WILW

Here are the things I'm loving today and this week!

Emily and Pat's wedding photos were posted recently! Check out part i and part ii.  What a beautiful wedding it was!

I'm loving the website sparkpeople.com. It has taken me a little longer this year to lose that winter weight and this website has helped me keep track of my weightloss goals. Not only is it helping me keep from mindless snacking but also helps me see what goals I fall short of (I can never seem to meet my protein!). 

I saw this music note ice tray at TJMaxx and thought it would be super cute for my music-major little sister and put it in her Easter basket.  Aren't they just the cutest!



photo from amazon



Bloomsday is this weekend. I haven't trained anywhere close as last year, but i'm just excited to spend time with my pals and get a good workout! Praying for good weather and no injuries!

All month, we've had lots of rain, snow showers, hail, and minimal sunshine. To not let it get me down I think about the view from the condo we'll be staying at in Maui. I can't wait to soak in the sun, it's getting so close!  And hopefully we can bring back some Spring weather with us!

What are you loving this lovely Wednesday? Be sure to link up with this kind of love!

My First Gumbo!

A few weeks ago, I made my first ever gumbo. Never made it, never even tried it! I found the recipe on kevin and amanda's blog and thought "this looks pretty simple but what the heck is file powder?!" Luckily, I was able to find it at our grocery store. I thought it tasted great, Steele approved and we both agreed next time we make it, we're going to turn up the heat with more cayenne!

Shrimp & Sausage Gumbo

from kevin&amanda

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp minced garlic

4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup rice
2 cups water
1 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tablespoon file powder

3/4 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound smoked sausage (I used turkey & cheddar)

In a large pot or dutch oven, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium-low heat. When foamy, add the onion, celery, red peppers and salt and “sweat” for 5-7 mins, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook 5 more mins until the onions begin to turn translucent.

Add the chicken stock. Add the black pepper, cayenne pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover.

Start the rice- combine 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to boil, cover, and let simmer over low heat for 14-15 mins.

Meanwhile, slice the sausage and add to a skillet. Turn the heat to medium, and cook, tossing occasionally until browned, about 7-10 mins. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to the gumbo. Pour off any excess fat left in the skillet.

In the same skillet, melt 2 tbsp butter. When foamy, add 2 tbsp flour and whisk until incorporated and the roux is light brown and fragrant, about 2-3 mins. Add to gumbo, and stir, then add file powder and stir until it is well incorporated.

Add the shrimp, turn off the heat, cover and allow to sit for 10 mins before serving. Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings

My Happy List

A great weekend all around, we went back to my hometown for a few days and it was so good to see my parents and sister, and catch up with our dear friends! Sunday was the Race for the Cure event and although I was planning on running it, my injury has been flaring up so I decided to take it easy instead.

It was such an honor to participate in this event in celebration of my aunt, a breast cancer survivor.

There was an estimated 10,000 people walking, running, and wheeling along!

  My friend Julia and her dad joined us, they walked in memory of her great aunt.

 There were so many people, it was nearly impossible to power walk, so we kept pace with the crowd.

Finish line in 1 hour and 1 minute! It was a cold morning, but I was just thankful it didn't snow!

  What's on your happy list this week? Be sure to link up.

Those Who Blog Together...Pets

I saw this on my SIL's blog this evening and since our pets are like our kids, I wanted to participate too!
 
Riley is a 3 and a 1/2 year old Australian Shepherd. Steele got him our last year of college. We had had one of the only university cancellations on record due to snow so my roommate and I rode with him to an old farm up a long, scary road up the edge of a mountain. The owner came to greet the 3 of us and we told him we were there to see the dogs he'd posted in a local ad. He let out a whistle and about 6 little muddy puppies came running out from their warm beds underneath the house. Steele made eye contact with this little guy and said, "that's the one".

Riley's car ride home from the farm,  Jan '08

Our nicknames for him are Mr. Riles, Buddy, Buddy Boy, Monkey, Monks, and Monkey Business (later shortened to Monkey Bidness then shortened even more to just Biz.).  Although technically he is Steele's dog, Riley is my protector. If I go upstairs, he follows along. I go to bed before Steele and though the dogs are not allowed on the bed, I let him sneak up until my hubby goes to sleep.  Buddy loves to play catch and even though he'll be pooped he will not give up until you do. He loves to go to the local dog park (ahem, which my husband happened to design), run along the fence line with the neighbor's dog and howl with the neighborhood dogs anytime a fire truck siren goes by.

