Black Bean Salsa

This is one of my very favorite summer recipes given to me by my friend, Brandi!  Even kids love it (it's a great way to get a serving or two of veggies in their tummies)!

Here is what you will need:

1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
about 8 oz (1/2 bag) frozen corn, rinsed
1 can black beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the above in a large bowl!  Chill in fridge for a few hours.  Serve with Fritos Scoops chips!  Enjoy!

rootbeer floats

Summer in a nutshell...rootbeer floats on the lawn...with a good friend!

Barn Door

It was back in March in the charming town of Crested Butte, CO.  That is when and where I spotted this incredible barn door.  It was a cold, winter day and my kids had just finished several hours of sledding.  No one was really in the mood for any more of my photography antics (I had already used up my allocation of "smile for mom" shots on the sledding hill).  BUT!...I kept the image of this barn door in my head and promised myself I would return to it in July during a planned family reunion.  Well, this past weekend I followed through with that promise!  I had a couple of cooperating kids with me and, luckily, I came away with a few good shots...and an even deeper obsession with this door (the contrast between the dark wood and the pale blue color makes my vital signs do weird things)!  If I had had the right tools along with me, I may have taken this beautiful door off its hinges, strapped it to the top of my Yukon XL and committed my very first property theft.  And then I would have hung it somewhere in my own home.

Isn't it gorgeous?

So are these kiddos!

How can it be that this cool red wall is housed right near my beloved barn door?

I might just need to move to Crested Butte and live on this street!

Dear Barn Door and Red Wall (and the adorable town you both live in),

     We will hopefully be back to visit one day soon.  And next time, we might coordinate our outfits for you!

Love,

Dana

Yankee Doodle Dana

I often wonder how I got to be one of the relatively few people in this country born on the Fourth of July.  I LOVE my birthday and I feel so lucky...it's the best!  As you can imagine, I love everything related to the Fourth of July...red, white, blue, picnics, BBQ's, sparklers, glow worms, parades, watermelons, hot afternoons, the flag... and I especially love all the military men and women out there who have been willing to fight for my freedom!

This year my birthday festivities began the night before my birthday, on my parent's patio.  My dad grilled me some yummy shish kebobs (thank you, Dad!) and my mom made me a yummy homemade carrot cake (not sure why I didn't take a picture of it - probably was too eager to eat it!)

On the morning of the Fourth, my hubby and I woke the kids up early and headed over to the parade in Monument, CO.  This was my very favorite "float"...I want one of these!!  Can I please own one in my lifetime?  (I graduated from CU-Boulder - this might explain my need for one of these).

After cooling off from the parade, my husband and kids gave me my (much asked for) exciting birthday gift...wait for it... the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens for my camera!  woot!  woot!  I was sooooooooo excited.  For the rest of the afternoon, all I did was take pictures. 

I can't believe I remembered that we had a bag full of firecrackers in our garage - left over from a trip to Wyoming a couple of years ago (hubby was like a kid in a candy store at the Black Cat warehouse).  Though we were unable to blow any of them off (Colorado fire ban), they made excellent photography props!

cool...but if you ask my kids they will tell you it's all about the Pop-Its!  And I got begged in to going for a Pop-It run at 8pm.  Thank You to Walgreens for having a few spare boxes of these left on their shelves!

The kids popped Pop-Its on the ground (and on other things) well into the night!  I think each kid had 100 of these little gems, which means I now have 400 of the little soft, transparent shells floating around my yard.

Is there anything better than spreading out on a blanket in the front yard waiting for the fireworks displays to start?  We can see 3 different front range fireworks shows from our deck...lucky us!...so the yard thing works!

birthday cake!

God Bless You, America!