what i'm loving wednesday (8.10.11)

i'm loving that my schedule is getting ready to switch up for the FINAL time this year.  i'm going to have a 'normal' weekly schedule which means it will be SO much easier to actually schedule in a life ;-)

i'm loving fresh tomatoes from my garden (and from my dad's since i brought home an entire box last weekend!)

i'm loving the lifestyle changes that this diet has brought.  in my future i see stevia-flavored sweet tea, lower carb menus (at least 2-3 days per week with very few or no carbs), different approaches to cooking in general, and more balance between protein and veggies/fruits

i'm loving getting into a more realistic sleep schedule

i'm loving that we had a fantastic trip to indiana last weekend -- saw people i hadn't seen in years, some great friends, and ended up spending an impromptu evening with some great friends

i'm loving already meal planning with my future hubby.  i think we've come up with a system that will work so that we incorporate favorite recipes, have easy dinner nights, try out new recipes, and not get bored.  oh, and eat out once in awhile too :-)  our 'practice' month will be september

i'm loving our save the dates that we finally emailed a couple of weeks ago.  (feel free to visit our website if you so choose)

what i'm loving wednesday .3

necan you believe i wrote the majority of this post last night?  and 8:40 pm on wednesday it's finally almost ready to publish.  sigh.  that's how this day has gone people :)  can you tell i need to focus on the good stuff?

i'm loving the way anthony gets so cutely intense while playing a game like angry birds

i'm loving monday nights at emanate

i'm loving strawberry milkshake flavored pop-tarts.  i'm not even kidding.

i'm loving this sweet snuggly (under protest) kitty

i'm loving that it's finally time for planting!  i got my herbs in their planters on saturday (and currently am playing the game of hide and seek with them and the storms!) and as soon as we get a nice dry day i'll be planting tomatoes, cucumbers and squash!

i'm loving the commercial with the man and beaver.  haven't seen it?  ok...here ya go


i'm loving how crazy and fun God is :-)  i'm currently sitting at the 2nd of at least 3 unplanned babysitting jobs for the week.  it's goooood people, it's good.

Thursday's Ten: smiles

let's review, shall we?

in the last 5 months, anthony has lost 2 grandparents

i've lost my house

i wound up in the emergency room

and my car was hit and run while it was parked

in front of anthony's parents house after his grandma's graveside service.

it's likely totaled

(although i haven't had the official word yet, so there is still hope)

and yet

it's been a good year.

meghan and i were talking about this very thing on our way to florida

that we had sucky 2008s

and that year, she said

that we were going to heal in 2009

and our 2010s were going to be amazing

we kind of giggled as we talked about what all has happened this year

and then we fell silent

and i said

"you know what?

this year has been amazing.

i wouldn't trade any of these experiences

or the provision that God has just poured out on me

for anything

i think i'm going to get to the end of this year

look back,

laugh

and say

WOW, what a ride!"

so while i do have a moment or two of down time

and shed tears

and hurt for those who are hurting

and ache for the loss of my house...my car (maybe)

i can't shake the feeling

the knowledge

that God is raining down blessings on me

and so,

sometimes i have to find a reason to smile

in things that i would normally not notice

but i'll tell you something

i'm aware

now more than ever

that the little things sometimes aren't so little after all

so this week, my reasons to smile have included

1. the cashier at kroger literally opening a self-checkout like just for me

(and he closed it as soon as i'd paid)

2. a scarf that my friend laura bought for me last week just because

3. couponing trips that were just ridiculous

4. buying a set of (cheap) new sheets and putting them on the bed fresh out of the dryer

5. actually writing down the amount of money that i needed God to provide me with this week...and watching Him MULTIPLY it

(that one actually made me laugh. who was i to think i could limit Him anyway?!)

6. laura's response to #5 when i told her was "holla back Sugar Daddy!"

(that made me laugh harder)

7. worship on monday night

8. seeing that i have 3 tomatoes getting ready to pick (i haven't yet had one this summer and it's way.past.time)

9. watching the weight go down every time i step on the wiifit...that revelation was for REAL, y'all!

