Dolce Musica

Garrett Learns A New Tricks!

2012-01-19T19:50:00.001-06:00

He has his own little obstacle course!

Gluten Free Monkey Bread Recipe. YUM!

2012-01-11T17:43:00.000-06:00

I love monkey bread. If you're gonna have a roll with cinnamon and sugar, you might as well do it right and have monkey bread!

After browsing the web and doing a little experimenting, this is the recipe I came up with. They come out very soft and bouncy, with wonderful syrupy cinnamon sugar.

They keep well over night, maintaining their bouncy softness.

And, they're GLUTEN FREE!

~The Recipe~

*6 egg whites

*2 TBS oil

*1/2 cup milk

*3/4 cup brown rice flour

*1/4 cup white rice flour

*1/4 cup sorghum flour

*4 tsp baking powder

*1 tsp baking soda

*1/2 tsp salt

*1 tsp xanthum or guar gum (I use guar)

*1 tsp vanilla

Fills a 1 quart loaf pan. Double or triple the recipe to make the popular monkey bread tower.

If you don't have sorghum flower, substitute with more brown rice flour.

Preheat oven to 350 º.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Beat the egg whites with an electric beater until they are stiff.

Add the dry and wet ingredients to the egg whites and stir until combined.

The *dough* will be very thin, like a batter. Allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes. During this time the batter will become bubbly and less batter-like.

In the meantime, prepare the filling.

~Filling~

*1/2 cup butter

*1 1/4 cup brown sugar

*1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place butter in a saucepan and melt. Add sugar and cinnamon and mix well. You should have a pourable syrup.

If your dough has rested for at least 5 minutes, you are ready to make the rolls. Grease a 1 quart loaf pan, and drop spoonfuls of the dough across the bottom. They might spread out a bit, but that's fine. They'll rise in the oven.

Pour some of the syrup over them.

Drop some more spoonfuls of dough over that, and pour more syrup over that. Continue making these layers, alternating between spoonfuls of dough and syrup, until you are out of dough. Pour remaining syrup over the top, and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes.

When they are a nice golden brown on top, they are ready! Allow to cool a few minutes before indulging.

Enjoy your delicious gluten free monkey bread!

Dinner Rolls

2011-12-20T19:15:00.001-06:00

I made dinner rolls cupcake style. I won't be posting a recipe just yet, because I feel that it is lacking something. When I figure out what it is, I'll post a recipe!

However, they did turn out pretty decent, and where very nice after not having dinner rolls for a looooong time!

Birthdays for Natasha and Titus

2011-12-20T10:54:00.002-06:00

We celebrated Natasha and Titus's birthdays on Monday. Natasha turns 3 on Christmas, and Titus turns 1 today.

Laurel made titus a smash monkey cake.

Elise made a Winnie the Poo cake for Natasha.

Birthday girl.

Birthday boy.

Big brother Allen.

Cousin Garret.

Two little monkeys. Oh wait, that's 3 monkeys!

Singing Happy Birthday.

Natasha blowing out her candles.

I don't think Titus could take his fingers out of his mouth long enough to blow out the candle.

Definitely enjoying his smash cake!

Opening presents.

The inside of the cake.

Um...another present?

Oops, I think I made his monkey hat a bit too big! Good thing they grow!

Playing with a new toy. Tons of fun!

YMI Jeans

2011-12-16T17:43:00.000-06:00

I recently acquired a $20 gift voucher for YMI Jeans for free at http://nomorerack.com/. That particular deal is over, but today you can get a $20 voucher for $3 over there right now.

I waited for YMI to put a pair of jeans I liked in the clearance section, and they finally did! They're called vintage flare. I just got them today, and love them!
My only complaint is that they didn't have a petite option, so I'll have to hem them up, otherwise, they fit great, better than any of my other jeans.
Check out their clearance section, I noticed they added several pairs of boot cut jeans today.

(Ahem, that's not me modeling the jeans.)

Craft Show and Handel's Messiah

2011-12-15T15:41:00.000-06:00

As usual it has been awhile since I posted. I stay pretty busy keeping up with my crochet business. I would like to start posting more regularly at some point, but we'll see how that goes.

Last Saturday I participated in a craft show in Leipers Fork. I actually shared a booth with my friend Rachel, who makes the cutest outfits for little girls.

I think the show wouldn't have been so bad, except in Franklin, the Dicken's of a Christmas was also going. I think that stole a lot of our traffic. It wasn't a profitable day for me or anyone else there for that matter.

I did just manage to cover my costs, which is nice, and business has been going well on consignment.

I took this photo with my iPod touch, so it's not the greatest, but you can see my animal hats and fingerless gloves on the left, and Rachel's dresses are on the right. Her dad made a neat table top rack for them.

Then On Sunday evening I hitched a ride with some friends, the Botkins and Noors, to Nashville to participate in a Handel's Messiah sing along, which was a lot of fun!

I took a video of one of my favorite parts, "Unto Us a Child is Born".

Enjoy!

4 Months old, and learning to hunt early!

2011-10-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

The official 4 month old photoshoot with Garrett! (fake gun was used).

Yeast free gluten free pizza crust in a skillet

2011-10-07T21:40:00.001-05:00

This is a lovely skillet fried pizza crust, and has been the recipe that consistently turns out best.

This is actually a batter, which you fry very similar to a pancake. In fact, if you have made pancakes before, then you should have no trouble making this!

My apologies if this is not a very good photo. In fact, this is a slice that has been sitting in the refrigerator! I will get a better one next time I make this.

This recipe makes two small crusts, they are just a little larger than your normal personal pan pizza crust sizes.
Use your favorite GF flour mix, or if you don't have one, try mine! It's easy to make and you can find most of these ingredients at any health food store. Gluten Free Flour Mix Recipe.

Recipe:

1 cup gf flour mix
2/3 cup of milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon italian spices
dash of garlic powder

Mix all together in a bowl, and whip gently, but don't over beat. The batter should be about the consistency of pancake batter.

Heat up a medium sized skillet and oil it well. Pour half of your batter into the skillet. After a few minutes you should start to see bubbles, and the batter will turn darker and look slightly cooked. Check the bottom by lifting an edge with a spatula. If it looks golden brown, flip it, and let it fry for a few more minutes. When it's golden brown on both sides, place it in a large pie dish or a pan, and top with sauce and whatever goodies you so desire!
Bake in the oven until cheese is melted.

These are great to make up several ahead of time and freeze them for later.

Yum!

Who is that modelling my hat???

2011-08-29T19:04:00.000-05:00

Garrett!!!!

Pictures of Garrett

2011-08-03T15:25:00.000-05:00

William Garrett and other pictures

2011-06-12T18:35:00.000-05:00

Little William Garrett

I have no idea...I found it on my camera.

Brothers

Elise and Garrett

This little fellow likes to bounce.

Franklin Festival

2011-05-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

I snapped a couple of pictures while I was at the Franklin festival. I was busy doing crochet demonstrations at Heart and Hands to take many, so here's just a couple. There where THOUSANDS of people on Main Street, just walking across the square took about 10 minutes because the crowds where so packed. There where over 200 craft booths, and a lot of food booths too. I wanted to get a picture of the lemonade stand, it was set up nice with a big bowl of lemons, but people where always packed in so tight I couldn't get close enough.

I did capture a snippet of some dancing on my iTouch though :-D

And here are some dudes playing music and singing.

Also, this is Lisa Gardiner. She also consigns her beautiful paintings at Heart and Hands, and I was able to meet her for the first time. Here she is painting in her booth.

Crocheted hats for kids

2011-04-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

Showing off some toddler and baby hats I made. Titus was cranky so I only got one picture of him.

Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad

2011-03-19T22:18:00.004-05:00

Today we celebrated my parents 30th anniversary. This is a picture of them taken a few months ago (sorry, I didn't get one of them together today).

Elise made this cake with real flowers. So pretty!

As you can see, it's filled with layers of chocolate and caramel!

Dad and his youngest grandson hanging out.

And the cutest little girl in the world.

I made gluten free cupcakes for Gabriel and myself. The box mix I used left much to be desired, but the chocolate and caramel Elise stuffed into them made them quite edible!

Grandma's Apron

2011-03-12T21:16:00.001-06:00

This apron was my grandmother's. I can't tell how old it is because the tags are too faded, but I bet it's vintage!
It snaps up the front and has 2 pockets.

Video of Titus

2010-12-22T12:14:00.002-06:00

I took this video with my isight on my macbook. Not sure why it's so choppy this time. Anywhere, here's the kids.

Titus Andrew Draper

2010-12-21T13:05:00.003-06:00

I'm at TJ and Rachel's house helping out, and thought I'd quickly post a couple of pictures of my new nephew Titus!

