Mother's Day 2010 - Two Out Of Three Is Not Bad!

Recent Facebook Status Update:

"Forget the jewelry, fancy dinners, and spa treatments. All I want for Mother's Day is a clean house, a clean car, and empty laundry baskets so that I can enjoy the day without feeling like I need to do those things!"

And now on Mother's Day eve I am celebrating two out of three! Yay! Yesterday Rich helped me get the house cleaned and today all of my boys are cleaning the car for me (scary inside included)!

Sadly, my laundry piles looking like the before picture in this post again, but I'm going to enjoy these other victories and save that BATTLE for another day!

Happy Mother's Day, friends!

"I'm strong to the finish 'cause I eats my spinach!"

I put this salad together today, I kind of drew from different sources to create it. I really love the combination of flavors. Enjoy! I'll call it...

"Alana is Eating Spinach!" Salad
(aptly named because eating spinach is a new thing for me)

Baby Spinach Leaves


Sliced Strawberries


Toasted Almonds


Sliced Cucumbers (I prefer peeled)


Brianna's Blushed Wine Vinaigrette Dressing


This dressing is sooooooo delicious!!

Well, that is basically it, I hope you enjoy it. Of course, you could add some diced chicken to it and that would make a wonderful and healthy lunch or meal!

I loved all your recipes for vegetables in the my last post, how about sharing some of your favorite salad recipes with me as well? Especially ones that include spinach as I am trying to fit more of this into my diet!

Thanks, friends!

Eat Your Veggies!

I have never been a fan of vegetables. Ask my Mom. As a kid, the extent of my vegetable repertoire was green beans, corn, and potatoes (provided you count those last two as actual vegetables). I have broadened my horizon a bit as an adult, but want to do better. It's just...well....they don't taste very good! This is where you come in. Will you share your favorite vegetables with me and how you prepare them? In turn, I will share my favorite vegetable recipe with you. This one is super healthy and soooooo good!

Crisp Green Beans with Lemon
(I made that title up...pretty catchy, huh?)

Fresh Green Beans
Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt

Snap the ends off the green beans (or buy the ones in the packaged that are already snapped....but only use fresh ones)! Boil the beans until they are crisp tender. Drain water, add fresh lemon juice (start with 1/2 a lemon and add more to taste), drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Adjust all ingredients to taste. Start with smaller amounts and add more as needed. These are simply delicious. Try them!

Haiku

understanding grace
years of wasted energy
rest in You at last

Will's Letter To Haiti

I posted this on Facebook awhile back, but I wanted to record it here as well.

One day out of the blue, William handed me this "letter" to the people of Haiti. He wrote it completely on his own with no prompting from us. I just love this little guy's heart.

Translation:

Dear The People of Haiti,

I'm sorry that you had an earthquake.

From Will

Sweet boy. I just love it.

Frugal Starts With An F, But is Not A Bad Word - #1

So Rich and I have been making some drastic changing to our spending and general financial habits lately. We read Dave Ramsey's, Total Money Makeover, and have been taking his Financial Peace course. I HIGHLY recommend both by the way. It has completely changed our thinking on financial matters in a very positive way. We are talking paradigm shift, 180 degree kind of change! As a result we have been looking for lots of ways to save money and pay off any and ALL debt ASAP! I thought I would share a few of the ways I have been doing that.

Now I will admit that not all of the changes we have made have been fun ones, but there are some that I have actually come to like and/or appreciate. These are the ones I will share with you from time to time. The first one I am going to share is the most recent. Are you ready for this? I made my own laundry detergent. Yep. Rich and I actually made it together and I will go so far as to say that it was actually kind of fun. Rich totally digs this kind of stuff. One time (just for fun) he tried to make batteries using only water. Yeah, I don't get it either, but to each his own, right?

Anywho. I admit that I probably would have never tried this if I had not actually tried a sample that a friend gave me and liked it. Of course, it took me about two years to get around to actually making it myself, but here I am nonetheless.

