Jazzin' it up

Back in the beginning of February, I bit the bullet and joined an exercise class. I've been wanting to for awhile now but kept making excuses. So, one day before I could stop myself, I joined online.

I did this online because I knew that once I signed up and paid for something, by golly, I would do it. So, I did it. And, I hit the send button real quick so that I couldn't back out.

I am now a Jazzerciser. Not a very good one, but none the less, I jazzercise.

I had never been to a jazzercise class before so I didn't really know much about it. However, a friend of mine from high school recommended it and since she looks AWESOME, I thought - why not?

It's basically a mix of dance, exercise, toning, etc. Since I have been to other exercise classes, I assumed that I could do it. I had forgotten how long it had been since I attended an exercise class and well, I just don't have the same bounce in my step that I once did.

Since I am, shall I say - less than coordinated or graceful , I basically feel like a big buffoon out there shaking the junk in my trunk, but it's fun anyway. I have come to the conclusion that if everyone at the class is even remotely like me, they are concentrating just as hard on the instructor and what she is doing and what they are suppose to be doing, so truly they can not possibly notice what I am doing which is probably completely not what I'm suppose to be doing. Follow me?

My strategy is pretty simple. Stay in the middle to back row, watch the instructor while at the same time pick someone in front of you to watch, and when in doubt, just keep moving.

In fact, like Dory in the movie Nemo, who would chant "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" when she had no idea which way to go, my new mantra shall be "Just keep moving, just keep moving" because really, isn't that the whole idea behind exercise anyway?

Full

We've been cleaning out lately. Cleaning out our pantries. Cleaning out our storage areas. Cleaning out our closets. Packing up things to give away, throw away, sell at consignment.

We've been cleaning out in order to give to some folks in need in another state.

All of this cleaning out has really gotten me to thinking.

Thinking about how truly blessed I am.

Thinking about how much we live in excess.

Thinking about how FULL our house is.

This is what has been on my mind: (even after we "cleaned" out)

1.Our fridge may not be FULL of what we want to eat, but it is FULL of food.
2. Our pantry may not be FULL of the the foods we want, but it is FULL of food to keep us fed.
3. Our closets may not be FULL of what we want to wear, but it is FULL of warm clothes for the winter and cool clothes for the summer.
4. Our coat closets are FULL of coats for every occasion - cool weather, really cold weather, rainy weather, "dressy" coats, casual coats.
5. Our closets may not be FULL of shoes that we love, but they are FULL of good shoes that will keep our feet warm and dry in any kind of weather.
6. Our toy boxes and playrooms may not be FULL of all the latest and greatest toys, but they are FULL of plenty of toys to play with.
7. Our house may not be FULL of everything that we would like to have, but it is FULL of everything (plus more) that we need.
8. Most importantly, my house is FULL of LOVE.

My heart is not always FULL of what it should be. Sometimes, it is FULL of a lot of junk (just like my house) that I need to get rid of. I want it to be FULL of love for God, for my family, for those in need, for the lost, for the sick, for the hungry, for the orphans, for everyone out there.

May you all feel FULL of LOVE this Valentine's day and every day! May we all remember how FULL our lives truly are!

Kindle - Obsession #4

For two years, I considered buying a kindle (an electronic reader). I hesitated because of the cost and the feeling that it was a waste of money considering that I could check out books from the library for free. The persistent problem that I have is that I seldom take the time to actually go to the library. I would find myself with some random, spare time that I could use reading if only I had a book. (I have always loved to read, but don't have all that much time to do it. When I did have the time, I didn't have a book that I wanted to read! A real dilemma!)

The other problem that I have is my obsessive nature when it comes to reading. When I would get a book or two or twenty from the library, I would read them non-stop until they were finished. Who needs sleep? Who needs to wash clothes? What dishes need to be washed?

After spending the last two Christmases (?) looking at and pondering the possibilities of purchasing a kindle, I finally did it. Before I could talk myself out of it once again, I hit the BUY NOW button. And, I haven't looked back since.

I seriously do love my Kindle. I have set limits for myself for how much I can spend for purchasing books. I also "purchase" as many free books as possible. I also look for really inexpensive ones as well. Since I am not usually "set" on a particular book, this works for me. Now I know some people are looking for a particular book and so the whole argument that "there are tons of free books out there" won't work for everyone.

