Snowed In

We finally got snow yesterday!

Granted, it wasn’t much, but the roads were slippery, so I did not venture out. Instead I pretended like I was SNOWED IN and ate pancakes.

[Got the recipe]

• 1 cup ground oatmeal [into a flour]
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk [rice milk, butter milk, regular milk]
• 2 t cooking oil

Mix dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, crack the egg, and beat it. Add the milk and oil to the egg mixture. Blend well. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture; stirring well. When the wet mixture is fully incorporated, scoop 1/4 cup servings onto your griddle or frying pan and cook away!

Seriously these are FANTASTIC.

You can then top them with syrup, or [our topping of choice!] stewed blueberries!

You need:

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• agave
• 1 t cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Mix the cornstarch and water together, beating out all the lumps. Set aside. In a pot, on medium heat, add your blueberries and sweetner of choice. When the blueberries are thawed a bit, add in your cornstarch mixture. Continue to stir until you have a bubbly, thick, blueberry syrup.

After breakfast, I did something I rarely do these days. WORKED OUT! I haven’t been doing anything but yoga, and while that’s nice, my body can tell.

I did an hour workout broken up into 20 minute segments.

• 20 minutes weights
• 20 minutes elliptical
• 20 minutes yoga

‘Twas fabulous.

All sweaty I vegged out and watched Gilmore Girls for about an hour, and then headed to the kitchen to feed the beast.

Craving salsa, I threw random ingredients in the food processor and came up with this:

Delish.

Then I realized we had no chips. So I improvised.

Made my own.

Sadly for me, I had to share this portion with others. Had it been up to me, I’d have kept it to myself.

That spurt of creativity and energy wiped me out, so I bathed to refresh myself, and also ready myself for the next meal.

CHILI!

Better than Wendy’s I say. Linden is THE BEST chili cook. Of course she learned from THE BEST BEST, Mama D.

And she learned this from Grandma:

Baked apple pie!

We always make these little pies when it snows, so yesterday would have been incomplete without it.

Thank you Linden, for making our snow day complete.

Do you have any ‘snow day’ traditions?

I realize it’s very possible that we only have snow day traditions because it only snows once a year, much like Christmas comes, and to others it is not quite so exciting to wake to a blanket of snow. But…share! What are your uncommon traditions? Not necessarily snow day, but unique to you traditions. 

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Good Directions

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea what direction the day would take, but I knew it would be good when I saw this breakfast.

Steam still arising from the blueberries. [For all you pancake recipe wanters out there, I am getting that from my mother. Will let you know as soon as it’s posted.]

I knew I was headed for another win when [haha look at that!] I saw that my hair actually styled well when I did it. [That’s a lot of win/whens.]

Ok, I am ridiculous because I am now OFFICIALLY IN LOVE with my new hair cut.

And my dog. He’s such a sweetie!

Cutie wootie patootie! Whit wuvs you.

As soon as I heated up this soup for lunch I could tell it was a good thing.

Chunky.

And oranges for a snack?

Never a bad thing. Especially when there are 42 bags to be eaten.

Helped Mama D. move some furniture when I got home from work. That counts as a workout, right? Totally.

Sat down to this winner, winner chicken dinner!

Yes, that’s right folks. The 3 week vegan challenge was OVER today! I’ll do a post on my thoughts on that and all when I have a chance to think on it.

Meanwhile I enjoyed this chicken noodle soup from New Mexico.

And some stewed apples that were sitting on Oregon.

Speaking of Oregon I got a package from there today!

The folks over at NuNaturals were kind enough to offer to send me some products to review for the blog! I can’t wait to try them, thanks NuNaturals!

I even made up a little song about them. It goes something like this…

[Ready?]

[Sure?]

[Ok.]

Naturals, naturals…nuuuuunaturals.

Stevia, stevia…nuuustevia!!!!

Natural stevia, NuNaturals!

I think it needs another verse or something.

Also, I do not think I will be receiving a singing contract anytime soon, judging by the looks on my audiences faces. I’m not sure if it was pure horror at my voice or pity for my songwriting skills.

Not to get me down though. ‘Twas still an excellent day.

Started with pancakes, ended with a song.

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and where are your vegetables, young lady?

Was in a hurry this morning.

Enter cereal. And not the healthy kind either. S’mores.

Chomp.

I have a weakness for teeny tiny marshmallows and chocolate. Plus the cupboards are bare.

Speaking of bare cupboards.

Scraping the barrel. Doing work on the Arnold’s Thins this week.

Also the orange stash is quickly depleting.

After work I planned to go to yoga, and wanted a little something to hold me over until I got out.

Enter Orville, my new bf.

Fluffy kernels.

