Making the Difference: Cowboys vs. Crohn's

Hello, friends!

You know those inspiring stories of people just like you and me doing big things to make a change? Well, I am lucky enough to know someone doing just that. I consider Nick a friend, even though it's been years since we've last talked. I think the bond of the Class of 2008 from Tri-Cities Prep will never truly be broken in any of us. I feel it there even though it's been nearly 5 years, and I feel it for all of my former classmates. Don't Stop Believin'!

In fact! Anna is also from the TCPrep class of 2008, as are Alivia from Food Adventures with Alivia! and my friend Andy, for whom I woodburned some drumsticks!

Anyway -- back to the inspiring story.

Cowboys vs. Crohn's

My friend Nick and his cousin are going on an old fashioned adventure, to "raise money and awareness for the battle against Crohn’s disease and to bring hope to Crohn’s patients, children and adults alike." They will be embarking on a 3.5 month, 1,300 mile horseback ride from Gardiner, MT to Bellingham, WA in order to achieve these goals.

Talk about awesome, inspiring, and daring!

This is the kind of thing you read about and dream about and they are setting out to do it, in reality. They're going to ride through the Northwest and experience it and the incredible people along the way. They are hoping to raise $100,000 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Want to learn more about their plans, the route, their stories, and how to support?! Well, I've got all the links below!

https://www.facebook.com/cowboysvscrohns

I don't know about you, but when I hear about these great things, it makes me want to do something, too. However, I know that I don't have the skills for such an adventure into the wild of my own, but I want to help them with theirs.

If this is how you feel, then join me & help!

Here is their indiegogo campaign to raise money for the trip. 
You can even score sweet swag for donating! 
(There's more swag than the tee available, check out the campaign to see!)

Every little bit helps - even if all you can give is a dollar. Anyone can make a difference. By helping these guys make their difference, you too make a difference!

Follow their story as it develops and learn more about Crohn's:

• Cowboys vs. Crohn's on Facebook
• The Cowboys vs. Crohn's blog
• Here's the indiegogo campaign again ;), and
•  Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America website

And if you're feeling like you want to do even more - the biggest help/support you can do is spread the word. 

If we all got behind one another whenever we had an endeavor we truly cared about, doing good for others - think of how much we could all accomplish. 

Spread the love. 

Stay excellent!

- Jenny -

One Month Photo Challenge

Hello, friends!

I have something fun for anyone to try!

Some of you may have seen photo challenges like "31 Days on Film" or "'This Month' Photo Challenge." I know I've seen them on Pinterest and I've watched as Facebook friends participated in series of them. I like the idea, but I wanted mine to be less a chronicle of my everyday life and more a schedule to practice photography. You know, a reason to go out and take a photo every day and get some practice. As any professional and hobbyist photographer (I am the latter, for sure) will tell you, the best thing you can do for your photography is to practice. 

I found a March photo challenge via Pinterest. It had some flaws, for example it was missing a day... So I decided to make my own! Haha!

I have created an easy to follow calendar, below, that can be performed any month. It has 31 days of photo prompts, but you can do 30 if the month is a short one. When I did my challenge, I tried my best to accomplish one a day, but some days I just couldn't fit it in or the photo I took that day was not up to my standards. And then there were days that were great; I had great lighting and I was feeling inspired! The point of the challenge is to give you a reason to practice, so if some days you don't get to it and other days you are crazy prolific - that's great! Just try to get all 30 or 31 items taken care of before the end of the month!

Also, this is your practice, so you don't have to do them in order. You can print out the calendar (.pdf here!) and cross them out as you accomplish them. :) It's flexible, easy, and fun!

So April starts tomorrow!! Get shooting!

Below are some of my favorite shots from my March 2013 Photog Challenge!

Happy Easter, my friends.
Stay excellent!

- Jenny -

Animal Portrait - "Amber"

Abstract - "Death"

Flora - "Awakening"

Something Huge - "La Luna"

Low Angle - "With Persona"

A note about the last picture. "Persona" is the name of this wind vane. It's a kinetic sculpture found on the Washington State University Pullman campus, atop the libraries, that sings when the wind moves it. Learn more about its dedication here and here is a recording of its singing. Awesome, right?

Food Adventures: Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Hello, friends!

Guess what, guys! I made a cheesecake! :D

Mr. Kyle requested a cheesecake for his sweet this weekend. His one detail in the request was that it have pumpkin in it. So I went to the interwebs for a pumpkin cheesecake recipe. I found this one by Paula Deen (so you know it's good), but I decided that I didn't want to follow the recipe all that closely. I wanted to live dangerously. ;) And I wanted to get some chocolate in there, because pumpkin and chocolate are a beautiful couple.

I practically didn't follow this recipe at all... except for the the crust, which was a great crust recipe.

So here's my cheesecake recipe!

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients

For Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

For Filling:

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese (1/3 less fat), room temperature
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream (or light sour cream)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (15-ounce) can of pureed pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice\

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Follow the "For crust" instructions from this recipe. 
3. Get two double boilers (or two small pans of water with glass bowls that fit over them to work as double boilers) ready to melt chocolate. 
4. Place 1 cup of milk chocolate chips in one double boiler to melt and place 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to melt in the other double boiler. 
5. Melt the chocolate and let cool slightly, so it is not hot, but not to the point where it begins to harden. 
6. While the chocolate melts, beat cream cheese until smooth. 
7. Add eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar, flour, and vanilla. 
8. Beat until well combined. 
9. Scoop two cups of cream cheese mixture out of the "mother" mixture and divide into two small bowls, one cup of cream cheese mixture into each bowl. 
10. Mix the melted and cooled milk chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture in one of the two small bowls that contains one cup of cream cheese mixture, until well mixed. 
11. Repeat with the semi-sweet chocolate and remaining small bowl of cream cheese mixture. 
12. Beat 2/3 of the can of pumpkin puree and the pumpkin pie spice into the remaining cream cheese mixture (the mother mixture).
13. Pour half of the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the prepared crust and spread evenly. 
14. Dollop the milk chocolate cream cheese mixture into the pumpkin mixture in the crust, making spots in the pumpkin mix like you would see on dice. Use a knife to swirl the chocolate mix around. 
15. Pour the remaining half of the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the crust, spread evenly. 
16. Dollop the semi-sweet chocolate mixture into the pumpkin mixture just as was done with the milk chocolate mixture. Use a knife to swirl the chocolate mix around. 
17. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. 
18. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes. 
19. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. 

There you have it!!

I made mine with the lighter version of the ingredients, just to save some calories and fat. It was delicious! The pumpkin and chocolate are SO GOOD. I hope you enjoy it! I know we did!

Until next time, friends!
Stay excellent!

- Jenny -