Birthday Shout-Out.....

So I decided that this year on the ol’ blog I will start doing ‘birthday shout out blogs’! What this means iiiiiiis all those that are dear to me get a big fat blog just for you on your birthday…..or within a few days of your birthday! Yaaaay! After all, Birthdays ARE our own personal holidays.....right?

This last Saturday was my Mom’s birthday! My Mom is a pretty amazing woman…..she has seen many struggles in her life and has always come out on the other side stunning. She always supported my dreams (despite how ridiculous they always were), she always told me I didn’t need a man for anything much less to make me happy and she always, always, always  laughed at my jokes. It wasn’t until recently that I realized how lucky I am to have a mother that really understands the importance of leaving the world a better place than how you found it. I see so much of her in me and since she is aging remarkably well…….this makes me happy.                                                       
I have her smile.                                         
I have her sense of humor.

I talk like her.

I laugh like her.

And best of all…. I love like her.

                 

       To the moon, Mama!

Happy Weekend!

I hope your weekend goes by very veeeery veeeeeeeeery slow. By the way, I have decided I will soon be trading in my current car for a VW Bus....pure excitement....right here, folks! And a little something to look forward to.......one of the most exciting days I have ever had will be blogged about soon.......soooo......stand by.........ok, maybe not "by"....how about near or close....sounds better. Its not such a huge commitment on your part...

Just so you know, I will let all of you ride in it.....

The Best Janice Soup.....ever....ever....really, I mean it....ever..

Ok, since I have never in my life met anyone who had a New Years Resolution of gaining weight, I thought you guys might like this. I have recently made a personal decision to transition myself to the raw food diet. I’m very excited for it, but I thought before I do that I may want to detox a little. And as long as I could remember, nothing kicks off a lifestyle change (note we are not using the dreaded D-word) like cabbage soup…….(I’m pausing for your groans)…….I know, I know. But I promise I came up with a great recipe and I am going to share it with you…….don’t you feel special? I have decided not to call it “cabbage soup” because lets be honest, nobody wants to eat that. So in honor of my one and only Cabbage Patch doll, we will be calling this very special soup, Janice Soup. Yes, my Cabbage Patch doll’s name was Janice….as in Joplin. I am who I am.

Janice Soup

1 head fresh cabbage (red or green) chopped into bite sized pieces.

1 bunch broccoli or cauliflower…(red cabbage turns cauliflower purple…its kinda cool)

Half of a white onion chopped

5-7 carrots peeled and diced

5-7 celery stocks chopped

1 C Kidney Beans

1 C Black Eyed Peas

1 C whole Green Beans…(the fresh ones are wonderful and cheap)

1 C Mushrooms

(Don’t forget to wash and scrub all your fresh veggies)

Into your pot pour ¼ a cup of Olive oil and let your onions, celery and carrots get tender, after they are tender pour in the remainder of your fresh veggies. Your pot might look a little over flowy but have no fear it will all cook down. 

                                                                                     

Broth

3-4 large cubes of chicken or vegetable bullion

1 Tbs of Garlic Powder

1 tbs of Cayenne Pepper

1Tbs Black Pepper

Dash of Sea Salt

5 C Water

Let all ingredients simmer until cabbage is tender. Once cabbage is tender, pour in any canned ingredients and heat the soup throughout. If you like any additional veggies or beans or if your soup needs more of a specific spice, add it. Just watch your salt.  

                       

Who else is tired of their resolution...............anyone?......No?........Hello? Oh, yeah me neither, I was just asking.



