The Power of Prayer...
Special prayers go out to a beautiful baby girl in Florida this morning, to those affected by the Colorado flooding, and to the families and friends who lost their loved ones at the Navy Yard yesterday. May the Lord comfort them and help them in their time of need. Lord hear our prayers.THE WORLD IS HERS!
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." St. Augustine
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| The world is hers... |
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| One of many flights |
A RANDOM thought about my Little Love...
During
the past week, Little Love and I have been exploring the world (through a map on mommy's Iphone). I
showed her where we are in this big world of ours. We let our
imaginations run wild of where Tinkerbell might live. Where is Cinderella and
her castle? Where is Merida and her Scottish family?
This got me thinking...
This got me thinking...
Little
Love has been on 12 or more flights at the young age of 4. She loves hotels
and experiencing new places...just like her parents and Godmother. As I observe these things about her, I am glad that her Father and I are on the same page. We want her to SEE the
country... even more...the WORLD!
If she wants to travel in high school, after high school, or while in college to Europe or anywhere else oversees, that thought does NOT scare
us. In fact, we WELCOME it!
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| Ready for the open roads! |
I know many parents wish for their child to stay close to
home or to maybe even stay with them as long as they can; I admit we are the
opposite. While I don't think there is anything wrong with it, it's just a
different point of view. As far as I am concerned, LIFE IS SHORT, THE WORLD IS BIG! I think it would be
terrible to not experience the beauty of God's work! There is so much
to see during our time on earth. Through travel (among other things) I know Little Love can create MEMORIES OF A LIFETIME!My siblings and I were BLESSED with the amazing experience of living oversees as children. Through
work, I have had the opportunity to explore many cities throughout the United States. My
husband got the fun trip to Europe after high school. Gabriella's Godmother
has traveled to several countries since I have known her and I love hearing
about her experiences. Last year, my cousin who is still in college, traveled from country to country all throughout Europe and we were excited to follow his adventures on facebook. THAT is what I WANT for Little Love.
My hopes are for her to be EXPOSED to different cultures, in their true form. Not the local
Chinese and French restaurant! I mean to go and TRULY EXPERIENCE it. And
at this rate, if my Little Love is anything like her mommy and daddy, I know
she will experience great things and I certainly will spend the next many years
ENCOURAGING her...because she deserves it!
For those of you who know my Little Love, you know her IMAGINATION has no boundaries. I wonder what goes through her mind as we talk about taking flights over the great big oceans...to her future destinations.
My Little Love...my EVERYTHING!
My addiction...MUSIC!
"Music gives a soul to the universe,
Wings to the mind,
Flight to the imagination,
and life to everything."
OK, so I actually had to temporarily change my blog name to incorporate one of my great loves...MUSIC!
Research shows that "listening to music can lift your mood and ultimately lead to a greater quality of life...it can be an integral part of our health and that people can boost their mood simply by listening to upbeat music."
Well then, this is one GREAT addiction!
As soon as I wake up, I CRAVE MUSIC! I listen to it while I read the morning news, scriptures & reflections. I listen to it as I get ready for work and while I am at work. I seem to have a Pandora station for almost every mood. I don't like being in the car without it. In fact, it was driving down the road listening to a classic rock station that inspired this blog! There I was, after a long work day, listening to Roxanne by Sting followed by a Journey song (wow I am DATING myself!)... and me singing at the top of my lungs (NOT a good sound)! MUSIC CHANGES EVERYTHING!
Music makes me:
Happy Sad
Reminisce
Make me want to be a better person
Smile
Smile
Take a step back from busy days and appreciate all the things in life.
I actually love ALMOST all kinds of music... from rock to pop, from jazz to alternative, from blues to classical...But I must admit, as much as I have tried to like country...I am simply not there yet...But classic country western as in Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, oh yeah!
