p.s. love.love

I'm Still Here, Just Not HERE

2012-01-13T10:22:00.002-07:00

Stay up to date with me on my new blog:

living.on.purpose THE BLOG

Which is a blog that will be a major part of my business site which will be completely finished soon!

Have a great weekend. I hope you're enjoying 2012!

Make it a great year!

xo

It's Friday...

2011-10-28T17:01:00.000-06:00

A new post is up at living.on.purpose...

It's Friday~10-28-11

Right now I'm just doing email updates - haven't done an RSS feed or made a decision on Google Connect. Hubby was in Canada this week, so I didn't get much of anything done - which you'll read about in my latest blog entry!

After having no success with the comment system at Wordpress, I switched to the infamous Disqus system. I know it's a love/hate relationship with many bloggers. I'll see how it goes. I'm also trying to figure out a way to follow blogs, through WP, without having to subscribe to the RSS feed. That gets too jammed and I get too far behind. For those of you who don't yet have a subscribe by email - you should get one. I love those and when they come right into my inbox, I'll see it much sooner than checking dashboards and feeds and all that kind of stuff.

Have a great weekend!

Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Flaky Butter Crust

2011-10-25T10:59:00.000-06:00

I've published a new post at my new blog...

living.on.purpose

Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Flaky Butter Crust!

I'm trying to work out some kinks to my comment system over on WordPress! I've been replying to people's comments and it appears that you aren't getting notified when I leave a reply on your comment! In essence, you probably think I'm ignoring you. I'm not. Sorry - can't figure out why it's not working, but I'm sure I'll get it working soon. Hopefully :o)

Have a great day!

The Taste of Autumn

2011-10-20T12:44:00.001-06:00

I have a new post up over at

living.on.purpose

...The Taste of Autumn!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

The New Blog Is Here

2011-10-18T11:33:00.000-06:00

My New Blog Is Finally Done!!!

Yes, it's much later than I had planned - but life happens and you just do what you can! Hubby offered to design my new blog from the ground up and give me a custom site! I have a feeling he won't be offering those services to me anymore...I am a picky person and we ~~fought~~ clashed a few times on our opinions during this endeavor - but he got it done and I am so pleased! I also figured I needed to get this up and going before my twin disowned me and never talked to me again. I couldn't let that happen. Ever.

So, hop on over to the new blog called LIVING.ON.PURPOSE and tell me what you think.

I'm excited to be back in the swing of things and hopefully some of you will want to keep up to date with my new blog! I'm contemplating whether or not I want to add Google Friends Connect right now - but you can sign up for email updates!

Have a great Tuesday!

Coming Soon….

2011-07-27T15:48:00.001-06:00

August

my new blog

living.on.purpose

will finally make it’s debut!

I’m excited to get back into the blogging world!

See you soon!

Guess Where I’m Going…

2011-03-25T13:18:00.001-06:00

Someplace I’ve always wanted to go!

Now, I can cross it off my ‘things I want to do” list aka my bucket-list!

New York, here I come!

I’m so excited!

Oh yeah, I’m going sans kids!

Just me and hubby!

Have a great weekend!

Look Who Turned Two!

2011-02-15T13:11:00.001-07:00

My Valentine’s Day Baby celebrated his 2nd birthday yesterday!

Where did the time go?

Happy Birthday, Scout! Mommy loves you!

Valentine’s Day will never be the same for me!

"When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half."

Gracie Allen

Remember Me?

2011-01-24T14:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, it’s been over 2 weeks since my last post. I would not have known this had I not received an email from my twin letting me know!

I’m still here.

I’ve been participating in life these past couple weeks and have really enjoyed it! I’ve also wanted to post all the stuff I’ve been doing and photos that I’ve taken, but I’ve been dragging my rear when it comes to actually doing it. I’ve succumbed to expressing my thoughts on my Twitter account. And in 140 characters or less, I can’t even say that much, but I do it anyhow!

Is my new blog ready? Are you kidding me? I could get on and spice up this blog on blogger in a split second, because I know blogger like the back of my hand. I know WordPress like the back of my twin’s hand. Let me further explain – I’ve never met my twin before, so that can clue you in to how well I’m figuring out WP right now! It’s a work in progress.

So, why am I too busy to blog these days?

- My son absolutely loves to play, so we are outside collecting snow in Bella’s teacup sets, bringing them in and watching them melt all over my hardwood floors. Fun! We go for walks almost daily with my new jogger stroller – booyah! We read tons of books, play with Mrs. Potato Head (he adores Bella’s toys), watch the very beginning of the Veggie Tales so he can sing and dance to the theme song. We also have been taking more time to snuggle at naptime which he loves and I do too!
- Our “Marriage Built to Last” class started up again this January.
- Since I’ve been approved to teach a 12+ month class at church on health, I am now going through a mentoring program as well as assisting another class being taught through the church (Purposeful Parenting).
- Next week I should be receiving my certification course for Personal Chef.
- I’m writing curriculum for the class I’ll be teaching.
- I’m in the process of putting together a beginning to end ‘Natural Fertility’ binder that will include prenatal nutrition care, balancing hormones, detoxing the body, etc. Not only will I use this info to help clients, but I want to see if I can possibly teach a prenatal class that would be offered through our local midwifery/birth center
- I’m rearranging my entire house. I get antsy when things stay the same too long, so I move things around all the time. I got this from my mom.
- I’m in the process of completely going through our entire basement of storage and all that crap that gets tossed in the basement with no place to go. I am purging and getting rid of so many things that are no longer necessary in this house. It feels good to walk into the pit and see some progress taking place.
- I’ve been trying to figure out WordPress so I can complete my new blog. It’s a good thing I don’t use foul language, because I would have used a lot of it lately trying to get my new blog up and going. Crap is my word of choice while working on it!
- I’ve been taking more time to go through my design books and I sit down at my design table to draw and write out ideas for my ‘dream home’. Bella has been helping me and has informed me that since my new house is so awesome, she never wants to move away from mommy and daddy, even if she gets married. Works for me!
- So you get the point… I have been busy with life. I don’t get online much these days, but when I do I try to stop in a few blogs each time so I can catch up on everyone. I miss you guys!

Well, time to get Bella from school. She is ‘Student of the Week’ this week and she was so excited to do her photo collage and her information packet they fill out. She is growing up so fast, I’m not laughing about it at all. And next month (Valentine’s Day to be exact), Scout will turn 2 years old!!! So not fair and so not cool for him to grow up on me like this! The little guy is talking a lot and says so many words. It’s cute to hear him mumble around and try to carry on conversations!

I’ll be checking in on you all, slowly but surely! Have a beautiful week!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T09:30:00.001-07:00

So I’m a little late.

I’ve been reading up on people’s blogs and everyone has their posts with their 2011 goals and their wishes for the new year and I just enjoy reading all of it. It is very inspiring and I am a GOAL and VISION person, so I like to see people doing this.

Have I done mine?

Sort of. I have a constant list of goals that I work on throughout the year – so I don’t really make them just at the beginning of each year. I may do a post on my new blog about some things that I want to accomplish this year.

New blog? Yes, I am still moving to WordPress. I am in the middle of uploading all my content and getting everything configured. It’s a lot of work. Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have decided on WP just because I know Blogger so well – but I really do like how theirs works, so I’m not quitting. It will be done in the next week or two.

So….today I’m going to post a photo of each of my kids from January 2010 and then a photo of them December 2010 to see how much they grew. It’s not really fair they grew and changed so much, but what can I do??? Nothing, but enjoy them and capture everyday on film or on paper so I can preserve all these memories!

Bella January 2010

Bella December 2010

Scout January 2010

Scout December 2010

My two Special Treasures

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

My Christmas Cards & Photo Book

2010-12-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

Some of you have asked about our Christmas cards from Shutterfly and since I only sent out a few to bloggy friends, I thought I’d post how they turned out.

I thought they turned out AWESOME! The quality was just as good! I also made photo books on Shutterfly that turned out amazing. For years I have done photo albums for the parents and grandparents – but it was very costly and time consuming. This year I thought I’d try the photo books to see how good they turned out. They were perfect. I had over 150 photos in them and I did the 8x8 size so they are not large to store. I ordered 9 for family and kept one for us and one for each kid to put in their box of memories.

I will most definitely use them again. Their quality is great and their shipping times were super fast. Am I getting anything in return from Shutterfly to say all this? Absolutely not, though that would have been a nice perk! I was just reaally impressed with their products. The card was a folded 5x7 that opens up to more photos and a message. Hopefully you can see the inside!

So, here’s what I ended up with:

Many Memories Tree Christmas 5x7 folded card

Turn your photos into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

And...

Click here to view this photo book larger

Have a great Thursday!

Oh and guess what???? It’s snowing. Yes, it hasn’t snowed in town all season and we actually have some snow that is sticking to the ground. Weird winter here in Colorado!

Project 365, Days 346-359

2010-12-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

Booyah! This is the final ‘catch-up’ post for my Project 365! Woohoo! I don’t like being behind – and finally I’m caught up.So, as you will see, some of these photos were taken on the same day – due to me not getting my camera out some days. I know it’s suppose to be a photo a day, but it didn’t work out that way, so here’s what I have!346
Missy’s (the pig) stocking. I made this for her the first Christmas she was with us – 18 years ago!
* * * * * * *347
This is under my mom’s tree. One of her pugs, George (the one on the left in the photo) loved to lay under the Christmas tree. This was in honor of her puppies.
* * * * * * *348
This was on our annual Lady’s Night. This year we all went to see the play, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. (L-R) Me, my mom, my sis-in-law, Cassie.
* * * * * * *349
This is me and my cousin’s wife. Every Lady’s Night we have about 25 shots of us being goofy.

* * * * * * *350
We did two rounds of sugar cookies this year. This was our first round!
* * * * * * *351
My Santa figures by the tree.
* * * * * * *352
My Christmas corner.
* * * * * * *353
My good friend and I went and got manicures and pedicures. My toes are a bright red with tons of sparkles. Too bad you can’t see the sparkles really good in the photo – it’s purty!
* * * * * * *354
Second round of sugar cookie decorating!

* * * * * * *355
Me and Hubby the night of his work’s Christmas party.
* * * * * * *356
This is the day we delivered the Christmas cards and gift cards to the two Ronald McDonald Houses of Denver. We gave them to 76 families. So, I’m holding all the gift cards in the first photo and then the others are me and the kids with Ronald. We take photos with him every year! I thank all of you, again, who donated to help us with the gift cards. You are amazing!

* * * * * * *357
The Christmas cards for the families at the Ronald McDonald Houses of Denver.
* * * * * * *358
Christmas Eve at Hubby’s dad and step-mom’s house. This is me, Jeff (Hubby’s half bro.ski) and Bella. Jeff played with that car all night ;o)
* * * * * * *359
Christmas morning! My beautiful kids! I hope they like each other this much even when they are older :o) The last one is of me and the kids. It’s a tad blurry, but it’s still cute!

* * * * * * *
Have a great Tuesday!

Project 365, Days 332-345

2010-12-27T15:13:00.001-07:00

Here I am still playing catch up with this. The photos below are from the first 2 weeks of December!

332
This was the beginning of my Christmas decorating.

* * * * * * *

333
Some ‘outtakes’ of our Christmas card shoot!

* * * * * * *

334
Obviously I had taken too many photos by this time.

* * * * * * *

335
My beautiful kids.

* * * * * * *

336
Nick, from youth group, was a human taco this night. We had a battle of the sexes and OBVIOUSLY the guys lost. He was their captain, so he got to reap the harvest of loss.

* * * * * * *

337
Some fabric for a Christmas project.

* * * * * * *

338
Oooh, yarn, for a Christmas project!

* * * * * * *

339
Our church teams up with Angel Tree Network and this year our church ‘adopted’ 550 children. Hubby, the kids and I sponsored 4 kids this year. You have to buy each child 2 gifts: a clothing item and a toy or game. We had 3 boys and 1 girl.

* * * * * * *

340
My mantle!

* * * * * * *

341
My puppy’s stocking. I always put our pets’ stockings in storage with ours, so this year when I pulled out all our stockings, I pulled Jerry Bean’s out and I cried. I forgot they would be in there. I hung it up above my drawing table.

