Pinterest Fail

If you are on Pinterest you have probably noticed the sudden surge of anything-fall. Jeans, flannels, pumpkin desserts, fall decor. You name it, it's there.

Well, I saw a brilliant idea for making caramel apples. I love the taste of caramel apples but I always have to cut them up into slices because they are so incredibly messy. Even cutting them up doesn't eliminate their mess-making attitude.

The idea I saw was absolutely brilliant:



Don't those guys look beautiful?
So, Andrew and I tried it. here's what we got:

 They look ugly don't they? I was very disappointed. However, as you can probably tell from the half eaten plate I photographed, they were still tasty. Just not quite as good as I was expecting. They look like they're dying in a pool of blood, or tomato soup, whichever your imagination prefers.

Moral of the story: As much as we want to believe it, Pinterest isn't always perfect.

Celebrating Fall

I am proud to actually have pictures to post with my text this week! I feel as if I have neglected my camera over the past few months. I know it's weird feeling sorry for inanimate objects but I feel sorry for my camera for not giving it the attention it deserves. Not only does is deserve my attention but I love spending time with it. I find it amazing how the wind can be howling around my camera and it will not affect the image it captures because it's just sound. I often feel like sounds and smells should also be captured in a single image but this way just leaves room for imagination. It always amazes me how a camera works to capture beauty that sometimes smacks us in the face and says "look at me" and sometimes you have to look at the overlooked and sometimes the ugly and draw the beauty out of it.  I am reminded that everything is beautiful in its own way. Sometimes it just takes a special eye to see it that way. 

This past weekend I went hiking on Tinker Cliffs in Roanoke, VA. Round trip it was 7.2 miles. While I was not as energetic going into the hike, it was a really good trail! There were fun bridges for creeks, ladders to climb over barbed wire fences, cow pastures to walk beside, and a variety of elevation grade. I wish it wasn't as cold and windy when we got to the summit so that we could have explored the amazing rocks more but it was a fair trade off for the autumnal coloring. There were a fair amount of people on the trail but from what we heard it was just a popular hiking day all around. Overall, it was a great hike and I would definitely recommend it.

Breathing in Fall Air

This week has been absolutely beautiful in Blacksburg! The weather has been sunny with temperatures as high as 71 degrees and wind at about 2 MPH. I have been able to breathe lots of fresh, crisp air which is helping me recover from I cold I've had.

I mentioned the wind speed because this is the only complaint I have had about the weather in the past week. Gran and Gramps came down for a lovely visit last weekend and Dad sent with them one of our kites. I have been dying to fly it one afternoon on the drillfield, especially because its sunny and mild right now. Maybe one day soon God will give me some decent wind so that I can fly my kite.

On Thursday of this week I went outside with my camera and my friends Caitlin and Jen to exercise my photography abilities. Here are a few of the shots I took:

Caitlin

Jen's beautiful feet!

I know Converse pictures are very cliche

but that's because they look awesome!

Caitlin standing under the rafters of one

of the natural resources buildings.

Jen relaxing in the leaves.

Caitlin crawled under a filthy bike rack for this picture!

Jen and Caitlin were awesome models :) Thanks Ladies!

These five pictures are just a sampling of the many I took. There are more posted on Facebook under my "Virginia Tech-Freshman" album. Check them out. I also took some really cool pictures to add to my "Textures" collection that I have been working on.

Peace and Blessings (in my best Glozell voice),

Mackenzie

"Don't listen to them when they say

You're just a fool

Just a fool

To believe you can change the world

Oh the smallest thing can make all the difference

Love is alive"

Carrie Underwood - Change

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving break went really well over all but there were highs and and lows...

Lets start with the lows. The traditional thanksgiving morning family hunt went on as usual but this year with out Tyler. He and Amy stayed in TN because the only had the weekend off however they will be here for christmas. The hunt was pretty relaxing because there wasn't much flying as you can see Bowen was especially relaxed.

So, out of the eight of us who went out we only got one goose.

After the hunt I was breasting the goose since I was the one who shot it. I had half of it done and sitting in a plastic bag next to me and was working on the other side when it happened. Murph, our devious, all black, barn cat grabbed the plastic bag with half a goose in it and took off running with it like a guilty bandit. Immediately, Dad and I sprinted after it trying to get the meat. We ran all around the barn chasing after him but never caught him. He was a fast lil sucker.

It was pretty irritating that we only got to harvest half a goose that day and lets just say Murph is lucky to be alive.

Other than that lovely incident thanksgiving was great! I got to enjoy a delicious meal with my Dad's side of the family and awesome cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

I am looking forward to being done with all my classes Saturday, then I have winter break!

Fall Has Fallen

Yesterday Chloe had her first experience with piles of leaves. It was a pitiful pile of leaves but she enjoyed it just the same. I know you might find it surprising that my four year-old puppy has just now experienced fall to its fullest but there's an explanation: The only large trees in our yard are evergreens so we've never had enough leaves to play in but this year our trees are finally big enough to create a pile substantial enough to withstand the wind.

So, back to Chloe's leaf-ey experience:

We went outside and I plopped down in the leaves and threw a few into the air. Chloe came bolting over --easily forgetting her bad hip-- and skidded to a halt, causing the leaves to rustle. When I threw another handful of leaves into the air she jumped up and tried to catch some of them in her mouth. Then, she got up in my face and licked me a few times, telling me to do it again. This process repeated a few times until the ADD kicked in and Chloe's attention shifted to something else.

I wish I had been able to take pictures because it was definitely a Kodak moment. So, until it happens at a time when I do have my camera, the memory of it will have to do.