So, here is the recipe that I used. It is actually REALLY easy. The hardest part was actually finding the ingredients. Btown friends, let me know if you want to try it and I will give you a sample of what I made. Also, I can tell you where to find all the ingredients in one place instead of traipsing all over town for the various items.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT

6 cups water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 Cup Super Washing Soda(Arm & Hammer)
2 TBL Glycerin
2.5 Gallon Bucket

Heat 6 cups water on medium heat in a pot on the stove. Grate the bar of Fels Naptha Soap into the hot water and stir until dissolved. Add the washing soda and borax. Stir until thickened. Remove from heat. Pour into 2.5 gallon bucket. Add glycerin and fill to top with hot water, mixing well. Let stand 12-24 hours until cool and gelled. Mixture can be scented with pure essential oils. (about 12 drops for the whole recipe or divide it up into smaller amounts and experiment if you like) Shake well before each use and use 1/2 cup per load.

Happy Laundering!

Do You Savor?

I had this question posed to me recently and my first initial reaction was, "Of course!". However, upon further reflection I found that I actually was not savoring. In fact, I'm not sure I had even taken the time to understand the word fully ("taken the time" being operative words here). I think I was enjoying at best. To me, enjoying is noticing the moment and thinking "this is nice", but that's about it. There isn't a lot more to the thought process or experience than that. Savoring, I am discovering is an entirely different thing. It includes being present and taking the time to truly feel, experience, appreciate, and take in all the aspects of the moment. Savoring necessitates your presence. If you aren't fully present in the moment, you aren't savoring it.

When I really started thinking about this and trying it out, I found that instead of savoring the moment, I was always thinking about what came next. I might be taking a nice long bubble bath, but during the bath I was thinking about what I had to do next (laundry, dishes, phone calls, cleaning, etc.). I decided to make a concerted effort to change this and it has been such a beautiful change. I mean God gave us this lovely thing called life, and yes there are difficult aspects to it, but there are also so many wonderful aspects that we have to not only enjoy, but savor. Now, when I have a moment to myself to have a bath or eat a chocolate, or sip a nice cup of hot tea, I really try to be present in the moment. I even find myself setting the stage for the moment by lighting a candle and picking my favorite bubble bath, or choosing my favorite tea cup to enhance my favorite flavor of tea (Earl Grey). I have come to love these experiences so much.

I challenge you to ask yourself the question, "Do I savor?" and then answer it honestly. Some of you will realize that you already do a great job of savoring, and some of you will come to a different realization and find that you are enjoying at best.

Before I close, let me just address some of the excuses that may already be popping up in your head.

1) "I don't have time to savor."

This was one of the first ones that came to mind for me. But let's face it, if you have time to read this blog post or peruse FB or...or...or..., you have time to spend 10 minutes (at least) in a bubble bath, or taking a walk, or sipping a cup of tea or coffee, or (fill in the blank with something you really enjoy doing). It's not really about quantity as much as quality.

2) "I don't have the money to savor."

This one also came to my mind as we are currently on a very tight budget. It's not like I could pay for a trip to the spa or anything. In fact, I really couldn't even splurge on a new candle scent, bubble bath, or tea cup. Just use what you have! You'll be surprised what you already have hanging out in your house that you can use for this purpose. I found candles I had completely forgotten about. Also, you can hit the sales or even a thrift store.

3) "Kids. Need I say more?"

No, you need not say more. I understand this and although my kids are older than some of yours, I do know that all kids go to bed, and some of them take naps. Instead of using all of their sleep time to catch up on chores (or blogs or FB or even sleep), use some of it to have a moment of savoring. You won't regret it!

Okay, one last thing. When you take this time to truly be quiet and savor, you will find Someone there to meet you. And by someone I do not mean your husband or kids (although I realize this might be a distinct possibility). I am referring to God. You will find that He will meet you right where you are at in that moment and if you are open to it, He will fill you up with His love, grace, and truth! And we can all use a little more of that in our lives! Amen? And just for the record, I did not set out for these savoring times to become "quiet times" per se, but many times that is what just naturally comes to be. When you are truly quiet and present, it gives Him space to show up. It's a truly wonderful thing! I pray you will try it...and if you do, please let me know how your experience turns out!

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10