Adorable

2010-12-11T14:44:00.004-06:00

Cute kiddos!

Heidi's Wedding

2010-11-19T10:46:00.007-06:00

Kevin Pine and I photographed Mike and Heidi's wedding earlier this month, and I've been working on the photos a few at a time, in between getting ready for an upcoming craft show.

Of course there are a ton more than this, but I thought I'd throw these up for your enjoyment.

Getting Ready

Bride and her maids

Heidi and her father

Mike and the guys

Flower girls preparing the way!

Here she comes!

First kiss

Two very happy people!

The rings (Thanks Kevin for setting this up)

Everyone together

My favorite....

The sun rays where perfect for this one, it looks glorious!

I'll try to post more when I have finished them. Stay tuned.

Mini Photoshoot

2010-09-14T13:20:00.005-05:00

We recently took a day trip to Missouri to meet up with Elise and Gabe for a few hours. I did a quick little photoshoot before we left.

Oh, and I also have the Mb-D80 (battery grip) on the way, as well as the 18-55mm lens! They should be here any day, and I can't wait to get them! The lens should make it easier to get some good macro and wide angle shots.
I'll post pictures once I start using it.

Allen's 4th B-Day

2010-08-17T10:14:00.010-05:00

Well, I suppose that it is high time I blogged, seeing that I have been receiving many comments about the lack of recent content on my blog.

Yesterday was Allen's 4th birthday, so I had the opportunity to take pictures, and I suppose now I have no excuse!

We celebrated Allen's birthday at the Lyles park. The first thing Allen said to me when I walked into the pavilion at the park was, "I'm 4 now! I get to take a BIG vitamin!".
Apparently vitamins are a big deal for Allen.

Laurel made a Lightening McQueen cake for Allen.

4!!!

Hmmmm. Well I'm not exactly sure why she is sticking her fingers in my cake, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Natasha and grandpa.

And Jordon.

Apparently that ice cream is VERY good!

The kiddos.

TJ and Rachel.

Mom is going to die when she sees this...

Opening presents.

I picked out the 3D chalk set :-D

Toy Story 3!

Let.me.down! I want to play with Allen's toys!

Um, no Natasha. That is my card, and I want it back immediately!

Playing on the playground.

Um, is that....TJ? On the seesaw?

In case you where wondering where all the light was coming from, behold my SB-600 mounted on a tripod!

Happy Birthday Allen!

Just Because

2010-06-16T11:12:00.001-05:00

Our pets are into tractors.

Mom And Dad

2010-06-15T17:27:00.002-05:00

Mom and Dad just before leaving for a friend's wedding.

My favorite Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix

2010-06-08T12:41:00.005-05:00

This is the most affordable flour mix I've come up with. It tastes good. It has an excellent whole grain taste to it, and seeing as I have forgotten how wheat tastes, I sometimes think this tastes just like it (though I have been informed this is not the case).

This flour mix is really affordable, and you should have no trouble finding these ingredients at a health food store, in my case, Whole Foods.
Also keep in mind that I have begun using guar gum instead of xanthum gum. Guar gum is much cheaper and works just as well, if not better! So whenever a recipe calls for xanthum gum, don't worry about it. Just use your flour mix that has guar gum.

Now, many recipes will call for each type of flour and starch seperately. When that happens, I just figure out quickly in my head about how many cups of flour that would be all together (including the gum, since I include that in my flour mix).

So here's the recipe. It makes 5 cups of flour. I mix a bunch of this up ahead of time and store it in a plastic conainer.

1 1/2 Cups-Brown Rice Flour
1 Cup Sorghum Flour
1 1/4 Cups Potato Starch Flour
1 1/4 Cup Cornstarch
2 Tbsp Guar Gum (or Xanthan Gum)

Mix it all together thouroughly and store in plastic bag or container. Start using it in your baked goods, and see how you like it!

Katie Elliot

2010-06-05T14:57:00.004-05:00

The results of a quick session with Katie Elliot, taken on our new green couch. Apparently my attempts to make her laugh where not funny at all, and flashes are stupid and make people cranky...because Katie said so!

As a lighting source I had 1 window, and the sb-600 speedlight bounced off an umbrella.

Oh, and you know those weird red and blue streaks on the edges of some of these photos? I have no idea what those are. The original edits don't have that, but I made copies and sized them down, and they showed up. No idea what's up with that. Please ignore them :-P

Fun Stuff!

2010-05-22T11:24:00.005-05:00

I have been over at my brother's house a lot to help Rachel, and here's some pictures from the time before last.

So, when I'm not washing dishes, vacuuming carpet, cooking, or cleaning bathrooms, this is what I do!

Apparently cars are fascinating.

Kicking the ball is fun.

And so is checking the mail!

Now, kitty may appear to be running away, but really, she was enjoying being chased, as she kept coming back for more. Apparently being chased is a good excuse to act like a maniac and race around the yard in circles.

The cutest kids you ever did see!

And the grand finale!

This is one of those times when I really wish blogger did not de-saturate my photos, because the de-saturation really flattened this photo.

Flood Damage-The Walking Trail

2010-05-04T16:05:00.003-05:00

Well, there was a soccer field here, encircled by a nice walking trail. And that little building you see...well, farmers used to set up their produce for sale.

But not anymore!

And this is the road.

Ick.

Flood Damage-Pasture Behind Our House

2010-05-04T09:58:00.005-05:00

I took these photos on Sunday evening. It was still raining, so I had to bag my camera in a zip lock bag, so the pictures are a bit hazy.

Behind our house is woods. If you walk through these woods you will go downhill quite steeply, and then it opens up into a huge pasture.

Wait, did I say pasture? Because what I found was certainly no pasture! It was a raging river!

See for yourself.

Why is she smiling? It's not the least bit funny at all! :-P

At this point you could see the tops of the fence posts sticking above of the water, but I have been informed that shortly afterwords even those where completely covered. I'd say it was well over my head.

This is a new temporary creek formed by the flooding.

Laurel found some wild strawberries.

This is another temporary creek, only much larger than the one before.

Abigail and her pet box turtle.

The cows found refuge further up the hill among the blackberry brambles.

And the bull watched us suspiciously as we passed through. I think you can actually see the rain falling in this picture too.

I took more pictures yesterday (Monday) of the roads, will post those later.

Irises!

2010-04-22T19:35:00.003-05:00

The irises are finally blooming! Aren't they pretty? I captured these images right after it sprinkled a bit.

Photo Shoot with Amelia

2010-04-16T17:16:00.002-05:00

Alrighty, here is the latest photo shoot yet. My model is the beautiful Amelia Mathews, a friend who was wonderful enough to let me play around with posing and lighting.

Thank you Amelia!

Photo Shoot With Sean

2010-04-15T22:08:00.004-05:00

Here's some of my newest photos. Second newest actually, I did another photo shoot the other day that I'll post tomorrow.

For these I used 1 continuous light, 1 disc reflector, and my SB-600 mounted on a stand. Since I don't yet have my flash diffuser in yet, I used a white piece of paper.

Enjoy!

Amelia Womble

2010-04-12T10:50:00.004-05:00

Last night I had the privilege of photographing Amelia Womble in my little bedroom studio! She has awesome eyes, I just wish she would have sat still long enough for me to better capture them!
But even so, I did get some pretty good shots.

Enjoy!

New Stuff!

2010-04-08T17:44:00.004-05:00

I am excited to announce that I have finally invested in the SB-6oo flash unit! This flash is so cool, and allows for a lot more flexibility in flash photography. With 3 lights, I can now improve my lighting techniques!

The SB-600 is a powerful flash with great features. For now, lets just stick with the basics.

Ok ok, lets stick with my favorite feature!

While the SB-600 can be mounted on your Nikon camera, it can also be used wirelessly, like a strobe.

You simply use the built in flash to command the SB-600 wirelessly.

Put it on a stand with a soft box or umbrella, and you have the perfect little strobe for your studio! Many photographers like these so well, that they recommend purchasing 2 or 3 of these for a professional studio setup.

Of course, I'd love to do that in the future, but if you look at the price on Amazon, you'll know why I haven't done that yet :-P Of course, I did get a really good deal on a brand new one on Ebay from a really nice seller who lives in Michigan, but that's beside the point!

And now for some results. Now that I have 3 lights instead of just 2, I can get much more creative with my lighting. These 2 pictures are just the beginning, but of course, I've only had the flash for a couple of days, so give me some time please!

I used my continuous lights, one above, and one to the left side. Since I don't yet have a third light stand, I held my flash in one hand, and with the other I held a white sheet of paper in front of it for diffusion. I positioned it in front but slightly to the right. I don't remember how high I held it, I did some experimenting until I found the right position though.