YOGA was long slow deep again…told you I am addicted. This is seriously one class I am going to continue to try to take even after my month membership is up. It is so awesomely streeetcchhhy, and I feel like after focusing on running for so many months that my body just needs to streeeetch now.

I devoured one orange and a handful of raisins afterward to keep up my strength.

And now I look back and realize: I have gone a whole day with out eating a single vegetable. How sad. I might go find a carrot or something to crunch.

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Things of Note

Thing of note #1:

I woke up this morning. At a reasonable hour. And my hair was not hard to style. That should be noted. Also, I like it now. I am going to flip it out and show you guys the intended style though, so I don’t look like a total diva. Because I know it is cute now. Now being the operative word there.

Thing of note #2:

BREAKFAST was EPIC.

PANCAKES topped with STEWED BLUEBERRIES. I die. This was that good.

Thing of note #3:

Lunch was leftovers, but still good.

Side view:

Birds-eye view:

Birds must see through yellow tinted glasses.

Thing of note #4:

Both snacks today were fruit.

Orange.

Red.

Thing of note #5:

Dinner before CharlotteOne was my apple/pb sandwich with a twist.

Now with cinnamon + a funky hand view.

THANK YOU JESSE!! Cinnamon adds the most delicious twist.

Thing of note #6

CharlotteOne [or rather Jarrett Stevens] was right on spot with the message tonight. Almost like the soy latte I had pre-greeting. LOVE was the focus, and LOVE has been what I have been really focusing on with my faith; so it was just perfect for me tonight. Back to the basics…love is always the answer. I’ve been striving to love everyone equally, like God loves everyone.

It was also about greatness. Doing great things for God. With an emphasis on doing.

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. – Mother Teresa.

To sum it up, do everything with greatness, because the smallest act done in love is bigger than the greatest thing done without love. God is the one that will do great things with us if we do the smallest things he trusts us with now in great love.

Thing of note #7:

Emily informed me that MICHAEL BUBLE is coming to CHARLOTTE July 10th, which just so happens to be the day BEFORE my birthday!!! Ahhhh I am soooo excited!!!

Thing of note #8:

I blew the vegan challenge out of the water on the way home when my sisters wanted to stop at Cookout for milkshakes. Snickers and Mint Chocolate. I sampled both…

Thing of note #9:

I keep meaning to mention this, but I have started responding to my comments in the comment section. It’s just easier, and it means that all the questions will get answered, plus I can have more of a discussion forum going there. So if you have asked me a question and you think I just haven’t answered, please…check the comments!!!!

Thing of note #10

Going to bed.

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with a bang[s]

Well I know I disappeared over the weekend, but I did want to share this lovely juice with you all that I drank on Saturday morning.

Foamy.

• carrot
• apple
• orange
• acai berry
• blueberry

Heaven in an antioxidant filled glass!

Fueled me for HOURS of bridesmaid dressing shopping.

Narrowed it down to two choices.

Which did we choose?

Neither.

Looks like another Saturday shall be spent in the bridal shop.

Anyway, other than that my weekend was pretty uneventful. Still saving the $$$ so, I watched a lot of movies with the fam and visited Ikea. Didn’t buy anything though. [We just got an Ikea, so it was mainly just for the experience. Holy furniture!]

This morning I had a freaking delicious bowl of oats, because really, that is how Mondays should begin.

Apple/pb oats.

Which reminds me of a sandwich I ate over the weekend.

Apple/pb sandwich.

We have a lot of apples and peanut butter in the house. I’m just doing my part to eat down the supply.

So I ate my oats on the way to work, while following a slow truck and listening to my favorite morning show. It took talent, I tell ya.

Lunch consisted of leftovers that Mama D said were tasty.

Brown rice, black eyed peas and chow chow.

Mama don’t lie. Scarfed those and realized I had a hair appointment at lunch. Scurried over there, and well, if you follow me on twitter, you know that I was less that happy when I left.

Actually in retrospect, I am a huge drama queen and was teary over nothing. It was just the shock of going from this:

[longer…straight, no bangs, little to no layers]

And sometimes this:

[shoulder-length, wavy, hair in the eyes, still no layers]

to [forgive the photo quality and outfit] this:

Which, when I left the salon was flipped out and the bangs dispersed more fully across my forehead. Upon coming home I immediately put my straightner to work and also found some stray longer bangs and worked them in with the short ones to make it more ‘me’. You can’t see in the picture either, but there are ALOT of layers in this ‘do as well. But now it is fine, and I feel stupid that I completely overreacted and cried over my hair. MY. HAIR. Hair grows, and I kind of like the funky bangs anyway.

So while I was in the midst of the ‘Hair Crisis of ‘10’ I did what any girl would do.

