daily life

Morning light.

I found this table cloth at a thrift store recently, I fell in love with the colors & pattern immediately. 

Me...

The clouds were so beautiful on the way home from work one day, so as soon as I got home I took my camera & went up to the roof top deck. Below are some pictures from my time up there...

Playing with my camera on the bulb setting one night...

Window plants: bamboo, orange tree, & avocado - started from a pit of an avocado Jon ate over a year ago, he's making it a bonsai tree. p.s. see the rainbow in the top left corner :) 

One of the things I have grown to love about Colorado are the thunderstorms & beautiful rainbows that follow, below is an example...

ayn rand

I'm in my car quite a bit for work, so I have gotten into the habit of listening to books on tape. I picked up The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand on a whim because I remembered certain classes reading it in high school, plus I liked the summary on the back. I became hooked quickly...to the point where it became difficult to stop listening & leave my car to begin working haha. I had also picked up Atlas Shrugged at the library on the same visit because it was right next to The Fountainhead & both are long stories, so I thought they would last for quite a distance of driving. Well, I began Atlas Shrugged right after finishing The Fountainhead & half way through after becoming completely infatuated with Ayn Rand's writing I decided these were books I should own & be a part of my collection. I picked up both books from a local bookstore & finished Atlas Shrugged via the print version. Upon completion I can honestly say that Ayn Rand has permanently altered my perspective. Both novels were such wonderful stories with inspiring & mind opening themes...plus there are so many incredible quotes throughout both stories. If you have not read either novels I highly recommend both. Below are some of my favorite quotes...

“To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul – would you understand why that’s much harder?” 

“There are no evil thoughts expect one; the refusal to think.”

“Learn to distinguish the difference between errors of knowledge and breaches of morality. An error of knowledge is not a moral flaw, provided you are willing to correct it; only a mystic would judge human beings by the standard of an impossible, automatic omniscience. But a breach of morality is the conscious choice of an action you know to be evil, or a willful evasion of knowledge, a suspension of sight and of thought. That which you do not know, is not a moral charge against you; but that which you refuse to know, is an account of infamy growing in your soul. Make every allowance for errors of knowledge; do not forgive or accept any break of morality.” 

blueberry crumb bars

*Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients
*all organic 

1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lemon - zest & juice
About 4 cups of blueberries - the recipe originally called for fresh, but I used one large bag of frozen, & it turned out fin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons of cornstarch - I did not have this either so I substituted flour *2 tablespoons of flour = 1 tablespoon of cornstarch


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

a new home in denver

Been here since June...I never realized how long it could take to move, & get everything to a point where you're pleased in a new home. I finally feel settled now, & got around to taking some pictures after cleaning one day.