I also am trying to only buy (with money, not free) books that I think I will want to read later as well. For me, those books are usually non-fiction Christian type books. These are also books that I can read awhile, set aside, and pick back up at any time. Or, re-read at another time. Which is why I like the Kindle. I can take all those books with me and can pick and choose when or which book or how much I want to read them without having to lug around a ton of books. For a relatively indecisive gal like me, that's a big plus.

A few of the books that I have actually spent money on include:
1. "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It is a christian fiction novel that I highly recommend.
2. " Radical: Taking back your Faith" by David Platt. I have just started it. I think it's going to be very thought provoking.
3. "Calm my Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. Another one that I really need to read.
4. "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It comes highly recommended but I have only started to read it as well.

I've also downloaded quite a few freebies, too. Some I've already read, some I've just got ready for a rainy day. I've also got the KJV Bible, too. There are all kinds of versions of the Bible available...some are free, others may cost a few dollars. Most all of the classics are free as well. I would like to read some of those as well.

It is really super easy to use and so convenient. I've only had it for a little over a month, but I think I am going to really enjoy it!

And, I am doing much better at putting it down and only reading for short periods of time. I will confess I have had few late nights but with a little willpower, I think I will get better at that.

Searching Ebay- Obsession #3

Like Etsy, I mostly just look when I go on Ebay. I have lots of fun just searching for various items to see if I can find a good deal. I could totally see how addicting shopping on Ebay could be. That's why I try not to visit too often. It's really easy to get caught up in the "bidding war" and end up spending more than you had anticipated. That's why setting a limit for myself is a good thing. A very good thing. I've really only actually purchased a few things on ebay. They include:

1. Vera Bradley bags - I bought a couple of bags on ebay for presents for others. (ok, ok, one was for me!)

2. Baseball bat - We recently purchased a baseball bat for Tate. It is one of those ridiculously expensive ones but we did get a much better deal on it through ebay than at a retail store. Craig took care of this purchase for us. Tate had wanted one for around 2 years so that's what we bought him for his 8th birthday.

3. J.Crew wool coat - This is my most recent purchase. It also is the first "used" item that I have bought from Ebay. I was hesitant and nervous at first about purchasing it. I usually don't buy J. Crew clothes so I wasn't sure about the sizing. The pictures and description were great but I was still a little nervous about it possibly not being exactly as described. When I received it, I was very, very pleased. The measurements, pictures, and description were right on! It fit perfectly and looked brand new (she said she had only worn it once and from the looks of it, I believe her!)

(I can't believe I'm putting such an incredibly dorky picture but it's the only one I've got of myself in the coat. I'm willing to be the center of public ridicule for the purpose of this post.)

So far, my experiences with ebay have been really positive. I try to always check out the sellers' rating scores and I am fairly picky/choosy when buying so maybe that helps as well.

Regardless of whether or not you actually buy an item, it is lots of fun to just search for random stuff and see what kind of deals you can get. I think I enjoy the searching as much as the buying.

Who am I kidding? I really like the buying and especially the knock on the door when the UPS truck is dropping off my new purchase!

Etsy is my friend - obsession #2

Recently, I rediscovered an old friend...Etsy. Oh, how I love thee. For those of you who don't know what Etsy is, let me explain. It is a market place of sorts where people have their own "shops" and sell mostly speciality items. Many of the items are handmade. I kind of think of it like an online craft show or festival because you can find all kinds of really cool handmade things like jewelry, crochet items, monogrammed stuff, etc. I am sure I am not doing Etsy justice in explaining what you can find there but hopefully you get the idea and will check it out yourselves.

Mostly, I just look on Etsy. There are lots of pretty things, and I like pretty things. Last year, I found some knee socks with crochet flowers on them for Cora. That was my first Etsy purchase. After that, I tried to stay away for fear of addiction.

For Ben's birthday, I returned to Etsy to find super cool Lego necklaces for his birthday. We gave each of the kids at the party a lego necklace as a party favor. (In case you didn't remember, it was a lego themed party.)

(see the cute green lego around his neck?)

This winter, I found a great shop for handmade crochet hats. I first had the girls each a hat made. Then, I went back for myself. Then, I went back for a few Christmas gifts. Every time I order something for someone else, after I see the finished product, I want one for myself.

One thing I must say about the transactions that I have had with Etsy...they have each been flawless. Excellent customer service and such great quality items. It is so nice to be able to have folks who are so great to buy from!

There are lots and lots of shops. I recently found one that makes the cutest little outfits. I really want to buy one for Ada's first birthday. I'll let you know how that goes.