I LOVE jazz & big band music when I just want to clean the house, cook, play with Little Love, & weekend coffee time. Nothing beats Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday or some good ole' big band music featuring Frank Sinatra. For more modern jazz, well I might have a little bit of a love affair with Harry Connick Jr.
Music speaks to my soul...some days more than others...
You see, for a music lover like me, I associate many songs with MOMENTS in my LIFE. They say "one song can bring back a 1000 memories." Well, that just might be true in my case. There are certainly too many count, but here are a few...some are enough to embarass the heck out of me!
Call Me and The Tide is High by Blondie: I was in the first grade (she was the coolest thing around!), yup first grade, I obviously didn't really understand the songs, but I remember having a bit of an obsession with her (slight) and standing on my bed dancing around without a care in the world. There are very few moments from that age that I actually remember and that is one of them...
Roxette & Bryan Adams...(Really??? I did say embarrassing right) But it was the 8th grade and I THOUGHT I was in love & the world had ended ...how ridiculous...but I find this ABSOLUTELY hilarious as an adult! Confessions from a teenage dreamer...
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| Strange combo, but college fav's...Beastie Boys and Oasis |
Anything by Oasis, Beastie Boys (LOVE), Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Sublime, Blues Travelers take me back to those awesome freshman & sophomore years in college with friends that are still very much a part of my life. I will call these the Tyler Hall years. Too many other songs to list.
Edwin McCain...East Carolina University.
Third Eye Blind, my very first apartment with the girls.
Dave Matthews & Counting Crows...all throughout college.
Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Soundgarden, and Ben Harper...the beginning stages of my relationship with my future husband. My other love affair begins...with Eddie Vedder & Ben Harper lyrics.
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| Husband's influence! |
Willie Nelson...He reminds me of the most awesome hole in the wall bar in the world...Mr. Jim's Saloon. Who knew that work could be so much fun!
Anything Mariah Carey...my dear friend Miguel! College and the NC Outer Banks trips my sweet friend.
Lit- Please Tell Me Why?...My dear friend G/Tracy. Too many fun nights to count!
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| Wedding cd my husband created. |
Beatles & Nat King Cole...my simple, beautiful wedding in the park.
Bob Marley, you NEVER EVER get old to me. NEVER!
Jimmy Buffett...my Florida ladies...did we drive across the Howard Frankland Bridge with a GIANT shark fin? Jimmy Buffett tailgating...Seriously, I did not even know people tailgated for his concerts until you Eileen! Fin's up! Although I own no Buffett cd's, he is very much a part of my Florida life now!
Katy Perry...she just makes me want to sing and dance around!
80's Big Hair Bands...It was the year 2006 (not 80's), and my dear dear friend A.M. was still obsessed! I picture her in my backyard, listening to a one man band (Bradley), holding a candle, eyes closed and Poison...yes...Poison.
Now I am bit obsessed with The Lumineers, Of Monster and Men, Lana Del Rey, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Mumford & Sons... But the music of Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, Chris Cornell and others will never get old.
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| Little Love with her music! |
I think I will always have a passion for music and I will continue to create new memories ...with my music addiction.
Farmers' Market with my Little Love and Grilled Eggplant!
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| Greenville, SC Sat. Morning Market |
"What makes the Farmer's Market a special place is that you're actually creating community around food." -Bryant Terry
This weekend, I went
to the local farmers' market with my Little Love and father. It’s true; I LOVE everything
about the market. The local produce, the meats, the coffee, the crowd, the
music, local restaurant food, the plants, and so on. Not even the rain could keep us away yesterday!
Things
I enjoy about taking Little Love to the Farmer’s Market:
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| My Father and Little Love |
-
Bonding time!
- She can learn more about farmers.
- Learn about nutrition and real food (Teaching her how to eat and pick healthy foods).
- Introduce her to new foods.
- Seeing us cook what we bring home.
- Teaching her the benefits of patronizing local farms.
- Getting her interested in the process of growing foods.
