okay, okay, here's the recipe!

here is the recipe for kerry's soon-to-be-famous chocolate almond chip cookies:

*2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
*1 tsp. baking soda
*1 tsp. kosher or sea salt (the bigger salt is good because you get a bite of salty-sweet every once in a while!)
*2 tsp. vanilla
*2 sticks softened butter (not melted!)
*2 eggs, whisked
*1 bag chocolate chips (or better yet, a dark chocolate bar chopped up)
*1/2 cup sliced almonds, broken (put 'em in a ziploc bag, and pound them for a few seconds with a rolling pin. you don't want 'em crushed, just broken in half mostly)
*1 1/2 cup sugar
*1/4 cup raw sugar
*2 tbsp. maple syrup

cream together butter, syrup and sugars. add vanilla. mix dry ingredients in another bowl. with hands, blend dry into wet. add egg and mix carefully, not overdoing it. carefully fold in nuts and chocolate chips (i used my hands for this- it's easier to not overmix by doing this). using a melon baller (such a good tool to make sure they're the same size!), put them at least 1 1/2 inches apart on lightly greased sheet pan. cook at 350 for 10-14 minutes. i take them out JUST before i think they're done, because they cook a little longer even after you take them out.

eat more than your share, and take the rest to work the next day to get them out of your site so you won't be tempted to eat a whole batch!! :)

let me know what you think when/if you make them!!

World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

okay, so that's probably an exaggeration, but they ARE pretty good! i tweaked a bobby flay recipe i found on foodnetwork.com. i always mean to do more food photography, and i LOVE doing it, it's just so time-consuming! i'd love to start a foodblog, though...

hear are a couple photos of my delicious concoction- among other ingredients: chocolate chips, almonds, maple syrup, and raw sugar. can you smell them from where you are? :)

kavanaugh eye care so far

here are some photos i took today of the practice sans a few walls:

2009 is starting out with a bang!

i'm birthing a baby this year, and brian is birthing a business. it's almost equal in how much it stresses you out, excites you, takes up 100% of thinking brain space (but NOT pain!!) :)

they started on construction yesterday at kavanaugh eye care (new name- no longer "the kavanaugh eye"). the front has opened up so much! it's going to look great. they start on the floors next week, which will take 2 weeks or more, then we'll paint, and then, sheesh! all that's left is to get everything in there (after choosing and ordering it all), and open up shop!! it's happening very fast. i wish you were all here to see it happen.

another exciting thing this week- I HAD MY FIRST APPOINTMENT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have been so incredibly anxious about this appt. i got so nervous when we got there that i was lightheaded and forgot my address while signing in- i had to skip over it and fill it in last. it was pretty emotional for me. i LOVE my doctor- it was my first visit with her, so i'm relieved that i feel so comfortable around her. i'm glad to have gotten referred to her. she did a free ultrasound for me to see it and the heartbeat. what an experience. at first, i thought, "oh, what a cute little baby!" and then i thought, "holy CRAP! that's MINE!!!!!!!!!" it's such a strange emotion to see it for the first time and see that heartbeat just moving so fast... and this baby is a bouncy little sucker! it kept moving around for us- very funny. i'm already head over heels- i can't imagine what it's going to be like to see each other face to face for the first time. i found out i was only a day off on my estimation of how far along i am- i'm 10 weeks and 4 days, which puts my due date at august 1st. oh, how i'm going to love being an arkansan this july. :) it'll give new meaning to "hot pregnant chick." :) haha! i'm just going on what everyone keeps telling me: IT'S GOING TO BE WORTH IT. i believe them. i'm so so so glad that brian and my mom got to be there with me. it was an emotional day and i feel so much more at peace to feel the excitement that i was timid about- although i still have a ways to go before i'm actually "in the clear." it was a strange feeling to have so much joy to see the baby, but at the same time, i thought of how i never got to see the first baby, and how it was further along than this one. it's just incredible how much it's a "baby" and not just a "pregnancy" when you see it. i guess it may have been for the best that we never met in any way. it's hard enough as it is.

okay, it was tough not taking the very first picture of my baby, but i guess it'll do to have dr. huboch have the honor. :) i circled where "spud" is, because the photo came out blurry (amateurs...) haha!
("spud" is it's nickname for now- my friend eleise looked up online at 6 weeks what the baby looks like, and irritatingly called me and said, "it looks like a potato." i guess she was expecting a miniature gerber baby. :) the nickname "spud" started then, and i like it better than calling it "it.")
i also took my first "profile picture" for all those interested in watching me become a whale. :) i'm fairly certain this is half baby, half air, if ya know what i mean... :)

time flies when you're growing up

last sunday i got to see a very old friend from junior/high school, morghan crockett (now cheney), and all her family. morghan lives in denver now and somehow found my website and i ended up taking their whole family's pictures while they were all together for christmas. it was so fun to see everyone again! we had some really good times back then- we were inseparable. :) it was so weird to see her sister's kids and her younger brother and sister- i hardly recognized them!

here are some good ones from the shoot: