Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I hope you all had a great week! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Della Devoted , Bright on a Budget and Coffee With Caitlin!

I can't believe it's already the end of October! It's crazy to think that the year is almost over! 

This Five for Friday is going to be filled with quite a few baking things! I've tried a couple of new recipes over the last few weeks and wanted to share!

1. I made this coffee cake last weekend. It was probably one of the best things I've ever baked. It was SO good! Your family will thank you for making it...

2. Have you heard Adele's new song Hello? I really like her voice and am really enjoying the song! Check it out here!

3. I like buying (and receiving!) postcards; they're a cheap and fun souvenir! I arranged mine in a poster frame and I like how it turned out. Now I just need to find somewhere to hang it!

4. I baked an apple cake a little over a week ago. It was quite good! I definitely recommend this recipe!

5. My brother had his French friend over for dinner last week, and my brother wanted something very American, so he requested a chicken pot pie. I tried a hot water crust and it actually turned out really good! And was super easy to make! The only problem with it is that you have to work very quickly because it crumbles as it cools. I tried doing the bottom layer myself (it didn't work very well. It was pretty patched together. I rolled it too thin, and didn't use any extra flour when rolling it out because the recipe didn't say to.) but my sister helped me with the top and it went on pretty good! I definitely think I will try it again sometime.

Have a great Halloween weekend! Do you have any plans for the weekend?

Purple style

So I thought I would make an attempt at a style post. I like shopping and dressing nicely, and have debated about doing some style posts for a while now, so I thought I would give it a shot!

I picked up this shirt at H&M last week and I really like it! It's purple (which isn't a color I find very often) and it's warm and comfortable. Perfect for fall! 

Top (H&M)

Pants (Old Navy)

Mountain necklace (Modcloth)

WA state necklace (Fifth & Mae)

Watch (Target similar)

Boots (Target Similar)

Flight from Frankfurt

I realized as I was going through some pictures on my computer that I had never posted the photos from our flight back from Europe! We flew over Greenland and it was really pretty, so I wanted to share the pictures! 

 This is a picture of our flight route. And also my sister's reflection. ;)

 The coastline of Norway.

 I saw this volcano and thought it was so weird! I just found out it's named Beerenberg, and it is on the island of Jan Mayen, which is part of Norway. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1985. If you're into geography, you'll probably think this is interesting, otherwise this was probably just useless information. ;)

These were taken as we were flying over Greenland.

I've flown all over the US, so it was pretty interesting to see some really different scenery from the sky! 

I don't really like flying, but once the plane is in the air I usually enjoy checking out the scenery.

Do you enjoy travel and flying?

What I've Read Lately

I like to read. A lot. I always have a book to read! I even used to have a book review blog (which I have been debating about whether or not to start posting on again...) but I pretty much stick with mystery/suspense/adventure type books. Here are a few good books I've read lately...

Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke
From goodreads:
Increasingly wary of her father's genetic research, Rachel Kramer has determined that this trip with him to Germany--in the summer of 1939--will be her last. But a cryptic letter from her estranged friend, begging Rachel for help, changes everything.

Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine sees the dark tides turning and fears her husband views their daughter, Amelie, deaf since birth, as a blight on his Aryan bloodline. Once courted by Schlick, Rachel knows he's as dangerous as the swastikas that hang like ebony spiders from every government building in Berlin. She fears her father's files may hold answers about Hitler's plans for others, like Amelie, whom the regime deems "unworthy of life." She risks searching his classified documents only to uncover shocking secrets about her own history and a family she's never known. Now hunted by the SS, Rachel turns to Jason Young--a driven, disarming American journalist and unlikely ally--who connects her to the resistance and to controversial theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Forced into hiding, Rachel's every ideal is challenged as she and Jason walk a knife's edge, risking their lives--and asking others to do the same--for those they barely know but come to love.

I've been reading a some WWII era books lately, but this one was really good! It was well written and the story was engaging and kept me interested. 

Dust And Obey by Christy Barritt
From Amazon:
When Gabby St. Claire’s ex-fiancé, Riley Thomas, asks for her help in investigating a possible murder at a couples retreat, she knows she should say no. She knows she should run far, far away from the danger of both being around Riley and the crime.

But her nosy instincts and determination take precedence over her logic. At the retreat center she feels like she’s stepped into the pages of a creepy gothic novel: an isolated island that’s often foggy, an old lodge with a dark history, and a small pool of suspects who each have either motive, means, or opportunity for murder. When another life is threatened, the risk intensifies. 

Gabby and Riley must work together to find the killer. In the process, they have to confront demons from their past and deal with their present relationship. If they don’t learn to trust each other, they could both end up as fodder for the supposedly cursed island’s folklore. 

This is book 10 in the Squeaky Clean Series. I've been reading them since the first book was released quite a few years ago and I still enjoy them. (The first book is free on Kindle if you want to try it.) This was just another good installment in the series. They're fun mystery books that aren't too intense, but still interesting. I did figure out who the killer was about halfway through the book, but I still enjoyed reading it!

The Bones Will Speak by Carrie Stuart Parks
From goodreads:
Forensic artist Gwen Marcey has become the target of a serial killer who believes he's been appointed God's executioner.

In Copper Creek, Montana, Gwen Marcey is struggling to put together her life after cancer and divorce. When her dog retrieves a skull of a murder victim and leads her to the victim's grave, Gwen uses her forensic art ability to identify a serial killer. She is horrified to discover all the victims look like her fourteen-year-old daughter.