This weekend’s purchases
were blue berries and eggplant. These eggplants were so beautiful I absolutely couldn’t
resist. So tonight my husband and I made grilled
eggplants with parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:
-
Salt
- Garlic powder
- Onion Powder
- Eggplants
- Olive oil
- Parmesan cheese
Preparation:- In a large Tupperware dissolve 2
Tbsp. of salt in 1 cup hot water. Add about 3 quarts of cold water. Set aside.
- Trim eggplant and cut into ¾-inch
thick slices. Put slices in salt water, weigh down with the lid
and let sit 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a charcoal or gas
grill to medium-high heat.
- Drain eggplant and pat dry with
paper towels. Lay them on a large baking sheet or
tray. Brush one side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, garlic and
onion power. (Feel free to use other spices you may like. Many people like
to add balsamic vinegar as well). Lay
oiled-side-down on the grill. Close lid if using a gas grill and cook
until grill marks appear, about 5 minutes.
- Brush top sides with oil and sprinkle with salt. Turn slices over, close lid on a gas grill and cook until grill marks appear on the other side and eggplant is very tender, about 5 minutes. Place the eggplant on top rack of the grill (if it has one) and leave on low heat for about 15 minutes to soften them. Sprinkle parmesan cheese. Serve hot or at room temperature.
A WEEKEND OF HISTORY…FAMILY HISTORY
“Our lives may grow in
different directions, but yet our roots remain as one.”
This month, I had the
opportunity to reacquaint myself with my husband’s family
history. Not just hear about, but literally see, touch, and feel it. It has been awhile since I have been to the Charles B.
Aycock Birthplace Historical Site in Wayne County, NC and we had
never gone before with our Little Love.
Charles B. Aycock was
known as the “Great Education Governor.” He was the 50th Governor
of North Carolina serving from 1901 to 1905. He was an advocate for the
improvement of the state's public school systems and he traveled the country
promoting educational causes. He was my husband's great great uncle.
I remember my own
grandfather spending years working on a binder laying out my family history. He called
people all over the country, sending out letters, requesting information,
and gathering what he could. A few of us were recipients of these special binders
he created. But my husband’s history was carefully preserved and laid out for all to see. What an AMAZING
GIFT!
This month, I had the
opportunity to reacquaint myself with my husband’s family
history. Not just hear about, but literally see, touch, and feel it. It has been awhile since I have been to the Charles B.
Aycock Birthplace Historical Site in Wayne County, NC and we had
never gone before with our Little Love. 
Charles B. Aycock was
known as the “Great Education Governor.” He was the 50th Governor
of North Carolina serving from 1901 to 1905. He was an advocate for the
improvement of the state's public school systems and he traveled the country
promoting educational causes. He was my husband's great great uncle.
At the historic site, there is a
museum, an old school house, some old farm houses, animals, and barns all open
to the public. It has a cemetery where the Governor’s descendants are buried
going back to the early 1900’s. That day, I learned more about my husband’s family
history as I walked through the quiet halls of the museum… and CHERISHED every
minute of it! I stood there for awhile, taking it all in, and thinking about how this is now my daughter’s family history as well.
I remember my own
grandfather spending years working on a binder laying out my family history. He called
people all over the country, sending out letters, requesting information,
and gathering what he could. A few of us were recipients of these special binders
he created. But my husband’s history was carefully preserved and laid out for all to see. What an AMAZING
GIFT!
click on Read More
MY AHA! MOMENT: Quality time with my Little Love.
Read in an article:
My
husband and I work full time and we have different schedules, so I
absolutely look forward to days we get to spend together as a family. We love our quality time. But on
working days, I realize that I can easily fall into the habit of trying to get things done around the house before our
Little Love goes to bed. Over the past year, I have
made a conscious effort to spend more QUALITY time with her. I now do a lot of chores after I lay her down for
bed. (Upside: This allows me much needed quiet time with my favorite music or
perhaps a glass of wine).
