Saturday, August 30, 2008

  {Im a maniac, maniac thats for sure...}



It's Saturday night, so I am going wild and crazy and doing what every other wild crazy 24 year old is doing....

Yeah Baby! I'm BAKING BREAD!!! lol
This is a little wild and crazy for me, as I have been trained as a culinary chef, not a baker. But its always fun to try something new, right?
Plus I had a stack of bananas that were black and some zucchini that was going bad!

So I am going to wrap one of each loaf and take them to my sister tomorrow so I'm not tempted to eat two loafs of banana nut or zucchini bread!! (After all, I have lost 1.5 POUNDS!!!! YEAH!!)

So I wouldn't be a very good blogger if I didn't share the recipes with you, right! Have at it, let me know if you make them and what you think! :)

Banana Nut Bread:

(makes 1 loaf)
2 C. AP flour
1 tsp. baking SODA
1.4 tsp. salt
1.2 C. butter
3.4 C brown sugar (light)
2 eggs
about 3 over ripe bananas, mashed
1.2 C chopped walnuts

Make it:
1. Preheat oven to 350* degrees (see note). Spray loaf pan.

2. In large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, mashed bananas,a nd nuts. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture just until moist. Do NOT over mix! Pour into loaf pan.

3. Bake about an hour or until done in middle.

Zucchini Bread:

(makes 2 loaves)
3 eggs
1 C. Veggie Oil (or applesauce)
2 C. sugar
2 C grated zucchini (no need to squeeze out the water!)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 C. AP flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking SODA
1/4 tsp. baking POWDER
1 tsp. salt
1/2 C chopped walnuts

Make it:
1. Preheat oven to 325* (see note) Spray down your loaf pan really well with non stick cooking spray. I don't flour mine, but if you must go right on ahead. I also like the cooking spray that has flour in it for something like this!

2. In large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. In separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and powder, salt, and nuts. (mix these well together so all of the ingredients are Incorporated into the entire bread) Mix the dry into the wet (I do this in 1/3's so it makes it a little easier to mix. But ONLY MIX until its just stirred together. Over mixing will make a brick bread!)

3. Pour batter into loaf pans and bake about an hour or until done in the center.

**NOTE: I baked both of these breads together on a 350 degree oven for an hour, and they both came out perfect! So if your going to make them together, 350 seemed to be the magic number.

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Friday, August 29, 2008

  {Get Yo SHINE ON!}

So, one of the things I look forward to the most is out Woman's Conference at church every year. We get to have amazing worship, great speakers, small groups, one on one prayer time...its definitely life changing. Well, last year our theme was "He Rules, You Rock!" and it changed my life forever. But this year, my life has taken some turns for the worst, some for the good, and I am realizing more and more that I need and want love in my life. Not only from my family and friends, but from my self. And I want to give more love to others. So when I heard that this years theme was "Love Revolution" I freaked out!


We are having a huge 70's theme and the whole hippie shabang! Its great! Well, last night we had a kind of a "pre conference meeting" called Shine On (our conference is called "Shine"). We had INCREDIBLE praise and worship time, our Pastor's wife, Pastor Laura, gave a moving message, and we got to sign up to volunteer for the conference, which is just 6 weeks away.


So I thought I would share with everyone the awesome night my sister and I had together. Including the electric slide, a robot dance off between one of our pastors and one of the dancers, and a whole heck of a lot of fun. (Did I mention that these dancers were on roller skates?! My word!)
So enjoy the photos, and please be praying that the conference this year changes the lives of MANY woman and that God performs miracles in each and every one of their lives...including mine! :)

Me getting ready, being silly! (in the bathroom no less





This is just before it started:


YAY SHINE! :)


Our awesome roller skating dancers! Two of the girls up there have newborns! And one has three kids! You go girls!


Beautiful Praise and Worship!


This was such a beautiful moment of praise, Im so sorry it came out all blurry, but you get the idea! :)

Ruth and Nadine going to town!

Our beautiful Pastor Laura, Pastor Rob's wife. She was totally rocking those boots!!



Wednesday, August 27, 2008

  {Live Well Wednesday: Week:2}

Its that time again! Live well Wednesday! So, the update for this week...I haven't lost any weight BUT, I have been eating better, smaller portions, less fat, no fried food. And I have also been working out every morning, and I mowed the 5 ft. tall grass which was a workout in its self! hehe



So my goal for the rest of this week until next Wednesday is to continue on this path and hopefully loose at least 1lb. and not eat so much sugar.
Thank you so much to everyone, because you have all be so supportive, and I know you will continue to be!

