Summer Daze: Day 3

Grilling everything for dinner

Summer Daze: Day 2

Enjoying the wildlife around you.

Summer Daze: Day 1

Fried MD tomatoes from the Farmers Market

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Seeing the Ukuleles at the Earth Day celebration on Monday had me thinking back to my wedding day.

I was SUPPOSED to come down the aisle to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole. However... our DJ's were how can a say..... a big piece of shit not very good. They played the wrong Hawaiian song as I stepped up to walk down with a dad on each arm. What's the big deal you say?? Well... every bride about to get married has a vision of themselves walking down to their hubby and the music playing. So almost every day a month leading up to my wedding I was listening to the song and imagining what was to come. Its such a beautiful song.

So with it being a beautifully sung song and the emotions of not having played right in the moment when it was supposed to... I tear up every time I hear that specific rendition of the song. I'm actually a freakin mess if it comes on and I'm not expecting it. Like at the end of Fred Claus or 50 First Dates. Enjoy. I had a hard time getting fully load before playing. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Side Note: Just watched this allllll the way through and just realized they are spreading his ashes at the end. Kinda morbid... but...... yeah... its my fav song.

New Routine

Saturday morning I woke up at an ungodly hour to get my parents to the airport. This was a good thing though. It got me out of bed, dressed and out the door with no other option to drive myself to the farmer's market once I was done at the airport. Usually, on Saturdays I don't sleep in anyway because its my morning to get up with Connor. BUT even then its hard to get rolling on a new routine with a toddler under your feet... its soooooooooo much easier to just stay in your pj's after spending the week packing us up and running out the door each morning.

So here I was pulling into the Anne Arundel County Farmer's Market at 7am. Apparently, I was ahead of the game. Everyone was still setting up and I'm pretty sure I missed out on venders that hadn't shown up by the time I left. This really wasn't a bad thing per say. I really didn't know what to expect and now I know that I don't really have to show up until 8am if I want to get there early and knock out the trip at the beginning of the day.

So here I was... wandering around, not really knowing what to expect. I had cash on me (I NEVER carry cash on me) and my little tote bag to put veggies in. I got me some greens and green onions from one place, cheese made from raw milk at another place, fresh eggs (never had them before... why not try it out) from another, radishes from someone else (embarrassingly had to ask them to make sure it was a radish like I thought), and summer squash from another farmer. I was surprised about the summer squash but he said they have been taking off in his green house.

Not that I expected anything different, but everyone was super nice and thankful. What a great way to start off your weekend morning! Really though, I spend all week trekking back and forth from home to work with toddler in toe. We get stuck in traffic, or the toddler is cranky, or I'm cranky, or we're all just so busy that I feel some days would be better spent if they sped by fast to get them over with. Slowing down and appreciating those providing to you in your community and having them appreciate you helps calm that irritation building up as you're stuck in traffic later in the week.

I got home and looked in our fridge. It was a mess. I mean a total hot mess. Tupperware growing experiments with our left overs, questionable veggies and fruit in the bins, spills that didn't get cleaned up right away and you just couldn't tell what all we had. No wonder everything seems to get thrown out! No wonder I don't want to pack my lunch in the morning! No wonder I have zero desire to cook when I get home from work! Long story short... I made that fridge my B-I-T-C-H and its is clean and organized.

The whole experience and starting this new routine has me excited for this coming up Saturday as I see our produce get eaten up (and not thrown out!). Of course I supplemented at the grocery store with other veggies we needed/wanted that I didn't get at the market but its still Spring and we're only just now getting warm weather. I can't wait till our options grow and grow!

New Mode of Thinking

For the last year I've become more and more disappointed in the quality of the produce at one of our local grocery stores. I used to specifically go there for groceries as they always had a wide selection of produce and it was always a good quality. I didn't care it might cost a few cents or a dollar more than the store right next to our house because I new I was getting good produce.

However, in the last year I've been finding molded berries (all kinds), end of life almost rotten onions, sad looking squash and just the other day a molded orange. I used to point out to customer service when I found bad produce thinking it would help... but it hasn't... and I've stopped.

This winter I started thinking about checking out the Farmer's Markets in the area so I knew I was getting fresh produce not "going to rot the next day" produce. Of course, ideas like this tend to sit with me a for a while until I do them. For one thing, it was winter when I started this thought process and secondly.... I'd have to get my ass up and out the door to the market rather than to the store right around the corner when I felt like it. I'm lazy like that when it comes to grocery shopping.

Last month I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I had it saved on my "to read" list from when I wanted to read 30 biographies, autobiographies or memoirs before turning 30 (that NEVER happened). I kept putting it off because who wants to read about growing food??? Well, at least that's what I thought.

