Apple Oatmeal Muffins

There are so many reasons why I love fall, and crisp, juicy apples might just be one of my favorite reasons. We try really hard to eat what's in season (in summer at least - it's almost impossible to do that in the winter if we want to have anything fresh), and so we haven't had any apples all summer. We were waiting for Fred Meyers to get apples in from local, Northwest growers, since all the apples they've had so far this summer have been from New Zealand (at least that I've seen).

I was so happy last week when I walked into Freddie's and saw that they were finally there, piled high and gleaming in the bright, grocery store light. I packed a few bags of them home with me and started scheming about all the ways I could use them.

This week I decided that some hearty apple muffins would be just the thing for packing in Steve's lunches and enjoying with Riggs in the mornings with our yogurt. I was thinking diced apples, lots of oats, and a generous serving of cinnamon in every bite.

I couldn't find a recipe that matched the idea I had in my head, so I took bits and pieces from the recipes I did like to make my own. They turned out just how I'd hoped and we've been enjoying them as-is in the mornings and warmed up with a little vanilla ice cream in the evenings.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

streusel
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 TBS butter, chilled and cut into pieces

muffin
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup flax-meal
1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar (I make my own, using my friend Christine's recipe, here)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup + 2 TBS coconut oil (any oil will work, we just prefer coconut oil)
3/4 cup diced apples (I left the peels on and you couldn't tell at all in the muffins)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For Streusel topping: in a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter in until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners or coat with butter (using the empty butter wrapper works well) or non-stick spray. You could also use a mini-muffin pan, which is what I always do since it's easier for Riggs to eat them.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat eggs, then add sugar and combine. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Make a well in the dry mixture and add wet mixture and stir. Gently fold in the diced apples. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and top generously with streusel topping.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Sponsored - College, Text Books, and Being Poor...

All three of those things just seem to go together. When I was in college, text books were so expensive and I was always trying to find a way to save money somehow when buying them. I especially hated shelling out the money for the books that I just knew I'd never pick up again after college, especially since the 'buy-back' prices were always so pathetic compared to what I had just purchased them for a few months before. 

I don't know about you, but the idea of renting text books sounds so much better to me! I was approached recently by Campus Book Rentals to help spread the word about their company, and after reviewing everything they were about, I agreed wholeheartedly. 

Instead of purchasing book from your bookstore, you can rent them for 40-90% off of bookstore prices! And if that's not incentive enough, here are some of the other perks:

*free shipping both ways

*highlighting in your textbook is acceptable

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*great website that's easy to navigate

In addition, Campus Book Rentals makes a donation to Operation Smile with each textbook rented on their website. In their ongoing partnership with Operation Smile, they've donated over 1,000 cleft lip surgeries this year to children in need. What an awesome way to make a difference!

Already own some textbooks that you'd love to get rid of? They also have a program called Rent Back where you can rent text books you already own out to other students through their website. You will make two to four times what you would make selling them back to your bookstore at the end of the term. How cool is that?! 

And here's the really good news: if you are a college student with a blog, write a post about their awesome company and they'll give you $50 towards your textbook rental on their website! Just leave a comment with your email and I'll forward you the information...couldn't be easier!

This post brought to you by Campus Book Rentals.

Facebook can really get you down somedays...

Does anybody else ever get really sick of Facebook sometimes? I have these crazy moments where I just feel like deleting mine. It's so so dumb, but I get sort of sad when people don't 'like' my posts/pictures, especially when they're of Riggs. I often read about how annoying it is to some people to see picture after picture of their friends kids on Facebook. I've even heard it called pathetic when that's all someone posts about. But every time I hear that, I wonder, why are they your friend then? If you don't want to see pictures of their life, why not unfriend them?

It's the word 'friend' that I think is the biggest misconception on Facebook. I have over 500 friends, yet I rarely have more than 10 people 'like' anything I post. So how does that work? Don't get me wrong, I'm not hoarding my likes and comments in some sort of social media popularity contest. It's not about getting the most likes for me. It's about people being excited about things I'm excited about. It's about people showing support and love for my precious child. It's about taking the less-than-one-second it takes to click the like button before continuing to scroll through your feed. It's about taking the less-than-one-minute it takes to type a short comment.

I know I've been guilty of the not-liking-or-commenting thing. Sometimes I scroll through my newsfeed in what I guess you could call a zombie-esq stupor where I might click on a photo and even think "How cute!" or "What is happening here?" or "That is so funny!" but I just go back to the feed and keep scrolling. I did this a lot especially before I had Riggs.