Mr. Riles and Me, Jan '09 - photo by Jenny Jimenez

Chloe is just 2 weeks younger than Riley, an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. Steele had had Riley about a month and we had been visiting a local pet store when I saw the puppies. Chloe and I instantly fell in love! We left the store without her and I was completely heartbroken I didn't snatch her up. I figured since Steele already had a dog, it didn't seem feasible to have 2 young puppies between the both of us. Within a couple of hours, I just had to go back and bring her home with me.

Chloe's first day home, Feb '08

Chloe's nicknames are Da Chloe, Chlo's, Chlo Chlo, but most often just Princess. She is definitely daddy's little girl. Chloe loves to give kisses, lazily sleep along the hillside of our yard, and loves to swim. She's really good at jumping, one day as Steele was leaving for work, he saw her walking on the roof of our house!  She loves to drink anything we are drinking, often sampling my coffee, wine, milk and water.  Although mischievous at times, having even locked us out of the house once, she is a sweet, loving tender heart.

Steele and Chlo, Jan '09 - photo by Jenny Jimenez

Last but not least is our 2 year old little shitzhu named Bailey.  Our best man, Austin, grew up in a house full of shitzhus.  Steele had always wanted one of their puppies should Austin ever decide to breed one of his dogs. When Austin and Tracie decided to breed their dog Violet, it was all Steele would do but beg for one of the puppies. It took a lot of convincing for me, I didn't know if I had it in me to have another dog.  We made several visits when the puppies were born and finally I agreed to bring one home so Steele chose the biggest girl of the pack.  We brought her home 6 weeks later and she fit right in with the rest of the zoo.

Bailey during one of our visits, about 4 weeks old

Bailey goes by Bailey Bay, Bay Bay, Bays, Bails, and when she is misbehaving Terror. She loves to hang off of Chloe's tail or ear, pretend to be the house guard dog, nap with Steele, and watch me cook in case I accidentally drop any food.  Sometimes while she is playing with Chloe, we find her head has completely disappeared inside Chloe's mouth.  She is very vocal, if she needs to go out she barks by the door, if she is hungry she growls at you and swipes her food bowl around, and if she wants to play she does this kick with her back leg, kind of like a bull about to go in the ring.  Even though Riley can't stand her, she still loves her big brother and picks up all his habits, like licking every surface possible and sometimes even going potty with one leg up.

Gone but not forgotten:
Rocko was my cat in college though he lived with Steele as a kitten. I picked him up from a little old lady in my hometown who had posted an ad about a litter of kittens up for adoption.  I chose him because he had just come out of the litter box and therefore I knew he was box-trained :)  He was more like a dog than a cat - Austin taught Rocko how to play catch.  Rocko was a huge cuddler and also loved to chase the red laser light and pounce unsuspecting victims!  After he turned a year old, he got really sick and the vet diagnosed him with FIP. I held on as long as I could, but eventually he went on to kitty heaven.

Rocko, circa 2005

Gonzo was my other college cat, who also lived with Steele while he was a kitten. He was a ferrel I adopted from the local pound. While living with Rocko, Gonzo was out of sight, a super shy-guy. No one even knew he existed except for when he came out to eat or use the box.  After Rocko passed on, Gonzo totally blossomed! He would run as fast as he could from one corner of my apartment to the other, doing laps until he grew tired and passed out!  When I found out Rocko had FIP I was hoping to get Gonzo vaccinated only to find out he tested positive for it too. The prognosis was only a year, but this little guy surprised us all and lived on much longer, joining Rocko in kitty heaven almost 6 years later - way to go Gonz!

Gonzo, circa 2008

Do you have pets you love like kids? Be sure to link up!

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Friday night, my friend came over and we watched 13 Going On 30 while baking up these chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. We did get made fun of because we were baking on a Friday night, but we didn't care because these were really tasty!  Make sure to have plenty of butter on hand!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
from Kevin and Amanda

For the cookie dough:
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
3 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
3 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the cookie dough, combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 mins. Beat in milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Beat in the flour and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a 1.5 tbsp scoop, shape the dough into balls or tubes. Freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet overnight.

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total).  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir together to blend.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated.  Blend in the vanilla.
Using a 3 tbsp scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.

Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins.

To make the frosting, combine the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.  Beat in the salt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips!

Makes 24 cupcakes (we got 30!)