As soon as I started reading the book I thought, "OMG why didn't I read this sooner!?!" She spoke about the amount of money/oil/time that it takes to get produce shipped from places where its in season on one side of our country (or out of country) to the other side where its not in season or can't be grown period. She touched on how local farmers work hard to provide produce to communities when grocery stores are shipping it in from far away. She touched on many other topics such as dairy products, free range animals and getting to know your farmers in your area and what they provide to the community.

In her story, her family lived a year on only locally grown food. The food came from their garden or the local farms around them. While that sounded super for them, for me.... if I want an avocado or banana... then gosh darn-it I'm gonna have it! I also don't see myself out in my back yard digging up dirt to plant a garden. I don't like getting dirty, sweaty or have the attention span (at this point) to keep up with a garden.... I can barely keep my blog alive. But I guess I never thought of the fact that my produce was being shipped from California/Mexico to Maryland. Um.... no wonder its on its last leg before it gets to my house! I've never spent so much time looking at where my food is coming from since reading this book.

The book did reinforce my desire to get to the farmers market when they opened this spring. I'll buy it from the market before I buy it from the store if it is in season and I can get it local. I started looking up our county's farmer's market and TA DA it opened up in just two weeks. I was excited. Really.... like really excited. Nerdy maybe? Who knows. What I did know was I'd be looking forward to freshness in the fridge.

And Then... It Was Gone

So I started running again in AZ. Then when I came home I was no longer stress eating so I started eating better. I felt great. I could feel my pants fitting better. I had energy. Little did I know my fingers were getting thinner too.

Then it happened.... some time between walking from my office to picking up Connor from daycare and putting him in the car.... my wedding rings fell off. BOTH! My engagement ring and my wedding ring are sodded together. We've looked all over this week. I had myself a good cry and let myself be sad and grumpy over it too.

I know its just a ring.... but its MY ring. My perfect rings. When Kev and I got engaged we were in our early 20's. We didn't make a lot of money and so my ring was modest, perfect and not a huge flashy rock on my finger. I loved my rings and what they represented to us as a couple. Sigh.

We're doing a through cleaning of my car this weekend. Beyond that... they're gone.

Spring Break

So how did I recover from all the stress of winter? I ran away. Well not really. The vacation was already planned before our crazy winter started. BUT.... I don't think I ever looked forward to getting away and just being gone before. I got on that airplane with zero mom guilt for leaving my kid. I was ready to fly away. Far away.

I flew to the one place where I would be taken care of and lifted up by a person who loves me dearly..... I flew to AZ and saw my momma (will Bill too!). If there is one person that can bring me back down to earth its my mom (Kev too but he needed to watch Connor so I could run away).

I spent five wonderful days in warm Arizona. I slept a lot, I read a lot, and I laughed a lot. We made bracelets, got facials, dyed scarves, went for walks, started running again, cooked wonderful food, ate wonderful food out and about, and went to the zoo. Not once did I have to worry about a diaper, a runny nose or what was for dinner. Kev was home handling all that so I could clear my mind.

The last two days of my trip I skyped so I could see Connor and he could get a mommy fix. I came home missing my boys and feeling back to myself. I'm a better mommy, wife, employee, friend and me for "running away". A big thanks to my Mom and Bill for taking me in and spoiling me rotten.

Longer Days

It's happened! Shhhh... don't say anything... we might jinx it..... I've been noticing the sun is up just a tad longer than in the past month.

Evidence: I'm still using my sun glasses on the way home from picking up Connor from daycare, I don't have to turn on my headlights RIGHT AFTER leaving work, the sun is still smiling at us if only for an extra minute or two when we pull into the drive way.

I was feeling the stir about two weeks ago. My insides were noticing that extra minute of daytime and taking it in. Then Connor said something last week when we got home, "What is the sun still doing awake?" He's feeling it too.... Shhhh don't tell mother nature... it might be too good to be true.

December into January is one of my least favorite times of the year. You wouldn't think that as in those months is my birthday, Christmas, New Years and then Connor's birthday. I'm pushing through those SHORT days as best as I can knowing that by the end of January the days seem to get longer each day... just an extra minute or two but longer none the less.

The feeling is refreshing even though there are many cold days ahead of us. Hold on though... Spring is just a few cold weeks away.

Humbled.

Last week was an extremely humbling experience for me. Sitting here now coming down from the Raven's Super Bowl win high I'm melting back into the experiences I had last week and wondering why Universe put them out there for me. I usually don't question things that Universe hands to me but its left me wondering what is around the corner this year.