* * * * * * *

342
Lots of tulle for a gift for Bella!

* * * * * * *

343
Leaving for a weekend in Winter Park with 70 teenagers.

* * * * * * *

344
The view from my window in the cabin.

* * * * * * *

345
Inside the cabin. It was a beautiful place.

* * * * * * *

I have two more weeks to catch up on and those will post tomorrow!

How was your Christmas?????

Ours was good. Lots of running around as usual, but it was fun! We had no snow here in town and in fact it almost got to 60 degrees. So not cool for Christmas Day in Colorado!

Now that all the busyness is done for Christmas, I’m hoping to get back online a little more. My computer missed me!

I missed all of you!

Now I need to go catch up and see how you all are doing!

Happy Monday!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:57:00.001-07:00

Hubby, Bella, Scout and I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and that 2011 will be your best year yet!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Christmas Card Display Wreath

2010-12-20T13:32:00.001-07:00

I have a slight addiction to Martha Stewart Living. It’s sad. It’s embarrassing. It has so many cool ideas, though, I just can’t help myself.

I was bored with how I was displaying my Christmas cards, so when I saw a new idea in a Martha Stewart Living magazine, I figured I’d give it a shot.

All in all, I spent less than $10 on all the supplies and I actually like how it works.
You’ll need:a couple needlework hoops – I did one large and 2 medium sizesa couple packages of mini-clothespinscraft glueribbon for hanging

I glued the mini clothespins every two inches around the hoop. I alternated the pins – one facing out, one facing in.I let them dry overnight (simply because I got side tracked and didn’t get back to it the same day).Once dry, I attached the ribbon and hung on display.This is the large hoop.
This is the medium hoop.

I like how it turned out. I needed something different and for under $10.00, couldn’t beat that!

I hope you all are having a great Christmas season. Amazing that Christmas is this Saturday. I have been going non stop the past couple weeks. Now, Bella is out for two weeks, so I’ll have 3 kids with me all day, everyday. Can you see me smiling :o)

I finally got my Christmas cards sent out TODAY. Nothing like receiving a card on Christmas Eve, right? I ordered them through Shutterfly and they turned out amazing. I was impressed with how well they looked.

Well, lots to do today. The kids and I are making sugar cookies – rolling and cutting and baking. Tomorrow we will frost them all. I’m excited – these cookies are wonderful! I also need to get my sewing projects done. I need Brandi here to help me out since she won’t get off her machine. Please, twin, help me out!!! I’ll clean for you if you’ll sew for me :o) I am also going to try to get more photos up this week since I’m behind.

I think my major goal for 2011 is to stop being behind on things all the time. That means I need to prioritize, learn how to say no to some things and stop having so many projects going at once. Sigh.

Happy Monday!

“Remember, this December, that love weighs more than gold.”
Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

WW ~ How I Survived A Weekend With 70 Teenagers

2010-12-15T13:48:00.001-07:00

How did I manage to survive a weekend in the mountains with 70 teenagers?

Simple…

I have never had an “energy drink” in my entire life! Honestly. In fact, I had no intention on drinking even one of the 4 Red Bull’s that they gave each leader for the weekend retreat.

Um. Ended up drinking all 4 between Friday night and Sunday morning.

For a person whose body is not use to caffeine – this stuff WORKED!!!!!

I was wide awake for the all nighters the girls pulled.

I even got a little goofy – hehe!

It’s simple. This was how I survived my weekend with 70 teenagers.

"Joyfulness keeps the heart and face young. A good laugh makes us better friends with ourselves and everybody around us."

Orison Swett Marden

Project 365, Days 318-331

2010-12-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

Where did this past week go? I have hardly been online the past 7 days. Not that it’s a bad thing – but it is weird.

I’m still playing catch up with my photos and I’m just about where I should be.

Last week Scout wasn’t feeling well – so for about 6 days I carried him around day in and day out. Though, over the weekend Hubby was home to help. My arms are sore and I’m sure I gained some muscle in them. Lack of sleep + Lack of sitting + walking hundreds of miles in circles everyday with a 30 pound child on my hip = one sleepy mommy!

Saturday was my family’s annual “Ladie’s Night”. This year we did something different than usual. Instead of going to someone’s house and exchanging gifts and visiting – we all went to see a play at a local Music Hall. We saw, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and it was really good. I even ran into my mom-in-law and her husband there – which was cool. It was a night without the kids and although it was nice to sit and eat – like a normal person – I missed them. Yes, I’m one of those who is always wanting some time away from the kids, but the minute she gets it, she misses being with them.

This weekend Hubby and I are heading up to the mountains with our church’s youth group for their Winter Retreat. This is our first year going. I’m sure it will be fun, but there is one drawback. The cold. Yes, as most of you know I don’t do cold. I don’t like it. It hurts. Hubby will be skiing. I will be hanging in the warm cabin (it better be warm) reading. The kids will be with my parents. This is the other drawback – this will be the first time I’ve been away from Scout overnight. In fact, we’ll be gone 3 days. I have a feeling there will be a cry session. Not with Scout, but me! I’m so attached those two kids!

Anyhoodle…onto the photos!

Day 318
“Ole Blue Eyes”

* * * * * * *

Day 319
“Watching Veggie Tales”

* * * * * * *

Day 320
“Hubby’s Kiddos”

* * * * * * *

Day 321
“My Special Treasures”
(I know it’s a far away shot, but I liked it because I see the guitar that my kids were playing with while Hubby played his guitar and off to the right you can see my drawing table with my vision boards on them.)

* * * * * * *

Day 322
“Leaves”

* * * * * * *

Day 323
“Miss Piggy”

* * * * * * *

Day 324
“My Most Handsome Boy”

* * * * * * *

Day 325
“Classy Tae Kwon Do”
(even when she’s in her Sunday best, she likes to do her Tae Kwon Do)

* * * * * * *

Day 326
“Belt Test Friday”

* * * * * * *

Day 327
“Eating Home Made Cookies”

* * * * * * *

Day 328
“Miss Kitty”
(my mother in law’s cat)

* * * * * * *

Day 329
“Dirty Faces”

* * * * * * *

Day 330
“Pilgrim Girl”

* * * * * * *

Day 331
“Christmas Craft Issue”

* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

3rd Annual Ronald McDonald House Christmas Outreach

2010-12-06T20:33:00.002-07:00

It’s that time again!
Joy.Love Outreach (my non-profit) is preparing for it’s 3rd annual Christmas Outreach to the Ronald McDonald Houses of Denver, Colorado!
Our first year (2008) we assembled stockings for 31 families of one location of the RMH. Last year (2009) we were able to include both RMH’s of Denver and we assembled 76 stockings.
This Christmas (2010) our goal is to give each of the 76 families currently staying at the Ronald McDonald Houses a $25.00 Visa Gift Card. If there is any money left over, we’d also like to buy toys for each house that they can give out to their patients or the siblings and families of their patients. They are little tokens that mean the world to some people. Each gift card will be enclosed in a hand-written Christmas card to the family.
We’ve had some people interested in donating to the 2010 RMH Outreach (hence this post), so below is the information for donating to Joy.Love Outreach. All donations will need to be received by Friday, December 17, 2010 in order to be put towards this years outreach. Any donations received after this date will be kept for the 2011 RMH Christmas Outreach.
You can make checks payable to:

JOY.LOVE OUTREACH

You can mail checks to:

Joy.Love Outreach
PO Box 621125
Littleton CO 80162

If you are interested in donating using PayPal, you can do so by clicking on the DONATE button below!

Joy.Love Outreach is a 501(c)3 and you will receive a tax receipt for your donation (make sure we have your email address so we can email you the tax receipt in a pdf format).
Thank you in advance for helping us bless these families! I don’t think most of us realize how special something like this is to those families – especially at this time of the year!
Feel free to ask any questions you may have about this outreach.
You can visit our website at the address below. For some reason the album with photos from last year isn’t showing up. I’ll work on that so you can see them.

http://joyloveoutreach.org

“The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
~Allan K. Chalmers

Project 365, Days 304-317

2010-12-03T13:05:00.001-07:00

I’m playing catch up on my photos! I had thought about just stopping, but I’m so close to finishing – I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I have never been a quitter. So, the next couple posts will be to get me caught up on my Project 365 Challenge!

Day 304
“Siblings”

* * * * * * *

Day 305
“Scout’s Reindeer Pajamas”

* * * * * * *

Day 306
“The Day Before My Hair Cut”
picture courtesy of my little photographer, Bella!

* * * * * * *

Day 307
“Christmas Photo Blocks”

* * * * * * *

Day 308
“Texas Roadtrip”

* * * * * * *

Day 309
“Amazing Texas Friends”

“Me and Bella at The Water Gardens”

* * * * * * *

Day 310
“Surprise at the Hotel from Sarah and Jeremy”
(see the 2 milks for the kids – how cute)

* * * * * * *

Day 311
“Happy Travelers”

* * * * * * *

Day 312
“Organic Goodies”

* * * * * * *

Day 313
“Gift From My Mom”

* * * * * * *

Day 314
“Meeting A Bloggy Friend For The First Time”

* * * * * * *

Day 315
“Veteran’s Day”
(this is Bella’s class –she’s the top row, far right – and they had an amazing Veteran’s Day assembly. I cried through most of it.)

* * * * * * *

Day 316
“Taking After Her Mama”
(Bella likes to be creative in her fashion. Yes, I let her wear her inventions. Why? Because my mom always let me when I was little.)

* * * * * * *

Day 317
“My Blessing Quilt”

* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

”One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”Dale Carnegie

Hershey’s Moderation Nation, My Review & The Giveaway

2010-11-30T13:44:00.001-07:00

A while back I was contacted by MyBlogSpark to do a review and/or giveaway on Hershey’s Moderation Nation. I’m always up for being a apart of something that is trying to promote a healthier lifestyle. In America we need a wake up call where our health is concerned, so I agreed to be a part of this promotion and chose to do a review and will also be giving away a Hershey’s Moderation Nation Prize Pack that includes a tee-shirt, journal and yummy bag of Hershey’s treats :o)

So, what do I think of Hershey’s Moderation Nation?

Overall, I think it’s a great idea. The website talks about exercise and physical activity and even gives events that you can attend nationwide. It talks about portion sizes with your meals and offers sample menu options. They mention keeping a journal of your progress, etc. Their heart is in a great place by wanting to help people and it could be a good starting place for some.

I’ll start by saying that they did put out some good info and some yummy recipes like the Double Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cookies (after all, they are all about chocolate and I sure do lurve me some DARK chocolate!) I just always tweak my recipes and it’s ingredients to make sure they are good, healthy and organic if possible. I also prefer REAL dark chocolate (over 62% cocoa) over milk because milk chocolate is full of extra added sugar!

The website (Hershey’s Moderation Nation) does offer some good info on portion sizes and they even have a pdf of visual objects for portion sizes, which is good. If more people knew this – they would probably realize how much more they are eating at every meal than they really should be eating.

They speak of keeping a journal and journaling is also something I think more people should do. When I work with a client I tell them to start by journaling their eating for 3 weekdays and 1 weekend day – before I even go into anything to do with an eating plan. It’s amazing how people are shocked at how much they are eating and didn’t even realize it. Then I think it’s good to journal if you are having any health issues, because you may be able to narrow down some things and begin to notice how your body reacts to certain foods. I am currently using the journal they sent me for a food journal. Many of you know I was having some issues over the past year and I started journaling some things down for myself. It’s been good for me. Had I not gotten the journal from them, I may not have started!

What didn’t I like all that much?

The one aspect of the information given on the site that I was not impressed with were the food choices. As a Health Coach and someone who is passionate about truly eating healthy, their food options did not make my cut for being healthy. In fact, many things they suggest will actually wreak havoc on your body and cause many health problems if people consistently consume them.

Without going into crazy detail on why I oppose those things – I’ll just say that suggesting you use margarine instead of butter is a huge no-no in my book. Remember my post about margarine vs. butter called “Fat or Plastic. You Choose”? Well, suggesting that eating a man made product that is full of toxins and chemicals that is basically plastic is not a good choice when trying to improve your health and eating habits. Too many people are consumed with the numbers of a certain food item (fat, calories, etc) – which isn’t always bad, especially when eating pre-packaged foods. It becomes bad when you put the numbers over the nutritional value of the food and try to replace it with a man-made product that your body doesn’t know what to do with. Eating margarine over butter to cut back on calories and healthy and natural fat your body needs is crazy. Just saying.

