behind lock and key

Did you know that recipe exchanging can get touchy sometimes?

I found this out a few years ago when I called up an acquaintance from church to ask her for her delicious caramel syrup recipe that pairs perfectly with German pancakes.  She stammered around for a couple seconds finally saying that NO, she could not give out that recipe as it was a "prized" family recipe only to be kept within the confines of their blood lineage.  

I paused for a moment, a little bit embarrassed for asking and a little bit dumbfounded for not receiving.  I decided to press the issue a little further.  Starting with some seriously sappy compliments about how it was literally THE BEST syrup I had ever tasted and I didn't know how my tastebuds would survive without that recipe at my own disposal.  

Then I asked, "Did someone in your family INVENT the recipe?"  

It was a risky move to make.  Perhaps she could sense my underlying tones of sassiness.  But I really wanted to know.  I mean, to me, the ONLY reason you would not give out a recipe is if YOU were the INVENTOR  and were hoping to make money in some shape or form from your medley of perfectly combined ingredients.

Sheepishly she said, "Well, no, but we are famous for this syrup and have never given out the recipe to another living soul."

I knew there was only one thing for me to do.  I had to create a binding contract between her and me promising that I would NEVER, EVER give the recipe to any other living person.  

So she conceded.  Under pressure she decided to surrender the precious recipe into my trusting care under the strict agreement that I would never tell another living soul.

Well, I tell ya folks.  The internet is a great resource.  I typed in caramel syrup and about 25 recipes came up with the EXACT ingredients and EXACT measurements as this sacred recipe.  Which leads me to justify that it is perfectly alright for me to share this not-so-original recipe with the masses.

But I still have questions for all you non-recipe sharers.  

What is your fear/reasoning behind hoarding your recipes?  

Is your recipe a hit at parties?

Is it something you've gently fine-tuned to perfection?

Is it a family heirloom?

Do you want all the glory for your famed chocolate coconut crunch cookies?

I really won't judge.

This can be a friendly forum.  

Two of my greatest friends have openly confessed to me that they do not like sharing recipes. One friend (you know who you are) has since shared a few of her top recipes now that I live seven stakes (Mormon lingo) away and there is absolutely no chance of me showing up at a Relief Society (more Mormon lingo) dinner with HER recipe.

So come out of the closet, whomever you are, and tell us why we can't be part of your amazing skills in the kitchen.  And if you aren't a hoarder, then share your thoughts too.  

We need to get to the bottom of this!

* postscript *

 I am always willing to share any of my gourmet recipes with you.  I have a great one for tatertot casserole or our family favorite...corn crud.

this will boost your self-esteem

I really shouldn't be blogging right now.

Why?

Because I should be busy figuring out what plan B should be for my kids' Christmas presents.  

It was all going well two nights ago.  While watching an uplifting Christmas message from the Prophet of my church on television, I carefully cut superhero symbols out of felt for later application to a cape for my kids.  I was rather pleased with my freehand drawing of the giant S for Superman.  Just looking at my precise cuts and lines made me feel like I was back in my "crafting" groove.

Then tonight, I got out the sewing machine.  I've already admitted that sewing is not my strong suit.  I am much better with hot glue.  Yet, I insist on trying over and over to improve my skills. But someone needs to tell me to STOP trying and just let my husband take care of the sewing because it all went wrong.  So wrong.

First mistake was buying sparkly, flowing, polyestery, stretchy fabric.  You know, the kind superheros would look stellar in?!  How on earth can anyone sew with that stuff?  It was stretching and pulling and bunching all over the place.  Pins...what's the point?  The fabric is so slippery, it could care less about the pin holding it "in place".  

Second mistake was using spray glue to secure my felt pieces together.  When I tried to sew them in place, the needle got all gummy and gunked up with felt balls.  Every 5 inches of sewing the thread would break.  And I would swear. (not really, cause remember I don't swear?  but there were plenty of groans and grunts.)

Third mistake was wearing fleece pants while getting increasingly frustrated and disturbed (which equals very hot and fired up).  When I got up from my chair there were literally two butt cheek imprints of sweat droplets.  (not pictured, but take my word for it.)  I'm such a lady.