A year after Connor was born I decided to put my Reiki practice on hold and focus on my new family. If I got a call for a Reiki session I did home visits as its hard to keep a relaxing environment in a home with a toddler. Slowly but surely those clients fell away and I was comfortable with that. For the last two years I've basically used Reiki in my day to day life on my own personal journey and with my family.

Imagine my surprise when I received a call from a family last Monday asking me to come to their house to do Reiki on their father who was in the process of passing over. They wanted me there every day until he passed. I dropped everything I could (except mine and Connor's Tuesday night library night) to help this man and his family. In the end, I only worked on him two times as he passed sometime after my second session with him.

When I was working on him, I was working on providing him strength, comfort, and helping release the ties to this world that were keeping him here suffering. At one point, I expanded my bubble of comfort and strength as the family said their heartfelt good byes to him. I did my best to become a vessel of calm and peace in a time that was full of sadness and out of control.

I learned about the other side of life that is waiting for us last week. I've experienced bringing life into this world. As a mom, I've been learning about growing and learning from infant to toddler. I'm learning how life grows and independence is gained.

Last week was the first time I had ever been at someone's deathbed. I've always got the call that someone is dieing or that a person has died. I've been to many viewings and funerals... but I've never witnessed death in action.

It truly humbled me. I was able to connect with the energy that was letting go and ready to move on. I was seeing the physical body become dependent and weak. It was sad yet taught me respect for the dieing process. I learned that death isn't something that should be feared, its something that needs respect and strength. I learned the importance of letting go and saying good bye. Not everyone gets to say their good byes and I've realized how truly heart breaking that can be. I learned death is just as precious as birth. I learned that in any process of dieing, death is leaving the heavy physical body behind.

My heart was heavy and as I tried to disconnect from the energy after each session, it was the hardest I've ever had. Lifting myself up and celebrating a bit yesterday helped pull me out of the whirl wind of emotion and energy that I was feeling.

After all is said and done, have you experienced death in your life? What has it taught you?

Tastefully Simple Tuesday

This week I'm going to talk about a sauce mix that I have never tried up until this week, Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix.

I ordered myself a sample when I first started selling Tastefully Simple but have yet to try it. I kept forgetting that it was there and well.... our family is a Prego family. It works for us and tastes good.

The picture to left had me thinking it came in a jar with the tomato sauce. Imagine my surprise when it was spices in the little sample pack! Score! I love spices. So many uses in one little packet!




So last Wednesday it was just Connor and I grocery shopping and getting stuff for the rest of the week. I realized I had no idea what we were going to do for dinner when we got home. I picked up a pizza making kit. Fast and easy. Done.

Well..... as we were putting the sauce on the pizza I looked over and the sample packet caught my eye. We spread out the sauce and then I sprinkled the Mama Mia Marinara Sauce mix over the pizza sauce. Then we put the cheese on the pizza and I did one last sprinkle of the sauce mix over the cheese.

It gave what is normally (to me) a bland cheese pizza a bit of a kick and flavor. I was impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade pizza kit with Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix

THEN this weekend I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I like to fancy up my grilled cheese sandwiches a bit. I was spreading butter on the bread in preparation for the pan and the left over sample packet caught my eye. I sprinkled some of the sauce mix over the buttered slices of break and then cooked the sandwiches. The mix cooked right into the bread. It was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing.

Grilled cheese sandwiches with Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix

I'm coming up with so many different ideas for this sauce mix and I haven't even tried it in a marinara sauce yet! I made sure I placed myself an order of the whole container last week! Next on the Mama Mia adventure is meatloaf!

Check out more Tastefully Simple products at my website! http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/asachs2

Tastefully Simple Tuesday

I've mentioned in my previous blogs that I am now an Independent Tastefully Simple Consultant! I'm hoping to start posting recipe ideas of what I'm doing with the products!

This week I am going to cover Oh My! Chai.

Oh My! Chai is not JUST a drink mix. It can add just the right amount of yum to your baking, breakfast or dips.

When its rainy, cold or snowy outside I love to make myself a cup of Oh My! Chai while Connor is napping and enjoy the quiet while I get a quick 10 - 20 minutes of relaxing time in. It can be made with milk or water... or both! There is also frappe directions on the container as well.


One simple quick way to turn plain Cool Whip into an even better topping for ice cream, cake, brownies or a dip for fruit is to add Oh My! Chai. This past week I did this for Book Club and a small get together we had for the Raven's Game on Sunday. We dipped fruit in it and I also added it the dip on top of Chocolate Ugly Cake after I was done with eating fruit.