In their Moderation Lifestyle Tips they had this listed:

“Skim milk provides the same vitamins and minerals as whole milk – with less fat. Since the fat portion of whole milk does not contain calcium, when you take out the fat, you do not lose calcium.”

I was trying to figure out where they got that information. It is proven that when you skim milk and remove any amount of fat you lose many vitamins, minerals and essential enzymes. You already lose a large dose of those in the pasteurization process, then even more when milk-fat is removed. Also, people are so consumed with the ‘fat’ in milk and the calories it adds, but here’s what people don’t realize: The ‘fat’ in milk is a natural, healthy fat that our bodies need! They NEED! Our cell renewal process needs saturated fats to do it’s job. Our brain function is dependent on healthy fats – as is a women’s ability to be fertile and conceive. Our doctor’s want to remove all fat from our diets, including healthy fats (which man made fats should be complete removed) and in return all these health issues are cropping up and they don’t know why. Also, skim and fat free dairy is a factor in the rise of Diabetes (Type 1 & 2) as well as hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. The reason for this is because the fat in our whole milk contains enzymes that help our bodies digest the milk-sugar and it allows the sugar to be released into the bloodstream slowly, which means the insulin will be released slower and there will not be a dramatic insulin spike or fall. When you skim the milk/dairy, you remove the enzymes that help promote easy digestion of the milk-sugar and the sugar is released too quickly into the blood and you have yourself a major insulin spike. You will also find that you drink more skim milk than you would whole, because it is not a filling drink when all the fat is gone. Healthy fats help aid in the satiety hormone being released, telling your body that you are full.

Other things they suggested using were Canola oil which is poisonous to our bodies. That is a post in and of itself. They mentioned crackers, cereals, granola bars, etc. as a part of this healthy eating plan, but those are all processed foods. Even if they have some whole oats or grains in them – the other 101 ingredients are toxic to your body – not to mention the high sodium content in pre-packaged foods. They spoke of cutting back using egg yolks in your cooking and baking to cut back on cholesterol and fat. I won’t even go into how wrong and off that is.

I realize this is the most convenient way for many people to eat, but as a company that had a panel of experts, I would have expected better knowledge being presented to the public. Most people won’t research this kind of stuff. They will take the info and run with it, especially from a national brand like Hershey’s. Unfortunately, when you have the wrong information, you can end up damaging your health in more ways than you know. If you are knowledgeable, you can take the info and recipes and substitute good stuff for the bad stuff. That’s usually how I work with most recipes anyway. Knowledge truly is power!

So I wasn’t overly impressed with it all, but I am glad to see that nationally known brand companies are starting to step up and encourage people to a healthier lifestyle! Hopefully more companies will follow their lead!

ps…I have hardly eaten any of the peppermint patties that I got. Bella thinks they’re too ‘spicy’ and Scout doesn’t quite get them. The cooling peppermint freaks him out a bit – haha!

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to leave a comment and tell me why you want to take a step in improving your health! This will stay open until Saturday, December 4, 2010 – midnight! You do not have to follow my blog to enter!

The fine print: Hershey’s, through MyBlogSpark, provided the product and information for my own review.

“Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate.”

~Sandra Boynton

The Past Couple Weeks

2010-11-29T13:29:00.001-07:00

The past couple weeks have been packed pretty full for our family and since we are 2 days away from December – it doesn’t look like things are slowing down any!

A few fun things that took place over the past couple weeks are:

One Saturday I was a little out of my mind when I decided to bake cookies with my 3 helpers. One small kitchen, 3 humans and stepstools and chairs = cranky mom! They sure looked cute though.

Bella did her first belt testing for Tae Kwon Do and passed! Woohoo! She went from a white belt to a white/yellow belt!

My little fuzzhead finally got his first real haircut in 21 months! He went from looking like this:

To looking like this:

And this! Isn’t he adorable?

I got my Christmas craft ON and made some Christmas Card display holders that I saw in Martha Stewart’s Living magazine! I’ll post a picture when they actually have cards on them :o)

Bella had a Thanksgiving feast at school. She was a pilgrim girl! Then, Thanksgiving snuck up on us last week! Here are my Layered Banana Cream Pie with Shortbread dishes! Oh my goodness, this was and IS uh-mazing! My cute kids on Thanksgiving Day. There’s a bundle of love that I’m thankful for!
Me and Hubby!

Scout at Granny Bev’s house.

Bella jumping in the leaves at Granny Bev’s house. Then I pulled out my photo blocks so I can post my ‘how to’ on my blog. Took the pictures, but still have yet to write the post!

I also found something in my yard that made me think of Julie’s ‘luggage watch’ posts and realized I had her beat! This concrete block has been sitting in our back yard in this very spot for almost 5 1/2 years. Yes. We had this bag of concrete sitting here while we were putting up a fence in our yard, it rained, this got wet and it hasn’t moved since. Hubby calls it a memorial stone for all the hard work he put into the fence. I call it being lazy :o)

And then we put up our Christmas tree this past weekend. Yes, the kids helped and no, I didn’t move any ornaments around after they went to bed. I was just a big stickler as they put them on and had to keep reminding Bella that when there are already 3 ornaments hanging off one branch – it’s time to move on girl, and put them somewhere else!

And most of all I have been spending lots of extra time with my kids. I decided to not spend so much time on the computer and more time with them and I have really enjoyed it. So have they!

Then for a bit of miscellaneous news, I have made a final decision regarding the future of my blog! After a lot of thought, I have decided that I will be shutting down “p.s. love.love.” on December 31, 2010. I will moving over to WordPress, but I am starting a new blog with a new title and it will be somewhat similar to this, but at the same time it will be different. They actually have a widget now for a blog roll, so I can still keep up with everyone on blogger. Hopefully you’ll follow me over when I move – but if not, I won’t be offended! Promise. Sometimes you just know when a season of your life is changing and I’ve reached that point with my blog. I have new things I want to do and say, so I’m starting with a clean slate!

I will be finishing up my Project 365 this month (and I need to catch up with the past couple weeks still).

I will finish up my ‘What I Saw When I looked In The Mirror’ posts.

I will keep blogging throughout December with recipes, crafts and photo updates.

Then I’ll have a final farewell for p.s. love.love.

Then I’ll be publishing my blog into a book to have with me and my family always!

* * * * * * *

2011 is already showing to be a full and exciting year. In January I will be starting my certification process for Personal Chef. I’m excited for that. I don’t plan on being a personal chef, but I want to take what I learn in this process and apply it with my nutrition plan and then I want to train people!

Also, I have been approved to teach a 12 month (or longer) class at my church regarding Health and Nutrition. I am very exciting for this. So, it means I need to create the curriculum for the class, which will take me quite a bit of time.

I am also going to pursue my Doula certification next year. There are so many things I want to do and I figured it’s time to do them! I’m not getting in younger, right?

Most of all, I want to be ‘present’ for my kids. These are truly such fun years with them and I needed a reminder of that! I was putting things before them that didn’t need to be priority over them. They are my life and I have chosen to make each day count with them! I have enjoyed every minute so far (okay, well not EVERY minute, but you know what I mean!)

Have a great Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

Anybody interested in the Layered Banana Cream Pie recipe? I can post it if you want me to!

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.”
~ Barbara Bush

Special Buttons

2010-11-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

Last week during breakfast, Bella looks over to Scout who is drinking his milk from his sippy cup and says with so much excitement:

“Scout, you’re such a big boy now!!! You don’t have to drink your milk from mommy’s special buttons anymore! I’m so proud of you.”

You gotta love big sisters!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

There is so much to be grateful for!

“Live with an attitude of gratitude!”

Dr. Jerry Savelle

Christmas Card Fanatic

2010-11-19T13:19:00.001-07:00

I’m one of those!

For the past 18 years, I have never missed a year of sending out Christmas cards. Many years I hand made them and they were so cool, but that was before I was married, had kids and was left with no time!

Enter in photo cards!

Whoever invented those should get some kind of award. I truly mean that.

Some photos, printed text, and envelope and you’re done.

For my this season of my life – that’s perfect for me.

I have heard some say that sending out a photo Christmas card is a copout!

What do you mean?

I’m still putting my love, time and money into them. I just can’t write a book to each person I send cards out to (I think that’s what the people want – the personal, yet often mimicked, seasonal greeting). That number is around 60 families/people. It was at 120 a couple years ago – and I cut it in half last year because, well, seriously – 120 cards? Crazy.

So, this year I saw this deal from Shutterfly where I could get me some FREE Christmas cards (okay, so they used the word Holiday Card – but I forgive them) and for a photo card enthusiast – how could I pass that up?!!! Even if it meant having to do a blog post about it (which I normally don’t like to do), but FREE CHRISTMAS CARDS! Too good to pass up!

I already went through all their Christmas card selection – and there were many – and narrowed it down to a few that I really, really like! I like to have multiple photos, because I can’t pick just one.

I’m also a calendar girl. Okay, that doesn’t sound right. Not THAT kind of calendar girl – but I have calendars all over the house. I also have clocks all over the house. Hmmm, could this mean something? So, I was thinking I’d get me a calendar. Yes, I said me :o) I can get gifts too!

Then I found their Canvas Art! Hello – that is so me. I like to have photos of my family, friends and pets covering my walls – these are so cool!

Question for you all: do you like getting the photocards from families that have the whole family or just the kids? Believe it or not, I have heard some people say they don’t like the parents on the card. Is this a faux-pas that I was unaware of?

Well, get your own FREE Christmas cards from Shutterfly if you need an easy and quick way to do them this year! Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

It hit me that Thanksgiving is next week, which means my tree goes up after that and then WHAM the season is in full swing!

Better get started now!

Have a great weekend my friends! I did want to let you in on a secret {not that it’s a great secret}, but I am thinking about moving p.s. love.love. over to Wordpress! EEEEEEKKKK! Will keep you all informed of when that will be!

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

~Charles Dickens

What I Saw When I Looked In The Mirror Part 2

2010-11-18T12:49:00.001-07:00

My nose. My ears. My teeth. My freckles.

These were all the things kids liked to make fun of me for when I was in Junior High.

Up until then, I can’t recall even thinking about little pieces of my appearance such as these. You just lived your life without really giving those things a second thought.

But, for some kids in school – my physical features made good laughing points, I guess.

When I look back, I think it set the tone for the years to come and how I saw myself.

Now at the age of 35 I get irritated when I think of time and emotion I wasted on those people.

Careless people.

The thing is, the things they said, still tend to pop up every now and then – 22 years later.

Every time I wear a baseball hat, I am self conscious because I think my ears stick out too far.

Every time I see a profile of my face, I notice my ‘crooked’ or ‘non smooth’ nose.

Every time I smile, I think my teeth are too big.

Every time my freckles appear more noticeable in a photo, I notice and wish they weren’t there.

Why?

These features make me who I am.

Every freckle, the dimple in my chin, my imperfect nose.

This is who I am, but I didn’t like those things about me for so many years.

When high school came around – it was a whole new ball game.

I never encountered so many rude people. Not just with me, but watching how other people were treated.

They’d make fun of the clothes you wore, the brand name of the backpack or bag you carried. The kind of car your parents drove or the house you lived in. They’d find fault with how you did your hair, what you ate for lunch, how well you did in class, how much you had a passion for something. Whatever they could find to nitpick about you – they’d do it.

I vowed never to be one of them. I’m happy to say, I never was.

Never the less, because of these kids, not only did I not like my nose, ears, teeth and freckles – but many more dislikes were added to my list, all because of comments made by other people. People that today – have no meaning or value in my life. I’m not demeaning them as a person, but I haven’t spoke with many of these people in 17-20 years – so why did I let their words take root inside my heart and cause me to not appreciate who I was as a person?

I grew up in a very loving and encouraging home. I never got talked down to or made fun of (outside of sibling rivalry, but that was normal). I guess you could say I had a good balance of the good and bad. I can honestly say that I never allowed these things to bring me to a point of depression, eating disorders, body cutting, suicidal thoughts, etc. – but I can look back and see that I gradually became a person who was critical of herself, her looks, her social status and more.

There was only so much I could do to fix these problems everyone else seemed to notice and point out about me. When I was 16 I drove myself to the dentist and had them file my front teeth down. Four years of not wanting to smile with my teeth showing was enough. This was all I could think of to fix my teeth problem.

