Pinterest changed my Life

Laugh all you want but many of you can say this. I have always enjoyed baking and some cooking. The cupcake craze plus my love of them had already gotten me to experimenting but Pinterest got me to work. This summer I started looking up recipes then the site went viral. Now I cook almost three emails a week from pins plus whatever baking I do along the way. I love all my other helpful boards but I am going to be in the kitchen before doing a DIY project. It may sound strange but I photograph some of my food because I keep them with the hand written recipe...found a cookbook project, pinned it and now making my own. I take more photos of dessert than real food but I am working omit. One I will share comes from my
Meatless Monday collection. It's quinoa stuffed red peppers.


Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 8-oz. pkg. mushrooms, stems removed and saved for another use and caps sliced very thin
1/2 of a poblano pepper, diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
1 – 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
1 1/2 cups grated Pepper Jack cheese, divided
4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed
Directions:
Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and poblano pepper and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.
Stir in quinoa, carrots, and 1 3/4 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. ( i just cook quinoa and carrots with veggies in a large deep skillet) Combine quinoa and carrots with black beans, 1 cup of cheese, and the onion mixture from the first step, . Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 tablespoon of remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.

Life Happened

Too much has happened this year to even consider recapping. In 2011 I turned the big 3-0 so the reality of getting older has set in and the reality of feeling old is a hard pill to swallow...I choke on it multiple times a day.
I am still a health but exercising freak but knees have almost put my running shoes on the shelf. The big turn around this past year was I got my parents on board and the two of them lost around a total of 100lbs. My mom turned 50 so she lost 50. Hopefully we all gained a few years of life!
I am still doing the same job and I love it more now than ever. The start of this school year was difficult but that just helps me see the progress. I have lots of new children and I love them dearly. For new readers I will explain that I don't talk about my job for confidentiality reasons but it is a big part of my life because of my coworkers and especially my children.
As I mentioned I am loving the iPad. My apps keep me buys from words with friends to my biggest life changer Pinterest. I learn something new every day and get lots of great ideas. More to come in future posts.
I tried to spend this past year being present in my life. 2010 was spent filling voids left behind so I made the effort to spend more time just being present and no blogging and really not much picture taking. One day I may forget it all but for now I am just keeping those memories within.

Hiatus

Can't believe it has been a little over a year since my last post. I could make excuses but really I have been pursuing some new interests. Well and my laptop bit the dust so my iPad has too many time wasting apps. I was introduced to the blogger app some time back but forgot that I downloaded it until a friend mentioned it in her blog post...thanks Lindsey! hopefully I will make more of an effort to catch my few readers up and maybe attract some new followers...come back for catch up posts

Nice Weekend!!

It is so refreshing to have a nice weekend with sunshine and taking it easy. Friday is my day off from working out so its nice to chat with a friend, watch some TV and take a nap. Nothing like a Friday night watching the Food Network...if I can't eat then at least I can watch others do it.
I know I am turning into an old lady but you know I don't care I like my slow quiet life. No Saturday morning is complete without my trip to wal-Mart to buy my stuff for teh next week. Shopping that time of day is like meditation whereas any other time it is like a war zone. I have doen the 3 day diet, the cabbage soup diet and now I am back to my old college standby...slim fast. Only a few more weeks until Biggest Loser is over and I have to keep up my A game!!!!
The mornign was made even better with my new favorite nessecity...McDonald's fruit and maple oatmeal YUM!!!! Of course I got in some cleaning up and Wii Active done before going out for a nice run. Finally the weather was nice enough to run and sweat!!1 I was fine until I almsot got side swiped by a car...thank goodness their neighbor was an old friend from Hamilton. Gotta watch out for those young crazy drivers!!!
I had planned an evening of movies and popcorn, but got a surprise order of leftover sushi (thank goodness Dustin wasn't hungry). My choices to watch were PS I Love You, Dan in Real Life and my absolute favorite...You've Got Mail...but the TV selection changed my thoughts. Instead I watched some choclate confections on the Cooking channel, Because I said So and Nights in Rodanthe. Nothing like a good cry before you head off to bed. My favorite line is when Diane Lane is talking to her daughter about love. The quote goes "One kind of love gives you the courage to be better than you are, not less than you are. One that makes you feel that anything is possible. You can have that...hold out for it" Strangely enough charlotte once said to me she wished for me love because it is the best thing there is...but hold out for the real love. It may seem crazy but for me I plan to do that and if it doesnt happen then the life I have had has at least been one I have enjoyed. For those who have it cherish it on this commericially love crazed holiday!!
sunday is always an enjoyable day when you get to worship and enjoy fellowship with other Christians. thankfully I got to come home early since my dad cooked...meatloaf and turnip green with corn bread...not exactly on my diet but worth the cheat!!! Got in another run despite the wind but I should have used the 30 minute swim rule because I was feeling a little sick by the end. After an hour nap and watching Raising Helen I felt better. Strangely enough PS I Love you came on TV....I was thrilled. Only if I would have fit the other two movies in my romantic comedy weekend would have been complete, but instead I had to watch one of my Little House movies...yeah I know I am really turning into an old quirky lady!!
The fitting end to my weekend was chatting online with my "Sewell" cousins about our sweet Granny Ruthie. We have so many wonderful memories of her, btu we never really get to see one another. I can't tell you the last time we were all together...possibly her funeral. I do hope for a reunion soon. The strange is as I talk abotu actign like an old lady I sometimes think of her. If I turn out to be just a portion of her then I know I have lived a good life and that is all that counts!!!