Now, between dinner and lights out, we try to read books together; watch her favorite show together while we cuddle and I ask her questions about it; sit out
in the back yard and explore together;
walk to the playground together; play
with her toys together; draw together; and we loooove music in our house so of course we dance around together! If I have to clean, she too gets out her vacuum and her
little broom and helps out(she loves this).
“Add up all the time your kids spend with other people and activities that DO NOT include you?”
As a working parent, this HITS me hard…Picture this: You
have been at work all day, you get home, you may or may not be the one making
dinner, you eat, you send your child to their playroom or to watch TV so you can put the
dishes away, clean the kitchen, return someone’s phone call...Then your kid needs a
bath and it’s bed time. The reality is...this happens in MOST households.
In this routine, did you get QUALITY time in with your
child?
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| She loves to play with my camera! |
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| Little Love & her Daddy painting a flower pot. |
Notice I said the word “TOGETHER!”
We get so busy with our lives and we constantly think that the house has to be in order right
at that very moment, but what about QUALITY time
with our children?
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Simple dinner with a new marinade & my favorite vegetable...bok choy!
Today, I needed to create an easy & quick dinner. After recovering from my daughter's birthday weekend that included some unhealthy food, I needed to get our family back on our nightly dinner routine of meat, a vegetable and starch. I had very little time but wanted to cook something delicious. Tonight's menu: Chicken, brown rice, and bok choy!
Brown Rice
Cook the rice first as this takes the longest. I am a big fan of most organic brown rice.
Chicken
I marinated boneless chicken breasts with my new find at Trader Joes...Soyaki Sauce! It is a teriyaki sauce and marinade for meat, poultry, fish, tofu, and vegetables. It contains fresh garlic, fresh ginger and preservative-free soy sauce. It is DELICIOUS! I took the chicken and marinated it for a few hours in zip lock bags earlier in the day. I used a large skillet pan and cooked the chicken on medium heat with the marinade. I added a little extra sauce from the jar (I had plenty left) . I cooked it until the chicken was done.
Bok Choy
This may be my favorite vegetable to eat! You can find Bok Choy at most grocery stores. In my case, I found it at my local Publix. For those of you not familier with it, it is an Asian cabbage. It is popular in the China, Vietnam and the Phillippines. Bok choy is very low in calories and a rich source of phyto nutrients, vitamins, and health benefiting anti-oxidants. There are 9 calories in a cup of bok choy and no sugars and fats. It is a significant source of vitamins A, C and K.
Click on read more...
Yes...she says the darndest things!
Reflecting on (some) of the funny things my Little Love has said...
There are a million and one things that I absolutely LOVE & ADORE about my child. She is SWEET, LOVING, CARING, SMART, CURIOUS, BEAUTIFUL, and of course...FUNNY! Four years has brought the funniest sayings from this birthday girl!
"My butt made noise!"
Yup, that is the official phrase for...well you know....
"You swallowed me when I was a baby and kept me in your belly right?"
What she thinks...
"There were eggs in you and they came out, they hatched, and you picked me!"
What she sometimes thinks...
When you are ten, you can drink coffee, have long hair like Rapunzel, have a tower like Rapunzel, but you can't drive NOT yet!"
On what it's like to be older...
"I love sausage bi-ckits!"
Yes she does!
Click on read more
Click on read more
Three Men, Three Fathers, Three Loves...
"To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today."
My Dad...
One of my favorite memories of my Father is a cross country trip from California to North Carolina when I was 14. At the time, I probably had very little appreciation for it. Being stuck in the car for days, pulling over to take power naps, asking when we could stop, demanding hotels with pools even on the coldest days, holding giant paper maps trying to follow our route, listening to the various news stations, classical music, and on and on...My poor dad may have been just as tired of me as I was with him during that trip.