I stopped wearing baseball hats, which I liked, and started wearing more floppy hats and hats from the flapper era. They covered my ears and I didn’t have to worry if people were noticing my ears sticking out.

I began wearing make-up and started using foundation to cover up the freckles on my face.

As for my nose – there was nothing I could do about it! I inherited that thing and it was there to stay. No way was I going to get a nose job. Yea, um, no!

I started dressing funky and even making some of my own things. Talk about a real life ‘Pretty In Pink’ situation. I would put those mini micro braids in my hair (thanks to my mom and grandma for helping), I’d wear black ‘granny style’ boots with funky dresses. Way back then they didn’t make low-rise jeans and I have extremely high hips and all brands of pants would rub on my hip bones and rub my skin raw – so I’d get some guys jeans from the thrift store and just roll the waist down for my own low-rise jeans. Yes, everyone made fun of me for that – little did they know that would become the style 2 years later :o) I just tried to be different and tried to be confident, on the outside at least.

Now for everything else that came with a high school education. Degrading comments, comments made in passing and usually in jest, and a growing poor self image.

I found myself thinking I wasn’t pretty. Some people might agree, which is fine, but every person should be able to look at themselves and see the beauty they possess – inside and out. I never had the right hair style, I couldn’t apply my make-up to look decent, my clothes didn’t display the Esprit or Guess brand name (did I just date myself – that was years ago those were the most popular brands).

Now, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t this girl who walked around with her head hung low, disappearing into the crowds everyday at school. I was friends with pretty much everyone. Seriously. I wasn’t a part of the ‘popular’ crowd – and every school has one of those – but I had tons of friends. I was and still am a friendly person. I like people. I enjoy having different friends with different interests and hobbies. It makes life interesting. I had friends in the ‘hippy’ group, the ‘heavy metal’ group, the ‘thespian’ group, the ‘sports’ group, the ‘art’ group, the ‘newspaper’ group, the ‘leadership’ group, the ‘geek’ group….you name it, I had friends in every category. I never walked around wallowing away in pain or misery.

I kept on living – just with a poor self image. I laughed, had fun, learned tons, joined the Poms team for my senior year and graduated with a 3.8 grade point average.

Yet, in the middle of all of that I felt my thighs were to fat, my butt was too round and my mid section a little too poofy, if you know what I mean. My Pom uniform had a really short skirt. Short enough so when you walked up the stairs those behind you could see the horse shoe emblem on our Pom briefs. That short. I hated wearing it without leggings because I thought my thighs looked way to big. My smile still wasn’t filled with perfectly straight and beautiful teeth, my hair was never right whether it was straight or had a spiral perm (and oh, did I rock the spiral perm look!!!!), my eyes were just average blue while so many people I knew wore bright colored contacts, my car was a piece of junk – no exaggerating, but I did pay for it all by myself :o), I never owned a pair of Keds and to top it off, my parents gave me a curfew. Like that helped when everyone else’s parents could have cared less how late their kids were out and about. I only would find out later in life how wonderful it is to have parents that care.

All in all, a poor self image became the normal way of life for me. I allowed little comments, situations and ideas take root in my heart that I should have never let in. I will say, I am so thankful that the celebrities we looked up to back then actually wore clothes. We didn’t have as much to be envious about when you couldn’t see every inch of their body! Seriously. Today girls have the expectation of showing as much skin as possible in order to be considered beautiful. This was not something we dealt with when I was in high school. None the less, a poor self image does not just vanish and go away over night. In fact, unless you actually make the effort to change that image inside of you – it will only stay there and grow worse and worse.

I am looking for photos right now to pull out of me from this time in my life. They would have been perfect to post in this actual post, but I’m having a problem finding my photos from back then. You’ve seen all my storage in my basement before – there’s lots to go through – so I’ll have to post those in another post.

In my next part of this I go into how my poor self image stayed with me for 7-8 more years after I graduated high school. Through my engagement, wedding and first years of marriage. It wasn’t until Bella was a couple months old where I saw a home video of me on our honeymoon and actually realized for the first time that I had to have thought poorly of myself. I knew for the first time what an anorexic or bulimic sees when they look in the mirror – no matter how tiny they are, they see fat.

This was an eye opener for me because it was a very subtle issue that was so subtle – it seemed normal. My friends, it is not normal and I will do all I can with my children to make sure they do not grow up being deceived about the value of who they are, inside or out! I want them strong enough where the opinions of people don’t sway how they view themselves. The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is the biggest lie. Words can lift a person up or they can wound a person’s spirit! It’s up to us how we let the words and voices of others affect us. I learned the long, hard way! Hopefully we can help our daughters and sons not go the same route!

Thanks for reading, I know this was long!

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

~ Judy Garland

"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly."

~ St. Francis De Sales

Trampoline Fun

2010-11-17T09:04:00.001-07:00

These were taken while we were in Texas a couple weeks ago! I hadn’t been on a trampoline is over 25 years, but Bella forced me. It was fun, but tiring :o)

I enjoyed watching the kids have fun and listening to the uncontrollable giggles.

Hubby was off hunting, so my beautiful friend, Jenny, took these pictures!

Bella in a full action shot!

Scout’s awesome hair!

Scout jumping! He was so cute.

Now mom had to get in on the action!

Yes, it even made me giggle too!

Happy Wednesday!

Tomorrow I will have part 2 of my post “What I Saw When I Looked In The Mirror”!

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”

~Stacia Tauscher

Where Did It Go?

2010-11-15T12:52:00.001-07:00

How does time manage to go by so fast?

I have these moments when I have a hard time with my kids growing up so fast.

One day they’re tiny and fit in my hands…

The next day they are 5 1/2 years old…

…and 21 months old.

Like I always say…I blinked.

Although I enjoy every stage of my children’s life, I sometimes have to ask myself if I really cherished every stage. When I look at photos like these taken a week ago on our vacation – I feel like I missed something.

May I not miss anything as they continue to grow.

Life is about our kids. Our family. Creating memories. Growing. Launching out.

It’s best to to hold tight while I can and make sure I never feel like I’ve missed any part of their lives.

Thanks for listening.

Just some rambling from a mom have one of those moments.

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." ~ Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek

Project 365, Days 297-303

2010-11-12T12:55:00.001-07:00

Project 365, Days 297-303

These were photos from Halloween week: school parties, harvest carnival, pumpkin carving…

297
“Harvest Carnival 2010”

* * * * * * *

298
“My Beautiful Kiddos”

* * * * * * *

299
“Princess Belle at her School Party”

* * * * * * *

300
“The Night Before Hair Prep”

* * * * * * *

301
“The Day After”

* * * * * * *

302
“Drafting Up Her Pumpkin Faces”

“Getting Ready to Carve the Pumpkins”

“The Finished Project.”
The pumpkin on the left has heart shaped ears :o)

* * * * * * *

303
“Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Butter Roasted Pumpkin Seeds”

* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!”

Barbara Hoffman

Project 365, Days 290-296

2010-11-11T13:37:00.001-07:00

Project 365, Days 290-296

I’m playing catch up this week on my Project 365 assignment!

This post is actually photos from 3 weeks ago when the leaves were changing. I didn’t take many photos throughout the week, so I am using photos from a trip to the mountains that we took.

290
“Heading Up The Mountain…Cloudy, Gray Skies”

* * * * * * *

291
“The Mountain River”

* * * * * * *

292
“The Kiddos”

* * * * * * *

293
“Observing and The Fire Pit”

* * * * * * *

294
“Tree Growing Out Of A Rock”

* * * * * * *

295
“Heading Back to Town…Skies Are Clear Now”

* * * * * * *

296
“Stopped Off Here On The Way Home”

“A Couple Minutes From Our House”

“Entrance to Our Neighborhood”* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

”You want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not to people or things.” Albert Einstein

I Met A Bloggy Friend IRL

2010-11-10T12:58:00.001-07:00

Today was a special day for me!

For the first time since blogging I got to meet a bloggy friend in person!

Who did I get to have coffee with this morning?

Tiffany from Jerome’s Women!!!!

What fun to actually meet a bloggy friend IRL! She came down to Denver yesterday and we made it a point to get some coffee while she was here.

We drank coffee at Starbucks in a Barnes and Noble and watched as Scout tore all the books and stuffed animals off the shelf. I could tell the guy working in the children’s section wasn’t too happy we were there. We did manage to put everything back in it’s place and leave with only a mild tantrum. I let him drink some of my latte and he seemed to calm down after that :o)

Tiffany has an intriguing life and history. Hopefully she’ll blog about it all sometime! I was fascinated listening to her!

It was definitely a good morning!

Tiffany will be taking her daughter to Children’s Hospital today for some testing. You can read more about what’s going on with her daughter on her blog. Keep her lifted up in prayer and that she would receive some answers regarding her daughter’s situation!

If anyone else is ever in Denver let me know so we can meet up for some coffee or lunch!

Shoot, feel free to fly or drive in just for coffee. The scenery alone is worth it!

Thank you, Tiffany, for meeting up with me and Scout on this chilly Colorado morning! At least there was no ice from the sleet yesterday. Tomorrow is another story, though. Snow and mid 30’s as the high! Brrrrrrr!

Bloggy friends becoming IRL friends is pretty cool! One down, 265 to go!

ps…I have about 3 weeks of Project 365 to catch up on. Working on it…

"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching."

~ Author Unknown

We’re Baaaack!

2010-11-09T13:13:00.001-07:00

Howdy y’all!

Many of you didn’t even know I was gone – but I was!

In Texas.

For those of you who are on FB with me or following me on Twitter, you saw some updates on my weekend adventure. Horses in the Wal-Mart parking lot, Bella mentioning that Texas had a lot of nuts – fun stuff like that!

The trip was fun!

It was amazing!

It was a great trip!

We went out to visit a few friends (Sarah, Rachel, Jenny), made some new friends in the process and it was nothing short of wonderful!

We left Thursday night (our anniversary) and arrived Friday afternoon in Fort Worth. We stayed at The Omni in downtown Fort Worth and it was beautiful. We were directly across the street from the Convention Center and the Water Gardens. With a weekend full of eating delicious food, getting manicures and pedicures, Hubby hunting, bonfires by the lake, wild horses, Central Market shopping and spending time with these amazing people, we had the BEST time! The weather was nice because it wasn’t hot. In fact it was warmer in Colorado while we were gone – then it was in Texas while we were there. We left Sunday evening and drove back to Colorado and arrived Monday, late morning. By the time we hit Trinidad, I was so thankful to see the beautiful Rocky Mountains again!

Granted, Texas is flat. I’m from Colorado and have the mountains by me 24/7, 365 days a year, so Texas is flat – but I must say they do have gorgeous sunsets. Sometimes they were almost a deep reddish/orange!

I also have to say that the kids did AMAZING!!!! Having to be in car seat bondage for the 14-15 hour drive there and then back – and then all the in between driving…I’m proud of my kiddos!

Now it’s settling back into our routine. Bella is back at school today, I’ve got most everything put away by now. I was thinking I could leave a suitcase out in my kitchen and see if I could beat Julie’s record, but the more I thought about it I realized I just needed to take the luggage downstairs :o)

As I look out my window at this very moment, I see the gray skies (that were beautiful, sunny and bright blue this morning) bringing the snow in to town. They say it won’t really snow until Thursday, but we should be getting some rain. Highs in the 30’s and 40’s (nervous yet, Brandi???). Seriously? It was mid 70’s 2 days ago while I wasn’t here!

I’m hoping to get some photos uploaded and edited of our trip to show everyone! We have a full schedule this week, including nights, so it may come later!

I will leave you with a photo of me and a couple of the girls we went to visit. Sarah had just left and we had forgot the group picture, so we had Rachel’s husband snap this of the remaining girls! This was after an amazing dinner at Uncle Julio’s! Anybody been there???

L-R: Rachel, Bella, Me, Jenny

Thank you all for the anniversary wishes! This trip was a great gift for celebrating our 10 years! Also, for those who have asked, I have felt very good this past week – thank you for your prayers and kind words!

Happy Tuesday!

“He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day needs to reorganize his life.”

George Matthew Adams

Happy 10th Anniversary Hubby

2010-11-04T06:27:00.001-06:00

It’s finally here!

November 4, 2010.

Amazing that it was 10 years ago that Hubby and I got married!

What a fun time of my life that was.

It’s been an interesting ride these past 10 years, but I couldn’t have asked for a better person to share them with.