You are my obsession

I frequently become obsessed with various things. In the next few posts, I thought I'd share a few of my latest obsessions....



Chicken Buffalo Dip: I have recently become obsessed with buffalo chicken dip or chicken buffalo dip (whichever way you want to say it, I think I use it interchangeably). My sister had made it years ago and I had her make it at Christmas for our get-together. It's deliciously addicting. I've made it at least 3 times since Christmas. In fact, I just made a double batch on Super Bowl Sunday. We still have leftovers. I have been eating it for three days and I'm still enjoying every last bite of it.

It's really easy to make. Here's the recipe that I have been using.

2lbs chicken (no idea how much this is but I usually use about 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
(1) 16 oz ranch or blue cheese dressing (I have only used Ranch - Hidden Valley)
1/2 bottle of buffalo hot sauce (I have only used Frank's Buffalo sauce)
1 package of cream cheese (anything that has cream cheese must be good, right?)
2 c. shredded cheese
9 x 13 pan
tostitos chips (we like the scoops)

Boil the chicken and tear or cut into small pieces. In a bowl, combine the chicken and buffalo sauce until all the chicken is coated. Spread chicken evenly in the pan. Mix together ranch and cream cheese with a mixer. Spread mixture evenly on top of chicken. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of the cream cheese/ranch mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve hot with tostitos chips.

Trust me. It's yummy. And, I don't believe there is anything remotely healthy about it.

And, FYI: the bottle of says 12 oz but when I measured out 6 oz (which is 1/2 of 12, right?) all you have left in the bottle is 4 oz which tells me that there really is only 10 oz in the bottle to begin with. Follow me? So, this last time when I made 2 batches, I used 6 oz of sauce in one pan, 4 oz of sauce in the other. Personally, I thought the pan with 6 oz was a bit hot, but Craig thought it was perfect. I tell you this so if any of my 2 readers decide to try this, you can always play around with the amount of buffalo sauce depending on how hot you like your food.

Enjoy!

8 stitches later

We had our first experience with stitches yesterday. Cora was dancing in the living room with her baby doll, lost her balance, and fell into the bookcase. I think she must have hit one of the hinges on the lower cabinet part of the bookcase/entertainment center. She cut her eye just above her eyebrow. When it first happened, she was screaming and crying. I went over to her to check it out and when I saw the blood streaming down her face, I was like - uh,oh, this may be more than I can take care of here at home. So, of course, I called my mom to come up RIGHT NOW. Since it was around 1:45, I called Craig to see if he could come home to check it out. She wasn't crying with it or anything, but I felt like it would need stitches. Craig came home with the boys. They ran in to check on Cora. They were so worried about her which really melted my heart. Ben took one look at it and declared, "Oh, you are definitely gonna have to go to the doctor for that." Thank you, Dr. Ben. Tate let us know that he was NOT going to watch her get stitches (he is soooo squimish).

Before

So, we took her to Children's Healthcare satellite center off of Mansell. They were fabulous. We were only there a few minutes when they checked it out and declared stitches were in order. She was super calm and cooperative (I had said a little prayer before we went in - Lord, please let her be cooperative!). It worked! Cora is known to have a bit of a fiesty streak so you just never know what you will get.

After the area surrounding the cut was numb, we went back for the stitches. She was talking to the nurse and telling her "I'm not scared of nothin'" (we need to work on those double negatives!) They wrapped her up in a "burrito" to restrain her arms and legs which wasn't very pleasing to Cora but she was a trooper. She did a fantastic job! No sedation, only the numbing creme on the actual injury. She had to have 8 stitches and didn't cry until about the 5th stitch (which was a really painful one). We saw a little of that fiestiness come out when the nurse asked her to sing her ABC's or 123's and Cora firmly snapped at her, "NO!"

As soon as that last stitch was finished, they unwrapped her and she jumped in our arms, and she was completely fine! No crying, sniffling, nothing. We were so very pleased. They let her choose a toy from the prize box and gave her a grape popsicle.

After

We then took her to Build-a-Bear for a consolation prize...she picked out a bunny. The exact same bunny she already has. EXACTLY the SAME. She even named it the same name...LUCY.
We also went to the Cookie Co. because we ALL needed a cookie. Then, the little dare devil wanted to go to the little inside playground to climb all over it. We went for a few minutes where I was a nervous wreck thinking that she would re-injure herself.

Last but not least, all of this trauma led to our decision to pick up some food on our way home and not mess with cooking supper. A little Chick-Fil-A always makes the day better!