The end!?

Whoa. I cannot believe it is almost the end of the year! This is my last week with the kids and I am in shock! Where did this year go?! I feel like it flew by...and then I remember all of the days where I drove home, crying* to Paul about how "I wish the year would just end alreadyyyy!" haha... Anywoo- the days are all shortened by 2 hours for the rest of this week, so classes are only an hour long (instead of 1hr 30m), and I have already given my final :) So now, it is just a waiting game...



We are moving back to Pittsburgh next weekend and both Paul and I are stressing out about having to move AGAIN. After the moving back week, we are going to be travelling down to Savannah, GA for a few days to kick back in the sun and visit with my bro, sis and dad. Yay for vacations!



*Literally crying...

Red velvet cupcakes I made for the staff party...

Side Note: I can't believe I am going to a 'Teacher Party' ...that is so weird! I still feel like I should be a student, getting freaked out that the teachers are having a party!! haha

Snacky. Apples with a white chocolate smear, cinnamon dusting and a drizzle of honey :D

My other snack: Shotzye in the sunshine.

I die.

Busy Weekend.

We had a very busy weekend...letting us get no more than 8 hours of sleep in 3 days time. I went to Sharayah's bridal shower, Paul and I went to a concert an hour north of Pittsburgh, hung out with friends until the wee hours of the night, visited with Paul's family and went to Gavin's 9th birthday party...then drove home, watched Changeling and finally went to bed Sunday night around midnight- all to start work at 6am on Monday!!! PHEW!!! It was a busy weekend, but all-in-all a fun weekend, catching up with friends :D

Sugar cookies I made for the shower. Beaut's.

Cupcake truffles I made. Shot's approved.

The cookies, cuppy's and a fruit arrangement I created that morn. On 2 hours of sleep............

Cute! Tess was helping me set up the fruit- she liked skewering the fruit on the sticks.

BFF's: Cindy and Kathy

Nice little ladies :D

My momma!!

The "Who Knows the Bride the Best" game. I won this one! However, since I am a bridesmaid, I did not 'officially' win.

Punch! I LOOOOVE punch!

I scooped the sherbet into the bowl. And I loved every colorful second of it.

Sharayah opening her presents.

Gavin's party was funny. He had decided he wanted to get CPR certified as party festivities. So him and his friends did just that! He crack's me up...

Birthday cake

An awesome Rockwell calendar in the Fire hall.

Love it.

Present time!

Best drawing ever, I give it an 'A'

See! I was not lying, they really did get certified. haha!!

I was pretty worn out today at work...teaching needy kids with not much sleep sucks. I just wanted to walk out of the room multiple times and crawl away for some much needed slumber. But! I did not...

In other school news, the kids are finishing up their self portraits and have done pretty darn good. I have had some amazing portraits come out of this project and I am like a proud mama. (I have also had some that baffle me...not in a good way...but ya know...) I think that the kids have come pretty far, since at the beginning of the year they could not use a ruler (SERIOUSLY!) and now, they are griding pictures, critiquing art work, know some art history and have the elements of design down. Yeah baby! I also have one of my large value images, that the kids worked on, being hung in the library. Woot. Oh! and my one class is going to be a judge for a video contest at the University of MD, the other judge is one of the big wig news reporters out here. sweet. (My one students mom works at UMD so she emailed me and asked if we would participate.)

Workin..

Some beginning stages.

She is amazing. Beautiful work.

Hey!! She must have a pretty freaking awesome art teacher........

My sister also sent me her 50 mm lens since she got a new one. Her new one is super fancy and it makes the pictures crazy and warped- pretty cool- so she had no use for keeping this old one. I told her I suppose I could take it off her hands *grin* and she sent it my way *larger grin*...so I sent her some cookies and a bookmark that I made with my Martha paper cutter as payment for her lovely lens. I got it in the mail after work today and have been experimenting with it already. Here are some of my pics I got tonight:

Our paper lantern cluster

Sweetest little monkey you have ever met.

I'll testify to that.

Pretty bedside light

This picture pretty much sums up Shotzye...

...

And. A ring shot. I mean, why not?? My fingers look somewhat emaciated in this pic...if that is even possible.

Whew! What a packed post. I think I am fairly caught up now. See ya soon!

I just ate a lime...

So. After doing some research, I decided to try out miracle fruit. I ordered the freeze dried berries about 2 weeks ago and they came last week. We had been looking forward to trying these out since we have heard so much buzz about them. Well, since all the crazy car stuff was happening, we had to wait a few days to try them out since we were in Virginia until 930pm most nights this week (plus a hour drive home...) visiting car dealers *sigh*. Oh! and we did get a car- a 2004 Toyota corolla, woop woop!

