Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

Yesterday when I was in the store I passed a display that was geared towards making s'mores but my thoughts jumped to chocolate covered marshmallows. So I got a bag and today gave it a try. As with anything that you do for the first time there is always a learning curve. I used Wilton's Candy Melts which I know after a disaster trying to make cake pops, shortening must be added to thin for easy dipping. This time I also decided to melt the candy in a small crock pot I have instead of the microwave as that too was a disaster.

 

My candy melts turned out great. Smooth and easy to dip. I melted them on high then turned the temperature down to warm. I did have to turn the temperature back up to low as the chocolate started to get thick after a while. 

 

My learning curve this time was when it came to adding a drizzle to the top. I tried using the candy decorating bottles.  First the large one but the pour spout was too wide (top row and part of second row). So I switched to the smaller decorating bottle and that was better but still not the effect I wanted (part of second and third row). Then I came up with the idea of using an icing bag and just cutting of a very little bit for the melted candy to pipe through. That turned out much closer to the effect I was going for (bottom two rows). Plus next time I think I'll put a metal cookie sheet in the freezer to get cold and then place my dipped items on the wax paper & cold cookie sheet. That would help the chocolate set quicker especially on a hot day.  I did put them in the refrigerator when done to set the chocolate and of course had to give one a try. They turned out great!!  I think I'm getting the hang of using the candy melts.

Cupcakes

I got an Wilton oversized cupcake pan recently but haven't used it. I decided Wednesday night to give it a try. I wasn't sure how many cupcakes one cake mix would make so I ended up making 6 extra oversized cupcakes. I now know that one cake mix will make 8 to 12 cupcakes depending on how full you fill the well. I filled mine way up and got cupcake explosions.  The cupcake is half the size of the plate.

  But as you can see by my grandchildren, it didn't matter. They loved them and that's all that counts.

 

Took this landscape picture this morning when I went for my morning walk. We had rain all day yesterday and last night. The clouds were really low on the mountains and had a fuzzy look. I took this with my cell phone. I need to start making sure I have my camera with me all the time so I can get really good pictures but the cell phone doesn't do too bad.

Photos for June --

Something Green

From a High Angle

From a Low Angle

Something Blue

Something Pink

Clouds 

Food

Architecture

Landscape

Flower

Church Steeple

Night Photo

Fruit
Currently Reading
A Favorite Thing

Since I got a project completed I get to mark it off my Bucket List. Now on to the next project.

Bucket list for June -- 
Embroider my clothesline flip-flop t-shirt
Finish Americana Wall Hanging
Catch up my "Project Life" journal
Scrap Cake Pop Baking page
Scrap Carl's Ice Cream page
Finish Paper Bag Christmas Album
Spice cake balls
Orange cream cupcakes
Spicy Parmesan Chicken Breasts
Pizza Poppers

But before I can really dig into something I need to get some work done. Right now I'm working from home until my Explorer gets out of the shop. I needed to get some work done on it. I love my Explorer and it is very special to me. It was a surprise gift by someone that I loved and was exactly what I had been wanting for a long time. It wasn't new but it's perfect. 

I also have to get things done around my house as my son Brian is coming up for a visit. He'll be here Saturday night and staying until Tuesday. I am so excited to see him. He was here just after I moved so now he gets to see my townhouse now that it's "put together". I started putting up shelves in my scrapbooking area last night only to find that the screws I bought for the tracks were too long. Now I have to go get new ones. I have shelves to put up in my sewing room too. I want to get all of that done before Brian get's here. I also have to hang up the decor for my second bathroom and make pretty for him. I haven't done that for the simple reason is that I use that bathroom as a storage room for tubs that has my sewing and craft stuff. The bathroom is in the spare bedroom that's now is my sewing room so why not make it more utilitarian for my need? Lol. I just have to move the tubs out and set in the corner of my sewing room for Brian to be able to access that bathroom.

Christmas Paperbag Album

I know that these albums have been around for a long time but I am always behind on what's "all the rage". I was looking for ideas and found these so thought I would give one a try. This was so easy and quick to make. I'll be doing more of these in the future. For such a little album there is a lot of room for pictures and journaling. I made all the tags and pull-outs to be double-sided.

