will let you know when they're available in the freezer section.)  Not pictured, my snowman with a toothpick in his eye.

▲▲ Puppies like Christmas trees! Yay! I didn't even pose them for these, which I guess by now they just nap in photogenic places. Train them young, I say!

▲▲ Uber Cliche lights photos. But isn't that what Christmas is for? That and eating cookies.

For those of you interested (Hi Mom! Hi Grandma!) I was quite handy and created a Christmas  tag in which you can view more poorly edited Christmas photos. Enjoy friends!

 “Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more....”