10. watching 30 rock last night with anthony and our good friends kyle and natasha (kyle is anthony's new roomie)

smiles. laughter. joy

a month or so ago, one of the leaders of our small group, chad, had a vision for me

he said he saw me playing the piano

with one hand

only hearing that one part

but playing it perfectly

and he said

that during this season of my life

i can only hear my part

that i know God is playing His

but i can't see it

or hear it

i'm just trusting that it's blending perfectly with mine

and he said

that i'm doing exactly what i'm supposed to do

playing my part

not in a fake way

but in all sincerity

i'm exactly where i'm supposed to be

and the song that results from this

is beautiful

and he said further

that the level of JOY in this season of my life

is absolutely astounding

yep.

pretty much describes life as i've come to know it

and i love it.

what's made you smile this week?

Thursday's Ten: i don't get it

this week, in the category of things i don't understand...

1. appetizers for cats. really, fancy feast?

2. twilight teeth. for real, y'all?

3. people freaking out about facebook privacy settings again. most of them i understand, but worrying that your phone number is being published to your friends list? um...you put your phone number up. if you don't want your friends to see it, remove it. easy fix...

4. why no one in tennessee seems to use cages when growing tomatoes. they produce a much sturdier plant than staking them...just sayin'

5. disposable hand towels being marketed for everyday use. i definitely think they can be used in place of paper towels in some situations. but the marketing ploy is basically that your regular hand towels are filthy and this is the solution.

ok, i'm not sure about you, but i'm drying my CLEAN hands on my hand towel...so i don't buy it.

talk about NOT being eco-friendly!

6. little girls who say they deserve to continue on in competition because "we've just been working SO hard for SO long". um, even if you've been working 10 years (your whole life) and are immensely talented, i can point you to some adults who would laugh at that. a lot.

(thank you, america's got talent, for that particular gem)

7. why on earth it's taken me over 24 hours and two restore operations to try to update my iphone to OS.4. omgoodness.

8. why i haven't heard more about hot in cleveland. i mean, it's betty white for crying out loud--and it cracks.me.up.

9. why all the infomercials after midnight seem to be targeted to the older set. i mean, do they really think 60+ year olds are up at 1 or 2 am watching tv?!

10. mashed potatoes from a box. the real deal is the only way to go. end of story.

join me, won't you?

things that made me smile today

(erm...yesterday? and early today?)

the drive to work--gorgeous country roads (and only 15 minutes away from my house...perfect)

upon arrival to work, hearing P yell "hi! hi! hi!" before i could even see him

(he's SO precious!)

my voice student's smile when i told her the song she's been working on is nearly performance ready

babysitting tonight for children i go to church with but don't see on a truly regular basis...and hearing the oldest (a 4 year old little girl) say "i love you miss lora" out of the blue.

modern family reruns after the kids went to bed

extra money for next week's excursion because i took this job tonight.

emi being happy to see me when i finally got home

the tomato plants i planted yesterday still standing :) -- in fact, perked up quite a bit because of the slight shower they got this evening.

so even though i left my house at 7:45 am, and i just walked in the door at 12:26 am the following day ...

i'm blessed

i truly enjoyed all 3 of my jobs today

and even though i'm wiped out

i'd do it again

(not just to earn the money)...but because right now? i get to LOVE my job.

yeah, i'm not rolling in money

i still wonder about what's in my financial future

but i love what i do

and right now

in this moment

that's where i'm supposed to be.

Recipe of the Week: The "Perfect" Bloody Mary

One of my absolute favorite drinks: the bloody mary. The spicier the better, and I am fully aware of which restaurants in town have the best. I have looked for the perfect bloody mary mix for...ever...and finally just decided to make one from scratch. Can't be that hard, right??

I started by googling "perfect bloody mary recipe".
Several came up.
After reading plenty of them one finally caught my eye.
I made a few modifications, and voila! *My* perfect bloody mary. May not be your, but there's room for more in this world!