Happy List 4-3-11

I am so happy this has been such a great weekend, I hate to see it come to an end. After an interesting week at work, by Thursday I was definitely needing some girlfriend time and met up for weekly Grey's night. We started off with a jog along the river followed by yummy Mexican food that I'd had leftover from lunch we had catered at work. Although Sara Ramirez is a rockstar singer in my book, I thought the Grey's musical episode was a little off for me. I still had so much fun that evening! 

Friday was spent lounging at our house and my friend came over to make some yummy chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes (recipe to follow!). I also got a quick jog in at the park while my husband practiced hitting a few softballs. I'm working hard to get back into jogging, Bloomsday and Maui are just around the corner!

Saturday, Steele's softball game was canceled due to weather, which he was super bummed about all morning so I suggested a date night. We went on a double date with our friends for martinis and a late movie. Pineapple upside down martini for me and rootbeer float martini for Julia!

Today, we walked with some friends in the annual MS Walk. It started off super duper cold but warmed up as the walk went on. We celebrated with a bbq at our place afterwards with plenty of Fat Tires to spare (they are very near and dear to my heart since this is the beer we served at our wedding. I rarely drink it so it still has that special feeling for me :).

What's on your happy list this week? Share it and link up with mamarazzi and the rest of the crew!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I saw WILW on learning to love and am excited to play along!

Here's what I'm loving today!

I'm loving the sunshine! We've had a weird winter where it snows, then it melts, snow then it melts and it seems to be a never ending cycle. The trees are starting to bud, so I'm hoping the warm spring weather is just around the corner so I can start jogging again!

I'm loving this song I heard at Forever 21 this past weekend. It's got the big band jazzy feel, but also the techno that makes you want to boogie!



I'm loving my bubble gum *scented* nail polish I picked up while I was at Forever 21.

I'm loving the book series Sister-to-Sister. The first book, Stuck in the Middle was a free Kindle book, and after reading it, I downloaded books 2 and 3.

I'm loving the Spring '11 catalog from Ruche.

What are you loving today? Head on over to this kind of love and link up!



P-dub's Sweet Cinnamon Scones

I made these scones for the morning after Em's bachelorette party. Cinnamon chips were incredibly difficult for me to find, I was only able to track a bag down after calling several grocery stores and one of them happened to have only one bag not even out in aisle, but in their back inventory.

The scones were delicious, however when I was making them, 3/4c of heavy cream was not nearly enough for me to make the dough stick together to form and cut them. I realized this after I put the crumb topping on and the dough was so dry I couldn't even cut the invidual scones out, so I put it all back in my mixing bowl, eyeballed more cream into the mix until it had the correct consistency. I ended up without the crumbly mixture on top, but I think it was a sweet surprise as you bit into each scone and got pockets of cinnamon sugar mix :)

And just for fun, a few photos from the night, it was an 80s themed party. I can't believe I'm putting this out on the interwebs!

Sweet Cinnamon Scones

by Pioneer Woman

• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• ⅓ cups Sugar
• 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 2 sticks (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter
• ¾ cups Heavy Cream
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Cinnamon Chips
• Topping
• ½ cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1-½ teaspoon Heavy Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and baking powder. Cut butter into pieces, then cut into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cinnamon chips.
Mix together cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour into flour/butter mixture, stirring gently with a fork to combine.

Turn onto work surface (mixture will be very crumbly and falling apart.) Gently press together on the sides as you flatten (or roll, with a rolling pin) the top. Form either into a large circle or a large rectangle. Mix together topping ingredients, stirring with a fork. Sprinkle over the top of the dough, lightly pressing.

Cut into wedges (from a circle) or triangles (from a rectangle.) Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Serve with coffee.

My Happy List

I am sooooo happy for my newlywed friends Emily and Patrick! Emily and I have known each other since kindergarden; she was a bridesmaid on my special day and I was completely honored to be a part of hers. She looked BEAUTIFUL and the wedding went off without a hitch! Congrats Emily and Pat and many wishes on a blessed marriage!!

photos by madeline james photography

Happy List 3-7-11

The top thing on my happy list is that this past weekend, I finished a life-long goal of reading the Bible! So with this, I thought I'd give a quick update on my progress with my 30 Before 30 list!

