Picture Perfect

I've been trying my hand at photography because, lets face it, I'm restless sometimes and need new hobbies!
My posse and I went on a road trip a couple of weekends ago and took along the ol' camera.

Here are just a few of my favorites. Tell me what you think!












People pictures coming soon!

Chicken Fried Chicken

I cooked last night because, well I usually do. And because this man is handsome and I like to feed him.


Pioneer Woman (www.thepioneerwoman.com) rocks my face off and inspired me to share some of my recipes with you guys. Most of them are family recipes, but some of them are just plain made up!

So lug your computer to the kitchen, roll your sleeves up, and lets cook!

Chicken Fried Chicken
Disclaimer: This is not for the faint of heart or anyone on a diet...just run...run now
Here's what you'll need! Except eggs. Please pretend that I remembered to put two large eggs in that picture up there. In case, those cute little bottles are too small for you to see: boneless skinless chicken breast, season salt, pepper, salt, garlic powder (not garlic salt), Vegetable oil, and flour...

...and eggs. Don't forget the eggs.

First, you need to pound your chicken breasts. I really only pound the really thick part so that its about the same width as the skinnier parts of the chicken breast.

Go ahead and poor about half an inch of vegetable oil into a good size skillet. Put it on medium.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that if you "theoretically" put your skillet on high instead of medium, and if you "theoretically" took too much time getting your chicken ready because you "theoretically" were too busy taking pictures of your chicken for your blog, then you "theoretically" will cause the oil to start smoking and just MIGHT "theoretically" make all of the smoke detectors go off in your house...theoretically speaking of course.

Now, moving on, you'll want to pour some flour on a plate and season it with the garlic powder, pepper, and season salt. I don't really measure this, I just give the flour a good coat like so:


Then mix it all in!
Dip your chicken in the egg (which came first again?)...

...and then in flour (which definitely didn't come first)...

...and then repeat. You can give your chicken as many layers as you want. I wouldn't do more than 3 or 4 though. You'd just make a huge mess in your pan and it would be too heavy to stay on the chicken. Now just plop it in the pan which did not "theoretically" start to smoke and almost burn your house down.

It will take about 5 minutes on each side, but I'm not gonna lie, I don't time it. I just check the color of the side in the oil every couple of minutes. When its golden brown, its time to turn it over! Since it's cooking on medium heat, you're sure to get the center cooked by that time. Do the same thing for the other side and you should end up with something like these babies!
I usually pair this with mashed potatoes and packet homestyle gravy from the grocery store. Listen, I work a lot and don't have time to make my own so just get off my back about it! Just kidding. Love you. I do. I really do.
Goodnight.

Red Riding Hood

The hubs called me a couple of weeks ago whilst (I love that word) I was on my trek home from work.

"Um, Kristen. I'm holding in my hand a photo of your car."

I'm thinking that the paparazzi has found me finally. It must've been that Vogue cover I did. Or the concert at the Sydney Opera House.

"Wake up woman! Its a ticket! You ran a red light"

Of course I didn't I say. The camera thingy had to have malfunctioned. My sweet husband believes me.

Five minutes later, whilst (there it is again!) still on my trek home, he calls again.

"So I'm watching this video on this website. Its you."

It must've been that rock band I started on that...

"Running that red light"

Man, he's always bursting my bubble.

Anyway, it all comes back to me and I remember running that red light. I remember that I had a good reason for it too.

My breaks went out.

No? Don't believe me honey?

I went temporarily color blind.
I left my glasses at home.
A can rolled under my break and no matter how I tried, I couldn't press it down.
I forgot that red means stop and green means go.
My dog Gus died a few years ago and I was crying. Who can see through tears?
A drunk driver pushed me over the line into the intersection so I figured I better just go on thru.
Someone was stalking me! I had to get away!
The devil made me do it.
My brother was in the car with me and he just reached over and pushed the gas peddle down.
A terrorist threatened my family if I didn't run that red light.
Bin Laden said he would tell me where he's hiding if I only ran that red light.

I think a few of these have potential with the judge. What do you think?

Dancing Queen(s)

Meet Thing 1


and Thing 2

Adorable, no? Thing 2 is a Scrabble Champ.

See Thing 1 Dance

See Thing 2 cheese it for the camera

See Thing 1 and Thing 2 dance

They're dancing to "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac. They like the beat. Its easy to dance to.
Just ignore they're stringy, unkempt hair, saggy britches, and tee shirts down to their knees. We're free spirits. We can't be concerned with the sensibilities and rigors of civilized living.

That, and we're too busy dancing.

Casa Del Kibbe

I feel a bit faint...

...Its just that I've been deprived of the blogging world for so long!

Life has been utter chaos lately with work, school, church commitments, and now!!! the new house!!

Speaking of the new house, you've begged for pictures. Now I oblige! But only of the living room. Because I'm stingy like that.

Before: Just get a load of that wall color!
Looks awful with cherry wood floors!

That dude there is the best taper-offer in the world
aka my brother!

Look at those hard workers!

After: Pretty, no?

This lovely remodel was brought to you on the backs of Paul & Kristen Kibbe, Lana & Dudley King, Brad Riley and Kimberly Ann Mathis (who spent her birthday celebration day painting my house). They were paid in pizza. A round of applause is in order here folks!

This concludes this episode of Invade My Space.


PS And on a totally different note: Take a gander at all of the custom upgrades to the blog. Impressed? Have a blog? I'll fix you up for free if you'd like! Message me on facebook and we'll get at it. Let me know what you want done (ie: custom banner in any style - a scrapbook look, a more sleek photo design, whatever you come up with!; custom fonts; custom signature) even if you don't see it here.
Act quick! I'm only taking on one right now to help build up my portfolio.