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

  {Vacation, First Day, and a Project}

So I clearly stink at coming up with blog titles! lol I'm more of a straight to the point kind of chick! lol


This post is a little bit of a shmorgusborg of things. First, Lagan got surprised by my sister and BIL to go to the beach for a week just before school started. It was so fun to watch her reaction to the puzzle my sister made. Here is a little share of how she found out:







And then on Monday, we had the first day of school. Lagan started 1st grade this year (I'm pretty sure she will end with it too hehe). She was very excited to pose with "Eli" our mascot. And she also picked out her own outfit for the first day. A HUGE step for mommy to back away from the closet and let her express herself. I don't think she did half bad if you ask me!




Showing off our Joe Jonas Backpack...she is totally in love with him! lol



And then I FINALLY got around to Joy's spray paint outside the black box party today. I was inspired by Kimba for this project. I got this ugly rooster at Goodwill for $3.00, then used some $.99 spray paint and voila! A beautiful new rooster. Now, where can I put her?.......





Oh, and I have one of these fancy guns too Joy, and I LOVE it! No more spray paint on my fingers...well, except for when I try to rush my projects and I pick up wet paint therefore forcing me to repaint said object. I hate it when that happens!

I also did something with this little guy that might just involve that birdcage....hmmm..... :)




  {Tackle it Tuesday}

Tackle It Tuesday Meme


I am terrified of mowing the grass. Let me tell you why...because the last time I mowed the grass, I ended up in the Hospital with this:



and a bill for $1000.00! I just love Poison Ivy or Oak or Sumac, or whatever other junk is in my yard. Yep, I mowed right over it, the spores got on my face and I am now permenantly scarred behind my ears, on my forehead, on my left arm and behind my knee. Good Times!

So to my own amazement I acutally mowed the grass today. Here is the before...I think it's been a while.....



Here is my after:


but if you were to drive by my house, you would notice there is a section of grass that is still 3 feet tall around the bush that houses the poison whatever it is. And there it shall remain until someone not allergic to it that doesn't charge very much can come and cut it away!

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  {kreative blogger award}

Hey Everyone! I'm finally back and catching up so there will be quite a few posts this week I am sure! :)

But I wanted to first say thank you so much to Kitty Scraps. She send me an awesome award, the Kreative Blogger Award! I'm so honored!
For this award, I am supposed to list 6 things that make me happy, and then pass the award to 5 people who I think are Kreative! hehe (I love the "creative" spelling too!)

So, things that make me happy:
1.) Seeing that their are comments that need to me moderated on my blog! I love knowing that people actually read what I write and they take the time to tell me about it. :)

2.) Picking my daughter up from school when she tells she missed me!

3.) Having a good hair day!

4.) The feeling of anticipation of something good. That feeling when you know you have a party to go to, or family coming over. Its a mix of excited and nervous...I love that feeling!

5.) Having nothing to do at all...that never happens, but if it did, it would make me extremely happy!

6.) Last, but not least, spending quiet time with the Lord makes me VERY happy! :)

Ok, now to award it! I normally pick blogs to award these things to, but I have WAY more than 5, so I don't think that would be fair! So I am going to break the rules and award it to everyone who reads my blog. Go ahead and put it on your blog, and show it with pride!

Friday, August 22, 2008

  {Not Ignoring you!!}

Hey Everyone! I just wanted to do a quick post so you all know I am NOT ignoring you! I am just totally busy!!
I have so many posts to come in the next week, but I have to focus on the task at hand! First, Lagan got to take a surprise trip to the beach with my sister and her husband. Then she came home today and had a birthday party. I got to go meet her new teacher at school, by myself since she was still out of town! lol
Then tomorrow, my family will be celebrating something really awesome!
My mom and her husband are going to be renewing their wedding vowes!
I cant wait to share photos...you know I will be snapping away!!
Then Lagan has ANOTHER birthday party tomorrow after the ceremony. I also have 10 blogs and 1 website in the works over at ESG, and I'm working on a new blog template!! YAY! :)
But all of this takes tons of time, so I have been slacking in my blogging.
But Lagan starts school Monday so that will give me some time to blog more and get caught up!
(Plus I will be all alone again because my mom and her husband will be leaving for a month on the truck)
So please pray for me that I get some sleep, get photos to document everything, and don't loose my mind in the process!!
OHH...and before I forget! I want to thank EVERYONE for their AWESOME words of encouragement on my last post! You are all so wonderful, and I am so happy that we are all on this journey together, and everyone is supporting me! I already feel better about myself!!

