Christmas Tree

I was reading Amanda's post the other day about how to take beautiful Christmas tree pictures. I knew I wanted to try it out since my parents have a great camera and they just bought the perfect lens for it!

The steps of how to do it are on this page. I had some problems getting it to work, but I stuck to it and came out with some great pictures! The key was being far away from the tree and close to your subject.

These pictures were so much fun to take, and they turned out super cute!

And, I've finally switched to the new version of blogger. I never knew there was an updated version until a few days ago - ha! I've always wondered how people scheduled blog posts, and did some other stuff. Now I know! I no longer live under a rock :) Uploading pictures is so much easier now. I can't wait to play around with it.

I hope everyone had a great week!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 14

It's already the final day of 12 Days of Christmas! I've had a lot of fun doing it. Today's topic is.....

Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?

As I was looking through her favorite things this year, these are the things that I thought seemed cool....

1. iPad


2. Coach Purse


3. The Book of Awakening
I've never heard of this book before, but it sounds like a good one!


4. World's Best Mac 'N' Cheese
Need I say more.....


5. Allure of the Seas Cruise
I would take that any day :)


Well, it's been fun dreaming! And it's been a ton of fun participating in this challenge :) I can't believe it's already over - these 2 weeks have gone fast!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 13

Favorite Cookie Recipe

Today is actually our annual Christmas cookie baking! We bake sugar cookies, chocolate chip, m&m, and 7 layer bars. I don't have any super great recipes for these, because they are just your basic recipes, but I do have some other great cookie recipes to share!

1. Quick Candy Cookies
This is a Pioneer Woman recipe, and it is SO quick and easy, plus super yummy!

Ingredients:
Refrigerator Cookie Dough
Miniature Chocolate Candies

Preparation Instructions:
Slice the cookie dough into 1 to 1 ½ inch slices. Lay the slices on their side and cut them into quarters. Place each quarter into a greased mini-muffin tin. Peel the wrapper from as many pieces of candy as cookies you’re going to make. (Don’t be afraid to try different combinations of candies and dough.)

Bake the cookie dough in a 350-degree oven for just a few minutes, about 6 to 8 at the most. You’ll want to take them out just when they start to turn golden.

Almost as soon as you pull the warm cookies from the oven, begin lightly pressing one piece of candy into each cookie. The warmer the cookies, the better. They’ll grab onto the pieces of candy and work their magic, making the candy nice and soft and melty. And ridiculous.

When they’re all done, carefully remove from muffin tins with a spoon and arrange on a nice decorative platter.

I like to use chocolate chip cookie dough with mini Reece cups!

2. Sugar Cookies
This sugar cookie + icing recipe is SO good. It sounds a little complicated, and takes a little while to bake, but they turn out really good. I've never made them for Christmas, but they would be perfect to use cookie cutters and cut out cute Christmas shapes!

Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly soft
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus as needed

For Decorating:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
About 1 tablespoon milk
Food coloring, if desired
Sprinkles, candies, cored sugar as desired

Directions:
Whisk the egg and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.

With a hand held mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, add both sugars, and continue beating until light, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl again, if needed, then add the egg mixture, beating for about 1 minute. Sift the salt with the flour. Reduce the mixer to a low speed and then add the flour mixture, mixing just until blended.
Turn the dough out of the bowl. Divide the dough in half and place each half between 2 pieces of lightly floured parchment or waxed paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a disk about 1/4-inch thick. Slide the dough/parchment sheet onto a flat cookie sheet, or on the back of a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

Evenly space the racks in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Place 1 disk of the cookie dough on a clean work surface and peel off the top sheet of paper. Cut cookies with a 1 1/2-inch round or a decorative shaped cookie cutter directly on the parchment. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined or non-stick baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Repeat with other sheet of dough. Any excess dough can be re-rolled, refrigerated, and cut.

Bake until the edges of the cookies are a light golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

For decorating: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with just enough milk to make a thick icing. Transfer icing to a small plastic bag. Press the icing into a corner of the bag and snip off the corner with scissors to make a small opening. Gently press the icing onto the cookie to make a simple pattern. Decorate as desired. Set aside for about 1 hour to let the icing harden.

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

I remember when I made these the icing seemed WAY too sweet for me right after I made it. However, it ended up being perfect once it cooled & hardened.

3. Pillsbury Cookies
For those of you who aren't big bakers, these cookies are super easy. All you have to do is put them on a cookie sheet & stick them in the oven. I LOVE the way they turn out - they are really, really good.


I think that's about all I have for today!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 12

Today's topic is....

Indoor/Outdoor Decorations

1. My Room
I don't decorate a whole lot in my room, but I do put up a small little Christmas tree.


2. Living Room
In our living room, we have our tree set up.

We also have a Grinch stuffed animal that I think is really cute. It says some lines from the movie.


3. Kitchen
On our kitchen table, we have a holiday table cloth, along with Santa place mats.

We also have a little corner with some decorations. We have a snow globe, snowman plate, and a countdown to Christmas!


4. Family Room
Here's a picture of our mantle all decorated:


And yes, we even have a little stocking for my dog....