I ate. Pear, with sister[s] in the background. Hey girl, hey.

Speaking of my sisters, they did their jobs today, consoling me and my hairs via the interwebs and fuzzy phone pics. Thank you.

Mother consoled me with dinner.

Taters.

Broccoli.

Spinach + Fruit Salad.

I peeled this orange myself.

Pithy. [not pity. pithy.]

But I did not stew these blueberries myself.

And I wish to God that I had not put that nasty cool whip on them, because they were much better plain.

Jeez, this has been a long day…I’m calling it.

OUT.

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Oats In A Jar

It was an Oats In A Jar morning!

Because really, what else would you do with the empty nut butter jar?

By the way, whenever I say Oats In A Jar now I say it to the tune of ‘Pants On the Ground.’

Oats in a jar, Oats in a jar…looking like a fool wit your oats in a jar.

Tell me that is not stuck in your head. Cecily sings it everyday [pants on the ground, not oats in a jar.]

I gave you a sneak preview of lunch last night.

Now presenting, salad: the leftovers!

Much improved in a dish that fits.

Served up with it’s sidekick, berries in a cup.

And soon followed by grapefruit: the snack.

It’s Friday of course, and like any other working class American I was glad to call it a week. And what a week it was!

My boss said, and I quote: ‘You’ve really cranked out the work this week, haven’t you?’ You know what? I have. I felt rather proud. [Not that I don’t usually work, I do. This week was exceptionally crazed.]

Snack #2: Cereal, Dry.

Crunch, crunch.

I’ve started eating an extra snack between snack #1 and dinner. I enjoy it. And you know what? 5 lbs of extra marathon weight gone! I will be my regular size in no time. [and if you do not read this blog for weight disclaimers, please disregard that. I warned you.]

Roasted veggies for dinner!

Tinfoil packets! My favorite!

Veggies, veggies, everywhere!

And a tinfoil dessert:

BANANA! [in case you can’t tell. it does look a little funky.]

Ended with a nightly dose of Blueberry tea.

I saw the light, I’ve been baptized by the fire in your touch…

Sorry, a little Brooks and Dunn for you there. I think one of my favorite concerts ever was the time I saw them. Fun fact about ol’ country loving me. Can’t believe they are retiring this year.

And how did I get on that subject from a cup of tea, might I ask?

Just how my mind works.

What’s the best concert you’ve ever attended?

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juiced!

Hey loves!

Another sweaty yoga class tonight. It was a new teacher…Jodi. I think I spoiled myself by starting off with Tanner’s classes, because they are super challenging. Jodi was a good teacher, but she did not push us like Tanner does. It was up to me to push myself. Another strreetcchhhhy pigeon night! I love how flexible I am getting in that pose! It’s my new favorite.

Breakfast this morning!

JUICE!

• apple
• orange
• carrot

Mama D. juiced this in the Vitamix. ‘Twas delicious, and added with my morning cuppa tea, made a very liquid breakfast.

Lucky for me lunch was not so liquid.

Pintos, sweet taters, english muffin.

So glad I toasted this muffin to eat with my pintos.

Made for good dipping.

My sweet potatoes were equally as good.

Could have orange every day and not complain. Cinnamony.

Speaking of orange…

Continued that theme right on into my snack. Which was hastily eaten in the midst of putting out fires…[do you use that expression too, or is that local to my region of the country?] In case you do not use that expression, it just means I had 47,000 urgent things I had to do at once.

After work and before yoga, I decided I had enough time to call Dell regarding my broken laptop. [Which is no longer under warranty, sadly.] After 5 transfers, I realized this was going to be no quick deal.

Finally resolved [and a few dollars poorer] my laptop should be repaired soon. No more of this being tied to a desktop mess.

I set out to meet Kasey in the torrential rains that were coming out of the skies. [Seriously, what’s up with this weather? 70 and sunny yesterday, and 35 and raining today. My wardrobe does not know what to do.]

Due to my dalliance with the Dell technician it was realized that we would not make the 7pm class, so we settled for dinner and the 8:30 show.

Dinner was at this restaurant right by the yoga studio, Blu Basil, that we have been dying to try.

It was so good that we devoured the hummus appetizer in minutes, and I brought my leftover Napa Salad home.

[Preview of tomorrows lunch. It was prettier before I dug in it.]

Perfect pre-yoga dinner. I used my gift of foresight to predict that we will dine there many more times in the future.

Pigeoned, Warriored and split for an hour and then headed home.

Random question:

Do you shower at night, in the morning or both?

I prefer to shower at night and if my hair is too crazy in the morning, wash and deal with it then. I realize this may not be optimal, but it is for me. Means I get a few extra zzz’s in the morning. Of course on the rare occasion [usually summer months] that I go for a run before work I switch it up and shower in the morning.