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

  {Live Well Wednesday: Week 1:}

**Edit: I first want to thank EVERYONE for all of your support! I couldn't do this without you all! Secondly, I weighed in just a few minutes ago and I am starting the journey at 237.6lbs. WOW! Thats a lot! But I will get through this, I will get it off! I am going to church tonight, and will definatly be praying that God can guide me through it!

Hey Everyone!
Ok, so I have been trying to get back on my road of health for a while now, and just couldn't find the motivation. But the other day, I stumbled upon this article, and it completely changed my whole perspective of how I live my life!

So I have decided to get healthy and loose weight the SAFE way, and I want you all to cheer me on! I tend to get a little off the path, so I need people outside of my family that will keep me accountable and not tempt me to stray!

I will not be depriving myself, just making better choices and adding exercise to my daily routine. I am also going to be spending more time with the Lord so as my soul grows, my body will shrink! Let Him increase and me decrease! (Literally!!)

So, here is me being B-R-A-V-E!
I. Am. Scared.
Here is my first "Before Picture" so you can see what I REALLY look like. Totally un-photoshopped, not cropped, full frontal and side body shots from head to toe! And NO...Im not pregnant! LOL!!!

(I haven't weighed myself in quite some time, but I will do it later today and then post that. I am doing this so I am not scared of who I am. I don't want to hide where I am coming from so that when I succeed, I can be proud of myself!)




I'm gonna go cry now....


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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

  {Tackle it Tuesday}

Tackle It Tuesday Meme


Hey Ladies! I have been wanting to get in on the blog "memes" for a while now, but never did! So I picked a few for throughout the week that I am going to TRY to keep up with! lol
My first being "Tackle it Tuesday".

For those that don't know what that means, on Tuesday, I will choose a project that I have wanted to do, like housework, cleaning, organizing, etc. Then I will blog all about it!

So for today's FIRST Tackle it Tuesday, I am going to show off the hard work I have done in my Kitchen!

Starting with my utensils drawer. This drawer was soooo messy. I tried to have it organized, but all of my REALLY pricey knives were banging against each other and it made me sick to my stomach. Plus, I could never find anything.

BEFORE:


Simple Solution: longer organizing drawers. Plastic for the knives, metal for everything else. Now I know where EVERYTHING is and its right at my fingertips!

AFTER:


Then I moved on to my pantry.
I know the "before" isn't that bad, I had organized it once before, but it just wasn't working for me. So I went to the Container store here in Austin, and bought a whole bunch supplies, then attacked my pantry full force!

BEFORE:


AFTER:



MUCH Better for me! It may look more full now, but I know where everything is, and I don't have to worry about the terrible sugar ants we have getting in to all of my stuff!

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

  {Sunday Inspiration}

Today, I thought I would share something different.
I have been going through a lot of challenges in my life lately and the enemy has really beaten me down.

But I stand here today, by the side of the Lord, knowing that I will NOT be moved!

(Press play to rejoice with me in this celebration of standing with our Lord in VICTORY and not being drug down by the enemy in shame!)

(You have to use the Player ABOVE this post!!)

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

  {So what did I REALLY do?}

Hey Everyone!! WOW I loved hearing all of your guesses, and I REALLY wish I had done ALL OF THE ABOVE!! That would have been GREAT! But I didn't....so lets see what I did do shall we?......

Well, I didn't do the laundry (even though I should have)....


Or spray paint something black...


or put my house up for sale (not QUITE ready for that one yet!)...


or do NOTHING...even though that would have been BLISS...


But I DID GET A NEW HAIRSTYLE!!!!
Here is my BEFORE:



Here is my AFTER:





So, what do you think? I am in LOVE with it! After I got it cut, my awesome sister Brittany, did my highlights because the girl is super talented with some hair color! She also took my pictures! ;)
(Love ya Britt!!) I had the best time going shopping with the girls today strutting my new do! hehe

Thanks everyone for playing along, that was fun! :)


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