2011

    Well, just in case Madam Vino has all my attention later tonight, I want to wish you all a joyous New Year, I hope you chase down every dream and wish you have for yourself in this new year. Strike that, I meant to say chase it down, club it over its head and drag it home! I have given a little thought about the coming New Year and one of the things I promised myself (besides of course, losing the usual million pounds) is to learn to play the guitar, yep folks you read correctly, play the guitar. Please do not expect to see my name in lights any time…..at all, as I still am only able to carry a tune in the privacy of my shower. Recently, I thought about how often we make promises or resolutions to ourselves that have little to do with the enrichment of our minds and souls. Mine are always, lose weight, make more money, partake in spring cleaning and all that is great but I need to learn something, I need to add to my talents for no one else but myself. And since I just got done chopping all my hair off, what’s left…..??....This year at Christmas my mom received a violin, she has never played a day in her life and now she is learning to play. I guess I could say it was a little inspirational. I am also making a conscience effort to be kinder to everyone even in the face of adversity and trial, I hope we can all do a little more of that as well.  So to all of you, I say this……do exactly what you want this year, know your worth, love those that love you and love those that don't and trust that your path will lead you to such greatness. May your best days of 2010 be your worst days of 2011.

Just accepting it…….

   I normally keep it light and airy on the blogity blog but I have had a little something on my mind lately. I recently had a revelation of sorts brought on by many things. I realize I am quite the Debbie Downer a few days before Christmas but this does have a rhyme and reason….kinda, maybe……oh, just keep reading.

 I realized that we spend so much of our lives trying to change people, things, and situations….why do we do this? We chase down what we want whether or not it was ever supposed to be ours, we work so hard to convince people to like us, love us, and value us…..with no regard to whether or not they were ever meant to. In our childhood we heard often, “no, because I said so” or “I’m sorry, you just can’t have that”, I wonder if we still need that type of guidance as adults. I was recently doing a little Christmas shopping………ok, ok, I was mainly people watching, as it wasn’t December 23^rd yet, so I felt no urgency to buy, and I watched a very stressed out mother as she bent down face to face with her young child and said, “I’m sorry, you don’t get that”, I guess I found this moment more profound than most. But, if you take the words of the stressed out mother, say them to yourself and put ‘in life’ at the end of it, how many things and people in your life could you apply this to and once applied does it bring us closer to peace within our own lives and what is genuinely meant to be ours.

Personally, I have struggled with this concept most of my life, as a young child and like many young children I felt, if I just loved my father and made him proud, he would be who he was supposed to be. Like many young adults my age, I know now this does not work, it has taken 27 years to realize, ‘I don’t get that…. in life’. Please don’t misunderstand, this blog isn’t about the woes of a single parent child but about people, situations and things in our lives that will never love us, like us, value us or treat us the way we want them to and maybe just accepting it is the way to feel better about it. I tend to think of myself as a pretty resilient gal with a pretty thick skin, but I will tell you a secret…..when it comes to people in my life that I care about, I tend to be quite sensitive and hurt easily when my affection and my love is not reciprocated. We waste so much time, energy and love in our lives, changing, mending, fixing without ever really stopping to accept the fait that God felt necessary to put in our lives. We hurt when people don’t reach the standards WE set for them, we let it upset us when we do for them and they don’t do for us. Maybe someone’s purpose in our lives isn’t always to love us, accept us or be there for us, maybe their purpose is to show ourselves how strong we can be and how we are able to accept that their terms, their love, their appreciation are not always the same as ours.

  I felt it necessary to share this with my blog family, as I will be putting this to work in my own life with the coming of the new year. In doing this, I hope I realize strength I didn’t know I had and I will be more able to love those that truly love me.

  



Book Worm

Oh, hello blog, how I have missed you! Just popped in for a quick suggestion, more stories soon....

Ok, I must confess something…..I have an affection for old things, old and tossed aside, especially books. I love to go to the library, go through and find some old really neat book….(and I love love love the way library books smell…..weirdo, I know) So I thought I would share. I, like most of us, read The Shack several years ago and I really liked it, so I went on a quest to find books similar. A very dear older friend of mine gave me, Illusions by Richard Bach, it really is neat, a short read and it came out in 1977 so you can look like a total smarty pants to all your friends….or maybe just someone who is seriously behind….hmm…..Either way, it would be a great winter read.