I put the camera on a tripod and set the self timer for 10 seconds to allow myself time to get into position.

So let me know what you think about the pictures!

Gluten Free Banana Bread Recipe

2010-03-11T13:20:00.003-06:00

This is an excellent recipe I used to make banana bread. As always, I modified the original, and made it my own. This will make 2 mini loaves, enough for a couple of people, or in my case, just me, for a couple of days :-D

Did I mention it came out tasting excellent?

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter, softened to room temperature
2 small over ripe bananas mashed
1 cup gluten free flour mix * (see my note)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

*first of all let me explain the flour mix. It's only one cup, so I just put about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and one tablespoon of potato starch in a one cup measuring cup. Then I put about 2 heaping tablespoons of sorghum flour in it, and filled the cup the rest of the way with brown rice flour.

My bread came out tasting really good, but I imagine you can omit the sorghum flour if you want, and it will still be fine.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 mini loaf pans, and dust with rice flour. Blend butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy. Add vanilla, eggs and bananas. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Slowly add to banana and butter mixture. Blend batter until well mixed and pour into your 2 mini loaf pans. Bake for 40 minutes or so, or until edges are browned.

I didn't really keep track of how long I kept them in the oven, so I'm just guessing. I kept an eye on them until they where slightly browned on top, and browner around the edges.

Enjoy!

Oh say, it's an orange!

2010-03-08T20:13:00.006-06:00

I do not know what kind of oranges these are, but I say we should never get them again. I counted 33 seeds in the one I ate. Wasn't much of an orange left after digging 33 seeds out!

But, they cooperate and hold very still when I take their picture, so I won't complain too much.

I made a soft box for my lights so I could have a smaller aria of light, instead of a big umbrella spreading light everywhere.

And I only put light on one side of the orange. I think the shadows give the orange shape and character.

These actually remind me of a sketch I saw someone do of a ball! Only the sketch was with a lead pencil, so there was no color.

Young Preachers

2010-02-26T14:36:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, we heard some great sermons, preached by young boys in their teens, and a few that where even younger.

There were sermons on subjects such as The Tongue, Nehemiah's Nursery, What Is God, The Doctrines Of Grace, and much more.

They did a great job! These boys studied hard and preached with enthusiasm.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Jordon

Shane

Sean

Luke

Cole

The boys are scheduled to preach more sermons in the next couple of months I believe. Hopefully I will have a speedlight by then so I can get better photos (though I have doubts about that!)

Handmade Spark

2010-02-12T11:33:00.003-06:00

You might like to know what I've been up to recently. Well, lots of things really. First of all I been spending a lot of time stocking up for my shop. It seems only reasonable that I use the slow winter months to prepare for the faster pace of summer, which seems to be when my sales take off.

Not a surprise really, since most of my products have a lot of flowers on them!

Of course, I've been listening to a lot of music when I do that too. My favorite thing to do is hook my ipod up to some big speakers in the living room, and play music from my playlists that way. Now everybody has to listen to my music!
Fortunately for them, I have good taste! Steven Curtis Chapman, Avalon, Don Francisco, Calvin Jones, and the likes. Oh, and the coolest soundtracks too, like The Prince Of Egypt, (of course it's good, it was written by Hans Zimmer!) Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Night, Iron Man...you get the idea.
And don't forget Beethoven and Chopin. Got to throw them in the mix!

Also Timothy Adam started a new website, Handmade Spark, and I am now a writer for this site. If you've been around Etsy for very long, then you probably know who Timothy Adam is. He is well known for his knowledge of marketing, networking, etc. You might say he's kinda famous among the Etsians. Mention him in the forums, and everybody knows exactly who you're talking about.
This site is going to be packed with info for Etsy sellers.
It's brand new, and only has a few pages of articles, but don't worry, we're working on it! So far this week I've written 3. You might wanna go on over Here and check those out.

The first article I wrote is about how you can properly optimize your Etsy listings for relevancy, also known as SEO (search engine optimization). This Article explains how to make your listings more search engine friendly. I think many people who sell on Etsy have more control over the SEO in their listings than they realize! Check it out at Optimizing your Listings For Relevancy.

The second article I wrote isn't really an article, it's actually a review on some handmade Journals I found on Etsy. They are completely gorgeous! I want one by the way, for my birthday, which is in September, if you didn't know.
Read about it at Handmade Leather Journals.

And last but not least, I just wrote this one yesterday. This article explains how to create a listing, and then save it for later without actually listing it. I do this with a whole bunch of listings, so later during the summer, I can pull an already made listing up and hit the orange "finish" button. This way, when life gets really busy, listing only takes a few seconds.
Find out how to do that at Preparing For Your Selling Season.

Hope you enjoy those! I have more planned, hopefully soon I'll be writing some on photographing products. But first, I'll need to get some good "how to" pictures.

And before I can do that, I've got things around the house that need doing, so I'd better get busy!

Natasha Grace!

2010-01-30T18:29:00.002-06:00

My most recent photoshoot! Natasha Grace makes a great model, don't you think? I simply threw a black sheet of fabric over a chair, and positioned my umbrella lights.

She soon lost patience however, before I was able to get some of her and Allen together. Oh well, another time perhaps!

Oh yeah, self portraits

2010-01-22T15:54:00.003-06:00

Ok, while I was waiting on everyone to get ready for the family photo, I um, well ya know. I took pictures of myself :-P

Please enjoy.

Photoshoot With Rachel

2010-01-12T14:57:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to do some photoshooting in my little studio at BackLight Photographic, which, by the way, has now moved to my room.

Yep, I rearranged my room so that I could fit a backdrop and my lights in there. It's a bit crowded now, but much more convenient, and out of everyone elses way.

After most everyone had left (we had church at our house this particular Sunday) and there was no one left but our good friends, the Castilles, I took Rachel to my studio and we got some pretty nice shots!

Please excuse the lack of vibrancy in these photos. Blogger desaturates them.

Rachel is quite the natural poser, which made this extremely easy and fun for me. With the help of a bench with a pillow on top, and a brown sheet thrown over, we had a nice prop for this one.

We tried random poses until we had several that where pleasing.

This one I gave a sepia look, but I'm not sure how well it looks here, since blogger desatureated it.

My slouch hat! :-D it's quite handy to have a large collection of hats around for picture taking.

And one we where all thrilled with! The skirt was perfect for just this sort of pose, don't you think?

Well, I am happy with these! It had been awhile since I had done any studio shots. At some point I'd like to go into town and get some shots, hopefully I can make that happen soon.

Dolce Giorno ~Joyous

Wedding pictures from the weekend

2009-11-10T13:41:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was a busy one for our entire family! We are very grateful that we had lots of wonderful friends who wanted to help us. We had young ladies working in the kitchen and good friends from Michigan making cakes!

It all turned out very well, the wedding went flawlessly! The dresses where beautiful, (Jessica Courter made my dress), and I managed to snap some good pictures here and there.

Our photographer and friend, my sister-in-laws brother, took some of the pictures before the wedding, so we could get as many out of the way as possible.

We found a shed that made a nice background for some of them.

Here, I managed to capture Elise with a nice glare from the sun to compliment the composition. This is my favorite of all the pictures I took, though I didn't take many, as I was in most of the pictures, and had to stay out of David's way anyway :-D

David getting her dress just the way he wants it.

Most beautiful bride in the world. (Gabriel agreed).

The 4 of us. I am on the left, Rachel Draper, and Rachel Roberson are on the right. (Taken by Laurel)

Pretty smile.

Awwww, cuuuuute! (Taken by Laurel, I spiffed it up in Photoshop.)

Elise and I. (Taken by Laurel)

Ok, there you are. I can't wait to see David's results!

Gluten Free Pancakes

2009-10-31T09:06:00.004-05:00

So I made pancakes yesterday! Nobody should have to go without pancakes. So I scoured the internet looking for a decent one, and ended up finding one that worked pretty well, but I made some adjustments to suit my liking.

See, here they are! And they tasted pretty good too!

Adjustments you say? Yep, they where too thin, with not enough sugar or baking powder in them, and they used sugar substitute, milk powder and water, which I really didn't like, so I fixed that right up. I also had to cut the recipe in half, because I'm the only one eating these, and even at that, they will last me for 3 or 4 breakfasts :)

So here we go, my improvisation of the recipe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gluten Free Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice flour
1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or starch)
2 tablespoons potato starch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

In a bowl, mix or sift together all dry ingredients. Stir in egg, buttermilk, and oil until few lumps remain.
Heat a medium sized oiled skillet. Spoon the batter one table spoon at a time into the skillet, I did about 3 or 4 tablespoons for 5 inch pancakes.

