Boo For Colds!

Okay, so in retrospect the title of this post is super-negative and I don't really feel all that negative right now.

But I'm also too tired to change it.

I'm still working on my list of goals and how I'm going to accomplish them. Little Man and I made dairy free chocolate chip cookies Saturday, which was another goal, and they were DELICIOUS. Seriously. Hubby ate almost all of them, even after looking at them like they were inedible when he found out they were even remotely vegan-ish (haha, vegan chocolate, vegan 'butter'...but with eggs. So some animals were indeed harmed in the making of those cookies. Sorry PETA.)

The rest of my goals having kind of been put on hold while I try to make this cold go away. Does anyone besides me expect a cold to last for a maximum of...oh...12 hours? If I'm still sick the next day I feel like I'm NEVER going to have a nose that does not run (drama queen? whoooo?). The good news is I'm feeling much better today than I was yesterday, so I'm trying to think positively and hope that by tomorrow I'll be at least 92.5% better.

We shall see.

So rumor has it my part of the south is actually going to see some cold weather this weekend. I'm not sure how I'll handle actually having it feel like winter in February. You mean it isn't supposed to be 75 degrees out? I'm getting so confused...

So. What are your favorite winter activities? Those of you in the south (and everywhere, I guess--this is a crazy winter all over!), are you happy it's been so warm? Or do you feel cheated?

Goal Shapshot: Cooking for my Family

Yesterday I finally did it. I ventured into the organic section of the grocery store and bought my probably-pretty-allergic-to-milk toddler some foods I've been meaning to try with him (or re-try).

We bought:

*goats milk (he's not the biggest fan. He likes water and doesn't understand why that 'water' tastes funny. But it's good to confirm he doesn't have any kind of intolerance to that so I can bake with it now. If you can ever do that with goats milk...)

*sun butter (Basically peanut butter with sunflower seeds instead--since I have so many allergies we hear it's best to wait till he's 2 to give him peanut butter...and with the milk allergy issues, I'm not taking chances...unfortunately I couldn't get him to even put this in his mouth. Then again, I tried it on a banana and he's kinda so-so on bananas since they're slimy. Maybe in a cut up sandwich?)

*cheese. Mozzerella 'style' shreds, to be exactly. And yes, it disturbed me that it smelled funny, had a slightly gray tinge, and tasted so funky cold that I had to shove a spoonfull of Sun butter in to get rid of the taste.

BUT...BUT...BUT...BUT

Here's the exciting part. It turns out if you bake this 'cheese' it suddenly tastes yummy. And so for the first time last night, Little Man got to have pizza.

He giggled between bites.

It just made me SO happy to be able to give him a yummy 'kid' food that I haven't been able to give him. Thank you, vegans of the world, for inspiring companies to create foods that don't have dairy and making them taste good.

Last month, we discovered he loves vegan chocolate. (And seriously, with the kind I bought, you couldn't tell it wasn't the real thing. I promise.)

This month, pizza.

And I think because I've been wanting to make cookies with him for so long but never could find the dairy free butter (found it yesterday!) we might do that this weekend so he can have a chocolate chip cookie like a normal kid.

You have no idea how happy this makes me. We find out in June via allergy test if he for real has a milk allergy (still) or if he's one of the ones who outgrows it. Hopefully it will be gone by then. But just in case, it's so nice to know he'll still have yummy food and not be 'left out'.

Now off to figure out how to make a yummy dairy free cookie...

Goals, 2012, And What Happens When You Have Too Much Coffee

I blame it on the extra coffee.

No, if anything it should be blamed on my trip to Alaska last summer, the to-do lists I've made since then, and probably on Pinterest. But I'm sure the coffee contributed to this mood I'm in this morning. It's a goal setting mood.

When 2011 ended and 2012 began I had a few goals in mind for this year. I'm still articulating them (yes, its the end of January but setting goals constantly is good, right?) but this morning I've been even more challenged to write them down. That's going on my to-do list for the day. And since I'm on my forth (fifth?) mug of coffee and it's not even 10:30, I'm hoping I'll have the energy and brain power to think of some.

What's really on my mind this morning is that silly 'word of the year' thing everyone has become so obsessed with. 'Resolutions' are SO 1999 (or any other year besides this one--pick) and they have become something we joke about keeping until, oh, January 2nd or so and then convieniently forgetting. So instead when we look for a new start in the new year we call them 'goals' or a 'word of the year' and feel all trendy and cool.

Rant over.

Anyway, I'm not planning on giving my year a word. I think there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm more of a 'seat of the pants-er' at writing and at life and the idea of labeling 11 more months with a word that WILL/SHOULD describe them is foreign to me.

BUT when I was reading my Bible this morning (yep, that's a goal too) I was really struck by how all the goals I've been setting/praying about/thinking about can really be summed up by being intentional. I know I'm not the first one to notice that intentional living is important. Countless books have been written, sermons preached, and blogs posted on this topic, I'm sure. So don't worry, I know it's nothing new (but really, what is?)

