La Joie De Vivre

La Joie De Vivre ( The Joy of Living)

Hi

My name is Chrissie

Thank you for visiting my site

If you have a passion for photography, please visit my photo website at:

http://claingphotography.com

A few months ago, as some of you may know, my photo website came to life. I had no idea when I started how I was going to design it, but it all fell into place on it's own. A lot of my inspiration was generated subsequent to my meetings with my incredible mentor, Mr. Paul J.R. The entire story however started 2 years ago, when my friend Trace, made mention that I should take my pictures out of my computer. I did not have much else to do at the time, so I thought, sure, why not! After investing in new lenses, I found myself addicted to photography and soon purchased my 7th Canon camera! A Canon EOS 5D Mark II. It was love at first sight. I can not put this camera down. My photo is a work in progress, I am however having a lot of fun with it. As the weeks go by, I find myself coming up with new ideas that I can't wait to try. I haven't had the time to market my website, but yet, I am overwhelmed with the amount of hits that I get per month. This month is a record high. Over 9500 viewers have stopped by my site. Sales a coming along fine. You you re one of those who has not had the opportunity to check out my website,please feel free to connect to: http://claingphotography.com.  Make sure that you leave a comment. See you on the trail. Be well. 

 

Getting caught up

I could have gone to the beach or on a hike somewhere, but my business expenses were piling up in my file, and I had a lot of other catching up to do. This month marks the one year anniversary of C Laing Photography.  I am delighted to report, that all is moving right along. I am getting excited about my product and  establishing new contacts every day. This month was a record high in hits. 9500 of you visited my site. Thank you ! Sales are happening! I am eager to move forward with this project, and I look forward to the day, where this will become my full time occupation. I love what I do, and my audience is growing. Thank you all for your support. I am grateful. 

Great Quotes

"Winning is often simply getting up off the ground one more time than your opponent." Vincent Bugliosi

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Thomas Edison

Dinner on the grill

On a busy week night, grilling is by far the best way to cook. At home, I use my grill on a daily basis.

Grilled scallops and asparagus are very easy to do. Wash your scallops, and make sure that you dry them well. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Place on a bamboo skewer that has soaked in water for 30 minutes or so. Add a small amount of olive oil. Grill 3 minutes on one side, 2-3 on the other. As for the asparagus, some people like to salt, pepper and oil the asparagus before they put them on the grill. I have tried it this way, and I think that it tastes pretty good. Lately though, I have just been putting them directly on the grill for 5 minutes. I prefer this method. It cuts down on the caloric intake. 

 

 

Minted Lamb Stir-Fry

One of my favorite things to do, is cook Thai food. This recipe is one of my favorites. The trick to it, is to prepare all your ingredients in advance as I am about to show you. After that, once you start cooking, it all goes very fast. Here we go.......

The ingredients:

1 lb of lamb, thinly sliced

2 tbsp Sunflower oil

2tsp Sesame oil

1 Onion, roughly chopped

2 Garlic cloves, crushed

1 Red Chili, seeded and finely chopped

3 oz green beans, cut in ½

8 oz fresh Spinach, shredded

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp nam pla

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Jasmine rice

Heat the sunflower oil. Add the lamb and cook briefly. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and chili and cook for 2 minutes, then add the beans and stir fry for 3 minutes. Stir in the shredded spinach. Return the lamb meat to the wok, add the oyster sauce, nam pla, lemon juice and sugar. Stir- fry for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly until the lamb is cooked through. Sprinkle the chopped mint and toss lightly. Serve over jasmine rice. 

 

 

Table for two

Yesterday, on my way to the flower store, I made a quick stop at the Pottery Barn. I was in the mood for some bright colors. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, the entire trunk in my car was filled with new plates, and table settings. Then it was time to put it all together. 

I really like the way it turned out. Now I need to get some friends over, set this up on a bigger scale, and have a dinner party. I love it!