I used a paper pack I bought at Joann Fabrics. It's from My Minds Eye called O Christmas Tree.  I am finding that I'm using more paper packs than I used to. They make coordinating papers so easy for layouts and albums.

Lazy Day

I've not gotten a whole lot done today. I went to the pool yesterday with my next door neighbor and even though I used lots of sunblock, I got burned. Mostly on my back, back of my legs and chest. I'm pretty sore today and moving around hurts. So I'm using my sunburn as an excuse to have a lazy day.  But even at that I've been doing a lot of planning.  My work schedule is about to change to where I will have more time to do things so I am looking forward to that. I also managed to get my sewing room almost completely organized. Except for a couple of wall shelves I'm set in there so sewing will be on my menu again. I still have my list of projects I want to get completed. I need to dig out my list that I made before I moved, revamp it and get started on completing it.  My scrapbooking area is almost complete. Again a couple of wall shelves and I'll have that done. But both areas are in shape to be utilized so I'll start to be productive. There are several cooking/baking items on my June Bucket List that I'd like to get done. I've been wanting to try these recipes for a long time and I can't think of any time like the present. 

 Bucket list for June -- 
Embroider my clothesline flip-flop t-shirt
Finish Americana Wall Hanging
Catch up my "Project Life" journal
Scrap Cake Pop Baking page
Scrap Carl's Ice Cream page
Finish Paper Bag Christmas Album
Spice cake balls
Orange cream cupcakes
Spicy Parmesan Chicken Breasts
Pizza Poppers

I have started working on a new Paula Vaughan Cross Stitch titled Sunflower Romance so even when I'm laying around watching TV I still have something to do. Here's a picture of the pattern. This one will take me awhile to complete as there are a lot of light colors and it is difficult to work on using lamp light.  My plan is to get framed and hang in my living room.

The last six months have been really hectic. First I moved the beginning of October and my commute to work was a three hour a day round trip. Then my son came up for a week visit and we had a blast. After that Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to catch up to me before I knew it. The middle of January I was laid off and then the end of January sent to work in Portsmouth, VA. For six weeks I stayed down there and was only home on the weekends. Middle of March I finally came home for good and was off work for about a month. I then picked up some work driving a truck for an asphalt company here in the Valley and that kept me pretty busy. Now I'm back to working at my original position helping out with a VDOT project. Many changes for me in the last seven months and when you don't handle change very well it's difficult. But the Lord has helped me "roll" with it and I'm doing better than I would of without His help. So be on the look out for more posts and projects. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Tomorrow my Explorer has to go into the shop for work. Needs a joint in the front drive shaft replaced, my exhaust system replaced and four new tires. I'll be without transportation for a couple of days but I'll be working from home so that won't be an issue. I've needed to get those repairs done for awhile so I'm glad that I'll finally be able to get them taken care of. 

I'm planning on stepping up on my photography too. I've been taking pictures to document my life. A modified version of Project Life but I"m not doing a photo a day. Just photos for the week. I've got the photos but I've only got pages done up to February. Another addition to my "Bucket" list. But I would like to do a 30 day photo challenge -  just not make a scrapbook out of the pictures. I've found several lists of ideas of what photos to take. I want these to help me get better at photo taking. So I've created a list that combines ideas from several lists. I'm not going to take these pictures in any order.

Photos for June --

Something Green

From a High Angle

From a Low Angle

Something Blue

Something Pink

Clouds 

Food

Architecture

Landscape

Flower

Church Steeple

Night Photo

Fruit
Currently Reading
A Favorite Thing
 

As I complete items from my "Bucket List" I'll post pictures of them. This will help me keep motivated. Motivation is something I have a difficult time with. But keeping a list and putting a line through an item when completed is very satisfying and motivating.  Let's see how it works for me. 

Already started marking off my Photo List.

Photo of the clouds. Looks like a storm may be making it's way toward us. We've had rain several days a week for the last couple of months. I know the farmers are glad to have the rain for their crops.

It's been awhile -

Don't Assume: Ask God - Ask God what is causing you to be emotional and be willing to face any truth He revels.

