Cheesecake, Kenyan Stew, and (dare I say) Farkle!

     A couple of days ago, my new edition of Southern Living came in the mail. I skimmed through it and saw a recipe for Caramel Apple-Brownie Cheesecake. This sounded delicious and I pretty much had all the ingredients on hand except for a few. I decided to get the missing ingredients and tackle this recipe! It really was not hard at all even though I may or may not have accidentally burned the apple topping, lol. Thankfully, it turned out nicely and all in all was pretty tasty. 

The major players. Apples from my dad's tree!

Finished product :)

     My friend Elizabeth just returned from a mission trip to Kenya. She invited a few of us over for a traditional Kenyan meal. She made a Kenyan stew which contains beef, potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, zucchini, and a mixture of spices called mchuzi. Along with that, she made chapati, which is similar to a tortilla. It was delicious! And for dessert, she made mandazi which is a fried donut with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. It tastes like a beignet or a funnel cake. And to top it all off, we also had the Caramel Apple-Brownie Cheesecake. We were stuffed to the gills!

Kenyan stew and chapati!

     After dinner, we played Farkle. If you've never played this game, you really need to get it. It is a dice game that is quite entertaining. Most of the fun comes with just saying the word. Try to say it without laughing. Farkle, Farkle, Farkle. Can't do it can you? If you are a farkler you completely understand....

     Food. Friends. Farkle. What a fun night!

Reminders

I have a heavy heart for a couple of different reasons tonight. Because of a tragic accident that happened today, I am reminded again that life is short. It is precious. It is a gift from God. We should live it to the fullest and make the most of every opportunity. That way there will be no regrets when we take our final breath.

I can honestly say that I have been trying to do that recently. God has done some amazing things in me and I have grown leaps and bounds as a person. God has definitely been working on me! He has been using several events in my life to shape me. I have always been incredibly shy, quiet, reserved, and quite honestly, unsure of myself. This past year, He has helped me lose weight, become more outgoing, take risks, and be comfortable in my own skin. He has given me a confidence that I've never had before. Those who know me best can testify to the change that has occurred in me this past year. I honestly feel like a whole new woman! I praise God for all these changes in me. 

I still have insecurities and lots of questions in my life. But I have to trust Jesus and give everything to Him. One thing I'm still learning is to not worry about what people think of me. It really shouldn't matter. And by that I mean I should not be scared to do something or be myself around others for fear of rejection. Life is too short to worry about that. Be myself. Be passionate about what I do, believe, and say. Don't be mediocre. Life is too short for the mediocre and mundane. Take risks even though they may not pay off. I'm not saying to live carelessly. But live purposely, intentionally, and passionately. Prayerfully exhaust every option until there isn't one left. Don't settle. Make the most of every opportunity. Trust Jesus through it all. 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1

Back to School...Back to Speech!

     I can hardly believe this year marks the beginning of my 4th year as a Speech-Language Pathologist! It seems just like yesterday that I graduated and found a job working at a school. I love working with the children. They each are very precious and special. I hope I can make a difference in their lives and help them improve their communication skills. Here's hoping we all have a fun and successful year!

A little glimpse into my therapy room:

Speech Sound Wall Chart: idea from  slplearningcurve.blogspot.com

A Very Merry Unbirthday!!!

   I don't really remember how or when it started, but it has become a tradition in my family to wish each other a "Very Merry Unbirthday!" the day after the person's actual birthday (even though every day but your birthday is your unbirthday, lol). This is actually a song from Alice in Wonderland. I do know my dad was the one who always sang this song to me after my birthday, so I guess he unintentionally created a fun tradition. As crazy as this sounds, I actually enjoy singing this song more than the happy birthday song to the person. And I LOVE getting to sing it to my dad! Today just so happens to be his "special" unbirthday and first thing this morning I was able to call and sing him the song. This is just something fun and special that we do in my family and I'm glad I got to hear him smile and laugh about it!

Sweet Sweet Summertime

     This is the first year I have been off the entire summer since high school! When I was in college I either had classes or work or sometimes both during the summer. And for the past two years I actually worked part time. So, I was really excited to be relieved of a few responsibilities for a couple of months and just take it easy. And that is just what I did! My days usually consisted of one or more of the following: lots of rest and relaxation, working on a few projects, spending time with the fam, visiting with a few out of town friends, quality time with my girls here in town, and lots of play time with Effie of course! 