Ignite the light

Let me begin by saying NO I am not a Katy Perry fan, but this song has some powerful lyrics. Whether you like Glee or not this song provided for a powerful moment. As long as you realize your worth it and a "firework" then it does not matter if you no one else loves you...love yourself and the rest will fall into place.

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind
Waiting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One Blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
But no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby your a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh,oh,oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby your a firework
Come let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh,oh,oh"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow\

Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning bolt your heart will blow
And when it's time you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light
and let it shine
Own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh,oh,oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through
Repeat chorus

Whether you are a fan of Valentine's or not it still makes us all think of love or the possibilities of love. Whether you have had ultimate love, heartbreak or still holding out you can relate to these lyrics. The important lesson here is that even if you have had that love or can't figure out how your life will work out...you are a firework!!! You have to love yourself in order to be loved and maybe the reason you haven't been loved is because it wasn't the right time. Time is not always on our side but until the lightning bolt love yourself and live for yourself,,,you are a firework so show em what your worth!!!

The Legacy

Thank You by Ray Boltz

For about six weeks now I have planned on this blog but just havent had the time. What is interesting is over those last few weeks the word legacy has come to light in so many situations.
Just shortly after the new year on a Wednesday night Dr. Kenny Barfield gave a devotional on this topic. It was titled The Legacy. Sadly I am beginning to forget parts of the lesson but the basic principle was what kind of legacy do you want to leave. Each of us has something special to give to the world. Especially in our christian lives we should use whatever our talent we have in order to bring others to Christ. We may be the teacher, the missionary, the monetary giver, the war smile at church. It is not just in that church building that we carry that talent out. We may say a kind word to someone feeling down, help a person in need, pray for a friend or care for a loved one. We all can remember those special people who made our lives more fulfilling and helped us gain the "ultimate reward"
There are so many things we may want to be remembered for. Recently Michael Douglas (not a fan but hear me out) said he would much rather be remembered as a cancer survivor than an academy award winner. I know there are millions of people who proudly claim to be a survivor!! I personally among other things want to be remember as a great teacher whether in the classroom or lessons taught by my life's example. Dr. Barfield talked about the certain gifts we posess. I am honored to teach not only children but those special children of the world that so many people forget about or don't think are worth teaching. I pray that part of my legacy is having loved and taught those children despite their disability I don;t see them as broken or something to be fixed they are precious souls who need love like everyone else!!
I hope I leave the legacy of being a true friend. We have those who come in and out of our lives that we sometimes lose touch with; however I hope while they were in my life I was a good friend to them. The legacy of good friendships is something most can not live without. If a relationship passes the stage of acquaintance then all the rest continue on through friendship.
Within the last week a sweet lady, Mrs Helyn Cashion passed away from this life in her early nineties. I can only imagine the thousands of lives she touched through being a wonderful teacher, friend, grandmother tip all and fine Christian lady. She always treated me like a grandchild whether it was making pound cakes for Katie and her friends in college or for summer camp, having families over for dinner parties or teaching my Sunday night Bible class. She was a legacy to live up to.
Strangely enough Dr Barfield concluded his lesson with referring to Ray Boltz's son "thank You" Now if you know me it has been a favorite of mine for many many years. In fact as he preached that song kept coming to my mind. What a powerful example of how each life is touched by another sometimes without even knowing it. In the last year the song holds so much more meaning to me. Thank You was one of the songs sang at Charlotte's funeral. n that day I was not surprised to hear the song but Charlotte and I never really mentioned this being one we both loved. I can remember it coming up in an email but other than that I was not expecting it, but once Shannon began to sing tears poured down my face. I was a life changed by her!!! I rarely go a day without listening to this song whether I choose it from a playlist, it randomly comes on or I am out running and it plays on that playlist.
If you have never paid much attention to this song or in fact never even heard of it. I hope this makes you think about your legacy and what you want to leave for otters!!

Snow 2.0

I am actually finishing this post a month after the big snow, but I am so done with snow by now. I cringe at the thought of the weather forecast even predicting it. I think I now realize how people in the North feel. Granted at first I loved the snow. I wanted to be out playing in it like some little kid, but now I just want warmer weather!!

I have to admit that this particular snowpocolypse as they were calling it was the most snow I had actually seen in the South. It was so cool walking around measuring all the different surfaces. My yard saw any where from 9-11 inches. This snow stayed around for over a week, It was a little weird seeing grass after that long time, but I can only imagine having it for moths on end. Okay I will leave the rest up to the pictures

My first impressions of the snow!!

Heidi loved it...Stuart at first not so much!!!

The Edge Snowman

The snow was fun but I am not sad to see the winter weather end. You can find more pictures on my facebook page.