Why oh why do I do this to myself?  I could have just bought myself a couple of cute capes off of Etsy, but no...i wanted to make something meaningful and from the heart.   Something, however, tells me that my 3 year-old just wants a blasted superman cape that resembles superman and more importantly a CAPE!

There's always next year....

...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

I was talking with a friend yesterday about how our desire for creating magical moments "sprinkled with fairy dust" for our children around the holidays sometimes gets thwarted with tantrums, fights, broken decorations, spilled hot chocolate, crayons in the fire, and basically a less than ideal outcome.

None of which happened to us while decorating for Christmas.  (wink, wink)

But in the end, don't you think we will all remember the magic over the meltdowns?

(we are going sans ornaments on the tree this year and I think I LOVE it.)

GOOD & BAD

The GOOD thing about going to Sacramento is that we finally got to see Fall leaves.

The BAD thing is that we had to endure 12 hours of holiday traffic. (boo)

The GOOD thing about Thankgiving dinner was, well, EVERYTHING.

The BAD thing was that I overdid it on the hors d'oeuvres and saved little room for the main course and dessert.  (what a travesty!) 

The GOOD thing about our trip was spending time with family.

The BAD/sad thing was that Troy's grandpa passed away. (but the funeral was beautiful)

The GOOD thing about vacation was letting our kids be constantly entertained by cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

The BAD thing is Monday morning when it is back ME as the only source of entertainment.  (I'm not nearly as exciting)

The GOOD thing about Sacramento is Leatherby's and Costa Vida.

The BAD thing is 5 extra pounds.

The GOOD thing about going home is buying 20 pounds of delicious seedless mandarins straight from the orchard.

The BAD thing is over-regularity.  (a small price to pay for the deliciousness)

The GOOD thing about thanksgiving being over is that CHRISTMAS is just around the corner.

The BAD thing is that the days seem like minutes.  (for you too?)

Mike + Jessi - San Diego LDS Temple

I never thought the day would come that I, as a photographer, would be entrusted with someone's wedding day.  From the very moment I bought my first DSLR camera, it was instant love.  BUT, I always said that I would never take pictures for other people.  The mere thought made my stomach churn with nerves.  Then people asked and I couldn't refuse.  (I'm terrible at saying NO)  I found out I actually liked it.  Loved it, really.

When Jessi first e-mailed me about shooting her wedding, I broke out into a cold sweat.  Not because I didn't think I could do it, but the pressure of only having ONE day to take perfect pictures made me jittery.  I said yes.  I am so glad that I did, and I hope she is too!

Congratulations to the new couple!

Aren't they gorgeous?

ch-ch-ch-change will do you good.

I am such a lazy blogger right now, but that doesn't mean my head isn't swirling with blog ideas and to-do's.  I have so much to say and so little time to say it/blog it.

At any rate, I thought I should document a recent change in our lives.

It's actually been over a month since we moved.  We didn't go far.  We are still in the same neighborhood, in the same city, in the same ward (mormon lingo for congregation), and as happy as ever...though that last one seemed a little unsure for me for a while.

Let me explain.

I loved our house.  Like...really loved!  Not because it was the BEST house, or the cutest house, or in the most awesome location, but because it was our FIRST house.  It had memories.

When we decided to buy a house it was the most exciting thing EVER.  We drove out religiously from Dana Point every Sunday to check on its progress. We took pictures with it.  We walked around and assessed its progress.  We brought friends out to see it.  We just couldn't contain our excitement to be homeowners.  And the day we moved in was almost as exciting as the day our first child arrived.  

Then our first child arrived.  Shortly followed by the second.  And life just kept getting better.  In our house, our first house, we added our own personal touches.  Troy added the most beautiful woodwork to the walls.  We painted our kitchen cupboards white and never looked back!  We put photos on the walls and landscaping in the yard.  We planted a garden.  We decorated the rooms just the way we wanted.  We lived, and played, shared, laughed, grew closer together, built traditions and loved in that house.  But the day came that we knew we had to do something with it.

Troy's job has been in jeopardy for some time.  His company filed for bankruptcy last year and basically all the employees left are riding a sinking titanic.  We have NO idea how long we will be employed.  We have no idea what the company may or may not turn into.  And we have no guarantee for employment once the bankruptcy is settled.  And having seen many friends and family who have lost jobs and been unemployed for months in this economy, we decided we needed to put ourselves in a position where we could look for employment nationwide and have the flexibility to move anywhere if need be.