*disclaimer: if you hate bloody marys or tomato juice in general, you may want to stop reading now.

**additional disclaimer: if you love/like bloody marys, yet have no idea what goes in one save the tomato juice and vodka, and you're somewhat picky about stuff...you may want to stop reading now. Some of the ingredients are interesting!

Tomato Juice (you can use V8 Spicy for a bit of a shortcut)
vodka (cheap = fine in a bloody mary. who knew?)
pickle juice
olives and olive juice
pepper (freshly ground)
celery salt
cayenne pepper
Cavenders all-purpose Greek seasoning
lime wedge
shake of Worcestershire sauce
pinch of horseradish
Tabasco sauce (more if you're not using spicy tomato juice)
ice

Put as much ice as you see fit in a tall glass
(my personal philosophy on ice in alcoholic drinks, particularly vodka drinks, is that less is more. no need to dilute the vodka!)
shake celery salt, freshly ground pepper, greek seasoning, and cayenne pepper into bottom of glass. Add horseradish, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Stir. Pour in about a tablespoon each of pickle and olive juice. Stir. Add vodka to the strength you desire. Top off with tomato juice. You can stick a stalk of celery in it, spear some olives (though if you're like me you ate them while pouring in the olive juice), or do whatever you feel like to garnish the thing...

Bottoms Up!

(sorry for the crappy picture...but this is the first one I ever made! I have discovered that the V-8 makes for a much more red drink)

*healthy* recipe of the week -- tomato basil soup

Is it cold where you live?

It's REALLY cold in Nashville right now. I'm not too thrilled.

However, it means that I get to try out some new cold-weather recipes. And since one of my goals for the year is to find one new healthy recipe each week to try out in the near future, I thought I'd look for something healthy-ish.

Tonight Anthony was coming over and I told him I'd get a rotisserie chicken to make sandwiches out of (not a whole lot better there!). And then I told him that I'd found a great tomato soup recipe to have with the chicken sandwiches.


That's when he told me the jaw-dropping fact that he doesn't. like. tomato. soup.

Omgosh.

I told him I still want tomato soup, so to pick another side for me to cook.

He picked Sun Chips. I was beyond cool with that. "Cooking" them means opening the bag my parents sent home with me after Christmas!

Anyway, on to the tomato soup.


The basis of this recipe is from this food network recipe. I made it much, much easier though, which I'm definitely a fan of!

Homemade Tomato Soup

1 can fire roasted tomatoes
(the fire roasted bit is important. original recipe calls for fire roasting your own tomatoes. I said why bother!)
swish of extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, Italian spices of your choice
various chopped veggies
(the recipe calls for celery, carrot and onion. I chose to buy the "trinity mix" of pre-chopped celery, onion and green pepper. worked just as well)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 chopped basil leaves (or torn, which is my preference)
1/2 cup cream
(optional--even lighter without it I'm sure but I definitely prefer it!)

Heat olive oil in saucepan over med-low heat. Add veggies and garlic, cook until softened or about 10 minutes.

in my world, that means walk into the living room and talk to the boyfriend, check on farmville, and then remember that you took the can opener to A's parents house on New Year's and you have NO IDEA where that bag is...

Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf (if you remembered to buy one...because I didn't), and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15-20 minutes.

again, if you're me, in between this step you've taken the saucepan off the heat because you're still looking for the darn can opener oh, and when you DO find the can opener? add the tomatoes et al, and then reorganize the silverware drawer where you'll find not one, but two extra handheld can openers...

Add basil and cream, if using. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

or...if your immersion blender is broken because you may or may not have immersed it too far when cleaning it last time, attempt to use the gizmo your parents bought you once upon a time which is a poor substitute at best, but at least gets it smoothish. And add "immersion blender" to your Target list.

So...was it worth it?



You bet.

It'll be a LONG time before I open a can of tomato soup again.
(and Anthony even tried a bite and claimed it "more bearable" than most other tomato soups he's had. I'll take it)