passing the baton

From the moment my first born was placed in my arms it was like a whoosh!  Every emotion that you can possibly feel dumped on me all at once.  You know a what in the world just happened, I'm a mother, holy cow sort of feeling. Nothing can prepare you for that.  It's lightning bolt worthy and for me it was beyond surreal.  With every experience and every little step in growing there has a been a milestone.  First tooth...major.  Potty trained...hallelujah.  First day of school...sad and displaced etc...  But there was one rite of passage that I've been waiting for.  Wondering when that day would finally happen and it did on vacay.  Yep my baby moved on into "womanhood". 


It was like time stopped for a split second. Even though you know it's coming, you see the changes...mood swings, cravings, obvious maturity it still knocked me off my axis for a split second and it took me back.  I could remember that day in my own life like it was yesterday.  And as I prayed with her and we acclimated there was this page turning sensation, and a feeling I can only describe as a passing of the baton.

That's what we do as mother's.  We cradle their hands.  We watch them navigate the exact same things we went through.  We pray hard.  We hold our breath, and exhale a sigh of relief when they succeed...and ultimately we pass the baton.  When I think of Mother's day and all that it means to me this is the crowning jewel.  This is what we get to impart.  And it's priceless.

The last night of vacation honey and I clung to each other in bed and cried.  We do that sometimes.  Something about vacation and the collection of all those memories makes us both sentimental.   It's not lost on us that in a few short years they will be gone.  Making their own way...passing the baton with their own children.  Then I guess we get to experience the whoosh feeling of grand babies.  I kinda love the thought of that.  It's all good...one page at a time;)

Happy Mother's Day!

572.  being there

573.  strawberry shortcake

574.  my mom is still with me

575.  having two girls

cuffs galore & korean BBQ

Hi girlies it's FRIDAY!  I have no idea why, but I feel like celebrating!!!  I love Fridays.  I wanted to tell you about my friend Brigetta.  She wrote a book and it's going to be FREE this Saturday!  FREE people.  I've downloaded it from Amazon.  Haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it's going to be awesome, because frankly she's awesome.  So check it out here.


Anyhoo I've been doing some stuff for my Etsy store this week, and it feels soooo good. I'm not one to talk about my shop very much.  I'm not sure why, but self promotion doesn't come easy for me.  I more or less just wait for orders to come my way, but I've been hoarding these belts for way too long and they need to be used up!

Can you say stop the madness!  People collect all sorts of things...salt and pepper shakers, hand mirrors;), quilts, coins etc...I'm officially a belt collector.  I'm on the constant look out.  I love them because they make incredible jewelry.  I can never have too many, but they need to be used.  So expect to see lots of new cuffs going in my Etsy store in the near future.

This week I tried two of the link up recipes from last Friday.  See I really do fix what you link up:)  The one I chose to show here was the Korean BBQ Ribs.  SO GOOD!  Seriously my little chick was moaning and she does NOT moan about food!  She's the pickiest eater ever.  So I think we have a winner.


I even got big chick in on the cooking part.  She made the cabbage chicken salad that Barbara posted about in her link post.  I'm not the best at having the girls help me in the kitchen.  It's a disservice to them really that I don't like to cook.  I need to do better.  After a recent slumber party at a friend's house my oldest came home and gushed about how her friend got up that morning and just whipped up some pancakes.  I'm like okay I guess I need to encourage this a bit;)  It's time.

Barbara's Korean BBQ Recipe:

1 1/2 cups tamari sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup sesame oil

3 tbsp veg oil

8-10 cloves of garlic crushed

6 green onions chopped roughly

4 pounds of short ribs

toasted sesame seeds

Here's how...

Combine the soy, sugar and oils, in a large bowl. Now add garlic and onion save a little for garnish. Stir together, put ribs into a large Ziploc bag (may need two bags) pour marinade into the bags and shake several times to coat.  Refrigerate for at least four hours turning bag once or twice.

Heat grill to med-high heat, drain excess marinade.  Put ribs on grill for about 8 minutes on each side...garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds & onion.

<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.farmgirlpaints.blogspot.com"><img vspace="none" hspace="none" alt="feed my family friday" src="http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu20/folly_surf_fisher/feedmyfamily-1.jpg" /></a>

Okay girlies, grab my button, link to your recipe and let's FEED OUR FAMILIES:)

Have a great weekend Mothers:)

567.  "moving on" alumni brunch

568.  having more energy this week:)

569.  feeling a sense of accomplishment with my shop

570.  stormy skies on soccer practice night...shame on me

571.  anticipation of a special mother's day weekend

it is well with my soul

We go to a contemporary service at church.  Actually there isn't a choice, and most of the time I love it, but there is a part of me that misses the hymns.  The old familiar songs I grew up with as a child.  This Sunday I was singing along and all of a sudden they started one of my very favorites...It is Well With my Soul.  Oh how I love that song. 