This makes approximately 10 5 inch pancakes. They are nice and fluffy, and with butter and syrup, I hardly noticed they where gluten free.

You can use brown or white rice flour, I made them with brown rice flour once, and white rice flour the second time. I think I liked the brown rice flour better!

Enjoy!

Amazing Caramel Sauce

2009-10-28T18:27:00.003-05:00

This is the most amazing caramel sauce ever! Our favorite way to use it is a dip for apples, but you can use as a glaze for ice cream, or even make caramel squares. The recipe is for caramel apple dip, but I will explain how to adjust the recipe for glaze or squares.
It is smooth and creamy, and it tastes even better than the caramel squares you get from the store.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup butter (you can use margarine)
2 cups brown sugar
Dash of salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directions

Melt butter in a 3-quart sauce pan. Add sugar and salt, stir well.
Stir in corn syrup, mix well.
Gradually add milk, stirring constantly.
Cook and stir over medium heat to thread stage (215˚-235˚), 10 to 15 minutes. Be careful to stir VERY well while it is cooking, otherwise the brown sugar will "flake up" when it starts boiling, and it will look like there are little brown flecks in it. It won't taste bad, it's just not very pretty.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour into buttered pan (I use a casserole dish).
Allow to cool slightly before dipping your apples into it!

Variation for caramel glaze for ice cream.

Basically you need to make the caramel thinner so it won't become too chewy on contact with the cold ice cream.
I add 1/4 cup more of butter, and use only 1/4 cup of corn syrup instead of 1/2 a cup. Then I heat it to a little less than the thread stage (about 200˚) . Otherwise, follow the recipe, with these changes.

Variation for caramel squares.

Now you need your caramel to be much more chewy, so you can cut it into squares. use 2 1/4 cups of brown sugar, instead of just 2, and use a whole cup of corn syrup, instead of 1/2.
Otherwise everything else is the same, but pour your caramel into a buttered 9X9X2 inch pan, cool and cut into squares.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have fun with the caramel!

Photo Session with the Castille Family

2009-10-22T12:43:00.006-05:00

I'm finally getting around to showing you some pictures that I did for some friends recently, the Castille family.
So with the help of my 2 umbrella lights (I would be lost without them!) and my awesome Nikon D80 camera, I got some pretty nice shots for my portfolio, and some happy customers.

It's was quite fun, and I learned a lot about my lights and posing people!

Here are some of my favorites. I think they are all excellent posers!

Mr. Castille and his grandson, Evan.

I really like the warmth in the coloring I was able to obtain in the living room photos. Gives them a nice cozy feel.

Mr Castille, with Christy, Rachel, Sean, and Even behind him.

...and this time with Mrs. Castille!

...and now outside with the barn for a nice background.

Anyone else need some portraits? I'm more than happy to oblige! My D80 and I enjoy working with people!

A new adventure

2009-10-18T21:33:00.007-05:00

Some of you may or may not know that I have begun a new adventure...a gluten free adventure. After studying my symptoms, (which I have struggled with for some time) and after doing lots of research, I have decided that gluten is most likely the problem.

It really isn't a for sure thing, but in a few months, say, another 6 months, I should know for sure. The reason it will take so long for me to be positive is because it takes a long time to cleanse the gluten out of your system, and then it takes time to heal once the gluten is gone.

After that I should really be able to tell.

So, meanwhile, I've been experimenting with cooking gluten free! So far it hasn't been too bad. The first thing I tried was cinnamon rolls. I hadn't had any bread products for some time, and I was really hungry for cinnamon rolls.

They look absolutely beautiful! They didn't taste quite as good as they look, but they still tasted pretty good for being made with rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and corn starch. Yeah, they did taste a little on the starchy side, but I was glad to have them!

And then I tried the chocolate cake in a mug...awesome! Apparently rice flour isn't half bad when it comes to chocolate cake, because I quite enjoyed this. Maybe I'll dump some ice cream on top of that next time we have it! You just throw a few ingredients into a mug and cook in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

And next I made bread, also with rice flour and potato starch. Ok, this one really made me miss wheat! It really wasn't too bad, but still not nearly as good as wheat, so I definitely need to work on this one. Partly I think I didn't let it rise enough, but I'll be making it again before long, so I'll be able to try again.

I plan on posting recipes in the future. At the moment I'm getting many of my recipes from thebakingbeauties.blogspot.com I've got my eye on some pretty yummy looking stuff there.

I also plan on posting more information about gluten sensitivity and it's symptoms, so stay tuned if you want to hear more about that.

Engagement of Elise and Gabriel

2009-08-15T09:39:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd post a few pictures of Elise and Gabe's engagement!

The wedding is set for Nov. 7th. Make sure you show up!

These where all taken at the Natchez Trace, and the light was very harsh. I had to do quite a bit of photoshoping (thanks to David Price for sharing some techniques with me!) to get rid of bold shadows and bright spots.
I hope to do some of just Elise with her ring soon.
Enjoy!

Funny kiddos!

2009-07-17T11:01:00.005-05:00

Recently Alan spent the day with us, and we got a lesson on how push-ups aught to be done.

You see, this is how they really work!

And then that evening, TJ and Rachel came to pick him up, and they stayed for supper.

Natasha is taking a great notice in Dad's beard...
Because it's extremely fascinating you see...

If only I would quit interrupting with my camera flash!

Cutie pie! Uh, the one on the left that is :-P

Blog giveaway

2009-07-03T16:12:00.002-05:00

You all know how much I love handmade bath and body stuff! My skin is quite sensitive to chemicals that are always present in store bought stuff.
I found this giveaway for body butter, and I just entered!

Also I am having a giveaway of my very own at my other blog, Etsy Treasure Chest, for 3 bars of handmade soap. Check them out and be sure to enter!

Hmmm

2009-07-01T21:23:00.002-05:00

I find it sadly amusing how someone can be so worried about people killing animals. And yet, they could care less if the animal kills people.

Funny, isn't it?

And since when did unborn babies become less than animals? I mean, first they where put on the same level as animals. Now, we have to save the animals, but can kill all the unborn babies we want.

Yeah, right.

And haven't people noticed the harder we try to get rid of God, the worse things get? No, of course not, who would figure that one out? I mean jeez, it's all God's fault that things are bad, never mind things where just fine before we tossed him out the window.

People never get it, do they?

Our Church Website

2009-06-29T07:17:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been doing a lot of work on our new church website, Grace Baptist Reformed. Today I did quite a bit with it, since we where at our friend's the Castille family today for fellowship, it was convenient to work on it after lunch while we where all together and could figure out what needed to be done.
Since I am the "computer dude" at our house right now, the job of website building has fallen to me. I really don't mind, since I enjoy playing with webcode.
Though I must say, seeing a long line of code characters in my sleep now is somewhat disturbing.
I still have to run to my older brother for help every now and then, and I have grown quite close to google as well (please don't stone me!) but all in all, I think I'm starting to get quite familiar with this language like so:

And like so:

Copy and paste has befriended me as well...but don't tell anyone I said that!

Fun isn't it?

The difference between "Dolce" and "Dulce"

2009-06-28T19:43:00.003-05:00

Since there tends to be some confusion concerning the two, and which one is the correct spelling, I am going to help you understand the difference between the two.

Actually, there's a big difference!

Dolce is Italian for sweet. It is a common musical term, and often used when one is to play the music in a sweet manner.

This is what the dictionary has to say about it.

dolce |ˈdōl ch ā|
adverb & adjective Music
(esp. as a direction) sweetly and softly.
ORIGIN Italian, literally ‘sweet.’

Dulce is another thing entirely. Dulce does mean sweet, but it's meaning is slightly different since it is directed at food.

The dictionary says this about it.

dulce |ˈdəlsā|
noun
a sweet food or drink, esp. a candy or jam. [ORIGIN: Spanish.]
adjective
sweet or mild. [ORIGIN: from Latin dulcis.]

Now you know the difference between the two...and why my blog says Dolce instead of Dulce! I am quite certain after all, that my music is not food!

Cake!

2009-06-04T19:15:00.002-05:00

This is a cake Elise made. Isn't it elegant? Not much more I can say. Not that you would read it anyway, you'd be too busy looking at the pictures, so I won't say anything more!

Up close and personal with Natasha

2009-05-27T11:42:00.004-05:00

Here's a few pics of Natasha I took, the eyes being the main focus.

The old ibook...gone forever!

2009-05-13T20:47:00.002-05:00

My ibook finally died. Crashed. Bit the dust. Gave up the ghost. 'Course, the thing is only 8 or 9 years old and used to death to do way more than it was meant too... Nevertheless, it's kinda sad, it was such a good computer for me! I edited hundreds, maybe even thousands of photos on it, ran my business on it, played on it, took it with me everywhere, and now, finally, it's gone. Logic board is no longer logical. Mother board no longer feels motherly toward me...

