Feeling The Love....and Paying it Forward!

"Versatile" sounds so much nicer than "Random & Unpredictable!"

Wow, I have to say that as much slacking as I have been doing this month, I was shocked to discover that I was awarded "The Versatile Blogger Award" not once, but twice this week!!  Now, that either means that people prefer when I write nothing (haha) or that you all appreciate my random ramblings about whatever is running through my mind....I prefer to believe it's the latter!

The first to honor me with this award were Carol and Stacy from Intentional Conscious Parenting, where two friends have come together to produce an incredible blog about parenting...providing insight and thoughtful ideas on connecting with our kids, and other fantastic stuff!  Thank you Carol and Stacy!!!

The second to pass this fantastic award to me was Jinnia from The Thankfulness Continues.  Jinnia's blog, like my own, has a little of "something for everyone!"  Whether talking about family, business, blogging, etc....she really does provide real-life support and information on a variety of subjects!!  Thank you, Jinnia, for the award!!

I hope to be able to continue writing about subjects that you will find interesting, intriguing, funny, and/or useful and entertaining!  

Now on to the "requirements" of receiving this award:  

In order to receive the award fully, I must

1) Thank the person who gave me the award. Thanks again to Carol, Stacy, and Jinnia!!
2) Share seven things about myself.
3) Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs, and let the nominees know about the award.

 

Seven things you may not know about me:

 

1.  I cannot draw a stick figure, but I absolutely love painting the rooms in my house, especially using various faux-painting techniques.  I am working my way through my house one room at a time, and when I'm done, I'll probably start over.

2.  I am scared of heights

3.  I didn't know how to swim (more than to save my life) until I was 27 and moved to Southern Cal and started surfing. Even more surprising, I actually became quite a decent surfer!

4.  Although I consider myself to be fairly conservative, I have 7 tattoos....and I love them all!

5.  I moved in with my husband after only 5 months --Thank God it worked because to do that, the kids and I had to move to Arizona.

6.  My idea of "window shopping" is a trip to Home Depot for....windows!

7.  I am a recovered alcoholic and have been sober almost 4 years.

Wow...that was hard!  Because I write such a versatile blog (haha) I don't have a lot of "personal" things that I wouldn't normally write about.  But there ya go!

 

Now, on to the 15 blogs that I am nominating the Versatile Blogger Award to:

1.  http://clawsbyronda.blogspot.com/

2.  http://preppylittledress.blogspot.com/

3.  http://thewritemomforthejob.blogspot.com/

4.  http://www.2muchtestosterone.blogspot.com/

5.  http://marichu-wwwbalancingact.blogspot.com/

6.  http://tkthor.blogspot.com/

7.  http://siren.org/

8.  http://danishel.blogspot.com/

9.  http://gravelandrust.blogspot.com/

10.  http://areebaathome.blogspot.com/

11.  http://kelleysbreakroom.blogspot.com/

12.  http://proudmomx2.blogspot.com/

13.  http://manicmommy.blogspot.com

14.  http://lifeinmypjs.blogspot.com/

15.  http://lifewithoutwhimsy.blogspot.com/

WOW!!  That was far harder than I thought it would be!!!  There are so many fantastic blogs that I frequent, as well as thousands of others that I should!!  Narrowing it down to 15 was no easy feat!

 

Again, I would like to thank the people who gave me the award, and to all of you who read my blog and especially those of you who comment and provide feedback!  It really helps to know what is working and what is not.  Thank you also to the authors of the blogs I haunt.  I am always entertained, enlightened, educated, and touched by your stories, pictures, experiences, and ideas.

Until Next Time....Dream Large!

A Day in Jerome, AZ

Hello All & Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!!  Russell and I decided to go to Jerome, AZ Saturday to get out of the heat and do some shopping.  If you are ever in Arizona, Jerome is a must-see destination!!  Many say it is haunted and that is a huge draw for a lot of people.  Russell and I, however, absolutely love walking the town, visiting the shops, and having a nice lunch.  

Jerome is home to many artists, and if you are ever looking for an original piece of artwork or one-of-a-kind jewelry, clothing, etc., and love meeting the artist, this is the place to go! 

We also made reservations to stay at The Surgeon's House the first Saturday of October for Art Walk.  It's an amazing event that occurs the first Saturday of every month, and is incredible!!  We have to wait until October because Andrea, the owner of The Surgeon's House was booked until then.  And we insist on staying with her when we are there because her home and her property are only outdone by Andrea herself. 

Here are some pics from our day in Jerome.  Trust me when I say they do not do the town justice, but it's what I've got....Enjoy!!!

