Detour

This is the new/old home for my personal writing. Come and see me here...

http://kspinning.wordpress.com

K, thanks!

Juicy Tidbit Tuesday *My Secret Place*

Now that it's officially "Juicy Tidbit Tuesday", I guess I won't leave you hanging. (it's nothing that exciting, but I'm happy to finally share this with my friends and family)

Here's the thing: I started a private, anonymous blog way back last fall (before everyone started bugging me to start one) as a safe place to air my feelings, whine, vent. . . you know, all of that. Last year was not a great year for me, but I found that every time I wrote a post about something difficult I had gone through, I immediately felt better. The best part of this online "journal" was that it talked back. I have met some great people and found a wonderful online support system.

Now, this doesn't mean that I don't have great friends in the real world, but I didn't want anyone to have to worry or stress over me. (silly, I know) Sometimes it is easier to voice your stresses to a neutral third party-- one who doesn't know everything about you, someone who can give you some very non-biased feedback. Just in case anyone wanted to know why I didn't share this earlier.

Well, after a while, my year improved (and continues to) and that blog became more of a creative outlet for me instead of just a place to whine. I love to post my photography, I found that I actually LOVE writing, and I have even picked up some pretty cool tech-y skills!

I have over one hundred posts there now and have been keeping a daily running/video log of my daily runs (or lack of) and songs that correspond with my mood. Jake made some cds for our Oregon trip from this list and we ended up with 10 AWESOME mixes for our drive! Of course I'm very biased because I picked them.

As you can imagine, it was taking a lot of time to keep up three blogs in addition to all of my other daily duties, and I am now on a mission to simplify my life! I am going to keep maintaining my family blog for all of the usual updates and such, but instead of keeping up my "Yep There's More" page, I am going to combine some elements to my 'other' blog. I would love if you all came to see my little world here, but I do keep this fairly anonymous, so if you comment, please don't use our full names or references to our town etc...

I have had quite a few discussions with friends and family lately where I wished that I could have just sent them a copy of one of my 'Kspin' posts, and I realized that I wasn't really sharing all of myself with those I love and care about the most. Often times I have found posts by surfing through the blog world that I really needed to hear that day, and I'm hoping by sharing this maybe someone will hear something that resonates with them as well. At the very least, you will all see how crazy I really am and that's always fun too!

I hope you all enjoy it and aren't mad at me for keeping it secret for so long. I really want to keep it a place where all ideas and thoughts are welcome and respected, so if there is ever anything you would like to know more about or discuss, just email me or leave a comment.

Please keep in mind that this other blog is in a much more public forum, so if you comment, only include a link to you blog if you want a lot of visitors :)

Before I send you to my site, I want to thank all of you for the love and support you have all shown to me and my family. No small act of kindness goes unnoticed (even if you don't hear it from us) and we feel very blessed to have such strong connections with our friends and family.

Okay. Now you know my secret. I told you it wasn't a big deal, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway! If you have any questions about any of it don't hesitate to ask! Also, please remember, this was just something that I thought would forever be private, so please don't be offended by any of it. It's just my rants and ramblings...enjoy.

http://kspinning.wordpress.com

Another Juicy Tidbit

I know it's not Tuesday, but I do have a juicy tidbit coming up very soon. And no, it's not what you think! (really) Just come back in a few days and see...

The Countdown Begins...

I love this picture. It sums up summer vacation to me. Parades, barbecues and holidays spent with family and old friends. It's also one of my very favorite pictures of my girls with their cousin Paige. These three are the only girl cousins on my side of the family, so when we go to Utah they are almost inseparable.

The kids and I are getting ready to take our annual summer retreat from the heat and visit family in Utah. This year we are going to be gone for 6 weeks (sorry Jake), and I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone there. It's a little overwhelming to know I will be gone so long. I'm not even sure how to pack for this trip. Can you say U-haul?

Jake will be coming up to spend a week in July, but other than that, he will be here in Arizona holding down the fort...or something. I'm feeling a little guilty about leaving him so long this summer, so help me out and take him some treats or something. I know that would make his day...

I won't have Internet access much, so I may have to have Jake update our blogs to share all of our summer adventures. I will check my email as often as I can to stay in the loop, so don't forget to keep me updated with your fun as well!

I hope everyone has a fun, safe, summer vacation. And if any of you are going to be in SL, be sure to let me know so we can get together! Bye everyone who is not in Utah! I'll miss you!!

Better Than Man Catcher Brownies! (really)

Because I love to bake, and it was Mother's Day, I decided to try this new recipe I found online while I was blog-stalking. They were SOOOO good that I had to post yet again another brownie recipe. Maddy was right today when they asked her in church what her mom's favorite treat was...brownies!

I also included this little introduction that Ann used in her blog because she describes them so well. I also omitted the espresso powder in mine and they still were awesome!



Bow To Me Brownies

Now, these are really incredible. Did you hear that? INCREDIBLE. I've really been wanting to find a great brownie recipe - but every time I'd ask Tony if he wanted brownies, he was all "nah, brownies are just blah, just kinda boring". Well, OKAY then. Like I was born yesterday and couldn't smell the stench of reverse psychology all over THAT statement. Or, he was just a man making a statement. In any case, I was up for the challenge - real or imagined. And I triumphed and it was glorious and Tony literally got down, bowed to me, and kissed my feet. Well, okay, I imagined that last part, but they were glorious - there were tiny molten pockets inside; they were a tad gooey, a tad fudgy, a tad crumbly, moist. Oh, how we loved them, people at work loved them - it was love, love, love! I don't know how I'll ever bake any other brownie.

1/2 lb. unsalted butter
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips for melt
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, unmelted
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 extra large eggs
1 tbsp. + 1 heaping tsp. instant espresso powder (or instant coffee powder)
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour for batter
1/8 c. flour for coating unmelted chocolate chips
1 heaping tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9 pan. Alternatively, grease pan, then line pan with aluminum foil (leaving overhang), and grease aluminum foil; after baking and cooling, use foil overhang to lift bars out of pan for cutting.

Melt the butter, chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Allow to cool slightly. Stir eggs, instant espresso powder, vanilla, and sugar. Add and stir in the chocolate mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to chocolate mixture and combine. Toss the chocolate chips with the 1/8th cup flour, making sure chips are coated. Add chips to the batter and combine until distributed evenly throughout batter. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool, and cut into squares.