Stop the Presses for the Cribbage Queen!

Oh glorious day! Micah beat Jeff in cribbage. Not just once...though that alone would have been pretty schnazzy. TWICE! Believe me, folks...this never happens. Usually Jeff is the player who pegs the points that you accidentally miss. And then he rubs it in your face that you really suck at cribbage. And he talks smack the entire time about how far behind your pegs are on the board. So when I kicked his butt twice within an hour, I was overly joyed. So was his wife, who lost to him earlier that day and had to receive his havoc. He is a sore winner, and even worse at losing! I enjoyed every second. Bwaa haaa haaa! (For the reader's information, some of the pegs shown in the pictures above were moved prior to photo-taking to help Jeff feel better about himself as a man. In reality, I really did kick his can by too many points).

What brought on this exciting game of cribbage, one may ask? Jeff and Megan were gracious enough to invite us for a yummy chicken Crockpot Sunday dinner. It was delicious! It started out with a crisp and refreshing summer salad, and I chose a vinaigrette to top mine. Then the chicken and cream sauce came out to put on top of linguine noodles. Heaven on a plate! And I didn't have to cook a single thing! Then, after the aforementioned cribbage game, we had a dish of my favorite kind of ice cream. Mint chocolate chip, of course. I can't decide on the highlight of the evening...ice cream, chicken, or kicking Jeff's butt at cribbage!

Dinner Is Served

I love following the blog by The Pioneer Woman. Earlier this week she launched an additional website for recipes called Tasty Kitchen, so of course I had to try something for dinner! I searched through thousands of options but selected Chicken Bacon Pasta Bake. Believe me, it tastes as good as it sounds! I was able to use my new, bright-red, 7-quart, ironclad baking dish, which I love. It was an authentically home-cooked meal and had everything yummy in it. It was comfort food for sure, containing onions from our garden, corn, celery, chicken, bacon, sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, and cheese all over, then popped into the oven to bake to perfection. John chipped in helping and is a Master Bacon Maker. He went back for thirds, which is always a good sign. It was delicious and fun to make. I love cooking!

Sunsets and Ants Don't Mix

My wonderful husband (golly, I start so many posts that way) found some free online courses from HP teaching me how to improve my digital photography skills. It has been so much fun to learn more techniques as well as all the functions on my camera. I love this thing! I got a Canon SD1100 IS Digital Elph about this time last year to replace my Nikon Coolpix. Avoid that one like the plague, folks! Just these past few days, I have discovered so many abilities my Canon has! Those Japanese technology gurus are on to something, I tell ya!

While watching John play church basketball last night, I thought I would sneak outside for a few minutes to try out some sunset shots (now that I finally found the hidden sunset mode that makes my life so easy!). I sat down in the grass to position my mini-tripod (a present from Charloe...thanks!) for some sky shots, and two seconds later felt some stinging on my hand. Who would have thought I would pick the only place in the entire church parking lot that had an ant nest?! I was bitten twenty times at least before I could get all the little buggers off me. I have now ceremoniously added ants to my "I Hate These Critters" List, which is constantly getting new additions. The top two list items have been there for years...1) scorpions and 2) anything with eight legs. I would have never guessed pesky ants would make number three! After completing my shots and heading inside for better light, I was amazed to see my arm all swollen from the bites. Those little guys mean business! Unfortunately, it was a business of which I wanted no part. It feels better today.

Anyhoo, the online classes teach me how to frame a shot better, how to play with the light, and how to make my photos more dynamic. I am a photo-taking maniac, so these classes have been perfect! I have learned a lot. It's nice to have a husband looking out for me all the time! I just hope my camera can keep up with all the photo-taking insanity on the way!