That's it for now!  In October, I will add some more pics, and perhaps better descriptions....but hope you enjoyed what I had!  

What's your "little-known" hot-spot??  

At Home Spa Recipe -- Brown Sugar Body Scrub

No Need for an expensive trip to the spa with this fabulous and simple body scrub!!

Create a Spa in Your Home

I went to a Culinary Meetup Group on Sunday, and the theme this month was "Spa at Home."  Each woman created a home-made spa recipe to share.  I went with my stand-by:  Brown Sugar Body Scrub.  It is incredibly easy to make and is versatile, depending on what ingredients you have on hand.  And did I mention that it is FABULOUS!!

This is a recipe that I created myself after spending $15 on a store-bought scrub.  After reading the ingredients, I figure their profit margin had to be around 1000%, and rather than give anyone that kind of money again, I'd recreate the recipe myself.  I have been using it for over a year now, and still love it!

Here goes:

Brown Sugar 

• Excellent to exfoliate dry skin from head to toe.  
• Sugar scrubs also tightens pores and adds moisture to the skin leaving it smooth and soft. 
• Sugar contains glycolic acid that works to protect and moisture the skin and help the body maintain a natural balance.

Honey

• Incredible antiseptic and is rich in antioxidants and flavanoids
• Cleopatra as an anti-aging remedy.
• Promotes healing of cuts and abrasions.  
• Because it is a humectant, it attracts and maintains moisture balance in the skin, without being oily.

Coconut Oil

• Safe solution for preventing dryness and flaking of skin.
• Delays wrinkles, and sagging of skin which normally become prominent with age.
• Helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema, and other skin conditions.

Almond Oil

• Improves complexion and retains glow
• Moisturizes deeply
• Soothes skin irritation and inflammation
• Delays the again process
• Lightens dark under-eye circles
• Relieves dry, itchy skin
• Cures chapped lips and body rashes

If you do not have Almond Oil, you can substitute Olive Oil, which is also an excellent moisturizer.  Secret Ingredient:  I love the smell of vanilla, and sometimes will put just a dash of pure vanilla in the mix!

I do not have the amounts written down anywhere.  Start with one cup of brown sugar and then add equal amounts of honey, coconut oil, and almond oil.  Mix it with your fingers (they'll thank you for the scrub!) and add additional ingredients until you get the consistency of cookie dough (?)...I can't think of a good comparison for the consistency.  You want it to be wet enough to spread evenly, yet solid enough to scoop out of the bowl.

I use the scrub 2 - 3 times a week and this amount should last about that long.  If you plan on keeping it longer, I suggest keeping it an airtight container in the fridge.  I use the scrub right before I am done showering and apply it in a circular motion with your hand, a washcloth or a loofah. It is great to use from head to toe--I even use it on my face!  

Let it sit for a minute or two so your skin can absorb it, and then rinse....No Need for Additional Moisturizer!! 

I love home-spa recipes....

What is your favorite???

Another Exciting Episode of "Life With Teens"

I remember the days, a few years ago, when my kids still had brains.  Those precious moments when, in their need to be self-sufficient, they would think for themselves.  They would do for themselves.  They wanted to prove how big they were, so they would actually get off their butts just to show me that they could _________ (insert random chore) on their own--without my help.  I remember actually being irritated by their independence at times.  (WHAT?!)  

Flash-Forward:  My kids have lost their brains, their self-sufficiency, and really, most of their other desirable qualities as well.

This is what I would like to see a little more of:

Sunday is house cleaning day.  Sunday has always been house cleaning day.  It's a family tradition.  Sunday is typically the day when I wake up way too early, come downstairs, and realize that, DAMMIT, my house is a complete disaster again!  Don't get me wrong--we get chores done daily, but for some reason, by Sunday, it looks like we've never picked up a thing around here!

I will admit that I am a total bitch    not always pleasant as I   storm up the stairs screaming my kids' names wake the kids up to get started.  However, in my defense, I usually wait until about 10:00 to get them up, and by that time, I've had at least 4 good hours to assess the damage around here and work up an attitude.

Or maybe I get an attitude because I know what comes next.  The inevitable question.  The one question that makes me really go crazy.....

"What are we supposed to do?"  

REALLY?!  We have been cleaning house on Sunday for as long as I can remember, and they've been an active part of helping to clean since they were in preschool.  We've lived in this particular home for five years.....and you don't know what to do?! 

I can look around and see 100 things that need to be done, without even blinking.  And you don't know what to do?!  

This is the point when I go from irritated to stark-raving-mad lunatic!  I know, I know....there are things I can do to keep it from getting to this point with them.  I could write it all out, for instance.  But WHY?!  These are the same kids who knew exactly what to do when they were 6 and 7.  How can they have forgotten?!

