so thank you, 

Red Leaf Studios

Redcart

Clickbooq

and 

Prophotoblog

and my new site

www.michelleloewen.com

and my new email is info@michelleloewen.com

so 

1 clove of garlic

3tablespoons butter

2 cups of whipped cream (just close your eyes and pour its not really that fattening)

2 cups of milk

1 tsp of nutmeg

3 1/2 pounds of russet potatoes (don't get fancy and buy the pretty organic ones) that backfired on me the year i did that... go cheap i promise they will turn out better.

thin slivered onions to layer with potatoes

1/2c crumbled blue cheese

1/2c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

preheat oven to 375 and rub garlic and butter over inside of 13X9 inch baking dish.

add cream, milk and nutmeg to saucepan and bring to simmer.

arrange potatoes and onions in single layer and season with salt and pepper, repeat layering with remaining potatoes, seasoning each layer.

pour hot cream mixture over potatoes and sprinkle with both kinds of cheese.

bake until potatoes are tender and top is deep golden brown. about 1 hour and 45 minutes. cool slightly before serving.

i sometimes make these a few hours prior to dinner parties and cook only for one hour. then just before company comes, i throw them in the oven for the last hour to finish cooking.

i wish i could credit the person for the recipe, but its hand written in my book and i have no idea where i got it from, i remember finding it on the internet a long time ago when i had some blue cheese going moldy in my refrigerator. so i googled blue cheese and voila there it was. i have made it dozens of times and its always amazing, except for the time i used organic local potatoes. and i am still apologizing to those guests... for serving them potatoes that just refused to cook after 3 hours in the oven.

and a post with out a photo is just wrong, so here is my mommy on christmas day and my family on the swing we found on the beach during our walk. we found four heart rocks too!

but now i am down to one. i thought one had to be special, it had to top the rest. i looked and looked and looked. nothing jumped out at me. i wandered around downtown hoping something spoke to me. what was special enough to be number one?

was it a special photo of my children, was it my engagement ring. because that was pretty special. was it the recipe tim first made me on our first date at his house? turns out that was a pretty special meal too. i still love that recipe, one of my favorites even if i do make it better than him now.

was it a special card, my childrens hospital bracelets from when they were born, yes special and then it hit me. it was my journal. the one i wrote in for three months sometimes a few times a day and then still to this day have never opened it to re read what i wrote. yes. my journal i started when our children were born. they were born three months too early. at 27 weeks. it was scary. two days after they were born tim and i drove away from the hospital alone, without our children. it would be months before they came home with us. it was heartbreaking.

i wrote daily in my journal. honestly i have no idea what i wrote. we were newly weds, we became so so close during that time. we made important life decisions and along the way we realized that some things in life are important and others, they just are not. i feel those months prepared us for a lot. prepared us for dealing with stuff that might, had none of this really serious stuff happened, actually be a major issues. 

so my one thing, my one special thing for today is my little journal. it contains raw, real and true thoughts. one day i will read it again. i am not sure when. i know it helped me a lot during that time, just as photography and writing in my blog has helped me the past few years.  

and on a lighter note... it seems i counted wrong on my countdown, i know not too good at math. i intended to start my new blog on January 1st, but it would seem tomorrow is Dec 31st. So instead of a new years day start to my new everything, i think it is going to end up a new years eve start. 

today they get engaged, in the forest. my forest. where all these count down photos have been taken. i would be lost if we ever moved away from here. i love the space we have, the secret places my kids have to play. our rope swing, our tire swing, the small clearings where the kids hide and the deer sleep. all these special places in my special forest are just that, special. and as the years go by they become even more special to me.

i can't wait for the bowl to get even heavier, its such a fun hobby to collect special rocks. i love watching the bowl fill up, there are already hundreds in it.

and... really only four more days left of this blog, thats it and then its onto the new one. WOW, that is so crazy to think about. i can't wait!

have a wonderful boxing day, i just sent my kids shopping with my sister and to a movie. i am off on a date with my husband in the sunshine. 

have a wonderful day everyone. and special merry christmas to our family who are not here with us today. we love you and miss you and please know that you are in our hearts and thoughts and that we will see you soon. xoxo

i remember christmas eve so vividly. i remember it was the one night my mom and dad used to let my sister and brother and i all sleep in the same room. we never slept. we giggled, we tossed and turned and we were beyond excited. words could not describe that night. i remember one night sleeping on my waterbed (i know how 80's) and we just couldn't sleep. we kept creeping out and checking if my parents had left the stockings out. finally they were there, we snuck them back into our beds and opened them... all of us, young teenagers so excited and so happy. such amazing memories. 

its hard to believe i am a parent now and i am watching my own kids start their own memories of christmas eve. it is special. i hope to always remember that. my parents did an amazing job of christmas for us. i only hope that my children experience the same.

and... of course in keeping with the theme, only seven more days. and seven little dolls.