Trusting in God - Joyce Meyer 

So many changes has happened since I last wrote. I no longer am working in Portsmouth, Va on the Midtown Tunnel Project. Just too far away from home but even so I met someone who has become a very close friend - Harmony. She is the only part of not being in Portsmouth that I miss. Finding a friend who is genuine, smart, caring and shares the same beliefs is difficult to find and I treasure her. Harmony writes the most wonderful poetry and so very talented. I am hoping that one day she will decide to publish her poems. I would be the first in line to purchase a copy of her book but of course I would expect an autographed copy. :) 

For a time I wasn't working but I've since gone back to driving a dump truck until the consulting company I work for finds me another position. It has been really great for me to be back driving. I am keeping my skills fresh and at the same time getting the opportunity to learn the Valley. I really love being over here. The atmosphere is so much quieter than over along the Interstate 95 corridor. And being so close to my grandchildren is priceless. The Lord has blessed me in all areas of my life. I have found that I can't live any part of my day without His help. It is so nice to not have to worry about everything - just do what I can do and let the Lord do the rest. My life although it still has "upsets" is much more relaxed and peaceful now that I have learned how to "toss my care" over to the Lord. 

I have been working on some projects and been getting out and doing some things. I'll add those in a later post. I have pictures of some of the pages I've done but need to take some time to post and add descriptions. But I will start with what I did yesterday and show my pictures from that. Hal (my son-in-law's dad) and I spent the day yesterday going to some of the caverns here in the Valley. Hal and I have been friends for over 15 years and enjoy going and doing the same things. I enjoy going to places by myself but sometimes it's really nice to have a sight-seeing buddy to share stuff with.  Yesterday we visited the Skyline Caverns in Front Royal and then the Shenandoah Caverns in Mt. Jackson. Both were nice but I think we both enjoyed the Shenandoah Caverns better as that location did have some other exhibits to see than just the caverns.

Pictures from Skyline Caverns --

 

Reflecting Pond

 

Shenandoah Caverns in Mt. Jackson --

 

These are called "Bacon Formations" as they resemble slices of bacon.

 

 

 

 

 Main Street of Yesteryear - many different animated window displays. The one that I really liked was the telling of Cinderella and going to the ball.

American Celebration -- many displays of parade floats that have been used in Rose Bowl Parade, Inaugural Parades and many other events.

 

The Yellow Barn - a mix & match of parade floats, vintage vehicles and other type of displays. Also had wine tasting and country home decor for purchase. I particularly like these to sayings. 

 

 

When I get a chance I'll add some descriptions for parade floats that I've shown. They have really interesting history. 

 

Got another one

Do you believe God has the power to help you, and that since He has all wisdom He knows exactly what to do and when to do it? Lean on Him completely, trust Him to give you the strength to do what you need to do, while you wait on Him to do what only He can do.

Trusting God day by day -- Joyce Meyer

I'm slowly working on getting myself caught up. This is the first week that I began working from home.  Less hours but I don't have to deal with unemployment so that's a big plus. And the fact I don't have to get up early, drive an hour & a half one way and get to work when I want is the best deal I've had. A full 40 hours would make the job perfect but as it is, this is close to perfect. 

I'm still somewhat behind in my scrapbook challenges and I've not touched my sewing room to get unpacked and organized. But I have gotten my scrapbooking area almost completely organized. All that's left is getting stuff that's still in boxes and putting away. I've got all my shelves and cubes put together and placed.

I worked on my Smash book too but I'm not going to post pictures of that. I'm using that as a mini Project Life 2013 book.  I'm going to see how I like doing that. Everywhere I read others are raving about it so why not?  I had sort of started on one several years ago but major life happened and didn't finished. I'll see how I do this year. 

I did get a layout done for the scrapbooking challenges I'm in. I think it turned out really good. The challenges are really making step out of my creative box and do stuff that's mine.  I'm moving away from the page kits I used to get all the time and I am now doing my own. The page kits will still be my "go to" for crops since easy to transport and just add tools and I'm set. But here at home, I'm working on more of my own and it feels really great.

This is last fall when my son Brian was here from Atlanta and we went to a pumpkin patch. Picking the "Perfect Pumpkin" is a very big deal and must be done with care. 

I also got Week 1 done for Project 52 Challenge.  I've got 2 more weeks to go to catch everything up. I've got to find a way to get organized and keep current.  Laura is doing Project 52 so we will be doing this together. She will keep me motivated.