I took it into Fairview and got a few bucks for the old hunk-uh-junk from someone who owns a small computer service business, he's going to salvage the parts that are working. Uh, did I say hunk-a-junk? I didn't mean it, honest!
Plus, I still kept the hard drive, which is really nice, cuz it'll give me plenty of extra storage.
My next investment, I believe, will be a powerbook. Yeah, I'm way behind I know, macbooks are all the thing now, but those'll have to wait!

Untill then, I get to use Dad's imac. Oh dear, I think I'm getting addicted...

Our Trip to Texas

2009-05-03T16:36:00.007-05:00

Since going to Texas to visit some friends, I have been trying to find time to process some pictures between all the orders I have been getting at my etsy shop, and finally here they are!

While we where there, we did some fun things, including visiting the creation museum.

The trip down.

That's a weird building!

Ummm, hello giraffe!

At the museum, this is a large human footprint. Um, very large actutally.

Typical reaction to the camera. Sigh.

Boaz gazes at a dinosaur's footprint.

Ancient artifact at the museum! Uh, wait, that's my dad!

All of us together.

At the New's house, Elise and Katie play the fiddle.

The boys get some wrestling instructions from Gabriel.

The majority of us at the dinner table. A few of us are missing :(

The promised Conference photos

2009-04-03T13:06:00.011-05:00

Ok, here are the pictures I promised I would post from the Conference.

Yummy food!

Megan Valenti
Rachel Castille and Brittany Smith
Chicken salad.
Megan Valenti
Molly Valenti
Katie Valenti and Megan Roach
The West ladies entertain
Oh Sean, that's very bad for you!
Mmmmm, is that mexican food?
The crowd cheers for the West ladies
It's a perfect pose, and he doesn't even know it!
My Dad

Cece and Hannah West
Ken Carpenter, of Franklin Springs Family Media.
Kevin Pine
All those computers! Toss the notepads and pencils!
Someone I'm not familiar with, Nathan Bolinger, and my brother TJ
TJ, working hard...at least he's pretending to work hard! And did I mention the pretty Macs?

Natasha Grace Portraits!

2009-04-02T15:09:00.005-05:00

Ok, so these pictures of my niece may seem a little degraded in quality. I was having a difficult time getting enough light, so I had to use a pretty high ISO, so when I sized them down, they seemed to look a little weird.

Nonetheless, enjoy!

A much needed update

2009-03-30T11:33:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I really need to update this blog! I mean really, it's my blog, and I should post on it right?

I just got to do something awesome last week. I helped in a commercial kitchen at a conference in Fairview to feed, um, well, a lot of guys, I have no idea how many! Up at 5:45, getting ready and hogging the bathroom while doing so too, and getting to the conference at about 6:45, just in time to help clean up the breakfast mess, and get started on lunch and supper.

Tuesday was really busy, and I worked my feet right off! I made the mistake of wearing my knee high boots, which are not terribly easy on the feet. I was smart enough to wear tennis shoes the rest of the time.
Wednesday and Thursday where slower, and we had time to chat a little more and get to know each other between washing dishes, chopping onions, making cookies and other goodies for the snack bar, etc.
Friday I stayed home. Since I'm not used to getting up before 6:00 and going to bed after 10:00, I was really tired and needed a break.
Saturday was also slow, but we also had to clean up a lot of stuff and pack, since it was the last day of the conference.
Afterwords the film crew had us all file out so they could film the kitchen crew for the film they are making. Awkward! Have I ever mentioned I'm not a movie star? Cuz I am now! Lol.

Over all, I had an enjoyable time. I've never worked in a commercial kitchen before, and I met young ladies who are like-minded.
I would jabber on some more, but I really have to get going. I took some pictures too, but I'll post those later, so hang loose!

Natasha Grace is here!

2008-12-25T17:00:00.003-06:00

She's here! My new little niece was born at 1:16 on Christmas morning, all tied up in a big red bow...well, not really. TJ borrowed my camera for the event, and when we went there this morning to see her, he gave it back, and I managed to snap off a few of my own pictures. So, here they are, and isn't she the cutest? She looks a lot like Allen did, so it will be interesting to see how she looks when she gets older.

Dolce Musica,
Johanna

2008-11-03T17:38:00.001-06:00

Wow. I haven't posted in a long time. Where does the time go?
so I thought I'd post. Well, here goes...

Post.

There. I posted.

The Fair

2008-08-28T12:39:00.015-05:00

The Drapers had an outing yesterday at the fair! Fun! Although it is kinda sad that there were only two rides worth going on.

The dragon wagon. And yes, it's as wicked as it looks! According to Allen, it's terrifying!

At least someone was having fun!

In a big hurry to get to Daddy after such a horrible experience!

Boaz having a good ride!

The Zipper. It's suicidal. If you want to find out what it's like to die from nauseation, this is the ride for you!

The Star Trooper. It would be fun, except the g-force makes it HURT! This must be what they use on astronauts in training!

The Sea Ray. It's actually funner than it looks. Just imagine you are on a really really big swing! I went with dad on this twice.

Abigail, Laurel, and a friend Lisa riding the Sizzler. This is a fun ride! I went on it with dad once, and then with TJ and Abigail.

Ahhh! Now the truth is revealed! TJ is riding the Sizzler!

Ah. Now this is much more fun than a mean old dragon!

Birthday Boy!

2008-08-22T15:07:00.011-05:00

We had a birthday party for Allen at TJ and Rachel's house, so I thought I'd post some Pics. I had so many from both the birthday party, and a photoshoot I went on earlier in the day that it took me a while to get them organized and uploaded. so finally, here are some of my favorites!

Allen riding Teeter Bob with his Daddy (he loved it!)

TJ grilling vegetables for fajitas (they were yuuummmy!)

Look out, Allen has a gun!

Pow Pow Pow!

Presents

Trying desperately to get it to work

Blowing out the candles

Picture contest

2008-08-21T11:04:00.002-05:00

This is a rather late post about a picture I entered in a contest a while back at www.picture.com. I finished as a semi finalist, and the picture is going to be published in a book! The working title of the book is Endless Journeys. I'm kinda excited about it!

In Mother's Hands

2008-08-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

Weekend business

2008-07-28T10:41:00.006-05:00

Ahah, so THIS is why my flowers are dying!

We canned two boxes of peaches

Yahtzee!

And then we and a lot of folks from our church went to the Castille's for a cookout. It was a lot of fun! I'll post some pictures from the event in my next post.

Little Christy Castille

2008-07-23T15:22:00.014-05:00

Finally! The Castilles got to bring home little Christina from Russia! These were taken a couple of weeks ago at the Castille house

Indian girl

She's not quite sure about the food.

And then these were taken this past Sunday at our house

PileUp

2008-06-25T15:02:00.018-05:00

I know it's high time I posted, and since I have been so neglectful of posting, I now have a pileup of things to post about. So here goes.
Last week, I finished two crochet projects.
First I finished a hummingbird graph to hang in the bathroom (I think)

And then I finished my poncho

And then on Saturday evening we went to the Nathan Clark George concert. We really enjoyed hearing him sing. He sang a couple of psalms, hymns, some he had written himself, and a couple of goofy songs.
Here's some pics.

And then Dad had his birthday yesterday.

Brownies and ice cream topped with homemade caramel! Yuuuuuum!!!

Well now, we do have some caramel left, and I was thinking that maybe since I made it, I should go sneak a spoonful....

A day at the Vaughns

2008-06-10T21:57:00.002-05:00

This afternoon, Elise, Laurel, and I went to the Vaughn's to watch the kids while Bethany went into town. Elise had to leave for a horse show in the evening, so she left Laurel and I to fix supper for them. I was able to work on my latest crochet project, until I ran out of thread! And I forgot to take my camera with me, so darn if I didn't get pictures of the new baby!

Here's a picture of the poncho I am working on. Isn't it pretty?

Having a pity party for myself

2008-06-02T13:06:00.002-05:00

My day has been perfectly ruined. One word. Allergies.

Friday, two peahens showed up and started eating our chicken's feed, (if we don't find out who they belong to, we may end up with a peafowl family)
She would really like to come under the fence, but she's not too sure about me.

Then I made my flower garden bush-hog proof. Or at at least I think those logs will stop those guys from plowing it over!

Then on Saturday I did some more work in my flower garden, cutting down all those nasty weeds you see in the picture. Saturday night, I accompanied Elise to a horse show in Scotts Hill, and that is where I began to feel the first affects of allergies kicking in.
I put a video of Elise's run on our family blog.
One of the several pictures I took while I was there. That guy is pulling the horse around the barrel with the wrong hand!