The murderer is a "lone wolf," a member of the terrorist group Phineas Priesthood-and he has a score to settle with Gwen. Unraveling the tangled Christian Identity movement, where race-not grace-provides salvation, Gwen is in a frantic rush against time. She must use all her skills to uncover the killer before he can carry out his threat to destroy her and everyone she loves.

I really really liked this book! I really liked the first book as well! I like that the author uses a lot of real facts and information in her books and carefully crafts an interesting and unique story around it. I highly recommend this book!

Follow me on goodreads if you want to keep up with what I'm reading!

Have you read any good books lately?

Five for Friday

Hey and welcome to my Five for Friday! I hope you all had a great week! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Della Devoted , Bright on a Budget and Coffee With Caitlin!

1. This past week has been pretty busy! Since my mom and I were gone for two weeks, there was a lot to do when we got back! Between work, small group, grocery shopping, other shopping, and errands, I am glad it is the weekend!

2. This tip for grease free cupcake liners is so great! By putting rice in the bottom of the cupcake pan, the rice absorbs the grease, leaving your cupcake liners grease free!

3. I was doing my grocery shopping this week and found some random bunches of flowers back in the clearance section. I've never seen flowers in a clearance section before, and they were pretty cheap, so I couldn't pass them up! I put this bouquet together and thought it was pretty! I also bought some tulips, but I forgot to get a picture of them.

4. I finally went and picked up a piece of foam board to use for taking pictures on. I couldn't find the exact one I bought, but this is pretty much the same thing. The piece I got was under $2 and back where the school stuff/kids art stuff is. Right by where they have poster boards and stuff. It's great for displaying things and taking pictures on!

5. I started working on getting my Europe pictures organized, which took quite a while! I thought this would be a good project to do while getting caught up on almost three weeks worth of the Tonight Show! It took a little while to get all 441 pictures organized and put together in chronological order, so now I'll just have to get around to scrapbooking them!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Snapshots from Wichita

A quick post featuring a few random pictures I took while in Wichita and our trip back to Idaho...

Donuts from the Donut Whole.

Some buildings downtown Wichita.

There was a large park near our hotel that had some nice walking trails. I thought these tree tunnels were pretty neat!

The park where we walked was pretty. The trees were just starting to change colors and there was a creek running through the park.

 We flew into Oklahoma City and drove up to Wichita. I took this at a rest stop as we entered back into Oklahoma. I'd never been to Oklahoma before, so it's one more state I can cross off of my list!

 My mom and I stopped at Gigi's Cupcakes and picked a few out to bring back home for the family. The cupcakes were pretty good!

I took this at SeaTac after we were safely back on the ground. Flying into Seattle was the most turbulent flight I'd ever been on! Seattle had been having a pretty good storm, with strong winds and heavy rain and we got to fly right into it. At times the plane was literally jerked left and right! Luckily it didn't last long and we were able to land safely! 

Five for Friday

Hey and welcome to my Five for Friday! I hope you all had a great week! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Della Devoted , Bright on a Budget and Coffee With Caitlin!

My mom and I are going to be heading back home tomorrow, which will be so nice! After being gone for two weeks I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and cooking in my own kitchen! And having Wifi that actually works! But ultimtely, we were in Wichita for my mom to get treatment for lyme disease, and I am glad that she is doing better!

1. Last weekend my mom and I decided to check out downtown (a term I use very loosely!) Wichita. While that was a bust (they literally have almost nothing. One area with some restaurants, and that's about it.) But, we did stop by a donut shop which had Doctor Who donuts! (Which were pretty awesome by the way!)

2. I got my first massage earlier this week. My mom gets a massage every day as part of her treatments, and if the center has an opening, they offer massages to family members, so I was able to get one! It was pretty nice!

3. My mom and I went to Hobby Lobby earlier this week and walked around. They had all of their Christmas stuff out and we were looking at it all. There were sooooo many creepy Santa things! I took a bunch of pictures and was sending them all to my sister. Haha. Here's a few of the best ones...

That last Santa is probably thinking about how he knows where you live...

(source)

4. I've been thinking about switching my comments over to Disquis. I like that it's so much easier to see when people reply! Anyone have any tips/suggestions for adding that to Blogger? Do you like using Disquis?

5. And last but not least, I came across this article on Buzzfeed titled 23 Pictures That Pretty Much Sum Up 2015. It's pretty funny and definitely worth scrolling through. 3, 4, and 16 are so true!

23 Pictures That Guys Will Just Never Ever Understand from Buzzfeed is also pretty funny. I think every girl can relate to most of these!

Have a great weekend! 

Wichita Botanica gardens

This past Sunday, my mom and I decided to check out the Wichita Botanica Gardens. The admission was pretty inexpensive (Only $7 at the time we went.) So it sounded like a nice place to spend the afternoon! And there really isn't much to do in Wichita, so it was pretty much our only choice.

Anyways, it turned out to be a good choice because there was some interesting things to look at and quite a few things to photograph!

We ended up getting trapped in the Japanese gardens with a bunch of other people. Haha! The doors locked and wouldn't open again! Someone eventually came out and we were able to get back in to explore the rest of the gardens.

I've never seen a bush like this! Looks perfect for Halloween!

This was possibly the weirdest/most interesting looking flower I've ever seen! There wasn't a label on it so I have no idea what it is or where it is from!

There was also a butterfly garden, but they only had three different kinds of butterflies. I managed to get a few pictures of them! They kept flying around too quickly and wouldn't land on anything very often.

Have you ever been to a botanical garden?