Hubby is amazing.

He is selfless.

He is a hard worker.

He is talented.

He’s a wonderful daddy.

He’s quiet and laid back.

He’s passionate about lifted vehicles that can climb rocks that
were never meant to have vehicles on them.

He likes the mountains.

He likes the snow.

He likes baseball.

He loves God.

He is a strong head to our home.

He’s understanding.

He’s funny.

Most importantly: He’s mine.

Happy 10th anniversary, My Love!

Strength and Honor!

love.love.

Now, here is another song that I just adore! It’s perfect for today! It just happens to be Clint Black again!
It’s called “Something That We Do”.

Listen to it if you’ve never heard it before! The words are beautiful!

“I remember well the day we wed, I can see that picture in my head.
Love isn’t just those words we said, it’s something that we do!”

Clint Black

A Beauty And A Beast

2010-11-03T11:03:00.001-06:00

What a weekend! For those of you with kids in school, you know that Halloween (or Candy Day as Bella now calls it) last for about a week! With all the school activities, church activities and the big day itself – man – we’ve been busy!

This year, Bella wanted to be Princess Belle again – although I offered to make her a cool tulle flower costume. Sigh. As for Scout, I had my nephew’s costume that he wore when he was 2, so it was perfect for Scout. I’m not saying Scout liked it, but it’s what he wore! (To see Halloween pics from the past couple years you can see them @ The Cutest Little Duck, The Prettiest Princess At The Ball, Superman Pugs, My Little Sunflower, )

Mr. Scout was a little lion!

The little stinker wouldn’t keep his ‘mane’ on, so the only really good photo I got with his lion head is a bit fuzzy – but believe me when I tell you he was a doll!

So, I had a Beauty and a Beast.

Our church has a Harvest Carnival every year on Halloween for the church and the community! It’s always so much fun for the kids. I worked in a photo booth - which was interesting :o) Then they had a family service and did some cool give-aways of stuff people donated to the church (2-42” flatscreen televisions, some iPads, a nano touch and a couple iPods, along with a ton of gift cards to different places). Pretty cool. Oh, and we attempted to break a world record (which we are sure we did) for the most people patting their heads and rubbing their tummy’s for 60 seconds! We needed over 500 people doing it or something like that and we had more than enough. I’m not sure how long it will take to hear back from Guinness Book of World Records – but if we did that will be cool!

Anyhoodle…Here’s a couple pics from Candy Day!

Scout was so cute in his lion’s costume. I wish he would have kept the top on. He normally likes things in his head!

After he won the struggle to take it off. Hey, I had my camera in one hand or else I would have won!

Me and my beautiful Bella before we left for the Harvest Carnival. No, I am not dressed in a costume!

My real life Princess Belle!

This was actually taken on Friday at her school. Now, they dressed all the girls before I got there and the tiny OCD side of me would have never allowed her to keep that bright orange and yellow shirt on under her princess gown. Duh! But, I was late, so there it is! She still is beautiful though!
This was taken at the carnival. I thought it was so cute of Bella and Hubby. Doesn’t Hubby look AMAZING in that gold suit???? Oh, wait, that’s Elvis! :o) Elvis AND Hubby both look good! (Marilyn Monroe was on the other side of Hubby. I cropped her out – hehe!)

So, it’s ~~November 1st~~ November 3rd (didn’t get posted when I had planned) and we have yet to see snow in town. Strange. Odd. But, oh so nice for a girl who likes sun and warmth!

Happy Monday! Happy November!

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”
~ George Washington Carver

A Good Report

2010-11-02T17:07:00.001-06:00

So, I’ve been MIA and a few have asked me where I was…

I’m not usually very open with certain things in my life, but I feel okay to share this with you today because it has a good ending.

Many of you know from past blog posts that I seem to have some episodes of nausea that tend to put me out for a couple of days. These little annoying disturbances started about 16 months ago – 4 months after I had Scout. They would happen once or twice a month and were very random. They were thought to be more of a hormonal issue since us women have those rising and falling levels throughout the month. Yay. A few months ago, they stopped and I was SO excited. About a month ago, it started happening again and 2 weeks ago I started having abdominal pain that would come and go.

It always seemed to happen in the evening and it became difficult to eat much at night. I had no issue with eating food in the morning our throughout the day, but nights were hard for me. It even got to the point where I never wanted to go to a restaurant for dinner, because it always made my stomach turn just to think of that.

Well, last night after dinner the nausea came back and with it the chills and then major hot flash type moments. Not fun. At about 11:00 pm, the abdominal cramping came and literally kept me up all night.

That was the last straw.

I was up at 5am like normal and took my shower trying to go about my day normally, but was in pain and still nauseated, so I woke up Hubby and told him I wanted to go get this checked out. So, after we dropped Bella off at school we headed to the ER.

Not happy.

I’ve never had to be in a hospital type setting outside of myself being born and me giving birth to Bella. I’m a healthy girl. So – I did not want to be there.

They did some blood work and they did a CT Scan. Yuck to needles – though I have big veins I guess, so the needle always just glides right on in. As for the CT Scan, drinking 16 oz of the yellow ‘Contrast’ mixed with powdered lemonade (yuck times three) – all on and empty stomach – and then having iodine shot into my IV made me feel not so good. It was the strangest feeling. It felt like my body was on fire.

Yep. I wanted to go home.

After 3 hours of sitting in the ER, I got all my results back and I Praise God that they found nothing! NOTHING! My blood work was great! My CT Scan showed that all my organs are doing good, no cysts, no tumors, no issues! That was good news to hear.

So, what’s wrong?

I’m not sure and neither were they, but there’s a few more things I’m going to check into, all the while knowing that God is my Healer and I am trusting in Him for direction in all this!

Thank you all for being such good, caring people!

Love to you all!

ps….only 2 more days until the big 10 year anniversary!

“He sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.”

Psalm 107:20

Wrapped In Words

2010-10-28T14:05:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to post this for some time now! When little Ladybub was born, I told Brandi @ My Three Bubs that I would post this so she can see how I ‘archived’ special quotes, thoughts, etc. that my family and friends sent me before Scout was born. Well, it’s late, but it’s here!

I’m sure we’ve all heard the etiquette surrounding baby showers for the 2nd child. That etiquette being – you don’t have a shower. Well, in these here parts – that just doesn’t fly! We get excited when babies are on their way and we like to celebrate. This was no different when I was pregnant with Scout. So, a few months before he was due I found this article in a magazine about a ‘Blessing Shower’ that can be done for a 2nd baby in lieu of the traditional baby shower. No gifts – everyone just brings a blessing for the mom and baby on some stationery and you all sit around on the floor with flower petals spread all over and candles burning in the background. Awesome – except for the fact that my family and friends probably wouldn’t go for all that foof-i-ness – so I started brainstorming.

After many different ideas, I started thinking about the movie ‘How To Make An American Quilt’ that is like 174 years old and it came out when Winona Ryder was huge in Hollywood. I have always been fascinated by the history of women and them sitting around, telling stories and hand sewing quilts. Awesome – but once again, not gonna see my group sitting around a table sewing a quilt by hand! Nope!

So….I had another idea that I knew was perfect! Why not get my family and friends to email me a ‘blessing’ or quote or prayer or whatever they wanted to contribute for the birth of Scout. Then we could write them on the computer, print them on fabric and turn them into a quilt!

I was excited!

So, since I stopped sewing after my wedding, I called my mom-in-law who is an amazing quilter (and loves to sew). I ran this by her and asked if it could be done AND if it could be done, if she would be willing to make the quilt!

Of course she would do it!

So, we did it. I contacted family and friends and asked if they would contribute and those we got back in time made it onto the quilt.

It turned out perfect. It will be something I treasure forever! It’s fun to see all the people in our lives who are on this quilt.

Here are some pics of it!

The finished product!

This was the center square. This photo of me was taken a few weeks before Scout was born!

My special words for Scout!

Hubby’s words for his first son (well, his only son)!

Granny Bev – the sewer of the quilt!

Grandma (my mom). Papa (my dad).

”Wrapped In Words”

Didn’t that turn out great? I’m so glad this was made. I think the kids will like it as they get older too!

Grandma quilts have love in every stitch. ~Author Unknown

A quilt will warm your body and comfort your soul. ~Author Unknown

My Walk To Remember

2010-10-26T12:47:00.001-06:00

I apologize for doing TWO wedding posts in a row. I can’t help myself. Every year the closer it gets to my anniversary, I get all sentimental. I always use to look through my albums and watch the videos from when I was engaged and from our wedding day– but after we had kids, I just didn’t have all that extra down time to stroll down memory lane. Hence – the strolling down that lane once a year on my blog.

Picking a song to walk down the aisle to was a big deal for me. I really like music and music means something to me, so it had to be THE RIGHT one. The words had to have meaning, the speed of the song mattered tremendously. It had to tell a story. My issue was – I couldn’t find one. I listened to all my favorite songs over and over. Nothing. No sparks. No light at the end of the tunnel. Then one day I was driving home from work and I heard a song for the first time and I KNEW it was THE one. I went home and found it online and played it for Hubby, my mom, my brother – anyone who would listen.

It was perfect.

So, I finally had a song and it was beautiful.

The song was, “When I Said I Do” by Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black. If you have never heard the song, I’ve posted a video of it so you can listen to it. I’ve also written the words. The “theme” of our wedding was “True Love” so I knew I couldn’t have found a better song to have playing while I took my walk to remember.

(yes, I was crying and clenching my hands, so it looks like my bouquet is an ice cream cone I’m about to eat)

WHEN I SAID I DO by CLINT BLACK AND LISA HARTMAN BLACK

These times are troubled and these times are good
And they're always gonna be, they rise and they fall
We take 'em all the way that we should
Together you and me forsaking them all
Deep in the night and by the light of day
It always looks the same, true love always does
And here by your side, or a million miles away
Nothin's ever gonna change the way that I feel,
The way it is, is the way that it was
When I said I do, I meant that I will 'til the end of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you
That's what I had in mind when I said I do
Well this old world keeps changin', and the world stays the same
For all who came before, and it goes hand and hand
Only you and I can undo all that we became
That makes us so much more, than a woman and a man
And after everything that comes and goes around
Has only passed us by, here alone in our dreams
I know there's a lonely heart in every lost and found
But forever you and I will be the ones
Who found out what forever means
When I said I do, I meant that I will 'til the end of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you
That's what I had in mind when I said I do
Truer than true, you know that I'll always be there for you
That's what I had in mind, that's what I had in mind,
When I said I do

* * * * * * *Then, as husband and wife, Hubby and I walked down the aisle out of the chapel to “Always With You, Always With Me” a beautiful instrumental by Joe Satriani.

Happy Tuesday! Nine days and counting! Let’s hope tomorrow I do a non-wedding post! “Forever you and I will be the ones who found out what forever means!”Clint Black

T-Minus 10 And Counting…

2010-10-25T06:52:00.001-06:00

In 10 short days from now – November 4, 2010…

I will be celebrating…

10 years of marriage…

To this amazing guy!

Ten years! Amazing! Awesome!

Let the countdown begin…

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.”

~Mignon McLaughlin

Show Us Your Life – Bella & Scout’s Rooms

2010-10-22T09:07:00.001-06:00

Today is Nurseries and Children’s Rooms over at Kelly’s Korner for Show Us Your Life Friday.

I did murals in both my kids’ rooms. Bella’s was a tropical theme and Scout’s was an outdoors theme. Both kids have always liked being in their rooms and as infants would just stare and look around at the walls. It seemed to be very soothing to them. I did both while pregnant and was in a major nesting mood. Had I been deciding on nursery ideas when I wasn’t pregnant, I would have done something more simple – like one color on the walls :o)

Both of my kids have since changed rooms. Bella is in a bigger room and we are in the middle of decorating it. Scout moved out of his room and is now upstairs in the tropical room. Below are the photos from when each room was completed.

* * * * * * *

Bella’s Tropical Room – 2005

The beginning…

This dresser is a part of a bedroom set that my grandparents got back in the 1950’s. Obviously it needed some work, so this is what it looked like before my dad refinished it…

The palm trees. I so enjoy palm trees.

The hammock. And, oh, how I so enjoy hammocks!

The finished product!

Of course, puppy had his own bed in the nursery…

The finished dresser. Huge difference.

