An Artist's Heart

Be Yourself ~ Vimrod

It's Not The Mountain We Conquer, But Ourselves ~ Edmund Hillary

THE BEST Chocolate Cake EVER

THE BEST Chocolate Cake EVER
(I Found This Recipe Here. It looked pretty good so I plan on Trying It Out.)

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a VERY large bowl (4 qt), mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. :) It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup shortening (crisco)
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar and continue creaming until well blended. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Success Defined By Ralph Waldo Emerson

A New Year, New Beginnings, & Balance

2008 only has hours left, and as I sit here pondering over what I have done with the time that was given to me over the last twelve months I have mixed emotions.

I am extremely grateful for the many blessings that I have been given. There are so many wonderful people that have touched my life. I have felt the love of friends and family, and they have helped me tremendously this last year. Our relationships with others are our sweetest gifts. For those of you who may visit here once in a while I hope you know how much you mean to me. :)

I have learned a lot. Some of those lessons I have learned the hard way, and some I am still in the process of learning. I feel I have grown and been stretched and struggled. There are things that I regret and there are always the "wish I had done's" "Would have's" and "Should Have's". However, despite some hard times there has been laughter and warm memories made. This is the simple story in which we live. We Live and Laugh and Cry and Die, and it is all worth it.

Moving Forward, I realized that I have the habit of thinking in an "all or nothing" attitude. If I set a goal for myself I want to achieve in completely in the way my mind expects, and so I have been often disappointed. This year I want to find a genuine balance in my life. I want to Live in a Happy Medium. I have loved that Philosophy with my mind for a long time now (ever since I read "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline Le'Engle in grade school). I want to find balance between Good Work and Leisure Time, Family and Friends, and School and the other million things that make up our days and in reality make us who we are. I want to make the most of the time I spend doing a certain thing. If I am working on a project I want to give that project my full attention instead of trying to do three things at once and not give 100% to any of them.

By Finding Balance in my life and focusing that balance I look forward with High Hopes to the New Year, and I wish all those who might stumble across this little ramble of mine a year filled with the best things: Love, Laughter, Light, and Life.

With Love Anything Is Possible