Great quotes

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful.....Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Regular exercise improves your mood, decreases anxiety, improves sleep, improves resiliance in the face of stress, and raises self-esteem." Michael Craig Miller, M.D.

Butternut Squash Bisque

I was so cold yesterday, that I decided that soup would be the perfect dinner menu. As it turned out, it was. I love this recipe because it is quick and easy, requires very little ingredients and yet, tastes so great. 

The ingredients:

2 tbs butter or margarine

2 small onions, minced

3 cups peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash

1 ¼ quart chicken stock 

1½ cups cubed potatoes

1 tsp paprika

½ cup whipping cream

1½ tbs snipped fresh chives

Salt & pepper

Melt the butter in the pan. Add the onions and cook until soft (3 minutes). Add the squash, stock, potatoes, and paprika and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about 35 minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the whipping cream and stir in the chopped chives. Optional: Add a small amount of goat cheese. 

This soup is absolutely devine!

Try it, you'll love it.

Bon Appétit!

Longing for Spring to arrive

I have taken a few days off from work with hope to spend some time enjoying the outdoors and work on my photography. Sadly enough, the weather has not been very cooperative and I have ended up being at home. Cabin fever is settling in, right about NOW!.There are a lot of projects that I could work on, somehow, I do not feel very motivated.

In between rain drops today, I managed to take these pictures.

I am pleasantly surprised to see how well my flowers have survived this crazy weather.

I am very very ready for Spring weather to arrive. I am dying to go on a long bike ride, float the river, hike in the woods, enjoy reading a good book in the backyard under my favorite tree. I can taste it!. 

4 days later

4 days have gone by since my last post. At that time, snow was all over the place. Yesterday was just like nothing ever happened. A hint of Spring was in the air.

 

A lot of damage has been done in the yard from the snow storm. Some of my trees have broken branches. Some of my flowers did not make it. I hate when that happens. My camera is still broken, but I am making progress on getting it taken care of. One of the technicians has established contact with me and I now have a case number. Fingers crossed, I hope that they can help me soon. I love this camera. I know for a fact that they have had problems with the mirrors and from what I have been told, Canon has been extremely good at taking care of customers having this issue. My new selection of whites has arrived at Pfeiffer Winery. Later on today, I will be making a trip over there and sample some of the new vintage. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Wine and cheese in a scenic place. Many of you have sent me emails requesting feedback on the concert. I am not sure how to say this without sounding like an old grouch. I purchased tickets to see Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker, whom by the way, is the former lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish. What I ended up seeing, was 2½hours of Darius Rucker and 1 hour of Lady Antebellum. Mind you, Darius Rucker is an awesome performer, so in the end it was all ok. Somehow, I think that things should have been the other way around. Lady Antebellum's lead singer had one glass too many prior to performing and ended up falling on the stage. The performance was ok, but I know that if they come back to town, I will not bother. 

 

Spring weather in Eugene, OR

I woke up this morning with my alarm sounding very different. Every other word from the broadcaster was a blur. At first, I was not sure what was going on, then it dawned on me that perhaps, the station was having intermittent power outages. Rightfully so, that's what was happening.  I looked out the window and enjoyed this view. 

It was extremely difficult to motivate myself to go to work. Many playing thoughts came to mind. Getting the cross country skis and just go play, build a snowman in the yard, bake cookies for the neighbor kids. In the end, I went to work. I was only scheduled for 4 hours. When I arrived back home, the  snow had weighed some of the branches and Jeff was kind enough to brush the snow off. 

I love this weather. Tonight, I am going to the Lady Antebellum concert. It should be good and I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow is my day off, and I plan on catching back up with my exercise routine. The change in the weather has kept me indoor quite a bit and I have spent a lot of my time cooking, and sampling my work. Time to get back in shape. Story of my life or so it seems. A dear friend of mine, put the following statement on my Facebook page today: " I am dreaming of a white Easter, just like the one I used to know." LOL

Until next time. Be well my friends!