And we do have a manger scene set up in our family room, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

5. Outside
I couldn't get really good pictures of our Christmas lights lit up, so these are the best I have:

And my mom's pride and joy this year is the addition of a light-up palm tree to the display.

I've got to admit, the palm tree is pretty cute and unique though ;)

One Day Could Change Everything

On Thursday, I went to a concert after school! I'm a big lover of concerts. I think they are just too fun!

This concert was an Allstar Weekend concert. The opening acts were Action Item, The Scene Aesthetic, and Stephen Jerzak. I was mainly just excited for Allstar and Action Item. Here's the run-down of the concert day:

My friend & I left school a little early in order to get ready and head down to the venue. We stopped at her house & got dressed, and then headed out! I'd never been to this venue before, but it was kind of in a creepy/sketchy neighborhood. We were on the guest list, but due to a misunderstanding, we stood outside the venue for about 2hours before doors opened. I was dumb and decided to not wear a coat, which ended up to be a very bad mistake!

My friend & I had VIP tickets, which meant that we got into the venue a little early, got Meet-and-Greet pictures before the show, and got a signed poster from Allstar.

We got our pictures taken (during which Allstar asked me how long I was waiting, and if I had a coat at least. Hmmmm, nope, no coat).


Then we stoked out spots near the front of the stage. It was standing room only, which meant there was a LOT of pushing and my legs got very sore :/

It took FOREVER for the show to start. I think they were about 30 minutes late. Then Action Item came out & sang. I really do just love them. If you've never heard of them, you should check them out here.






Then there was another long break while they set up for the Scene Aesthetic, who I wasn't a huge fan of.

Then yet another long break while they set up for Stephen Jerzak. There were some crazy fans of his who were pushing people all over to try and get to the front of the stage. It was crazy!


(and I had a lot of strange looking pictures of him.....)

You know what's coming next, right? Another long break while Allstar's stuff was being set up. The waiting wasn't terrible, but I think the setting up took as long, if not longer than some of the openings even played for, which was a little annoying.

Allstar was great though when they came out. I had a lot of fun, even though I ended up not having the best view. They played some good songs, and just put on a really great show!










After they finished up, we got in line for the after show Meet-and-Greet. :) While we were waiting, we got to talk to a lot of the Action Item guys. They were super nice. We got them to sign our CD's, and we got pictures with most of them.





Then we met Allstar, again. HAHAHA.


And then we just basically stood around and talked to the Action Item guys. My friend Abby, who I went with, knows one of the them pretty well, so we were talking to him a lot. He tried to sell us a lot of merch.

What I liked best about the concert was how, I guess personal it was? I don't know how to describe it. It was cool being able to just hang and talk with the band members after the show, and that was something I don't usually see at a lot of concerts. I think it's funny how concerts are SO different depending on the band. I can't imagine what it would be like if the Jonas Brothers even attempted something like this. I had SO much fun though ;)

Of course, now I don't have any concerts to look forward to.

I just might need to change that.

12 Days of Christmas: Day 11

New Years Resolutions

Hmmmm, I'm not big on New Years Resolutions, but I guess I can come up with a couple....

1. Have a better year than 2010
I make this a resolution basically every year. And I've got to say, I definitely fulfilled this resolution this year. 2009 was great, but I think 2010 was even better. Hopefully 2011 brings an even better year.

2. Read more books
I LOVE to read, but it's hard for me to find the time. So, I hope I can find the time to read more often in 2011.

3. Grow in my faith
I really don't need an explanation for this one, but I think this is totally important.

4. Take more pictures
I don't take a lot of pictures to be honest. I hardly ever use my camera, except for vacations, and concerts. I hope to change that this year & take more pictures.

5. Continue blogging
I started this blog at the beginning of 2010, and I never thought I would have so much fun writing posts :) In the beginning, it got a little boring (because I was trying to do a 365 blog), but ever since I've stopped that, it has been a lot of fun. Plus, I think it's a great scrapbook about what goes on in my life!

And, on another note, I went to a really fun concert last night! I'm a little tired today because I left early from school to go to it, and then I didn't get home until 11:30 last night. Then I had to start my homework and everything. So, I'm hoping to download my pictures soon and get a post up about it either today or in the couple of days.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 10

It's already Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas blog challenge!

Today's topic:

Favorite Christmas Songs/Carols

I love listening to Christmas songs, but I will limit myself, and only post a few of my ultimate favorite songs. I know that everyone is familiar with the traditional Christmas songs, so I tried to pick out a few "different" ones :)

1. Christmas to Remember - Amy Grant


2. Lady Antebellum
I love the entire Lady Antebellum Christmas album! This song is a really good one (the YouTube quality isn't the best though!)


3. Point of Grace Album
I love the Point of Grace "Home for the Holidays" album, but I especially like their song Immanuel. This preview is the best I could find.

4. Bells of St. Paul
This song isn't the "normal" Christmas song, but I think it is so pretty. I couldn't find any good YouTube videos for it, but here's the Amazon link. You can preview it if you scroll down a little bit (it's #13).

5. Christmas Vacation Song


I hope everyone's having a great week so far!