This was her little photo board that eventually got filled with tons of photos. The one in this picture was from her 3D-4D ultra sound. It also has her first sunglasses and a couple of my baby shower invitations.

One thing is true and that is, Bella was a blessed baby even before she was born. This was her closet before she came into this world. This wasn’t even half of the clothes she already had. She had another closet full of clothes and her dresser was filled with clothes. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed.

When Bella was 20 months old, we changed her crib into a daybed, then shortly after bought her a full size bed. This was her ‘big girl’ bed.
* * * * * * *

Scout’s Outdoor Room – 2009

I love this light on the dresser. It was a candle holder that my brother turned into a lamp. It gives off cool dragonfly shaped shadows.

Bella wanted to bad to help paint her brother’s room. I asked what she wanted to pain and she said flowers, so that’s what we did. I did about 4 of the flowers and she did the rest. She calls it ‘Bella’s Garden’.

This was taken a week before Scout was born. Notice my amazing Moby Wrap hanging over the side of the crib. Baby wearing is so cool!!!

So, there you have it. I hope to be done with Bella’s new room sometime this year – haha! She gets to give input this time, so it’s a slower process :o)

Have a great weekend!

“Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.”
~ Betty Smith

Project 365, Days 283-289

2010-10-20T08:42:00.001-06:00

Project 365, Days 283-289

* * * * * * *

Sunday 283
“Itty Bitty Pie Pumpkin”

“That Turned Into This UH-MAZING Pumpkin Pie”

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Monday 284
“These Little Guys Are Finally Going Away”

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Tuesday 285
“Bella’s Pod”

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Wednesday 286
“Sweet Potato Chips”

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Thursday 287
“Our Ground Is Covered In These”

* * * * * * *

Friday 288
“The Tunnel”

* * * * * * *

Saturday 289
“Remember The Ugly Bushes?”

“Remember The Determined Hubby?”
"Notice The Missing Bushes?”

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Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

Have a GREAT Wednesday!

“Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.”
~ Author Unknown

Have You ALREADY Started?

2010-10-18T13:36:00.001-06:00

So, this past Saturday I was out in the backyard with Bella chillaxin’ in the hammock while she played. It was GORGEOUS out. Seventy-three degrees, bright blue sky, slight breeze and to see all those autumn colors on the trees – it was a perfect autumn day. Then I hear Bella start to sing “Jingle Bells”. I kind of chuckled, when all of a sudden it occurred to me, “Kari!!!! Christmas is almost 2 months away!!!”

“W.H.A.T????????”

So, here I sit today trying to get my Christmas act together.

Not working.

I use to be one of those who had all her shopping done, presents wrapped an under the tree by the first week of December.

What happened?

I had kids.

That’s not a bad thing, I just don’t have all that time to spare anymore.

So, I have all my magazines out looking for those pages I dog-eared that had cool gifts I can make for people.

Yes, I’m one of those too.

I like to make things. I don’t know why because it takes so much longer – but I like to be crafty that way. Deep inside I think I can be as cool as Martha Stewart.

I like to make gifts that are ‘memorable’ or ‘eatable’. My family has more nick-nacks, lotions and candles then they can shake a stick at (whatever that means), so I either make something that involves photo albums, photo blocks, yearly journals of the kids – or I like to bake them my delicious desserts!

It’s time to start planning before I start getting that ‘nervous’ feeling that I’m falling behind on the season – even though it really hasn’t begun yet.

Have you already started your shopping / gift making?

When are you usually finished with it all?

I need some encouragement here :o)

So – if anyone has any ideas of memorable gifts for family and friends – please feel free to pass those along. I’m a sucker for those.

Any yummy desserts that I may be unaware of (although highly unlikely) – pass those along.

Links to any cool blogs or websites that will have ideas for me – you know!

And so it begins – my most favorite time of the year!!!

Bring.It.On.

Have a great Monday!

“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.”

~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

Kari’s Recipe Box – 10.15.10

2010-10-15T14:40:00.001-06:00

Today’s Recipes:

Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup (from pauladeen.com)

Sauteed Herb Quinoa

Malva Pudding

* * * * * * *

I’ve never made a recipe from Paula Deen before, but this was really good. I should have cut the veggies smaller and I added squash to mine. Hubby doesn’t like dishes like this (not a huge cooked veggie fan), but he actually ate it. A couple servings to be exact :o)

The Herb Quinoa was very good too. My first time to make Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) myself. I think plain would be too boring for me, so all the extra stuff made a difference. It’s a nice alternative to a rice dish.

The Malva Pudding is amazing. It’s a ‘bread pudding’ which to me is more of a cake without frosting. But, if you look at the sauce you put on it – no need for frosting. I’ve made this for over 10 years now and I never get tired of it. It’s so not healthy – but it sure is good!

As always, I always use organic and fresh ingredients! Tastes better and is much healthier.

The only dish I forgot to take a photo of was the quinoa. Sorry!

Next week I’ll post recipes for:
Home Made Chicken Alfredo, Veal Patties with Lemon Caper Sauce (yum), Oatmeal Pancakes and Velvet Chocolate Pudding (from scratch, not a box)!

* * * * * * *

ITALIAN CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE SOUP

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (approx 1 3/4 pounds)

1 small onion, chopped (can also use 2-3 small shallots)

1 cup sliced carrots (approx 3 small carrots)

2 1/2 cup sliced zucchini (approx 2 medium)

2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (organic and no salt added)

14.5 ounces of chicken broth

fresh, grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion (or shallots) and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the zucchini, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Top each serving with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

* * * * * * *

SAUTEED HERB QUINOA
(pronounced keen-wah)

Makes approximately 3 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 shallots, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

Kosher sea salt

Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Prepare the quinoa according to package. If buying in bulk the ratio is 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water – simmer for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed. While the quinoa is cooking, place a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and shallots; sauté for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the cooked quinoa and the parsley and stir to combine. Season with the salt and pepper and serve.

* * * * * * *

MALVA PUDDING

Ingredients:

3/4 cup organic, raw sugar

2 large organic eggs

1 tablespoon organic apricot or peach preserves

5 ounces of whole wheat pastry flour (1 oz = 4 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher sea salt

1 generous tablespoon real butter (do not use butter substitutes – the taste will be completely different)

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/3 cup whole milk

Sauce Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole whipping cream (organic)

3 1/2 ounces of real butter

5 ounces of organic, raw sugar

1/3 cup hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat or whip the sugar and eggs (food processor works good too), until thick and lemon colored. Add the preserves and mix thoroughly. Sieve together the flour, soda and salt. Melt the butter (but do not boil) and add the vinegar. Add this mixture, as well as the milk, to the egg mixture in the processor, alternately with the flour mixture. Beat well. Pour into an oven proof dish (8 x 8 square, or 8” – 9” pie pan) and bake for 45-50 minutes.

In a pot, melt all the ingredients for the sauce. When the cake is halfway baked, take it out of the oven. Make holes in the cake with a fork or a bamboo skewer and pour the entire amount of the sauce over the pudding. Return to oven and finish baking. Allow to cool a bit before eating!

Here’s to happy eating!

“As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.”

~Buddy Hackett

Only Four More Months

2010-10-14T13:19:00.001-06:00

I woke up today and realized that my little guy is 20 months old today.

Whaaaaa?

How did that happen? (Seriously, Brandi, you’re next with this)

So, happy 20 months, Scout!

You’re my little fireball and I love you with my whole heart!

I need to get some video of him saying his favorite words: hot, truck, nana (banana), sissy, mama, dada, papa, socks, shoes, deeeeee (his Mr. Bunny). It’s so cute to hear.

Weird to think that in four months he will be 2 years old.

My goodness – where does the time go?

I love you, Bubba!

Love, Mommy

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”

~ Marcus Aurelius

Project 365, Days 276-282

2010-10-12T13:38:00.001-06:00

Project 365, Days 276-282

Sunday 276
“Scout”

* * * * * * *

Monday 277
“Drying Out and Turning Some Compost”

* * * * * * *

Tuesday 278
“Our Daily Walk”

* * * * * * *

Wednesday 279
“Golden Glow”
(this was taken first thing in the morning as the sun was rising…you can see where I am the sun isn’t hitting yet, but it was hitting the mountains and gave it a beautiful, golden glow)

* * * * * * *

Thursday 280
“The Creek”

* * * * * * *

Friday 281
“Pink Sky”

* * * * * * *

Saturday 282
“Autumn”

* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

Have a GREAT Tuesday!

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not to people or things.”

Albert Einstein

Perspective

2010-10-11T17:24:00.001-06:00

In interviews with bloggers I am constantly reading the question, “Why do you blog?”

I always hear so many different answers – although they most always echo the same theme, “Journaling about their life and family.”

I’m always interested to hear the different reasons why people blog. Some are basic. Others are intriguing.

As for me, it was always the basic act of journaling.

I’ve always had some sort of journal. Not all have been diaries.

Some I jot down quotes and statements that catch my attention.

I have a prayer journal.

I have a vision journal.

I have a ‘family quotes’ journal.

I have my ‘deep thoughts by Kari’ journal.

You name it, I’ve always had some type of journal going.

When I became pregnant with Bella in 2004 I started keeping a journal of my pregnancy.

I liked looking back at what I wrote.

I started one when I was pregnant with Scout, but then moved to writing my blog so I could share it with my family.

I didn’t blog that often – just when I felt I had something worth sharing.

It’s been over 2 years since I’ve started this blog and I enjoy it now more than ever, but something came into perspective for me the other day while emailing back and forth with a fellow blogger.

What my blog is truly about.

She had thanked me for stopping by and commenting on her blog even though she hadn’t been over to mine in a while. She had been really busy.

Of course, it didn’t bother me one bit that she hadn’t commented in a while, so I told her that I hadn’t really been on in a while either and then I wrote something without even thinking about it and it really opened my eyes to what my blog is truly about.

This is part of what I put in an email to her:

“My blogging lately has been sporadic……but realized my life wasn't about my blog, my blog was about my life - so unless i live my life I'll have nothing to blog about.”

There it was.

Perspective.

I know this will sound dumb, but it was like a heaviness lifted off my shoulders. I always feel bad if I haven’t read someone’s blog in a while or commented often or if I haven’t posted something in a few days. Most of you know my ‘personality’ and it’s like I’m not getting my to-do list checked off – so it would sometimes bother me.

Not anymore.

All of a sudden living my life and enjoying my children and family took on a whole new importance.

I no longer write my blog while my children are awake. I am spending time with them instead.

If I only have a little while one night or on the weekend to do my blog reading – it’s okay with me now. I still get to check in on my favorite blogs and leave some bloggy love – but I don’t do it everyday anymore. I have awesome bloggy friends who understand this. I honestly don’t have time – not when I have kids who want to play, go for walks or bake cookies.

If I don’t do those things and make memories with my family – I will have nothing worth blogging about.

And I truly enjoy blogging – so I guess I need to keep on making memories and enjoying each moment with my kids, husband and family!

Ahhh, the relief that can come when perspective steps in and takes her place!

These are just some of my reasons for living and blogging…

I hope you all have many wonderful reasons for blogging and that you have wonderful bloggy friends, like I have, that understand and support you!

Now, I’m off to live my life so I can blog about it!

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

~ Albert Einstein

What Schedule?

2010-10-08T13:52:00.001-06:00

For those of you who read my “Yes, I Am THAT Person”, you saw that I’m a pretty organized and orderly person. Although my mother was kind enough to leave a comment suggesting that I didn’t use to be so clean and organized – whatever, I clearly don’t know what she meant by that – I do enjoy having order to my life.

So, when I became a parent for the first time in 2005 – life changed.

My schedule changed.

Wait, it didn’t just change, I couldn’t really have a schedule anymore.

Enter kid #2 – and schedules may be thought about, but rarely followed.

It’s impossible.

This was one of those weeks.

I try to plan my days pretty good – down to the minute, but I still have 2 kids and it just didn’t happen this week.

Life happened. The schedule got tossed in the trash and I didn’t feel like I accomplished much.

I probably did, but my ‘to-do list’ doesn’t have many check marks and I like to SEE check marks on my lists.

So – all that to say that I did not get my Part 2 post done for “What I Saw When I Looked In The Mirror” or my “Kari’s Recipe Box” post or a gazillion other things I won’t bore you with today.

