My Fav Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

So, I found this recipe not long ago on AllRecipes.com and DisneyFamily.com while searching for a yummy chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. I went ahead made them and they were delicious! They taste similar to a Mrs. Fields cookie, with a caramel like flavor. So good! I continued to try other chocolate chip cookie recipes, just to find a favorite, and after a few different recipes I came back to this one last night and decided it really is the best! The melted butter and brown sugar make all the difference! Sunset also has a good recipe, but I prefer this one! You should try it too!
 
Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I like to use milk chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

My Angels

Grabbed my camera and took some shots of my niece and nephew in my mom's yard. Nothing fancy, just beautiful subjects and good weather made for one of my best shoots to date! Just wanted to share a few of my favorite pics. I have got a long way to go, but one day I would like to turn this into a part time profession :) Thanks for looking!

First Animal Photoshoot

For a while Jeremiah has been wanting to take pictures of his mom's dog, Mitzi, and create a photo book for her. Mitzi is 14 years old and going strong, but has some tumors and health issues in her old age that cause some worry. Well, about 2 weeks ago my mother-in-law called to tell us Mitzi had not been eating or drinking lately and is not doing so well.  After hearing this, we grabbed my camera and headed out for a photo shoot with Mitzi. She did great with all of our posing and placing her, despite not feeling well. Here are a few of her best shots:

Travel Bug

Lately, all I want to do is travel! I love planning trips and seeing the world. I like to think about all the places I want to go and research the weather, travel arrangements, things to do, etc. I caught the travel bug bad after going to Florida and South Carolina in March. I had never been to that side of the US and really only to the Western states and Hawaii. We didn't travel much when I was little and when we did it was to Cali to see family or to the Oregon Coast. Don't get me wrong, I always had a great time, but I hadn't seen much and had never even been on an airplane. Finally, at 22 years of age I went on an airplane to LA with Jeremiah and it was crazy! I am like a child now when I see an airplane fly over head and think it is amazing God allowed us the knowledge to create this thing that gets us to places in half the time and to see so much more of the world than was ever possible. It is so humbling to travel and see how many people there really are in this big 'ol world and how diverse, yet the same we are - even in our own country! There are so many places I want to go I have a hard time deciding where to go first. Some of the places I hope to go see are:

- The Caribbean- including Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, St. John, Belize, Aruba, Jamaica, and I'll include the Bahamas (though technically not the Caribbean) I am thinking a cruise would be good first, then to go back to an island for a vacay one day
-  New York - I want to see Niagra Falls so bad!
- Cancun and Cozumel - this could happen with the cruise
- China
- Italy
- Canada - I know! It's right there!
- Texas
- Places I want to go back: Southern Cali (Magic Mountain, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Disneyland), San Fran (Alcatraz), Las Vegas, Snoqualmie and Multnomah Falls, Couer D'Alene, Florida (Miami and Key West)

And so many more! The world is so beautiful and exciting! What a God :)

Getting Sprung On Spring

Spring has sprung and although this spring weather is less than warm enough in my eyes, I am excited that summer is just around the corner. In the meantime, I have some fun activities lined up to help keep me occupied during these windy rainy months. In May, I am going to the Taste Of Home cooking school with my mom and sister. This is something we have been wanting to do for years, but the tickets always sold out fast. This year we bought them the first day and are ready to go. Next up, I plan on taking a cake decorating class, finally! This is also something I have wanted to do for over a year now, but have not had time and too many of the classes have been during the day when I work. This week I am going to sign up and hope to fit one of the classes into my schedule. I can't wait! The last thing I want to do this spring is start volunteering somewhere. I am thinking possibly at the Pregnancy Center, but we'll see. I have a passion for babies and parenting and although I am not a parent, I think 4 years of Psychology (including child developement and infant classes), working at 2 seperate child care centers, and working at a psychiatric hospital for children and then working with adults in that same hospital (many whom were parents) has given me a good idea of the affects of certain behaviors and actions on children. I have a strong desire to help educate people, especially young parents, on how to be the best parent they can be for this new life they created. A baby is born with all the potential in the world and it breaks my heart when this is destroyed by someones selfishness or lack of resources to better their life. Being a parent is the most important job in the world and I want others to see it that way too. Who wouldn't want a better life for their child than they had? Being the best parent you can be is where that starts. So, we'll see if that's what I end up doing. For now, I pray I can be a positive influence in someway somewhere. Send some prayers my way if you think about :) As for me and Jeremiah, we plan to go hiking at Multnomah Falls sometime soon (I know hiking?), to get on some more home improvements, and our first rodeo (Jeremiah runs the sound for his dad who is the announcer - no bull riding for us thank you very much) is in May as well. Did I mention we have 2 babies due in our family within the next month? Exciting! Well, that's it for now. Next up: Summertime Fun! My FAVORITE!

Bye Bye Winter... Hello Fun In The Sun!