So, back to the berries. When we opened the package from Slovenia, there was a container that looked much like a package of hard candies or gum. The little pills of freeze dried berry tasted similar to bland cranberries with oatmeal. We let the berry dissolve in our mouth for about 2 minutes while we prepared the food for tasting. Since the berries temporarily numb all receptors on your tongue but the sweet ones, we had an arrangement of sour, bitter and unripe things to try out. Lemon, lime, salt and vinegar chips, goat cheese, dark chocolate, unripe strawberries, and granny smith apples were on the menu. Weird right? right.

So we both decided to try out the lime first...ah! It smelled the same and looked the same...but would it taste the same? NOPE! it tasted like candy!! delicious, flavorful candy! So good! We ripped through everything on the plate, chips tasted creamy, lemons like lemonade, unripe strawberries tasted like the most luscious strawberry's you could imagine, 70% dark chocolate was sweet milky chocolate, goat cheese was like sweet cream cheese, and the apple! OH, the apple- delicious! You got the crispness of a granny smith but the sweetness of a Fuji. You can order some here...they are so cool! You should give them a try!

The package

The candies

The platter of sour

OMG! So good!

My look of disbelief!

Here are some more pictures of things that have been going on...

Shotzye gets so bored of us sometimes...

My new ring for school since I don't want to ruin my nice one at work.

180 teenage students+art supplies= not good for expensive ring.

(isn't it cute though?? A bow! love it.)

Makin' some butter-less chocolate cupcakes with real strawberry buttercream (what can I say I only had one stick of butter and I figured butter in the frosting was better than butter in the cake) :D

turned out just beautifully. I made up the recipe :) I am so good.

These things are so good. Paul is NOT allowed to take them to work.

These are ours only...maybe if I open my bakery you can try one :D

In action!

Here are the new plates with our Thursday dinner on them:

Yum! Mushroom-truffle flatbread and olive tapenade

The camera we got for free!

(it was left in the safe at Paul's work and they wanted to get rid of it! So they said Paul could have it-SWEET!)

A leeloo with the new camera

...a little fuzzy because the lens was dirty...it is clean now :)

And leeloo with the Nikon D40...so much nicer but hey, the free camera is so easy to just throw in the purse or pocket and take somewhere!

Well, have a good one!

Camera Crisis!

So we had a mini camera meltdown here in the Haggerty household! We thought we had lost the battery charger for our beloved Nikon D40...however, tonight after making the most gorgeous cupcakes in my whole lifetime, I was distraught and wasn't able to give up hope. So I made a camera charger search effort take place. Still no avail. I couldn't find it anywhere- I looked in boxes, in drawers, in nooks and cranny's, in Tupperware*, so yeah, everywhere. So as I sat on the floor, in near tears...pleading with Paul to look again, he decided to take me up on the offer and took one last look. Well he walks into the bedroom and looks right in front of my dresser. And it is laying there.

IN PLAIN SIGHT.

So yeah...a Christmas without a camera, a month without pictures (in this normally camera active home), a month with no blog posts, a month where family visited this very apartment and knew of the lost charger...NO ONE SAW IT.

But here is the good news. I made earl grey cupcakes tonight that are the prettiest, yummiest, nicest cupcakes ever. AND- I have pictures to prove it :D

*I was desperate. What can I say...

A Christmas present my sister knitted for Paul! He loves this thing.

Here I am modeling the hat my sister made me! I love it- colors, fit...everything! Go Mandie!!

The awesome new decorations I got for our place. Courtesy of TJ Maxx and Target babe. (Goooooooo BARGAIN!)

Me showing scale...Excuse my dirty gym clothes.

Leeloo still life

Our new electric tea kettle and amber sugar crystals for tea.

Let me reassure you that these little sugar pebbles make tea taste so clear and perfect. I have had 3 cups of tea already today.

SO GOOD!

Close up. Gorgeous.

Earl grey cupcakes...yesyesyesyes.

The recipe actually calls for ripping open tea bags and pouring the leaves into the batter. Mmmmm. Then the frosting is vanilla bean with orange essence buttercream.

Tis been a tea day.

Christmas Picture Extravaganza!

Paul and I had to celebrate Christmas early due to work schedules and figuring out when we can go to Pittsburgh, Ohio and back to Maryland so we could visit family. Here is a photo tour of our weekend :)

Shotzye just wanted to sun and relax on her Christmas break...

Leeloo is more of the 'watch a bunch of movies' type.

Our pretty purple stockings!

Student Christmas cards :D

...they actually like me! haha

Our tree- with presents, woot!

My new cupcake earrings Paul bought me from etsy! i love 'em!!!

close-up

Paul's stocking stuffers

my anthropologie shirt I got :D

Paul just saw his new WII!!!!!!!!!!

my lovely jacket :D

Shotzye was excited!

Christmas cookies cooling

Sugar cookie close-up

Glittery star

Swirly star

Polka dot ornament

Pretty snowflakes!

My gingerbread cookie!

Paul's g-man.

Merry Christmas!!