Food - P52 Week 47

I love to cook!

Now baking is another story... I can bake just fine, it is just something I don't do very often. Mainly because I don't need the sweets, and who can resist them if they are staring you in the face all day long.

The one thing I don't mind baking is cookies...

I found a new cookie recipe on Pinterest that I had to try:  Andres Creme de Menthe Chuck Cookies.

Let's just say they were "clean the mixer beater" good...

100th Post

I can't believe that I made it to my 100th post. My goal for this blog was just to keep posting for the whole year, something I have never been able to stick with before, hence the name of the blog "Becoming a Finisher".  Now granted I still have a month to go before the end of the year, but I am very confident I will finish the year strong.

In honor of my 100th post I thought I would highlight my top three blog posts so far this year. I find it interesting that the topics are all human emotion topics: self-sacrifice, self humiliation, and personal pain. These subjects touch on the raw nerves of human kind and bind us together...

A GREAT LEEP

SELF PORTRAIT

SACRIFICE

The Last Days of Autumn - P52 Week 46

This past weekend Glen and I took the dogs to Saugatuck Dunes State Park to do some hiking.

More hiking has been my goal since I turned 44 back in June. I get out plenty by myself, but it is so much more fun to go and explore together.

In the woods you would never know that Riley is 10 years old and that Scout is 9 years old. They act much more like overgrown puppies. We hiked for 2 hours and they could have easily gone for another hour.

It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 50's, uncommon for the middle of November. We tromped along paths heavily covered with fallen oak leaves, rarely coming across any other hikers. Occasionally the dogs got a few minutes off leash to just run full out and pretend they were young again.

We walked back to the main hiking trail along the beach. Riley our "water dog" so desperately wanted to go in. Glen let both of them get their wet feet, but I could tell that Riley was disappointed with that small amount.

Once back to the car, the dogs couldn't believe we were done already, but they both curled up on the back seat and were soon fast asleep. Probably dreaming of future hikes in the late Autumn woods.

Happy - P52 Week 45

Happy is... endless exploring opportunities!

Happy Halloween - P52 Week 44

I know this post is a bit past Halloween, but I did make the deadline for Project 52 for the week.

Sadly, we are the people that go out to eat on Halloween. So our porch light is off and our candy bowl is empty.

It isn't that we didn't try when we first moved to this house. The first year I had three bags of candy and was ready for all the cute little costumes. By the end of the night we had a total of three trick-or-treaters, and even they were reaching the end of their candy gathering years. That left us with a lot of left over candy, something we did not need. Needless to say, we did not repeat the next year.

Most kids now days get dropped off in big subdivisions or go to church parking lots for trunk or treat. This leaves our simple road passed by and most houses dark.

I miss the days of taking our daughter trick-or-treating and look forward to doing it with the grandchildren some day.

Leaves - P52 - Week 43

Around and around the house the leaves fall thick, but never fast,
for they come circling down with a dead lightness that is somber and slow.
                                                                                     
                                                                                        - Charles Dickens