But as an adult, what I now remember was our stop at the Grand Canyon and soaking in all it's grandeur with my dad by my side! It was a sight to see. I remember him telling me random tidbits as he drove and stopping at quirky little towns and shops along the highways. I remember convincing my dad a pool was warm and he jumped into the freezing cold water! Before that trip, I also recall dad and I just exploring new towns. One of my favorite memories was the Redwoods (one of God's masterpieces)! Although we didn't have a lot of money at that time, we had each other... and the open roads.
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| My Dad and Little Love |
But as an adult, what I now remember was our stop at the Grand Canyon and soaking in all it's grandeur with my dad by my side! It was a sight to see. I remember him telling me random tidbits as he drove and stopping at quirky little towns and shops along the highways. I remember convincing my dad a pool was warm and he jumped into the freezing cold water! Before that trip, I also recall dad and I just exploring new towns. One of my favorite memories was the Redwoods (one of God's masterpieces)! Although we didn't have a lot of money at that time, we had each other... and the open roads.
In college, I asked my dad to come and spend the weekend with me. We sat at the local bar, shared a beer, memories, and dinner. My dad has never been one to show emotions, but he showed his love in other ways. Then there was the smile...that was undeniably his way of saying I LOVE YOU! College years introduced new milestones in my relationship with him. I began to look at him as more than a dad...he was also becoming my friend."A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there. But a guiding light to show us the way."
It is from my dad that I have this constant thirst for learning new things, research, reading, travel, and yes...recipes. I LOVE my dad!
Click on read more...
Resilience: Lessons learned from a child…
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| Baby Olivia |
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| Friends: Olivia (left) and my Little Love (right) |
The day Olivia got her pink cast; I took my Little Love to visit with her. I remember my sweet child carrying around a baby wipe (for 2 hours) and continuing to place it on Olivia’s cast…it was supposed to make her feel better. I also remember my daughter tripping over Olivia's cast and hitting her tooth on it...discovering just how hard a cast is (yikes). Wow, there went being gentle with her!
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| Leaving Shriners with a pink cast! |
Mac & Cheese (with bacon)...Ooh la la!
Sometimes, I just want to cook a good meal on the weekend or have a family gathering so I can try a new recipe. My husband can certainly relate to this. For him, when Monday comes, he is already thinking about what to cook on the grill for the upcoming weekend (I LOVE summer months!). I think about the various dishes I may want to try. I break out the cook books at night and read them like a well written novel and devour all the new recipes (as I did this evening!). Tonight, thanks to my friend Erin who uttered the words "Mac & Cheese" in the car, I came home and searched for my Food & Wine Annual Cook Book (2007). I have been thinking about Grant Achatz's recipe all night. I have never been one to really like "boxed foods" and my family does not typically buy them. So most of the time, mac & cheese is not something I eat because it takes time to make it the way I like it. I have made this dish a few times and it is officially my favorite mac & cheese recipe by far!
Did I mention it has has bacon in it? OK, so this is definitely a "special occasion" dish for my family as we do try our best to follow a healthy no preservative, mostly organic diet Monday to Friday. But once in a while...you do have to TREAT YOURSELF. This is the perfect side dish for a special family/friend gathering. Nothing says comfort food like mac & cheese!
(By the way...to my bacon loving friends...I always add a little extra!)
So here it is, Grant's Mac & Cheese (Click on read more for recipe):
Welcome to my blog!
Well, I am definitely new to the blogging world, but I have been wanting to do this for some time. After a year or more of simply talking about it, here I am taking the leap!
Through this blog, I hope to share my personal reviews of recipes, restaurants, and travel destinations. I will also share my passion for photography, health and fitness (new to this), reading scriptures and my constant drive to learn new things! One of my greatest source of happiness, is time spent with my family and friends. I am constantly inspired by these amazing people in my life and I am truly BLESSED. I have no doubt their stories will also inspire future posts.
"Surround yourself with good people. They make you smile brighter, laugh louder and live better. "
This blog is simply my way of staying connected with my family & friends and to share my discoveries with anyone who is interested. For those just stopping in to read the blog, I hope you enjoy all the future posts.
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