Then on Sunday, I was too sick to go to church, so I laid around and felt sorry for myself while everybody had fun at church, (well they MUST have had fun since I wasn't there) and tried to comfort myself with a stupid movie. I picked out several that were options, and ended up watching the stupidest one, since that was the only one I hadn't seen a hundred times.

I thought for sure I would be better by today, but not so. So I'm still having to have a pity party for myself.
Care to join me?

Our recent company

2008-05-29T11:07:00.003-05:00

Recently we had the extended Drapers over for supper. As you can see, this is just a sample of what too cute looks like.

Sunday, we had the Pierce family over for supper. Here are their two daughters. I think the kids had fun riding the horses.

It's been a long time...

2008-05-27T11:28:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know it's been a while since I updated my blog. The last couple of weeks have been a little exiting, what with bowling, having company, and yesterday, I went over to Miss Mathews and stayed all day to help her catch up on all the apron orders she's been getting from her website (Amelia's Aprons).
I haven't been practicing the piano nearly as much as I should, (what happened to the designated 3 hours a day??)

Last night I finally watched the new National Treasure. I know everyone thinks it's wonderful. Well, I think it's...ok. Not nearly as good as the first, though.
I am looking forward to seeing Indiana Jones, Prince Caspian, and Hancock (Will Smith). Those are the highlights of my future!
So, Until something more interesting happens in my life, Dolce Musica!

Praying For The Chapmans

2008-05-23T10:29:00.003-05:00

Please pray for the Steven Curtis Chapman family as they have just lost their youngest daughter to an accident.Read more here.

I have only had the privilege of meeting Steven once, but I have been blessed by his music and impressed by his ministry and the godly example his family has set for the eyes of the whole world to see.
Please pray for strength and comfort during this terrible tragedy.

Astronomy by David Rives

2008-05-13T13:33:00.003-05:00

Monday night a 19 year old christian astronomer named David Rives brought his telescope to the Carpenter's. It was fun! You can visit David online at http://www.davidrivesministries.org He showed us a lot of pictures taken with the Hubble Space telescopes, gave a few facts about space and it's contents, then he hooked up his telescope to the screen and we looked at the moon. He also showed us a galaxy (I can't remember which one it was!). He was going to show us Mars, but by then the atmosphere had a lot of water in it, so we couldn't get a clear enough picture. Everything was put on the big screen, so we had a cool view. The only problem was, it was COLD outside!
Here's a few pictures.
David preparing his telescope.

Pictures from the Hubble Telescope.
These pictures were taken in space, so there is no atmosphere interference

No, those are not all individual stars. A long exposure reveals thousands of galaxies that normally cannot be seen. (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/07/)

Now for the pictures as seen through David's telescope.

David showing us craters and telling us the names of a lot of them...who cares to name all those?

The moon is so far away, that the tiniest little jar to the telescope would make the moon look like it was shuddering.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away...just kidding.
This is the galaxy I can't remember the name of

This shows how the other planets protect earth from debris

Gathering at the carpenters

2008-05-02T15:56:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd post some long overdue pictures from a gathering we had at the Carpenters not long ago. We ordered pizza for everyone, and the West ladies sang for us. It was a fun evening.

Pretty!

Cece West

The West ladies

Cece and I playing Pachelbel's Canon

My New Piano!

2008-04-29T13:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday (monday) morning, Mom woke me up and told me I had to go with Dad to shoe horses, but she wouldn't tell me why. Well, I may not be that bright, but I'm not stupid either! I thought, "this must have something to do with a piano!" I figured this for two reasons. First, Dad has told me before he might take me to look at a piano sometime. Secondly, Trenda Lowry had taken my keyboard Sunday so she could use it at a women's conference on Wednesday. Meaning that I was pianoless. So those are my two reasons for concluding Dad was taking me to see a piano. And sure enough, Dad took me to Mark Schaffer's to look at a piano he had. See? Told you I'm not stupid.
The one thing I wasn't expecting, however, was for him to buy it. I really didn't think he would buy me a piano for quite a while. But he did! So Mark brought it over this morning. And I am extremely happy. Did I mention I am happy? It's already driving mom crazy, but I am still happy!
I think today might be a busy day. Because I need to practice the piano. And I will need to practice the piano. And oh yeah, I will need to practice the piano. Oh, and we are having company tonight, so I will need to help get ready for that, and I'll need to practice the piano.
Here's some snapshots of the piano. Ain't it perty?

Well, I need to get, so I can go practice the piano. Until then,
Dolce musica!

Music In The Bible

2008-04-24T17:12:00.002-05:00

I have been reading through the entire old testament, and am intrigued by how often music is mentioned. I generally read 2 to 5 chapters a day.
I have always been curious as to what music in those days sounded like, and if their concepts of music was anything like ours. The bible says there is nothing new under the sun, and I am inclined to believe that they probably had a very advanced understanding of music. I have read of a scholar who uncovered controversial evidence suggesting that the ancient Egyptians produced written sheet music, dating back to about 4500 years ago. Maureen M. Barwise claims to have deciphered musical hieroglyphs that date as far back as 2600 B.C. A number of the tunes were translated into the treble-clef keyboard.
According to Barwise, the Egyptians understood timing, pitch, rhythm, and harmonic chords in addition to basic melody.

In the Bible, music was an important part of life. David was well known for writing music. He was also known for inventing many instruments, (1 Chron. 23:5; 2 Chron. 7:6; 2 Chron. 29:26-27; Neh. 12:36;) though what they were, I don't know. The Levites were also known for being skillful in music (2 Chron. 29:25-30) I couldn't help but notice that music was used for just about every event, when the ark of God was carried from place to place (1 Chronicles 15:11-28), in all kinds of worship, and even in celebration of a finished project! As I have been reading through 1rst and 2nd Chronicles, the children of God would constantly go astray, and someone would always come around and straiten them back out. Alters that had been built would be torn down, God's house would be restored, and music would be played in celebration.
Of course, I could find all kinds of scripture references for you, but that would be kind of pointless, because if I did that, I might just as well quote the whole old Testament for you! That's how often music is mentioned.

Here is a story from 2 Chronicles 20. I thought music was used in an interesting way here. (sorry so long)

1It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
5And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
6And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
7Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
10And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
12O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
15And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
16To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
19And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
26And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.
29And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
30So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

If you find anything interesting about music in the Bible, please let me know!

In Honor of Cassie Bernall...

2008-04-18T12:30:00.002-05:00

and the twelve others who perished with her at Columbine High on April 20, 1999, at the hands of two troubled classmates.
Cassie has impacted the lives of many, because she was a real person, with the same troubles everyone else has. Her story has shown us the grace and forgiveness God has for us. The hardest problems are not too hard for God.

Cassie was a rebellious teenager, mixing with dangerous peers, when her parents realized something was very wrong.
Cassie's parents never gave up on her. They prayed for her, and relied on God to help them work with Cassie.
After a long struggle, Cassie had a heart change. The struggle to repair her life and pick up the pieces was tough, but God was gracious.
Then, on April 20, 1999, a date now well known for the Columbine high school shooting, Cassie was in the Columbine library when two boys entered the building, shooting people down, and cheering as they went. Then they came to Cassie. Josh, a sophomore, says, though he could not see her, will never gorget what he heard as he crouched under a desk about twenty-five feet away.
"I couldn't see anything when those guys came up to Cassie, but I could recognize her voice. I could hear everything like it was right next to me. One of them asked her if she believed in God. She paused, like she didn't know what she was going to answer, and then she said yes. She must have been scared, but her voice didn't sound shaky. It was strong. Then they asked her why, though they didn't give her a chance to respond. They just blew her away."
Many believe Cassie was praying. Why else would they have asked her that question?
It's hard to believe two teenagers could be so heartless. They injured many, and 12 were killed. The two boys shot themselves, when they were done.

Cassie's ability to answer the way she did, makes me ask myself, could I have responded like that? I hope so. I hope I could look unwaveringly down the barrel of a gun and say, "yes, I believe in God."

Thank you Cassie. Yes, I do believe in God.

Michael W. Smith on 6Lyrics.com

He's A Pirate

2008-02-25T15:02:00.002-06:00

If you've watched Pirates of the Caribbean, then you know what this is. I have been learning to play this on the piano myself, so I was thrilled to find this video on youtube.com. It doesn't have the same effect as the fully orchestrated version, but it's still pretty cool.