I keep waiting for my kids to come back around to the days when they were old enough to help and young enough to want to help.  To be thinkers, movers, doers!  Yes, the day when I realize my years of  nagging, screaming, begging, and threatening    hard work have finally paid off.....

And as I am daydreaming about this wonderful time, when the brain cells awaken from assumed death, my husband yells from the kitchen, "Honey, where's the mustard?"   

HOLY CRAP!  In the same place it's been for 5 years now......

If my family is called upon to "save the world" I come to the only logical conclusion there is:

WE ARE DOOMED!!!

A Parent's Prayer for their Teen

A Parent's Prayer for their Teen
--written by JGrimes and reprinted here with her permission.  For that I am grateful...this is a beautiful prayer and well worth reading, reading, reading....

Dear God, I need to talk to you for a minute about these kids you gave me. First of all, let me make this clear. I adore them. They amaze me, a million different times throughout each day. They are clearly your creation and not my own. And for this, I am thankful. I could have never come up with something this wonderful, even if you had asked me to write out what I had in mind on paper before they were born. But, I want you to know that I am scared. The world looks to me, as their parent, to teach them and protect them, raising them to be successful adults. I wonder why, then, must the world work against me on every step? As a little girl, my precious daughter – well, actually, she is Your precious daughter – happily skipped through her day, treasuring each moment and believing anything was possible. But somewhere along the way to being a teenager, she lost her joy. Now, her days are filled with paralyzing self doubt and deceptive invitations to the path of acceptance. My adorable son, who once started each day by holding my face in his hands just to tell me he loved me, can no longer look me in the eye. He tries to hide behind walls built over time, convinced that I will never understand him. But I see through to his breaking heart, and mine breaks right along with his. It always has. Always will. These are your children. And they are perfect. How can I get them to see that? How can I protect them from the false expectations of their peers, who are all struggling to find their way just the same? How can I prove to them that they were designed to stand out, rather than to fit in? Sometimes, I watch them sleeping and this is my silent prayer for them: Hold them in your arms. Always. Reveal yourself to them often, proving that they are never alone. Help them to be strong enough to make a difference; to change the lives of others rather than changing who they are to fit in. Make their paths straight before them, just as you promised to do, and then give them the strength to follow. The decisions they make today can alter the path of the rest of their lives. Please help them to better understand this, and protect them when the time arrives to make those choices. Show them that the rules we have in place are to protect them; not to prevent them from having fun, but rather to keep them from crossing lines into adulthood long before they are ready. Help them understand that once you cross those lines, there is no going back to being a kid. Help them never to doubt you, especially when teachers and others cause them to question their beliefs. How can they ever find their true value if they believe they were an accident or grew from the ground or from monkeys of some sort? Their very existence proves that You are real, so please comfort them and give them your answers long before they need them. I pray these same things for their future spouses and children. Protect their future and create it in a way that brings them all closer together and to you in the end. And God, please keep whispering these things to them until they are ready for me to tell them face to face. Because Lord, I adore my teens, and am so thankful you chose me to be their parent. Give me what I need to do the job you asked of me, and hold me when I’m scared. I never want to let either of you down. In Jesus Name, Amen

Argh....Teenagers--Gimme Diapers Any Day!

So, I have been wondering what to blog about today....and I flipped through a million different things in my mind, but did not feel that inspiration.  Until, that is, I had a little temper tantrum a few minutes ago.  Now, the rational part of my brain knows that maybe screaming bloody murder at the top of my lungs isn't the most effective way to get my kids to get off their butts and help our around the house, but....sometimes it feels so damn good!!  So that's what I did!  And guess what happened?!?

NOTHING!  I screamed, I yelled, I pleaded, I begged, and I can't be sure, but I think my head spun 360 and I hurled green guck!  And the response for all that energy???  NOTHING.  They looked at me with perplexed faces, calmly waited for me to either finish screaming or pass out from exhaustion, and then went back to their business of holding down the furniture.....

Okay, to put this in perspective for you, I've downloaded a couple pics to give you a better idea of what it looked like.  Pictures really are worth 1000 words.

This is how I usually react.....

So I really thought that when THIS happened

That they might Notice.....

and I'd see a little of THIS

BUT...

THIS is the Reaction I got....

 So, I did what any mother would do....

 I DECLARED A STRIKE!!!

If memory serves, I believe I even said I was never cooking again! Yes, I know, you know, and they know, that this is not a credible threat. But I told you that I went a little psycho....and it seemed reasonable at the time...