The posts are both partially completed and will be up next week. I will have to say that writing my ‘image’ post has been interesting. I was thinking other day, ‘Did I ever like anything about myself?’ Geeze, I could find a new fault with me everyday. I’m glad that has changed. I’m also glad that I’m writing about it. For some reason, writing stuff down seems to highlight and magnify things you weren’t able to see before. A big eye opener!

And, I will have a packed recipe box next week. This week I made a new ‘from scratch’ dish each night, so I’ll get those posted. They actually turned out good! Do I like cooking anymore this week than I did last week or the rest of my life for that matter? Nope. I realized even more I’m not a huge fan of cooking – but the family has to eat, right? Right???

Now, to leave you with my new haircut that I’m thinking of getting at the end of October! I need a fresh do for my much anticipated road trip to the Lone Star state in November.

I was thinking of growing it out – because I like long hair, but as my hair has gotten longer with this cut – I realize how stringy it looks all the time. When it’s short – it stays ‘done’ all day, which I like.

So, tell me - what do you think?

Have a good weekend! I’m hoping to get some good photos of the changing colors here in Colorado! This is such a beautiful state live in this time of year. Absolutely GORGEOUS colors and the fall weather is very refreshing. Makes me want to make hot apple cider with cinnamon or home made hot cocoa and eat warm soup!

live.laugh.love.and.celebrate.life.

“There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it.”

~Mary Wilson Little

Yes, I Am THAT Person…

2010-10-05T14:08:00.001-06:00

Yes, I am THAT person!

…who completely washes the dishes before she puts them in the dishwasher.

…who writes out her grocery list in the order that she walks through the store.

…who has to arrange her pillows on her bed in a V shape before she can get into bed.

…who puts her laundry away the same day it’s washed.

…who still keeps a monitor in the room of her 5 year old daughter.

…who has a certain order for unloading the dishwasher.

…who has to have her 3 brushes in a certain order on the counter while doing her hair.

…who has to have the closet doors in the bedroom totally shut so she can go to sleep and not think that her house is out of order.

…who always checks on the kids ‘one more time’ before going to bed.

…who has to make the bed everyday, with the pillow patterns the same way and the lines on her throw pillows the same way.

…who lines her glasses in perfect rows in her cupboard.

…who thinks that anybody not like this is a little off kilter.

Yes, I AM that person.

I thought this was normal.

Hubby has informed me that it, indeed, is not!

“Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.”

Mary Satton

Project 365, Days 269-275

2010-10-04T14:08:00.001-06:00

Project 365, Days 269-275

Sunday 269
“Laying In The Grass”

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Monday 270
“Colorado Sunrise. Purple Mountains. Absolutely Gorgeous.”

* * * * * * *

Tuesday 271
“Nachos”

* * * * * * *

Wednesday 272
“Pulse Youth Ministries”
{Charley and I are officially leaders in our churches youth department}

* * * * * * *

Thursday 273
“Sissy’s Boots”

* * * * * * *

Friday 274
“Autumn Is Here”

* * * * * * *

Saturday 275
“Sun Setting Over Colorado’s Rocky Mountains”
{The sun was actually a glowing red. The photos don’t do justice to how beautiful it looked. There is a fire going on in a certain part of CO, which is believed to have given us this red sun}

* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

Have a GREAT Monday!

"I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life."

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Fat or Plastic. You Choose.

2010-10-01T14:21:00.001-06:00

I realize that this may not seem like a hot topic for a blog post, but believe me, if you take the few minutes it will take to read this – you will be glad you did! My hope is that I can help educate people and cause people to open their eyes in the area of their health, because literally WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW IS KILLING YOU!

I am so astonished at how our society has been so wrongly educated on food, by misinformed doctors and nutritionists alike, that most people are afraid to eat ‘real’ food. They’ve been told that all these natural sources of food are causing all the sickness in the world and have been steered to eat processed and man made foods with the impression that they are doing the right thing for their body.

Wrong!

Extremely wrong!

Today I’m going to focus on one of the major offenders in the eyes of the FDA and the American Medical Association and that is BUTTER. You heard me right, butter. The war between butter and margarine and other butter substitutes. I can almost guarantee the majority of you don’t eat butter because it has saturated fat in it, which you have been told is bad for you and is clogging your arteries, causing high cholesterol, heart disease and more. I can almost guarantee that you probably have been told to switch (or may have always been on) a butter substitute like Smart Balance, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Country Crock, margarine, vegetable spreads or vegetable shortening.

If I can be so bold in saying this – You are doing your body more harm than you know by doing this and you are slowly causing your body to shut down, which eventually brings sickness, disease and death.

(the good)

Here’s why:

Simply stated, butter is from a real source and ALL margarine and vegetable spreads are man-made, processed counterfeits. In all my study of hormones {which in fact RUN and OPERATE our physical body}, my eyes have been opened to the TRUTH that EVERYTHING we eat, breathe and drink WILL affect our hormones and how well our body functions. When we start putting foreign substances in our body that our hormones cannot recognize, it wreaks havoc on our entire system of operation. Our hormones know what to do with bananas when we eat them. Our hormones do not know what to do with the bag of Dorito’s when we eat them. They are unsure of how to convert all those unrecognizable ingredients and this throws our magnificently designed bodies in a whirlwind.

I am baffled that a doctor will tell you it’s more healthy to eat a processed, refined cereal and tell you that eggs are very unhealthy for you. They are promoting a person to put foreign substances in their body that will not be recognized, leading to deterioration of their body, over eating a natural source of food that the body can utilize and use as building blocks to your health. Absolutely baffles me!

So, on the subject of butter, we have all heard that butter is bad for us because it contains saturated fat and we need to start using margarines and other substitutes instead. So, what we have here is: Eat Fat or Plastic. Which would you choose? Common sense should tell you to choose the natural fat source over plastic. Need more facts before you make your decision?

(the bad)

How about these?

Saturated fats do not oxidize when they are heated, whereas polyunsaturated fats do (the oils the FDA is pushing Americans to use). If you are not aware, oxidation in our bodies is dangerous and can lead to cancer forming cells.
Eating natural products like butter and coconut oil does not impact your cholesterol levels negatively. They are made up of small and medium chain saturated fat and your body uses most of those fats for energy as oppose to storing it.
Butter is amazing for your ‘sex’ hormones: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone and the hormone DHEA.
It {butter} can prevent cancer.
It {butter} can prevent heart disease.
Butter also has fewer calories than most refined vegetable oils. As I stated earlier, butter is made up of medium and short-chain fatty acids which contain extremely healthy compounds. These compounds, like lecithin, actually assist the body in breaking down cholesterol.
Butter protects against free radical damage (which is abundant in the human body in this day and age).
Butter is a rich source of the easily absorbed vitamin A {and also contains fat-soluble vitamins E, D and K}. It also contains vitamin C and the much needed trace mineral, selenium, which is an anti-oxidant.
When you eat butter, lipoprotein (a) – a subdivision of LDL {bad cholesterol} – is lowered. This is a good thing. Did you know that cholesterol is needed to maintain intestinal health, but is also needed for brain and nervous system development in the young. Even human breast milk is extremely high in saturated fat and cholesterol – something growing kids need!
Real butter is also rich in conjugated linoleic acid {CLA} – which has amazing cancer-fighting properties. It also has fat-burning properties. Real butter also has a short-chain saturated fat, butyric acid, and it has anti-fungal properties.
A great point to emphasize here is that real butter does not interfere with cellular communications nor does it cause abnormal hormonal secretions. Margarine and butter substitutes do! Not good! Our cells make up our body. We need them and we need them functioning properly and the way they were intended to!
Medical authorities bash butter as being atherogenic – even though scientific evidence shows how healthy butter actually is for the body. Look at the French. They eat more saturated fat from natural sources than we do and they don’t have the obesity problem like Americans nor do they have a high rate of heart disease like Americans.
Butter is stable at high temperatures. It does not oxidize or create free radicals NOR does it interfere with hormone production! We need this!
The natural trans-fats found in real butter are completely different from the artificial and manufactured trans fats found in margarine and hydrogenated vegetable oils {which happen to be carcinogenic, which means cancer causing}.
Real butter also contains glycospingolipids, which are a type of fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections. These are extremely beneficial in the young and elderly (which is just another reason why nobody should be drinking skim or low fat milk {yet, another post}. You can find those who do drink low fat or skim milk have higher incidents of diarrhea than those who drink whole fat milk.
Even the new “non trans fat” margarine is likened to ‘liquid plastic’ by many doctors. It’s no better than margarine in it’s original fake form! Plastic is plastic. Our body doesn’t know what to do when plastic enters it. Yet, it knows exactly what to do with natural sources of saturated fat when it enters it! The choice is easy!

(the bad)

WHY SATURATED FATS ARE NOT ONLY GOOD, BUT NECESSARY FOR OUR SURVIVAL

Saturated fat is used for cellular repair, this is a must for our survival.
Eating foods rich in natural saturated fat (butter, eggs) actually boosts the production of steroid hormones (hormones built upon cholesterol), including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. These hormones (known as sex hormones) keep you looking young and great, and help prevent wrinkles (woohoo) and prevent osteoporosis.
DHEA is an adrenal sex hormone that prevents autoimmune diseases and saturated fat is needed to produce this hormone.
Saturated fat is important for cellular function. Doesn’t sound important? Well, your entire body is made up of cells, so, yea, it’s important.
Saturated fat improves proper absorption and conversion of essential fatty acids {such as omega-3 fatty acids.
Saturated fat is NEEDED for calcium to be deposited into the bones. Can you see a relation here of the past few decades where people have been told to stay away from saturated fat – and I rise in fragile bones, calcium deficiency and the like?
There are scientific studies that prove that saturated fat is not the cause of heart disease, but rather trans fats. This is a post in and of itself!
This saturated fat that is necessary for our physical survival is found in BUTTER and yet our authorities are telling us to stay away from it! NOT GOOD!

LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE

In the late 19th – early 20th century, the American diet contained more fat than most people eat today. The fat intake varied from 32%-44% for the average person – 36% of total calories being saturated fat. Most common fats used in those days were rendered from: lard, beef, poultry, pork, coconut and butter. When you research you will see that heart disease was rare in those days! {side note: when I educate my clients on nutrition, I recommend a 40/20/40 ratio of carbs/protein/healthy fats and I’ve seen amazing success when this ratio has been followed}
In 1911 Proctor & Gamble launched Crisco (which is a hydrogenated vegetable oil). It was more economical to produce than butter. By 1938, Crisco was now a household staple and the consumption of vegetable oils had tripled.
Between 1900-1950, margarine consumption quadrupled and butter consumption plummeted.
By 1950, the American Heart Association reported that the U.S. was in the midst of a coronary heart disease epidemic – yet the cause, to them, was unknown.

It’s time we wake up, get educated and become pro-active about our health! I hope this information has given you something to think about! I can tell you that for at least 16 years I have only eaten real butter. I CANNOT stand the taste of margarine and I won’t let it pass through my lips. To me, it’s poison and I treat it as such!

Below is an excerpt from a website I glean so much info from.

“All margarines are made from assorted vegetable oils that have been heated to extremely high temperatures. This insures that the oils will become rancid. After that, a nickel catalyst is added, along with hydrogen atoms, to solidify it. Nickel is a toxic heavy metal and amounts always remain in the finished product. Finally, deodorants and colorings are added to remove margarine's horrible smell (from the rancid oils) and unappetizing grey color.

And if that is not enough, in the solidification process, harmful trans-fatty acids are created which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. What would you rather have: a real food with an abundance of healthful qualities or a stick of carcinogenic, bleached, and deodorized slop?

Some of you might be watching your weight and be rather hesitant to add butter into your diet. Have no fear. About 15% of the fatty acids in butter are of the short and medium chain variety which are NOT stored as fat in the body, but are used by the vital organs for energy.

When looking for good quality butter, raw and cultured is best. This might be hard to find, however. Organic butter is your next best thing, with store-bought butter being at the bottom. Remember what we've said about commercially-raised cows; its worth a few extra cents to get high quality butter for you and your family.”

{taken from Dr. Mercola’s website}

To Read How Margarine Is Made CLICK HERE!

I have received this information through much research and study from books, magazines, articles, studies, etc. A few of the sources I can tell you of are: Dr. Michael Aziz, M.D., Dr. Mercola, and numerous doctors that are a part of the {A4M} American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is meant for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat any individual.

“The... patient should be made to understand that he or she must take charge of his own life. Don't take your body to the doctor as if he were a repair shop.”