Handel, George Frideric

2008-01-23T11:01:00.000-06:00

Handel was born on 1685 one month before J.S. Bach, in Halle, Germany. He was not from a musical family. His father, who was a barber-surgeon and a valet at a court near Leipzig, disapproved of music, and wanted the boy to study law. It is said that Handel secretly studied music at night by candlelight. In difference to his father's wishes, Handel studied law for a year at Halle, one of Germany's major universities. By the time he was nine, his musical talent was so outstanding that he was allowed to study with a local organist and composer. By eleven, he himself was able to compose and give organ lessons. At 18, he set out for Hamburg, where he became violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra, Germany's leading center of opera. In 1706, he journeyed to the homeland of opera and scored big successes in Venice, Florence, and Rome. Though he became a court musician for the elector of Hanover, in northern Germany he kept requesting (and extending) leaves to pursue his career in London, a city that was then beginning to rival Paris as the world capital.

here Handel continued to produce Italian operas, again with great success, He also wrote a flattering birthday ode for Queen Anne and some big pieces to celebrate a major peace treaty; for this he was awarded an annuity. In 1717, after the Elector of Hanover had become George I of England, Handel got back into his good graces by composing music to be played on boats in a royal aquatic fete on the River Thames- the famous Water Music (two suites for the Baroque Festive Orchestra). As an opera composer, Handel had learned to guage the taste of the public and also how to flatter singers, writing music for them that showed off their voices to the best advantage. He became an opera impresario -today we would call him a promoter- recruiting singers and negotiating their contracts, planning whole seasons of opera and all the while composing the main attractions himself: an opera every year on average, between 1721 and 1743.

Handel made and lost several fortunes, but he always landed on his feet, even when Italian opera went out of style in Britain, for he never lost a feel for his audience. After opera had failed, he popularized oratorios-retellings of Bible stories (mostly from the Old Testament) in a seioperatic, semi-choral form.

Handel was a big vigorous man, hot-tempered but quick to forget, humorous and resourceful. When a particularly temperamental prima donna had a tantrum, he calmed her down by threatening to throw her out the window. At the end of his life he became blind-the same surgeon operated (unsuccessfully) on both him and Bach- but he continued to play the organ brilliantly and composed by dictating to a secretary.

When he died in 1759, 3,000 mourners attended his funeral in Westminster Abbey. Handel was stubborn, wealthy, generous, and cultivated. But above all, he was a master composer whose dramatic sense has rarely been equaled.

Bach, Johann Sebastian

2007-12-22T14:06:00.000-06:00

Johann Sebastian Bach is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. he not only completely mastered every style practiced in his own day, but he also looked toward the future. For this reason, the way in which he composed has inspired the musicians of today. Bach was more famous as an organist than a composer in his day. His major works were not often performed until many years after his death.

Bach Was born at Eisenach in central Germany on March 21, 1685. His family had been musicians for several generations, and his father's cousin, Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703) was a prominent composer. Bach's parents died before he was 10 years old, and he went to live with his oldest brother. His brother taught him to play the harpsichord and the clavichord, instruments that preceded the piano. Bach began earning his living at the age of 15. He became a singer and then a violinist in St Michael's church at Luneburg. He went on to be organist at Arnstadt and then at Muhlhausen. His first important position came in 1708, when he became court organist and chamber musician to the Duke of Weimar. There, he wrote his finest music for organ. Bach left Weimar in 1717 to take position as Kapellmeister, or music director, to prince Leopold of Anhalt Kothen. from 1723 until his death, he served as cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig. He also directed music for the churches, the university, and for the civic functions in Leipzig. During this period, he wrote his finest Choral music. Bach was Married twice. His first wife, Maria Barbara, bore him seven children. She died in 1720, and he married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, She bore him 13 children. four of his sons won fame as composers. Bach's works sum up a whole period of music. He brought such musical devices as counterpoint and fugue to their greatest heights. He wrote three great religious works, nearly 300 church cantata, and many cantatas for such occasions as birthdays and weddings. Many of Bach's keyboard music is performed on the piano.

Did you know... Bach went to live with his elder brother, Johann Christoph Bach - also a musician who had been a student of Johann Pachelbel. J. Christoph was the organist at St. Michael's Church in Ohrdruffor, Germany and gave Bach keyboard lessons. Due to Bach’s obvious talent, however, his brother became jealous and locked up all of his music. This led Bach to sneak some of Pachelbel’s original manuscripts to copy and learn from. He secretly studied by moonlight for six months which led to problems with his eyesight throughout his life and eventual blindness. At the age of 15, his elder brother died, leaving Bach to continue his musical education on his own. During his lifetime, Bach would learn to play the keyboard, the organ and the violin.

Chopin, Frederic

2007-12-16T20:33:00.000-06:00

Born in Zelazowa Wola, a small city near Warsaw, Poland on February 22, 1810. He first studied the piano at the Warsaw School of music. By his early teens, he was quite good. He played his first public convert at age 7. He toured Europe, giving concerts. He never wrote music for orchestra alone, but he composed more than 200 piano pieces that rank him among the worlds leading composers.
Chopin had a great appreciation of the effects that the piano could produce. His sonatas contain some beautiful music, but his finest works are in forms that he himself worked out or perfected. These include four ballades, four large-scale scherzos, about 40 mazurkas in a characteristic Polish 3/4 dance rhythm, more than 25 etudes, more than 20 nocturnes, about 15 polonaises in a stately Polish dance rhythm, some 18 waltzes, a barcarolle, a berceuse, a bolero, a fantaisie, a fantaisie-impromptu, three impromptus, a tarantelle, and rondos. Chopin was the only son of a French father and a Polish mother. In 1836, he proposed to a Polish girl, but her parents disapproved. Later he became friendly with the woman novelist George Sand. He traveled with her to the Mediterranean island of Majorca in the winter of 1838-1839 where his already weak health was undermined. He was gravely ill of tuberculosis by the time his relationship with her ended in a quarrel in 1847. A visit to Scotland during bad weather in 1848 further weakened him. Later that year, the Paris revolution, which overthrew King Louis Philippe, upset his way of life.
Chopin moved away from Poland permanently during the beginning of war between Russia and Poland. His friends gave him a silver goblet filled with Polish soil. He was never able to return again. He wrote many sad musical pieces expressing his grief for "his" Poland. He became very homesick. He found solace in summer visits to the country. Before he died, he requested the polish soil be poured over his grave. During his funeral, one of his own funeral marches was played.

Beethoven

2007-12-14T18:04:00.000-06:00

Since Beethoven is my favorite, I will begin with him.

He was born in 1770, Dec. 15 or 16 in Bonn, Germany. He was one of the most famous and influential composers of the 1800's. He was generally regarded as the "emancipator of music", because he established the vocation of composer as a dignified profession. He brought new force and flexibility to music. His creative genius inspires much of todays music. Beethoven held the job of court organist at the age of 14. His father was a drunken singer, and scarcely took care of his family. Therefore, the money young Beethoven earned helped his family. He went to Vienna in 1787, where he met Wolfgang A. Mozart, who immediately recognized his genius. He returned to his hometown however, because of his mothers illness. She died shortly after he returned, and he had to support his brothers.

Beethoven gave music lessons (which he hated doing) for a time in Bonn and played the viola in the theater orchestra. He settled in Vienna in 1792, and studied with Joseph Haydn and other masters. There, in 1795, he appeared as a pianist, and won great success. But at 28, he realized he was loosing his hearing. He soon had to give up concert work and devote his entire time to composing, while he struggled against poverty, ill health, and growing deafness. By 1819, he could only communicate by writing. During this time, he produced some of his greatest works. When he died, he had won recognition from some of the greatest minds of his time. He is buried in the famed central cemetery of Vienna near the tombs of Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Gluck, Schubert, and Hugo Wolf, all famous composers.

He wrote nine symphonies, and had started a tenth when he died. He also wrote 32 piano sonatas. These are just a few of his many works.

Much of the time, Beethoven had a hot tempered personality. He was also neglectful of himself. He spent so much time at the piano composing, he would often forget to eat. This is probably a big contribution to his illness, which caused an early death. He was against God most of his life, but it is reported he had a change of heart not long before his death. Doctors where unable to identify his illness, and even today, it is unsure what it was he suffered, since he burned most of his medical records.

Fun Story

A young composer went to Beethoven, looking for approval on a piece he had written. Beethoven flipped through the score, hardly seeming to glance at the pages. 'He is only being polite, and pretending to look at it', thought the young man. But then, Beethoven turned back to a page and pointed to a measure."That note doesn't go well there", he said.

So much for thinking I can sight read!

favorite pieces

Sonata no.8, Op.13 (Pathetique) all three movements.

Sonata no.17,Op.31, No.2 ("Tempest") 1rst movement.

Sonata no.14, Op.27, No.2 ("Moonlight")

Rondo a Capriccio, Op. 129 ("Rage over a lost penny")

Symphony No.5

First Post!