The beginning of March has been a blast for the Atkins! What a way to end winter! Disney World, Greenville, SC and Atlanta! Since Jeremiah travels frequently to Greenville, and this was interfering with our plans for a winter vacation, we decided to go to Florida and take advantage of all the South has to offer! This also meant I (Angie) would actually get to see good old Greenville for a few days before heading home and letting my Jeremiah get to work. We are so thankful to God for this opportunity! It has allowed us a vacation and to be apart for less time. God is AMAZING ! Some of the highlights of our trip included:
- Getting a beautiful pearl from an oyster in Japan at the Showcase of The Worlds, EPCOT and buying candy from many of the countries as well. However, Turkish Delight = Not so delightful.
- Riding Test Track, Angie's favorite roller coaster!
- Seeing Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show and giant moving globe on the lake at EPCOT!
- Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios! I thought it would never stop shooting us up and down! Intense for sure!
- The integration of video games and rides at the Magic Kingdom on the Toy Story and Buzz Light Year rides! Jeremiah's fave!
- Angie hitting the 200,000 bonus point target on the Buzz Light Year ride! High score suckas!
- Riding Splash Mountain and Thunder Moutain at night and posing silly for the ride pictures.
- Jeremiah getting a crazy picture of Angie on Space Mountain with his iPhone!
- SpectroMagic! The COOLEST lighted parade I ever saw at the Magic Kingdom followed by an amazing fireworks display complete with a lighted up glowing Tinker Bell flying over the crowd from a zipline at the top of Cinderella's Castle! I knew something cool was to happen with that barely visible line I saw coming from the top!
- Extra magic hours at all parks means getting to parks early and staying til midnight at some! Best part of staying at a Disney Resort!
- Seeing the piano Uncle Jesse played at for Aunt Becky at the Grand Floridian! Too bad the Coral reef where they ate at was booked up solid and I didn't get to eat there... Guess I'll just have to come back!
- 60 and 70 degree sunny weather!
- Going on a safari at the Animal Kingdom and surviving the backwards Yeti coaster, Expedition Everest!
- Giant smoked Turkey legs! YUM!
- Seeing the world's largest aqaurium with the 2nd largest viewing window at the Georgia Aquarium!
- Petting a Sting Ray and Shark!
- Shopping at the best outlet mall outside Atlanta!
- Realizing how small Seattle really is after seeing Atlanta.
- Reedy River Falls in Greenville, SC. So pretty!
- Eating at Zaxby's (delicious wings), Longhorn, and Cracker Barrel. Not too mention all the delicious fried food I tried like hushpuppies and cajun fries!
- God's protection and safety for us as it was my first time flying alone and Jeremiah left for the trip with a tooth infection. What would we do without the Big Man upstairs?!
- Getting to spend a few days exploring Greenville with my hubby before I headed home and he stayed to work for 12 more days! Can't wait for March 26th!

The Tree Of Life at The Animal Kingdom

Germany at EPCOT

Tower Of Terror at Hollywood Studios

Cinderella's Castle at The Magic Kingdom

The monkeys at Animal Kingdom

Legoland Downtown Disney

Petting a sting ray and shark at the world's largest aquarium in Atlanta, GA

Reedy River and Falls in Greenville, SC

2010 One Word Challenge

The first month of the new year has come and gone and with it many resolutions. I'm not typically a resolution maker, but this year I made 3, call them "resolutions" if you will, that I have really been trying to stick to. I am not going to say what they are, but I put a lot of thought into them and am going to work at them regardless of how often I fail. I have also decided to aim low with my resolutions. Time is a key factor for many resolutions and I just don't have it. Therefore, yearly resolutions aren't always my thing and I figured if I am going to make some this year, I better be realistic. I hate disappointing myself. It kills my motivation and hurts my self-esteem. If I aim low I am less likely to fail and can build motivation off my small successess. I am truly excited to keep at my 2010 resolutions, learn from my mistakes, and move on.

In the midst of trying to better myself for me, I heard of a really cool "challenge" K-LOVE was sending out to its listeners one morning called "My One Word." It basically challenges people to put to rest the typical self serving resolutions they make, and often don't hold to, and seek out who God wants them to be. What you do is pick one word (maybe a trait or characteristic) that you want to embody and filter all your behaviors and decisions through it. Want to be more gentle? Read scripture on what a gentle person is like, pray about it, listen to songs about it, and really try to see what it entails to be more gentle. Then apply it to your daily interactions with others and your decision making. What I love about this challenge is it affects others positively and not just the resolution maker. Yes, it is great to grow and change for yourself, but just think of the impact on others and your relationship with God that can take place when you seek out how to live up to this one word? Obviously, you need to pray about this word and put thought into it... but I think it could be more life changing than "drink more water" and definitely more worthwhile! K-LOVE even has a search where you can find songs and scripture pertaining to your word. I have included the link below, so you can read more about "My One Word" and in better words than I can put it into. So, check it out if you're struggling with your resolutions, haven't made one, or are totally awesome and just want to add to your resolutions you have already made! Welcome 2010 friends and God bless!
http://myoneword.org/choose