Speaking of…I need to go shower the yoga sweat. See you tomorrow!

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The Way of Love

1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)

¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. 
   Love never gives up. 
   Love cares more for others than for self. 
   Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. 
   Love doesn’t strut, 
   Doesn’t have a swelled head, 
   Doesn’t force itself on others, 
   Isn’t always "me first," 
   Doesn’t fly off the handle, 
   Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, 
   Doesn’t revel when others grovel, 
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 
   Puts up with anything, 
   Trusts God always, 
   Always looks for the best, 
   Never looks back, 
   But keeps going to the end.

^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹²We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

 

Because sometimes we just need a reminder of why we are here.

Love somebody today.

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who needs a new alarm clock?

Me, apparently.

Just got back from another long slow deep yoga practice. It was aaaamazing. So far my favorite class. I like how calming it is, and how you challenge yourself constantly to go deeper into the poses. I was pleasantly surprised at how much deeper I could go into pigeon, for example. It was divine.

So all stretched out…where was I?

Oh, this morning.

Woke up LATE. [emphasis on late, in case you did not catch that.]

7:45.

I think the first words out of my mouth were ‘oh crap!’ and then nothing else, because I was hurriedly cramming my toothbrush in there.

It was definitely a cereal kind of morning.

Frosted Flakes + Almond milk in my lap.

Appreciate.

I did pack lunch, but it was nothing much. A dollop of soup and black eyed peas. I was e-mailing with Kasey and suddenly the idea of going out to lunch was appealing. She agreed.

So Mexican it was. I had a veggie + bean burrito, rice, and more chips and salsa.

Was stuffed, and rightly so.

Know how I always complain about apples not being a large enough snack?

Was today. I had an orange to accompany, just in case, but it was not needed.

Then it was YOGA!!!! Tanner had the BEST music playing tonight…lots of John Mayer to get us into our splits.

This photo was taken pre-sleeve tat, apparently. Who appreciates that sleeve tat besides me? Drool.

Came home and peanut butter was all that was to be found for dinner.

And a grapefruit, obviously.

So I made do. More than made do, actually. PB sammies are what life is all about. And grapefruit. That too.

Wake up late? What do you do?

Me: toothbrush, first outfit I find and a ponytail. I was looking classy today, ladies. [and gents, if you read.]

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chips n salsa

Hey punkins!!! Loverly day I’ve been having!

I had fake mini-wheats with almond milk for breakfast.

Glory. I love cereal.

Got SO much work done today! It was wonderful. PLUS ‘What Not To Wear’ was back on at lunch time today. Pleased me.

Speaking of lunch, it was obviously leftover + microwaved.

Yellow, yet delicious.

SOUP! Someone asked for the recipe…and I think it was combined of the following:

• okra!
• black eyed peas
• lentils
• tomatoes
• corn
• V8?

Make that and see if it is not good. I’m betting on it.

Oranges + apples in a mug. Finally a snack that fulfills me. When in doubt, add another fruit. I did.

Second snack/first dinner.

Chips n salsa!

On there twice, ‘cause after CharlotteOne, Kasey, Matt, Powell and I went to Fox and Hound [after I looked for them in Rock Bottom, but that is another story] and got more chips n’ salsa. Of course they did not look quite the same, but you get the idea.

So that is how chips n’ salsa managed to be my second snack/first dinner and my second dinner. Oh the life of me. Filled with many ridiculous meals and sentences. Like that sentence. That I just typed. Someone stop me.

Ok, I’ll stop myself. And take this post in an entirely different direction.

CharlotteOne was SO GOOD tonight. We prayed for the people of Haiti. Those children make me so sad. I feel awful that I can sit here and blog about having two dinners of chips and salsa, when God knows if they have had even one meal today.

It’s so easy to worry about the little things in life, or take things for granted, and these poor children are without homes, families and even food right now. It breaks my heart. CharlotteOne is sending 10% of the offering that was taken up tonight directly to Haiti relief. CharlotteOne is truly about making a difference. Not just in our community, but worldwide. It makes me proud to be involved with such a great organization.

Another way to help, although I am sure you know about it, is to text ‘Haiti’ to 90999. I did that last week, and it’s so easy! If you haven’t done it yet, I encourage you to try it. It just adds $10 directly to your phone bill and it all goes to the Red Cross.

In addition, I have decided to donate all profits from my blog this month [not that I make much, but it will help!] to the Red Cross as well.

In the meantime I will continue to pray. Pray for these children, the parents, and the relief workers helping over there.

Please, just take a moment and send up a little prayer for these people today. All it takes is a minute.

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