1. Read the Bible

2. Purchase and learn how to use a a Canon Rebel or similar camera

3. Watch my sister play piano live in a concert at the college level

4. Run a half marathon

5. Make a fancy quilt

6. Ride a motorcycle

7. Visit Victoria B.C.

8. Play a round of golf with my husband - well on my way with this one. Hubster bought me a set of women's clubs!
9. Start and finish our downstairs decorating - We purchased furniture this weekend (it looks brown in the picture, but it's more of a charcoal color) and started painting last night!



source

10. Put together our wedding photo album

11. Successfully make something with rhubarb

12. Stop drinking pop  - I haven't had a soda since October

13. Get a massage

14. Go camping

15. Do 20 real push ups

16. Attend a cooking class

17. Ride a bicycle

18. Have a baby

19. Teach my husband to speak Spanish

20. Learn to make my Grandma's Queso Fresco

21. Go to a hockey game

22. Pay off my credit card

23. Watch all the Harry Potter films - I bought DVDs 1-6 and just need to sit down and watch them!

24. Eat fried green tomatoes - I watched the movie recently, does that count?

25. Learn to knit - Hubby's aunt taught me this one over New Years weekend. I've been working on granny square's!
26. Not eat out for an entire month - We are thinking April is going to be the month.

27. Throw a baby shower for one of my girlfriends

28. Have a tea party

29. Get promoted to Construction Manager - I was recently promoted to project manager, just one step away from becoming a CM!

30. Buy a lotto ticket - I tried to buy one the last week, but I didn't know what to ask for! Finally on Saturday, I bought some at a vending machine. And it was no easy task since after I put my money in the machine, I realized the machine did not return change and I did NOT want to buy $20 worth of lotto tickets! Half an hour later, I finally got 2 scratch tickets, mega million ticket and my change back!

thoughtless thursday 2-24-11

For the last couple of days we have been getting blizzard warnings and when we woke up this morning, the snow finally came - almost a foot of it. So when I saw this article, I thought the pea coat would be so cute for Riley, Chloe and Bailey!


check them out on RoverDog's Etsy Shop!

Tiramisu!

I am co-hosting a bridal shower this weekend and the bride has requested tiramisu! I've made this recipe a few times and it never fails to please. Enjoy!


weheartit.com


Tiramisu
from  Mother's Best by Lisa Schroeder

Follow the directions exactly, use the thickest mascarpone you can find, and make sure you keep everything cold and in the refrigerator until mixing together, or it will be runny and won’t hold up on the plate.

6 shots of espresso (about 3/4 c; Love Note 1)
1/3 c brandy
1/4 c Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
4 large eggs, separated (Love Notes 2 and 3)
2/3 C granulated sugar, divided
1 lb mascarpone (two 8-oz tubs)
1 cup heavy cream
40 savoiardi ladyfingers (about two 7-oz boxes; Love Note 4)
Unsweetened cocoa powder and shaved chocolate, for garnish (optional)

1. In a small bowl, combine the espresso, brandy, and Kahlúa. Set aside.


2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg yolks and 1/3 cup of the sugar. Whisk at high speed until very fluffy, pale yellow and stiff, at least 7 minutes.

3. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the mascarpone. Continue whipping until very stiff, another 2 minutes. (If the mixture starts to look curdled, stop mixing. If you continue to beat, you’ll end up with butter.) Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and place in the refrigerator while completing the remaining steps.

4. Wipe out the bowl of the electric mixer and add the cream. Whisk at medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium-high and sprinkle in half of the remaining sugar (you don’t have to be precise). Continue whipping until the cream holds stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture and return the bowl it to the refrigerator.

5. Thoroughly wash and dry the electric mixer bowl and whisk attachment and add the egg whites. Beat the egg whites at medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to high (don’t scrape the bowl or you could deflate the whites) and sprinkle in the remaining sugar. Continue beating until the whites hold stiff peaks.

6. Gently fold one-third of the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture (folding in a small amount of the whites at first lightens the mixture and makes it easier to fold in the remaining whites without overmixing, which would deflate the whites). Fold in the remaining whites and return the mixture to the refrigerator.

7. One at a time, dip the ladyfingers briefly (make sure they’re submerged) into the espresso mixture and place side by side in a 9x13x2-inch baking dish until the bottom of the pan is covered. (Make sure you dip for only a second – you don’t want the ladyfingers to be soaked to the center or your tiramisu will end up mushy.) Depending on how you arrange the ladyfingers, you should get 19 to 20 in the dish; you may have to trim a little off the ends of the ones in the corners.

8. Spread half the mascarpone mixture (about 4 cups) over the lady fingers.

9. Repeat another layer of dipped ladyfingers, followed by the remaining mascarpone mixture.

10. Cover with plastic wrap and wrap the dish in the refrigerator to chill overnight before cutting.

11. Cut the tiramisu into thirds lengthwise and crosswise to make 9 portions. Use an offset spatula to lift each portion onto a serving plate, sprinkle with cocoa powder and top with shaved chocolate, if desired (Love Note 5), and serve.