Twice now I have incorporated Oh My! Chai into French Toast! I swapped out cinnamon with the Oh My! Chai. Usually cinnamon floats along the top and only the first couple slices of bread get the cinnamon before I find myself adding more into the mix. Oh My! Chai dissolves into the the egg mixture! Each slice of bread is getting some of the flavor! It gives my usual French Toast a little pick me up!

Here's my recipes:

Oh My! Chai Cool Whip Dip

This one is pretty simple. One regular sized tub of Cool Whip and add three spoonfuls of Oh My! Chai. Mix well.


Oh My! Chai French Toast

Ingredients:
3 Eggs
Splash of Milk
Splash of Vanilla Extract
3 Spoons of Oh My! Chai
8 - 10 slices of bread (any kind you choose)

Directions:
Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Add Oh My! Chai and mix together until dissolved. Dip slices of bread into egg mixture and cook on a griddle until both sides are golden brown. Serve with butter, confectioner's sugar or syrup.



Do you use Oh My! Chai an a different way than a beverage? Post your ideas here! Visit my site to order Oh My! Chai today!

Gratitude Day 11

Gratitude Day 11 (a day late)

Yesterday I was thankful for being able to go to to the Raven's game and seeing an AWESOME game. My father gave Kevin two tickets for his birthday and we were able to see a record score setting game. Raven's beat the Raiders 55 to 20! Not only did I get to see a great game but I got to spend the day with two of my favorite people. Kevin (of course) and my friend Alice. We had a great time tailgating, laughing and watching the game. Life is good for sure.

Gratitude Day 10

Gratitude Day 10

I'm grateful for new friends. I don't make new friends very often. I'm set in my ways and enjoy the long time friendships that I have. Taran and PJ changed that for sure. This past March I signed up Connor for a gymnastics class. Connor and PJ were the only boys and they instantly hit it off. The end of the classes came and Taran and I exchanged numbers. I didn't know if she would be a crazy mom, or a judgey mom, or have anything in common with me but she turned out to have lots in common with me and totally fun. We can't have a play date without something strange or bizarre happening but that's the best part!

Gratitude Day 9

Gratitude Day 9 (a day late)

Day 9... I'm grateful for the fact that I finally took a step towards something that I've been thinking about doing for about 6 months. I kept dismissing the idea but finally decided to move forward. This week I became a tastefully simple consultant. I've always loved going to taste testing parties and enjoyed their food. I decided that if I were to become a consultant of something it would something that would get frequent returning customers and something that I love. Enjoy the holiday specials ;)

Gratitude Day 8

Gratitude Day 8 (a day late)

I am so grateful for having some of the best girlfriends anyone could ask for. If need a giggle, help, hug or a good vent, I have some of the best reliable and dependable friends in the world. Love to them all!

Gratitude Day 7

Gratitude Day 7 (2 days late)

I cannot express much more gratitude for this little dude coming into my life. He has changed mine (as well as Kevin's) life for the better in so many ways. Just when I think, "Oh this is my favorite stage"... BAM we hit another milestone and that is my favorite. I'm thankful that he is healthy and happy. He blows us away constantly with how smart and witty he is and I just can't get enough of him.

Gratitude Day 6

Gratitude Day 6

Today I am EXTREMELY grateful for my right to vote. Its been a while since I reviewed the history of women's suffrage but I did the other day on wiki just for some inspiration and growth in my heart. It amazed me that Saudi Arabia STILL does not allow women to vote! My jaw dropped. Maybe I should have known that but I didn't.

I took Connor with me this morning. Left the house early so we could have plenty of time before work but we had to wait an hour! I also had to do a provisional ballot because I had forgot to change my address. All of that with a 2.5 year old. For the most part he did good and enjoyed his sticker afterward.

Go VOTE! Get your sticker! Be thankful we can do it!

Gratitude Day 5

Gratitude Day 5 (a day late)

I didn't get to post my Gratitude post last night because after Connor went to bed I laid down on the couch for "just a minute" around 8:30 and woke up 2 and half hours later. WOOT! I was also able to go right back to sleep in bed and slept through the night. So for day 5 I'm totally thankful for peaceful feeling that sleep gives me and how easily it came yesterday.

Gratitude Day 4

Gratitude Day 4

  

Today I am thankful for Daylight Savings Time. Not for the extra hour of sleep (my toddler didn't get the memo that you're supposed to sleep in)... but for the fact that there is now 2 hours between my mom and I rather than 3 hours. I don't know what it is about that extra hour but some how it makes me feel mileage closer to her even though its only time. I guess I don't have to wait that extra hour to call because she might be sleeping :)