Once it was pictures of him I was sharing with my 'friends', I started to pay more attention to the pictures and posts my friends were posting. I saw their kids in a different light. I felt how proud they were when they shared a story about something special their child did that day. And I started making sure I clicked 'like' before moving onto the next post. I made sure to actually type out a comment instead of just making one mentally. Because I know how it brings a big smile to my face when someone leaves a comment for me. How connected it makes me feel to that person, that we shared a little tiny bit of our day through our online interaction.

I think it's so important, with all the distractions and busyness in our lives today, to make sure that some sort of connection happens. Even if you can't physically get together with your friends, make sure you reach out to them some other way. It doesn't have to be through Facebook. Send them a text if you think about them. Make a point to remember the things your friends might have going on and message them to ask how they're doing. To ask how that big appointment went. To see if their baby is finally sleeping again.

Think of how much it means to you when someone reaches out, and pass that good feeling on. And please don't think that I'm posting this so that you'll rush over to Facebook and 'like' everything I've posted lately. I'm sharing this to encourage other's who might feel the same way that I do at times. To remind them that you have to be a friend to have friends. And to also suggest that we be gentle with each other.

breaking out the sewing machine

Riggs is ready for winter. Saturday I finally got my sewing machine back out from it's summer vacation and started working on a few projects I had been planning for a while. I had a pair of old, damaged heavy-wool Woolrich pants that Steve had lying around to make some nice winter pants for Riggs. They're definitely an outer layer meant to be worn in place of waterproof snow pants on the dryer days in winter. 

I love how they turned out, especially since I am such a novice at garment sewing. I added a gusset in the crotch so they would be easier to move around in, and a high, wide elastic waistband for comfort.

I also recycled an old sweater I had into some lighter weight pants for him, they turned out perfect! The little stripes are so cute. I love being able to use old things I have lying around to make into adorable and functional clothing for Riggs.

After all that sewing I was in the mood for a delicious fall dessert so I whipped up this incredibly recipe fro Apple Brown Betty from Ree at the Pioneer Woman. Warm, with a generous scoop of vanilla icecream. SO GOOD.

I hope your weekend was as lovely as mine was, filled with warmth, friends, family, relaxation and laughter. Fall is nearly here in full force people, aren't you excited?!\

*linked up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for [keep calm, craft on]

Riggs goes to school

My oldest nephew started school recently [the first grade, where does the time go?!] and Riggs and I went to Anchorage to see how his first day of school went. He goes to a lovely little charter school in downtown Anchorage with a great emphasis on community where family members are nearly always welcome to come and visit. When he was in kindergarten last year, we visited quite a few times, but Riggs was just a baby.

This year, he was sooooo excited to be in a huge [to him] colorful building full of his favorite type of people ever: 'big' kids. Plus he got to see his cousins, who just might be his two favorite people ever, even over his mama, unless he's hurt or tired of course. I love seeing my child so happy to see my family, it just makes my heart swell! There's something so sweet about see him love on his grandma [my mommy!] too, and I'm glad I got some sweet pictures from the day.

Don't you miss school? I do! I was wishing I was in the first grade again as Corbin showed me around his classroom. I always loved school and was excited to learn and can't wait to see that same excitement in Riggs when he's school age!

simple things sunday: riggs plans adventures in great britain

friday favorites

Thank goodness for Fridays! We are just lounging around, cuddling hard plastic animals with horns [really why do they put such pointy horns on a childs toy? hello, that could poke out an eye!] after an unusually early morning. Our weekend plans include more of the same, and maybe a few outdoor projects [permanent coop is at the top of my list. not sure it's at the top of Steve's list though...] if it stops raining. What are your weekend plans? Hopefully something relaxing and fun, like reading all about my favorite things from around the web this week.

I love the cottage decor of this house so much, especially the kitchen. I delight in all the details and am so inspired by how much little touches here and there make such a big difference in the feel of a room.

Have you ever heard of a 365 or 52 project? Basically the idea is to take a photo a day every day for a year, or every week. I've switched to posting my photos once a week, and I'm loving it. 

Chains are really popular this year in jewelry and these DIY hair-ties look easy and glam.

Moist carrot cake with a creamy butter-pecan-cream-cheese frosting from Ree at Pioneer Woman. I made this early in the week and it's long gone...

5 health benefits from getting outside...and it's from Oprah so you know it's legit people!

paparazzi are out of control. running over Nicole Kidman on a bike? really?

great list of boys shoes for fall. classic cammo Jack Purcell's? I'm still loving them!

and finally there may be another blogger in the house soon!