   

He would never admit it, but he loves her!

Babushka Effie

Quite possibly my favorite activity: relaxing outside on the swing!

Me and Aud!

Someone likes to read over my shoulder

Starbucks!

Laughter is good for the soul!

"I want you!"

Out to eat!

My little friend

Me and Meg

Staring at herself in the mirror

Me and my lovely friends!

A pre-birthday party!

"Summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to people. For those few months you're not required to be who everyone thinks you are. The fresh cut grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool, gives you the courage you didn't think you had. Summer just opens the door and lets you free." Unknown

"Summer's filled with breaking the rules, standing apart, ignoring your head, and following your heart." Unknown

I know, I know, those quotes are corny. But they are so true for me about this summer ;)

    

This One's For the Brokenhearted

     When I first thought about starting a blog I was very skeptical and nervous I wouldn't have much to write about. However, I hoped it could be an encouragement to others. So, I decided to share my story. I do want to make the most of every opportunity that God gives me and live my life to the fullest. But sadness and disappointments are a part of life too. And that is where I am today. Life is not always easy and fun. And so in an effort to keep it real here I am going to write about the hard stuff too. 
     Ever pray really hard for something? I mean, earnestly cry out to God like never before for direction in a certain area of your life? That's what I've been trying to do for a while. Then, I started to see my requests getting answered. I really believed God heard me and was about to bless me. And just when I thought I had things figured out, that's when nothing happened the way I thought it would. Talk about hard! Isaiah 55:9-10: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, " says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher that the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isn't that the truth!!! I always try to get ahead of Him. Not intentionally---I just wish so much that I could see the end of the story, to know what will happen next. But I do not have that ability. Only God knows the whole story. After all, He's the One who is writing it! But it is still so heartbreaking to pour out my heart and still not know the purpose of a certain situation or why certain things happen. All I can do is trust Him. Trust that He is in it and that He is accomplishing His purpose whatever it happens to be. But sometimes that is so difficult to do. I can say that I feel God has revealed more of Himself to me through it all. Which is amazing! If He didn't give me this, I wouldn't have drawn closer to Him during it. Maybe trials are simply opportunities to know Him more and depend on Him. So by the grace of God, that is what I'm going to do. Depend on and trust Him, and in doing that-know Him. What a privilege! So if you are going through a difficult time that has left you brokenhearted, I hope that you will depend on and trust Him. He is in control and knows what is going on. He has a plan even though we don't always understand it. 

~ The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

~ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

~ Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 MSG

I absolutely love butterflies!!! As I was writing this tonight, I went outside and just happened to see a beautiful moth (cousin to the butterfly, lol) outside my door. I couldn't help but think God sent it to brighten my day. It even opened its wings right when I went to snap some pictures of it. I found this poem called The Butterfly's Struggle. It is so relevant to what I'm writing about and I do not think it is a coincidence. God is so good to me!

The Butterfly's Struggle

Author Unknown

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. 

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Butterflies/moths: does my heart good :)

Absolutely beautiful

     

Fun in New Orleans

I recently got to spend the weekend in New Orleans with a few friends. It was a quick, busy weekend to say the least. Oh, and we had a lot of fun too!

Looong bridge over Lake Pontchartrain

The city

 My friend Lauren is an avid runner and has always wanted to run on St. Charles Avenue ahead of the street cars because it has dirt trails. I was up for the experience, so that's what we did early Saturday morning! It was very nice outside. The whole area we were in was very pretty and had lots of shade so it wasn't too hot. We were able to walk/jog approximately 3 miles!

Walking trails off St. Charles...so pretty!

Beautiful Spanish moss trees

Of course we were hungry afterwards-this delicious quiche was our reward!

We then met up with our friends Carolyn and Dave and walked around the French Quarter. There are lots of fun and interesting shops to explore as well as foods to sample. All in all we had a great time!

3 amigas

Apparently there was a sign saying "No pictures." Oops!

I even tried alligator sausage!

Jackson Square