Then I went outside (loudly) and I had myself a little "Time Out"....when I came in, I opened up Microsoft Excel and created chore charts for my almost-grown children.  Yes, it really brings me back to their younger childhood days (imagine me daydreaming).  There is a list of chores for every day of the week.  They are hanging on the fridge for all their friends to see...only thing missing is the "star stickers" to show what good kids they are.  I refuse to spend a dollar on stickers, even to prove my point.  I think grounding them if they don't do them is a more effective way of dealing with them.

Anyway,  I feel better now.  Blogging does that (and so does bitching,) so it must be really cathartic to write a bitchy blog! 

To all the Mommies struggling with sleeping through the night, potty-training, and pre-school.....ENJOY IT!!  You have NO idea what's in store for you later!!  

Until tomorrow......

Summer Pasta Salad

So, this is my first recipe I've put up...but since my family "begs" for this pasta salad, I figure maybe it's worthy of a post!  Now mind you, I like to cook, but not bake.  The reason for this is that in cooking, I can be more creative.  I rarely measure, and hardly ever cook the same thing the same way twice!  This is what I love about cooking!!  Baking, on the other hand, demands attention to detail.  Not my greatest strength!  I have a very limited amount of patience, so I leave the baking to my daughter, who will be studying pastry arts this fall.

FRESH VEGETABLES ARE THE BOMB!!!

TRI-COLOR PASTA ADDS INTEREST

Pasta is NOT the enemy!! 

Now, On to the Recipe!!

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2 boxes tri-color rotini
2 bottles of your favorite Italian Dressing--Do use one with lots of flavor like Newman's Own.
1-2 cans black (or green) olives, sliced or halved
1-2 small jars of marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
Marinated sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

And any combination of these veggies (diced)  in whatever amounts you want!!  NO RULES!!  =)

Celery
Green, Yellow, Red, and/or Orange Bell Peppers--adds color, taste, & nutrients, so use them all if you have them
Green Onions (Salad Onions or regular onions if you don't have these)
Carrots
Brocolli
Cherry Tomatoes, halved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boil the noodles until JUST SOFT--do not overcook!! Strain them and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
Toss in some of the salad dressing to keep the noodles from sticking.
Add your veggies and the rest of the dressing.
Add Salt and Pepper to taste
Stir, Stir, Stir
Cover and Refrigerate for an hour or two to let it chill and allow the flavors to blend.

And for an extra kick:


Fresh Basil, and Parmesan Cheese also really Rock this Salad!!

VOILA!!!  You have enough pasta salad to feed the neighborhood--Trust me, they'll be coming back for more!!

Tweak this to fit your family--and use what you've got in the fridge!!  Like I said, there's no "wrong" way to make this.  To me, the goal is to use as many fresh veggies as I have on hand!!  So add some, remove some, play with it, experiment and have fun!!

Let me know what you think!!  And, if you try something that really works that isn't here, send me a shout-out--I'm always open to new ideas!!

New Blog is Ready to Kick Off "Featured Business Friday!!!"

When Lindsay (who runs Happy Housewife Designs) was putting together my blog--no easy feat, I am sure--she asked me to come up with the titles for my pages.

Because I am a woman of many words, I wanted to be able to create a blog where people could come and easily find the information they were looking for--whether it be to laugh at my crazy family life, commiserate with being a mother of a teenager, check out pics of my zoo, learn a biz tip or two, read about the Featured Businesses I support, learn about my favorite designer discount sites & links I love, or perhaps find out more about my home business.

I am one of those impatient ADD kinda people who, if I cannot quickly find what I am looking for, will either give up, or, more likely, get distracted by another feature of the blog, and forget why I was there in the first place!!  I figured there might be more people out  there like me, so I am trying to keep it as simple as possible.

Like my Tagline suggests, this blog, which started out for my home business, has quickly evolved into a place for me to write about "Life and The In-between!"  If there is ever a subject you would like me to research and blog about, let me know!!  I am always open for ideas!!

Also, I would like to remind you all about Featured Business Friday!!!  It will kick off this coming Friday with the Lovely Lindsay, who designed this blog...and then will feature one, possibly two, small businesses per week (largely depending on the response from my readers!!)

If you would like to have your business featured on my blog, here's the scoop!!

Leave me a comment with your name, your blog name and url, a sentence or two about what your business offers, and another sentence or two about why you believe supporting small business is so important, and what you do in your life to promote that, either in your community or online.

***Deal Breaker:  Because I am doing the Featured Business promotion in order to remind others how important it is to support the small business owner, if you do not tell me why you believe supporting the little guy is important to you, and what you do personally to support the little guy, I cannot feature your business.  I cannot stress how important this is to me, so please don't forget to add that info in your comment!!***