2007-12-12T20:47:00.000-06:00

This is my first post ever on this blog! I hope to get this site going soon, so please be patient. Coming soon, I will have biographies of composers, classical and modern alike. Hopefully, I will have a few of my own compositions put here as well. Dolce Musica!

Repertoire

2007-11-13T18:06:00.002-06:00

Beethoven, Pathetique
Beethoven, Fur Elise

Mozart, Sonata in C

Several Minuets by Bach

Calvin Jones, Whitewater Chopped Sticks

Koji Kondo, Castle Theme, Super Mario World
Koji Kondo, Air Platform Theme, Super Mario World

Klaus Dabelt, He's a Pirate, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl
Klaus Dabelt, The Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl
Klause Dabelt, Barbossa Is Hungry, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl

Hanz Zimmer, Davy Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest
Hans Zimmer, Up Is Down, Pirates of the Caribbean, At Worlds End
Hans Zimmer, What Shall We Die For, Pirates of the Caribbean, At Worlds End

Harry Gregson Williams, Evacuating London, The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Harry Gregson Williams, From Western Woods to Beaversdam, The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Harry Gregson Willams, Metal Gear Solid, Main Theme

A number of Hymns.

Gluten Sensitivity Info

2007-11-13T11:25:00.002-06:00

There are 3 kinds of sensitivities.

There is wheat allergy, which really isn't gluten related at all, and then there is celiac disease, and gluten intolerance.

I can't be sure that all of the info here is entirely correct, since so many different sources tell you a different thing, but here is my conclusion from all the research I've done.

Wheat allergy:

Basically you are allergic to wheat. Fortunately, it may not be permanent, and could go away after awhile. Children with wheat allergy have been known to outgrow the allergy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celiac disease:

Celiac disease is kind of an allergy, but to gluten rather than the actual wheat. Unfortunately, it's permanent. Once you have it, you will always have it. The longer you let it go, the worse it gets.
When an allergen is present in the body, the immune system releases the IgE antibody.
The gluten damages the small intestine, creating holes in the lining and damaging the villi hairs, which are needed to soak up nutrients from your food.
The short story, you slowly starve.
The longer story:
Since so much damage is being done to your small intestine, and you are unable to get the vitamins and minerals you need into your body, you begin to starve. Symptoms include but are not limited to the following:

Hives
Eczema
anemia
Iron deficiency (also a type of anemia)
Joint and muscle problems
headaches and migraines
depression and anxiety
sleeping disorders
intestinal problems (use your imagination)
etc.

Some of the symptoms of anemia are:

Excessive sleepiness/ tiredness
shortness of breath
dizziness (such as after squatting down or bending over for a few seconds)
inability to concentrate or focus
coldness

Anemia is when you are deficient in nutrients, and your body is no longer producing the proper amount of red blood cells, which carry oxygen through your body. Less red blood cells equals less oxygen, and your brain is unable to function properly.

If you have celiac disease, and you are eating gluten, taking doses of iron and other vitamins are going to do you no good. Your body simply cannot absorb it. Actually, that's a good way to tell if you have celiac! If your body responds positively to increased amounts of supplements, than you can be pretty sure you don't have celiac. You just weren't eating enough good food.
But if the problems persist then you know something is keeping your body from absorbing the proper amount of nutrients, and that only leads to one thing!

Also keep in mind that if you have celiac disease, the symptoms vary from person to person. You may only have 1 or 2 symptoms, or you may have them all. They may be very severe forms of the symptoms for one person, or very mild for another.

In other words, just because you are not suffering too badly doesn't mean you don't have it. And if you do have it, it could become worse over time, even deadly.

Did you know that in order to be tested for celiac, you have to have gluten in your system? The test is performed by checking for the IgE antibodies. In order for the IgE antibodies to be present, gluten has to be present. If you have not been eating gluten, and you want to get tested, be prepared to eat a bunch of gluten for a couple of weeks before hand!

Either that, or get tested before you start your diet.

Celiac is inherited, passed down the line from person to person. Maybe you've discovered you have celiac, but don't know of anyone in your family who has ever had it. In that case, it's possible that someone in your family did have it, and didn't know it. Is someone in your family prone to migraines? It could be celiac! Maybe someone in your family tends to be rather tired, they could have celiac and not know it too. It doesn't have to be your immediate family, it could be a great grandparent or someone like that. Either way, it got to you from somewhere in your family!
Sometimes people can have the disease but not suffer the symptoms, until something happens, such as a very stressful time. Celiac has been known to kick in at very stressful times, which is often the case with adults.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gluten intolerance:

I can't tell you much about it, except that the symptoms are pretty much identical to celiac, but I am under the impression that your body does not treat it like an allergy, and so the immune system does not release the IgE antibody. As far as I know, doctors have been unable to determine why gluten attacks the small intestine of those who are not technically allergic.

You may test negative for celiac, but still be gluten intolerant, which is, by the way, impossible to get a proper test for, because there are no IgE antibodies to test for. The only way you can know if you are intolerant is to experiment until you know gluten is causing the problems.

Strange isn't it?

It is estimated that 1 in 133 people have some sort of gluten sensitivity, even if they don't know it. That's a lot! Might it have something to do with the way traditional wheat has been genetically altered? Not nearly as many people suffered from it in the old days! In fact, many who are gluten intolerant can handle small amounts of spelt, which is an old fashioned wheat!

Webstore

2007-11-12T18:05:00.003-06:00

I love to crochet, and I have a shop setup on Etsy, where you can purchase my things.

If you need something special, you can request a custom item from me.
I love wholesale orders too, so feel free to contact me if you are needing larger quantities (such as appliques for your own projects).

I have maintained a 100% positive feedback at my store!

Things you can expect to see in my shop are:

•bookmarks designed after nature
•hair barrettes and hair pins
•doilies
•name doilies
•kitchen accessories
•appliques
•gift certificates

Some things that would make really great personalized gifts are:

•a name (or word) crocheted into a doily
•a name (or word) crocheted into a bookmark
•a bookmark designed after a favorite flower of the person receiving the gift

Thanks for checking it out!

Recipes

2007-11-12T09:38:00.002-06:00

During my gluten free experiment, that could possibly be a permanent diet, I thought I'd start posting my recipes as I make them.

UPDATE: This appears to be a permanent diet. I seem to be quite allergic and can't get back on wheat. The results of attempting to get back on have been very unpleasant!

Enjoy!

My Favorite All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

Yeast Free Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Gluten Free Pancakes

Amazing Caramel Sauce

Gluten Free Banana Bread Recipe

About me

2007-11-10T18:01:00.002-06:00

Oh...you want to know about me? Well there's so much to tell!

First of all, I am a bible believing christian daughter of a godly man. I have 7 brothers and sisters. My parents have 4 girls and 4 boys. I was born third. My oldest brother is married and has 2 adorable children (they are loads of fun!)
My dad is a farrier (shoes horses), and my older sisters train horses. My oldest brother works for a large christian film company (Franklin Films, and Franklin Springs Family Media).

My creative abilities? When I was very young I learned to sew, and sewed cloths for myself and my family. At 14, an elder lady showed me a few stitches of crochet. After that I took off, and taught myself to read patterns. I am now an advanced crocheter and make the majority of my own patterns up.
I take inspiration from my grandmother and nature. I love flowers, but I am allergic to them, so crocheting them and making them into bookmarks and other accessories are a good way for me to be able to enjoy them.
My grandmother loved to crochet before going to be with the LORD, and she left a good many craft supplies with me. I have made jewelry with her beads, and it feels so special to wear her beads!

I have a few other crafts I enjoy doing now and then, such as jewelry making. In fact, I make the majority of my own jewelry. I also like to draw, make cards, and photography.

Photography and music are a great passion of mine. I started doing portraits and nature as a hobby, and am now expanding my horizons to include commercial, landscapes, and more.

I play piano and guitar, though these days I stick mostly with the piano. I play for our church, and I have a repertoire of Beethoven, Chopin, soundtracks, hymns, psalms, and more.

My taste in music is very broad. I enjoy classical as well as contemporary christian, country, and a few select pieces from the pop world. I also love to listen to soundtracks, mostly from sci-fi movies. My favorite modern composers are Hans Zimmer, Clause Badelt, and Howard Shore.
My favorite classical composers are Beethoven and Chopin. I enjoy interpretations of their music from Evgeny Kissin and Yundi Li.

My plans for the future? I plan to go wherever God leads me. I am content for the time being to be at home with my family, helping my mom with the housekeeping and selling my crochet online at Joyous Treasures Etsy Shop.
Perhaps in the future I will marry and keep a house of my own.

I hope you enjoyed reading about me. God bless, and enjoy reading my blog!