artsy

artsy

Monday, January 28, 2013

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day


Today is also National Blueberry Pancake Day. I had cereal instead and then went out, brushed off the two inches of snow accumulated on my car, and sloooooooowly drove to school. 

Then the pretty snow turned into disgusting cold rain, so I took a nap when I got home. 

Speaking of bubble wrap...doesn't it seem like sometimes a whole roll isn't enough? When I get stressed I always wish for some of the stuff so I can pop each and every bubble...one by one. I do have some in my desk drawer. Ben gave it to me so I could get my snarkyness out on something and not grump to him (he's a smart man!)

But I keep it there in my drawer to remind me that there is always someone out there in a worse situation than me that could use the bubble wrap more than me. Granted, Ben and I haven't exactly had the best weekend in the world, and it would be sooooo easy to just pull my pile out and go to town, imagining certain things to be bubbles, popping them away angrily.

However, before I chose to do that, I looked for the bright spots we had in the past few days, as small as they might seem. I got to have a delicious mug of coffee with my mom. Ben and my brother had a lively talk about Game of Thrones and where it might go this season. Ben showed me his childhood "lovey": a large and floppy brown bear named Bear-Fur. Kathryn and I talked all about room design. And we played a rousing board game where Jet magazine and Born Blond were shouted out excitedly (if you haven't played The Logo Game, you need to right now).

In the sermon we heard on Sunday, the pastor talked about road signs. In situations that might give stress, take a step back. There might be a detour waiting that has a more Godly answer than an angry response. 

I'll leave my bubble wrap in my drawer for today and instead choose to pay more attention to the good signs I see in my life. God's got a plan for it, after all. I need to choose to trust him and DETOUR! take a different path sometimes!

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Monday!

~A

Friday, January 4, 2013

No Soup for You!

It's a recipe roundup!

This week has been soup-making week and I have been enjoying ALL of them.

Soup.

Yum!

Wednesday night I whipped up a big batch of Pioneer Woman's Corn and Cheese Chowder and it was delicious! I used frozen corn so I had to let it thicken just a little more, but it turned out yummy so I count it a success!

Last night I made Smoky Bean Soup with Ham and Bacon and oh my land. I've made it before, but this time I used part of the honey baked ham we got from my family. The ham made it a tiny bit more sweet and somehow I cooked the bacon topping to perfection. It was so so wonderful. You need to make this one right now.

Tonight I'm making Cauliflower Soup, again from the Pioneer Woman. Basically she's got this arsenal of soups in her books and on her website that are fabulous. I'm excited to try something that sounds a tad healthier, although there's sour cream and butter included so we'll see how that goes.

Gotta run, I have a batch of candied pecans in the oven and judging by the heavenly aromas wafting from the kitchen I think they are done!

Love,

A

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A Clean, Fresh Start - Welcome 2013!!

Hello friends! It's a whole new year, bright and clean and fresh, ready to be filled with lots of wonderful things!



Up here in the wilds of State College our pre-2013 weekend began with a plethora of snow which was enjoyed by not only the mister and me, but by my mom and sister as well! It was a lovely weekend full of snow hikes, homemade pizza, killer bunnies, batman, and a huge Sunday lunch that was inhaled by all.

Our New Year's Eve was a quiet one. We went downtown to see the ice sculptures and grab a bite to eat. It was fun to get a few appetizers and drinks instead of a whole meal - more variety made it more interesting!

Pineapple margaritas accompanied our countdown, although we watched more of the food network than any of the countdown shows - they're just not the same without Dick Clark :(

Ben heads down to Orlando to present one of his papers at a political science conference today, which means it's girl's week in! I've got the Pioneer Woman recorded on the dvr, plenty of soup recipes to cook up and store for chilly January nights ahead, and a whole batch of ideas from blogs and Pinterest about organizing our space more efficiently. Who knows? Ben may not recognize the apartment when he comes back!

I read something a few days ago about not having New Year's resolutions, but instead, intentions. So in no particular order, my intentions for this year include...

1. Eating right and staying healthy. Using even more fresh produce in cooking and especially snacking. And eat bigger breakfasts full of protein!
2. Listening to my body instead of looking at the scale. Our scale only stresses me out anyways.
3. Paint my nails! (so I don't pick them when I get nervous)
4. Exercise in a fun way more than just once or twice a week. Maybe as part of a morning routine?
5. Sleep. More.
6. Channel surf less. Actually, watch tv less. (this is a lofty goal)
7. Take time to smell the coffee (and not just pour it blindly into my mug each morning)

As Anne Shirley says, tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. I'm looking forward to enjoying each morning as a wonderful, bright start. Hooray for 2013!

Love,

~A