~Quentin Regestein

Kari’s Recipe Box 9.30.10

2010-09-30T12:49:00.001-06:00

Today I am featuring recipes for Home Made Pastry Crust and Home Made Chicken Pot Pie! It is a fairly easy and quick recipe, considering it’s pretty much made from scratch. If you don’t want to do all the steps from scratch, then you can buy pre-made products and substitutes – but I like to do mine from the ground up {from scratch}!

I use a home made crust for this recipe. If you don’t want to make your own crust, you can buy frozen pastry sheets or pastry crusts and use those. I tried a new pastry crust recipe for this meal and it was amazingly good, although, it may be suited more towards a dessert crust since there was this wonderful sweetness to it. So – if you want something that doesn’t have a ‘sweet’ touch to it for the chicken pot pie, you can eliminate the sugar from the recipe and go with plain pastry flour. With the veggies you can prepare your own or buy organic frozen mixed veggies. If you prepare your own, you need to pre-cook them before adding them to the recipe.

Home Made Chicken Pot Pie

10 oz of mixed veggies (fresh or frozen, if frozen organic is best, if fresh they need to be pre-cooked)
1 – 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
1 can condensed {reduced fat and low sodium} cream of chicken soup
pastry crust – doubled {recipe below}

Directions:

Prepare pastry crust or prepare thawed frozen pastry crust and place in pie dish. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 400 degrees {F} or according to package instructions. In a bowl mix the veggies, chicken and soup. Remove crust from oven and pour the veggie/chicken mix into the pie dish. Place pastry crust on top, prick with a fork to decrease bubbles in the crust. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees {F}.

Home Made Whole Wheat Pastry Crust

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons organic raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher sea salt
6 tablespoons REAL butter, softened
1 egg yolk from an organic, grass-fed, grade-A egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract {soon I’ll post how to make your own vanilla extract}
1 tablespoon lemon juice from a fresh lemon

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. In a small bowl combine the egg yolk, vanilla and lemon juice. Add the softened butter and work together with your fingertips or a pastry blender (I just used my CLEAN fingers). Make a well in the center of the dough and add the egg yolk, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix the wet ingredients with your fingers and slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until the dough forms a ball and no longer adheres to your hands. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Remove dough and preheat oven to 400 degrees {F}. Butter and flour a 9-inch tart or pie pan.

Roll out the dough on a floured board {see note below}. Place dough into the pie or tart pan and bake for 7-10 minutes, until golden brown.

NOTE: Sometimes whole wheat doughs can be difficult to roll out. If you have a problem, simply press the dough with your fingertips into the pan.

As you can see, I pieced the dough for the top of the pot-pie!

This recipe was taken from a book by Suzanne Somers and it is one of the best crusts I have tasted in a loooong time!

There you go! If you make it – enjoy!

In future posts I’ll feature:

home made vanilla extract

making your own chicken stock

cheese quesadillas and cinnamon and sugar quesadillas

italian chicken and vegetable soup

and more…

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.”

~Voltaire

WW – His Fascination

2010-09-29T10:39:00.001-06:00

“Scout’s Fascination”

This is something I can see several times a day if Scout is ever left unattended for any amount of time. He always puts the TP stand on top of the toilet before he unrolls it all. I guess it’s art to him!

Happy Wednesday!

“A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm".”

~ Bill Vaughan

What I Saw When I Looked In The Mirror – Part One

2010-09-28T13:06:00.001-06:00

Have any of you ever NOT liked the way you looked?

That’s a silly question to ask females, I know, but with some women it’s worse than others.

I’m not usually so ‘transparent’ with certain areas of my life, but I have felt the desire to share with you all – my amazing bloggy friends – a time in my life when I fell prey to the American delusion of what true beauty is.

Purely cosmetic. Purely physical. Purely fake.

I have made it into more than one post since I’m long winded and nobody wants to read a post that scrolls and scrolls and scrolls with no end in sight.

So, over the next couple weeks I’ll post them here and there and give you a peak into a time in my life when I looked in the mirror and saw something I didn’t like.

(photo courtesy of Yahoo! Images)

It’s a sad reality for so many people and especially the young girls of our generation. I was amazed when I had my ‘Ah-ha’ moment and realized how distorted I had allowed my self image to become.

Did I have an eating disorder? Absolutely not and for two very good reasons.

One – I like food too much to starve myself as an anorexic does.

Two – I absolutely, in no way can force myself to vomit as a bulimic does. My body actually resists the act of ‘throwing up’ – which usually means that in times when I’ve had the stomach bug or ate something that upset my stomach, I can’t just get it out of my system like some people. I am in torment for hours because my body will not allow anything to come up out of my mouth. Probably because my body knows that it is not made to do that. It’s simple, food is suppose to go down and stay down. Hence, I could never be a bulimic.

What I did have was a distorted self image that made me not like how I looked. I never thought I was ‘pretty’ because I spent more time focusing on things I didn’t like about myself (nose, ears, thighs) instead of noticing what good traits and features I did have. All of that caused me to go to extra lengths to look ‘pretty’ and caused me to waste time searching for some sort of happiness that couldn’t be found the way I was searching. I didn’t go crazy. I didn’t ever look emaciated. But I think it’s good to share my experience to let other females know– girls and ladies – that they’re not alone and that they don’t have to remain in that season of their life!

So, there you have it. I’ll be going into the details in my other posts entitled:

What I Saw When I Looked In The Mirror.

Have yourself a GREAT Tuesday! It’s like 90 degrees out right now. Crazy Colorado weather. It’s a few days away from October and the mornings are so chilly I have to break out my wool socks and the afternoons are so hot, I’m changing back into capris, flip flops and tank tops! It sure is beautiful out though! Autumn in Colorado is AMAZING!

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

~ Judy Garland

Project 365 Days 262-268

2010-09-27T13:49:00.001-06:00

Project 365~Days 262-268

Sunday 262
“Peaches Ready to Be Skinned”
(In case you don’t know – to get the skins of peaches easily, slice the bottom of the peach with an X like in the photo, submerge in boiling water for about a minute, immediately put in a bowl of ice water for a few seconds and peel.)

* * * * * * *

Monday 263
“Morning Bottle”

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Tuesday 264
“Home Made Chicken Pot Pie”

* * * * * * *

Wednesday 265
“My Apron Station”

* * * * * * *

Thursday 266
“Home Made Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup”

* * * * * * *

Friday 267
“Small Hat. Big Shoes.”

* * * * * * *

Saturday 268
“Colorado Skies”
I did not edit any of the following ‘sky’ photos. These are the colors in all their glory. This was a progression of about 10 minutes as the sun was setting!

* * * * * * *

Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

Have a GREAT Monday!

“Without goals and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”

~F. Dodson

Kari’s Recipe Box

2010-09-22T13:59:00.001-06:00

I am passionate about baking. If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know that.

Cooking – not so much, but I sure can bake up a storm.

Not the best hobby for a Nutrition Coach, but I make it work :o)

I am going to start posting all the old and new recipes I make on a weekly basis. I post a lot of photos, but have been slack at posting recipes, so that’s all going to change.

I literally try at least 2 new recipes a week – baking and cooking. As much as I loathe (and I do mean loathe) cooking, I’ve come to the realization that my family is worth the time and effort it takes to make them healthy, “from scratch” meals. Fresh, living food is a must at my house and processed food is rare. Because of this, I get the opportunity to try lots of new things! I also feel I live in the kitchen which is why in my new house I’ll have a huge, gourmet kitchen. Ahhhh…

So today, I’m going to start with a yummy recipe, Butterscotch Blondies! They’re like brownies, without chocolate. Chewy, yummy and amazing!

Man, these are good and they don’t have one fake butterscotch chip in them – it’s great. I’ve made these a few times over the past month and have had rave reviews for them.

I will mention before hand that I always use organic ingredients when they are available – flour, eggs, sugar, butter.... I prefer to use whole wheat pastry flour since I’m not a huge fan of white, bleached all purpose flour – but if that’s what you have, then use it. It will work fine. Also, if you need gluten free treats, you can substitute several different ‘flours’ into this recipe. I also use aluminum free baking powder since the aluminum is toxic to our bodies. Last but not least, you will NEVER EVER see a recipe on my blog that uses margarine or any other butter substitute. My recipes always use REAL BUTTER. If you all only knew how terrible margarine is for you – you’d never use it again. But that’s a whole other post.

So, without further adieu….

BUTTERSCOTCH BLONDIES

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (approximately 9 ounces)

2 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Kosher sea salt

10 tablespoons REAL butter (margarine will not work)

3 large eggs

extra butter for pan

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Spoon flour into measuring cups and level off with a knife. Using a whisk combine the flour, firmly packed brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

3) Place the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook for 6 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Pour into a small bowl and allow 10 minutes for it to cool. If you skip this step you will end up scrambling the eggs in the next step. Butter must be cooled.

4) Whisk together the three eggs. Combine the cooled butter and e!ggs with a whisk. Pour this mixture over the flour mixture and stir just until moistened.

5) Spoon the batter into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan that has been ‘greased’ with butter.

6) Smooth out the top with a spatula.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in the pan. Cut into squares and ENJOY!

Let me know if you try these!

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.”

~Erma Bombeck

Week in Photos: Days 248-261

2010-09-21T13:29:00.001-06:00

Project 365, Days 248-254 and 255-261

Sunday 248
“Working With Her Hands”

* * * * * * *

Monday 249
“A Beautiful Young Lady”

* * * * * * *

Tuesday 250
“Home Made Chicken Broth”

* * * * * * *

Wednesday 251
“Long Ride Home”
Hubby’s Bible stayed on the bumper during a 20 minute drive home – mostly going 70 MPH on the highway!

* * * * * * *

Thursday 252
“My Quarterly Coffee From Starbucks”

* * * * * * *

Friday 253
“Smile”

* * * * * * *

Saturday 254
“Home Made Buckwheat Pancakes”

* * * * * * *

Sunday 255
“Concentration”

* * * * * * *

Monday 256
“Colorado Rockies Game”
Living in Colorado, we get to see sunsets like this almost every night!

* * * * * * *

Tuesday 257
“Home Made Chicken Noodle Soup”
…using the home made chicken broth from last Tuesday!

* * * * * * *

Wednesday 258
“Caught Eating A Cookie”

* * * * * * *

Thursday 259
“My Mom & Dad…Celebrated 38 Years of Marriage Today”

* * * * * * *

Friday 260
“Sunrise”

* * * * * * *

Saturday 261
“Blondies. Texas Sheet Cake. Mmmm.”

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Head over and join at Mommmytography!

You can also head over and start up with Sara at:

Have a Beautiful Tuesday!

“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers, and cities; but to know someone here and there who thinks and feels with us, and though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.”
~Goethe

Celebrating 38 Years

2010-09-16T10:12:00.001-06:00

To the two people who have been the greatest example in my life of what a marriage should be.

To the two people who have loved their children with the greatest love possible.

To the two people who have remained by each other’s side, no matter what challenges they have faced.

To the two people who grew closer and stronger over the years, instead of further apart.

To the two people on this earth that I love with all of my heart and admire with all that I am.

Happy 38th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I love you!

(this is one of my favorite photos of my parents – many of you have seen this before)

Thank you for leaving this precious legacy to your children and grand-children.

Here’s to many more years of celebrating!

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

~Mignon McLaughlin

Who Gave You Permission?

2010-09-15T12:28:00.001-06:00

Who gave you permission to grow up, Scout?

Another Wordless Wednesday

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, never give up then, for that is just the time that the tide will turn.”
~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

First Baseball Game EVAH! (a True Story Tuesday)

2010-09-14T11:47:00.001-06:00

Just last night Hubby and I took the kiddos to their very first baseball game EVAH! Since we live in Colorado – we went to Coors Field for the Colorado Rockies vs San Diego Padres game!

Scout was so not interested in the game.

Bella, outside of being a tad tired, enjoyed it and liked getting in on all the cheering.

In fact, several times throughout the game, Bella would stand up and scream as loud as she could:

“GO BRONCOS!!!!”

Yep, first baseball game EVAH!
(in case you don’t see the point of this post: Broncos are our football team and we were at Rockies baseball game.)

For more True Story Tuesday posts, head over to Once Upon a Miracle to hear more true stories!

“Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory”
~ Betty Smith