4 ridiculously adorable DIY halloween costumes for toddlers

I am really excited for Halloween this year. SO WEIRD since usually I could care less about it. I think it's the idea of a tiny little costume that appeals to me. Last year I purchased a funny little bat costume from the kids consignment shop for him to wear, it was hilarious. But other than dressing him up and carving a [really lame] pumpkin, we didn't do anything else to celebrate.

His costume was cute last year, but I think it's more so much more fun to make a homemade costume, and more creative too. You get to make lists of costume ideas [I LOVE lists!], and look up pictures for them on Pinterest, and then you have to get to work and collect the things you'll need for you DIY costume, put them all together, and then sit back and enjoy the results. Plus as your kids get older it's a great project to work on together.

I think we're pretty set on Riggs being a little tiny hobbit this year [it's going to be epic], hence why I am so excited. But while I was doing my 'reasearch', there were a few costumes that were just too cute not to share here.

#1

little hobbit

 just too cute.

and pretty easy to DIY too.

I think there are so many costume ideas

from LOTRs that would be fun...

[source]

#2

TinTin

I just love this one so much! And it would be easy too.

I really hope Riggs likes The Adventures of TinTin when he's older,

because I am soooo dressing him like this at some point.

[source]

#3

Madeline

Every little girl loves Madeline, and this costume would be fun,

easy, and would also work for multiple children and mom (as the nun, yay!).

[source]

#4

Katniss

This one might just be my favorite, this little girl

is just so cute as Katniss!

Maybe I'll have to dress up as the leading lady

of the Hunger Games books this year...

thoughts?

[source]

Alaska in fall...

I truly love Alaska in the fall. Especially when it rains a lot, which it has this year. It's the second rainiest year on record, and I'm loving it! We went on a walk this morning and Riggs loved picking up the leaves that had fallen into the road and examining them. It was chilly enough that he needed his mittens on, but they didn't seem to keep him from exploring.

When we got back to the house and dried off, I finally tackled an organizing project that has been on my to-do list for a while now. We have this desk, and it has been home to our desktop computer and my [very neglected] sewing machine since we moved in. Then Steve added his archery stuff to the mix and it has just been chaos ever since.

Our desktop computer finally died a few weeks ago and it's just been sitting there ever since. I don't even know what to do with it and with the monitor, but I guess I'll figure that out later. For now it's boxed up and out of the way and the whole are is much more organized. I'd like to eventually get another 'real' desk to set up where the folding table is, but for now it works. His and hers space and lots of it:)

We went to Anchorage after lunch and the drive was just gorgeous. The clouds took my breath away as the sun tried to shine through them and stop the rain. A little cow moose crossed the Old Glenn highway right in front of us (I was stopped when I took the picture) and hopped the guardrail to disappear into the thick, wet brush on the other side.

On our way home there was no rain, only this gorgeous rainbow. Like I said at the beginning of my post, I just love fall in Alaska! If you live in Alaska, do you love fall? What's your favorite part? People always say there aren't seasons in Alaska, but I disagree. They're just either shorter or much longer than the seasons in other parts of the country;)

weekending

It was a rainy weekend with a few glimpses of sunshine here and there. Saturday we went swimming at the high-school pool and then spent the rest of day just lounging around at home (on our new couch!! more about that later).  Could my little swimmer be any cuter? I picked him up some goggles for $4 at Target (end of summer sale!) and he is obsessed with them. He wore them all around the house before we went swimming...so funny.

Sunday we dropped Riggs off at my parents while we went out alone together to celebrate our anniversary. It was amazing to have hours and hours together to just hang out! We ate a ridiculous amount of food at Haru Sushi - we were soooo hungry when we got there and the crazy thing is, we ate every little bit of food you see in the pictures!

Then we went shopping together just to walk around and talk mostly. It was lovely:) When we were finally done looking around, we went over to Yogurt Lounge for some froyo for me and coffee for Steve from across the street. I went crazy and got two seperate cups, with pistachio and the little gummy things in one and vanilla with cookie dough, mini-reeses pieces, and whoppers in the other. SOOOO good. Then we were both ready to go pick up our Riggy. He had a blast with my parents, it's so much easier to leave him when I know he's spending time with people who love him nearly as much as I do! 

It was an amazing weekend of celebrating our little family and all the love we have for each other. I'm so glad I get to spend the rest of my life with a man who is so hard-working, responsible, and loving to both me and our son, and who is so good-looking on top of everything else ;) I'm a lucky girl!