So, we decided the best way to have more flexibility was to rent until life is more certain.  So with a lot of tears (for me, especially) we said goodbye to our house.  It was very hard for me in the early stages of moving.  Each thing I took down or dismantled represented something to me.  But as the house got more empty and each box was hauled out, I looked around and thought...you know, this house is JUST a house.  What made it a home was US. 

 So now, without hesitation, I can say that we are enjoying our new HOME with US in it!  

So please come for a visit!  We would love to have you!

I will be sending out our address to my facebook friends, but if you need it otherwise, send me an e-mail at alidegraff@yahoo.com.

I leave you with pictures from our last pizza night in the house on Overboard.

(troy likes to take his shirt off when performing manly tasks such as dough tossing)

(actually he had just gone swimming)

God be with you till we meet again

My grandpa passed away last week in Laguna Beach Hospital.

I feel so blessed to have been able to spend one short hour by his bedside a few days before he passed.

He was heavily sedated and could not respond, but the love and peace felt in his room was overwhelming.  It made me so grateful to know that we will be seeing each other again, and that family members in heaven were most definitely anxiously awaiting his return home.   That is the beautiful thing about God's Plan...we know we can be with our families eternally.

Marc Harvey Sessions

Born: October 3, 1914

Died:  November 2, 2009

Memories of Grandpa:

* His dapper appearance - always wearing a bowtie and beret.

* As a Harvard grad, he put a lot of emphasis on education.

*  His commitment to his religion, but acceptance of others.

*  His love for my grandma.

*  His playfulness with his grandchildren...always having the neatest contraptions (push scooters, a garage hideaway, playhouses)

*  His entrepreneurial spirit - finding a way to squeeze in a business deal with anyone he met.

*  Going to stay with him and my grandma in their Catalina house.  (driving a golf cart around was any kids dream)

*Having dinners with him in his rest home.

*Introducing my kids to him.

*  Singing fun songs and hearing him play the piano.

* His somewhat unorthodox way of saying a prayer at my brother's missionary farewell (very characteristic of his unique personality)

*  His thumb that was cut off as a child.

* His birthday letters that were usually written in some kind of code (u R gr-8...he would have been a texting wizard!)

*  His jovial and cheery disposition.

* Words like, "Carry On"  "marvelous" "A++"

We will miss you Grandpa....until we meet again!

My last goodbye.

out with the old, in with the new

Goodbye Halloween.  

and a GOOD bye it is.

We loved every minute of our October festivities...

candy, pumpkins, decorating, costumes, more candy, more costumes, music, more candy, etc. 

But now it's off to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Yahoo!

(this time of year is the BEST!)

Christmas photos in the OC

Because we have been so busy with moving (more on that later) and I am scheduled to shoot my first wedding next week (whoo-hoo!), I have turned away so many people for Christmas pictures.

It is KILLING me!

I love doing this and wish I had more time this season. At any rate, I do have a last minute opening for this Friday in ORANGE COUNTY.

Location:

I will be shooting at Soka University.

It's a pretty location with some archways, columns, a gazebo, some natural scenery, etc.

Time:

3:30-4:30 pm

Price:

$100 for the session which includes ONE (1) digital image on CD for printing/Christmas card use.

The entire collection of images from the session is $200 if you choose to buy that, or you can purchase prints individually.

If you are interested, email me at alidegraff@yahoo.com

I will leave you with some photos from a session that never got posted and should have!

There were so many good ones, it's too hard to choose!

Yabba Dabba Doo

who knew Fred could sew?

I didn't.
He didn't.

But he does.
Every last stitch of these costumes (minus dino) was sewn by my man.

The costumes I was going to attempt would have included a lot more hot glue, staples, possibly scotch tape and would have looked prehistoric, for sure!

Great job T-roy!

sleeves, really?
homemade bloomers for Pebbles, seriously?
and pleats and tucks in my dress, who does that?

Yes, I might be a little, just a tad bit, teensy weensy jealous of my spouses skills.

So here we are:
The Flintstone Family

Possibly the last year of our family-themed costumes as some members of our family are starting to develop opinions of their own on Halloween cosutmes. Imagine that!

Pebbles

Dino

Dino in need of a chiropractor.

Happy Halloween!