 
LOVE NOTES

1. If you don’t have an espresso machine, I highly recommend stopping at the nearest café to pick up the shots rather than using instant espresso. The flavor is far superior.

2. Separating eggs require care and caution. If just a drop of yolks gets in the whites, they won’t whip up. That’s because the yolk has fat, and just a little fat, oil or soap (even residue on plastic containers) can keep the whites from whipping. To ensure the whites stay pristine, crack an egg into a small bowl, scoop out the yolk with your (clean fingers, and place it in a separate bowl. Then dump the egg white into its own bowl. Repeat with the remaining eggs. This way if a yolk breaks during cracking, you’ll only have to toss out one egg, not the whole batch. By the way, whites whip best when they are at room temperature.


3. This dish is made with uncooked eggs. Although the risk is very low (about 0.005 percent according too the American Egg Board), substitute pasteurized eggs if you’d prefer.


4. The best ladyfingers for this recipe are very dry and crisp. They’re often called savoiardi and are imported from Italy. If you can’t find these and your supermarket only has soft, cakelike ladyfingers, you will need to let them dry out in the oven first. Moist ladyfingers will soak up too much liquid and the tiramisu will be mushy. To dry them out, arrange them on a baking sheet and place in a 250F oven for about 20 minutes, until brittle, flipping each one over halfway through.

thoughtless thursday 2-17-11

I have Maui on the brain. We are really hoping we can fiNaLLy go on our honeymoon this spring.

weheartit.com

I finished the Old Testament last week and now that I'm in the New Testament I can't seem to put it down! Wow, wow wow!


weheartit.com

I am going to an 80s themed bachelorette party next month and I need some serious help with my outfit! The only thing I know about the 80s is the awesome music from that decade! This is one of my favorite songs, which coincidently was the song my parents for kissed to according to my mom:

Happy Valentine's Day!



valentine's day 2007

Happy Valentine's Day! In Spanish, there are a few names for today's special day: Feliz Día de San Valentín - Happy Valentine's Day;  día de los enamorados – day of the lovers; and día de amor y amistad – day of love and friendship.  Today, Steele and I are going take advantage of Qdoba's special BOGO for a kiss :)

qdoba.com

 

Go Red for Women

I have this awful fear of wearing the color red. It dates back to when I was in 8th grade, we had a Christmas band concert and were told to wear Christmas colors. I wore a red sweater and while I was backstage, a fellow band member started singing "KOOLAID" while waving his hands back and forth. I was MORTIFIED! From that point forward, I didn't dare wear the color until last year when our company sponsored the women in our region to attend the Go Red for Women convention. I had a minor meltdown before the event, dreadfully wore my red top for the few hours and immediately took it off and happily gave it to my aunt.

This year, we are fortunate enough that my company has sponsored us to attend the event again and rather than have another breakdown, my husband suggested I wear red, but tone it down with a sweater or vest. He went shopping with me and helped me put this oufit together - gray slacks, a red sequened top and a white cardigan.  For once I actually feel great wearing red!

Also, I wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post! The doctors were pretty confident the mass was benign, but I opted to have it removed because it was starting to get uncomfortable. Just a reminder that if you see something out of the norm, be sure to have it checked out!

Happy List 2.6.11

I am so thankful this weekend.  I had a biopsy done on Friday morning and everything went very smoothly.  Aside from feeling like I was punched in the surgical area and a few side effects from the pain meds, I feel so blessed.  My husband has been absolutely wonderful in taking care of me and I seriously could feel the power of all the prayers and well-wishes from our family and friends!

I must be super duper excited for the Super Bowl because as I was waking up from the surgery, my conversation with the nurse went like this:

Me drowsily to the nurse: "Is it over?"

Nurse: "Yes, we're all done!"

Me: "Oh my gosh, I was dreaming about what appetizers I was going to bring to the Super Bowl party!"

Nurse: "I know, you were telling us about this artichoke dip - it sounded delicious!"

Ha!

What's on your happy list this week? Be sure to grab the Happy List button and link up!

thoughtless thursday 2-3-11

I received this in an email this morning and thought it to be very inspirational! Happy Thursday folks, the weekend is almost here:)

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee!

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. 

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.  Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.  Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter.  “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? 

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes their way.