But I really want to be more intentional. I've been intentionally being more active. I want to intentionally find things to do with my son that are fun and good learning opportunities. I want to be intentional about building an even better relationship with my hubby. I want to intentionally be a good friend/sister/daughter.

The thing I'm finally getting is that I LOVE to be vague. I'll set a goal (ahem, or make a resolution, let's be honest) to be more healthy, but never articulate what that means. It's like that saying that if you're aiming at nothing, you'll hit it. Well, in the same way, if you know what you're aiming at but only kindasorta, you'll only kindasorta hit it.

This may only be making sense to me, but I had to post it. Writing works things out in my brain, you know? How about you? Does writing untwist your tangled thoughts the way it does mine?

SO. Today I'm going to intentionally set some goals for myself. Not vague ones. But not super unrealistic ones like Im-going-to-be-a-size-two-by-next-week ones either. Intentional goals.

Wish me luck! How about you? Any goals/words/resolutions for 2012? How are you doing so far?

Love Lifted Me

Jade Benson, the main character of Love Lifted Me, the third book in the Songbirds Series by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck, is just starting to grow strong enough to face the chaos and heartache she's endured in her life, especially in the last few years. Her husband, Max, is trying to prove himself to his wife--his faithfulness to her and his commitment to stay drug free and not return to using pain-pills to chase away his problems.

Readers who have read the other two books in the series know that Jade and Max have run a full gauntlet of struggles and challenges in their marriage. Drug use, infidelity, parent issues...The scene is already set when book three begins, and it's hard to imagine what trials the two of them will go through in this book.

This book is full of hope. There is still enough conflict to keep the reader interested and make her leave her dishes undone and dinner uncooked while she finds out what will happen to these people she's grown to care about, but the tone of this book is markedly different from the first.

The fragrance of grace permeates this story. It's not at all "preachy", but the message of God's love was clear in the lives of the characters. This was a story about losing fear and embracing trust. It was a story of redemption, perhaps the best possible theme a story can have. And it was about love. Love for others. Love for God. His love for us.

Evans and Hauck make a great writing team. The writing is very well done, the imagery and symbolism used colors the story in an even more vivid way. Nothing about this book left me disappointed and I very highly recommend it.

Content.

I was talking to a friend today about where we are in life (not like, literally. Although we have been known to get lost, especially when we try to talk on the phone while driving...but figuratively). She said that for once in her life, she's happy where she is and not in a hurry to rush onto the next thing.

I thought about it and realized I know exactly how she feels. I love my family. I love my job. I love my friends. I love where I live. I, like my friend, am really content with life. I don't even know what to put on my Christmas list for people to buy me, because really, what do I need? Okay, that's not entirely true. I'll still take a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, Starbucks gift cards, CD's, books, and anything else they'll get me, but for the most part, I have everything I could possibly want.

This is such a nice realization for me because I've been writing seriously and really pursuing publication for...Eight-ish years now. And I know that time plays a HUGE role in this business and the people who get published are often the ones who were too stubborn to quit. And I'm not thinking about quitting, so that's not what this is about. But at the same time, it's nice to know that it's okay if I never do get published. (Haha, if you're an agent or editor reading this I'll still totally take a contract...) I would like to, but my life is wonderful as it is.

I think it's kind of like that line in Cool Runnings, which I haven't seen in years, but remember from my high school Chemistry class (wait--why DID we watch that in Chemistry? Ahhh, private school education...). If you're not enough with a gold medal, you'll never be enough without it. I remember at the time thinking that was a strange quote and that it made no sense whatsoever. I think it actually made me a little irritated.

But you know what? I get it now. And it's so true.

How about you? How are you finding yourself more contented than you have been in the past? Anything you need to work on being content with?

Alaska posts ARE coming!

Fear not. The long awaited for (um, as in, almost six months in the making) Alaska posts will be coming soon! I need to make some coffee, look at pictures, and see if I can find words for such a wonderful trip.

And yes, this is my third post in 24 hours. I'm excited about the internet. Sue me. =)

Kaleidoscope Book Review

Ever looked in a Kaleidoscope as a kid? There was one at a park my mom took me to often, and I loved to look inside and see all the colors and shapes. They were all part of one picture, but they were individual pictures themselves and I enjoyed examining them. Patsy Clairmont, in her book Kaleidoscope, compares the book of Proverbs to this. Her book discusses the wisdom found in Proverbs in individual chapters, thirty three of them in all, and the life lessons we can learn from them.

What makes this book unique is Clairmont's informal writing style. Though her words are chosen wisely and carefully crafted together, the book still reads like a conversation with a friend (albeit a wise one) who is sitting down and sharing with you over a cup of coffee (or, as it's December, a Peppermint Mocha). It's a book to be lingered over, and enjoyed in small pieces, not all at once.

The issues discussed in and among the Proverbs, such as being careful with what we say, are issues that apply to any Christian, but especially to women. This book will be useful to women of all ages and at all point in their walks of faith. I especially appreciated how the chapters were broken up--first with Patsy Clairmont's insights, then with questions, then with a list of applicable Scriptures. Certainly this is a book that has a gem of wisdom for every woman, set in a personal look into a woman of faith's thoughts.