all from one photo

You know that saying "A picture is worth 1000 words?" Well, I was looking through some photos in my Photoshop program tonight and came across this little gem. Seriously, you can learn SO MUCH about me in this one little photo.

That's my youngest daughter Zoe. She's 13 months. Zoe doesn't walk independently quite yet, but she cruises around the house holding on to furniture and walls. And, she pretty much tears up anything she comes in contact with. Literally. So, it only makes sense that she is emptying out a cabinet for me while I'm trying to bake in the kitchen. Thanks, little lady.

That's my kitchen. I'm attempting to bake yummy banana muffins on a lazy Saturday morning. Zoe really likes to "help" Mama in the kitchen. And by "help" I mean get as much stuff in my way as possible.

Now lets talk about some minor details that you may not have noticed upon first glance at this photo....

Look at the counter. Its messy. That's how I like to cook and bake, which is TOTALLY unlike me when it comes to everything else. I'm organized and always have all my ducks in a row. Except in the kitchen. I pretty much throw everything on the counter that I think I will need for a recipe and just have at it.

The cabinets are open at the top of the photo. This is another Betsy-ism. I just open up all the cabinets till I'm done cooking or baking. For some reason my mind has decided that I don't have the time to re-open a cabinet over and over. So, I just leave them open till I'm certain that I'm done. This method fits right in with my "throw everything on the counter that I think I will need for a recipe" technique.

In the right cabinet you can see an bright orange container. That's one of my most favorite discoveries. Its our baking soda container. I have never been a fan of how hard it is to get baking soda out of those little orange boxes. So, now we use an old Parmesan cheese container. You can sprinkle the baking soda out of one side or pour it out of the other, just like you would for Parmesan cheese. Totally brilliant.

You can tell I'm making banana muffins because the only time I make banana muffins is when I have 3 bananas left that are brown and yucky looking. Good thing that happened on a Saturday, becuase otherwise I wouldn't have time to make them.

I've got a cold beverage (Diet Coke, if you must know) sitting on the right side of the counter. I pretty much always have a cold beverage while I'm baking, and I always set it in the same spot. Normally, one of my older kiddos is helping me bake. And by "helping" I mean the opposite of what Zoe's doing. They actually DO help. So, they would be standing on a chair in front of the counter right next to the fridge. Naturally the only safe place to set my cold beverage is on the far right side of the counter.

See the empty milk jug, soda can, and coffee cup sitting on the counter next to the fridge? That's the recycling pile. Because we are too lazy to walk 5 steps to the garage where the recycling bins are located, we just start stacking recylables up by the fridge throughout the day. And, from the previous knowledge that I have gathered, I'm always the one who notices the pile and eventually hauls everything out to the recycling bins in the garage.

Another little detail, which is kinda hard to see, is the recipe book that is open on top of the stove. I'm HORRIBLE at remembering recipes. No matter how many times I've made banana muffins, I still have to get out the recipe book.

Okay, now looking in to the cabinet that Zoe is emptying, you'll see that there literally is no organization to it at all. That's because Zoe empties it 74 times a day. I don't see the point of stacking everything nice and neat anymore. I just throw everything back in there.

See that green pitcher with a yellow lid? That was the Kool-Aid pitcher my mom used when we were kids. And, now we use it. LOVE it.

Let's see, what else.....oh, back there behind one of the mixing bowls is a container of Shaklee soy protein. Because we've been using Shaklee supplements for a while now and love them.

I originally took this photo because I wanted to capture how little Zoe helps out in the kitchen. But once I realized how this little scene was capturing a moment in my life that I didn't want to forget, I HAD to write about it. I'm assuming that was about 1000 words....So there you go.