When I was in high school our church choir went over to England and I was one of the "signers".  I stood in front of the various congregations, nervously shaking to my core, and fluidly did the sign language to that beautiful song.  At sixteen I didn't really understand the significance of the lyrics...the power in this man's message. 



Horatio Spafford pinned this song after he had just lost his four daughters in a shipwreck.  He was in complete and utter despair.  UTTER DESPAIR!  Can you imagine?  And yet he wrote this:

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well, with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well, with my soul,
     It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

I look at my own life and all that I hold dear and I think to myself would I be able to whisper those words if I lost it all?  Would I have that complete faith and trust in my Lord on that day?

Would my focus be on what really matters?...that our lives here are temporary and that heaven is our real home.  That my sins are nailed to that cross and I don't have to carry them anymore.  I love his focus.  I love that despite his pain, he kept the truth close to his heart and didn't go down that path of why me? 

These people are my everything, but they aren't really mine.  They are loaners.  They are entrusted to me, but ultimately they are HIS, as is everything. 

Oh to be able to say and mean it to the core...It is Well with My Soul.

Have a blessed day.

562. hymns

563.  a sweet early bday gift from this gal

564.  lots of cuff orders because of this gal and this gal

565.  money provided to fly home this summer

566.  running for 30 minutes without dying

**the beach pics were taken on La Jolla beach by San Diego

so i'm not a size 3 & caprese quinoa

After my shower the other day I went for my comfy shorts.  You know the ones that look sorta cute, but more than anything the fit is just right?  I pulled them on and they were SKIN TIGHT.  We are talking sausage roll tight.  My blood pressure immediately shot up.  I started doing sumo squats to try and stretch them out, the whole time I'm fuming under my breath.  Did I shrink them??  Did I gain more weight?!  Finally I ripped them off and kicked them around the floor a bit, frustrated that another article of clothing was going to my twelve year old.  Then I picked them up and looked at the label.  They WERE my twelve year old's!!!  WHAT?  So then I'm like oooh I could actually pull up a size 3 pair of shorts;)  HA!  Uh can you say psycho?!  It took me about a millisecond to lose my joy and then another millisecond to get it back again. 



I'll be honest.  I've been down on myself this year.  It's been a roller coaster emotionally with the move etc...and I've put on about 15 pounds, which makes me mad.  Going on vacay recently and eating like a banshee didn't help much either, but that's besides the point;)  The thing is as women we can be really hard on ourselves. 

I work out.  I kill it at the gym.  I eat healthy most of the time.  I believe our bodies are worth fighting for.  It's not wrong to try and look good.  Because to me looking good equates feeling good.  What is wrong is letting satan steal my joy when I can't fit into a size 3 or if I don't like how my face looks in a picture etc...  There's some kool aid being passed around in society that we have to be itty bitty to fit in...to feel pretty.  Well I'm not buying in.  Speaking of pretty...thank you for all the sweet compliments from my previous post.  I hope you know I wasn't fishin' for them.  I was referring more to a feeling than an outward appearance, but I'll take it.  Made my head about explode. 


I went to lunch with a friend recently and she started off saying, "I don't want to offend you" and immediately I was like oh no what is she gonna say.  She went on to say that she's starting to think about aging and it's bothering her a bit, and that if it bothers her than it really must bother me.  I was like oh how so??  In a nutshell she went on to tell me she doesn't care about her looks...and it's apparent that I do.  Whew I was worried it was going to be something bad, she didn't offend me at all.  I do care.  I've mulled this one over and there is nothing wrong with caring.  Caring to me means taking CARE of yourself and I think that is what the Lord calls us to do with our bodies.  We only get one.  It's when we get out of balance and either don't care enough or care too much that it affects our lives and that's when there should be a check in our spirit.  That's what I had the other day...a little what the world are you freaking out about check!

Since we are talking about caring for ourselves, this gal has done just that.  I'm so inspired by her fit journey, and apparently she eats a lot of quinoa.  I've never had it, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  I found a yummy recipe here.

Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
-1/2 C quinoa
-8 oz fresh mozzarella
-1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
-fresh basil (I only had cilantro)-2T olive oil (I used maybe a tsp or 2.)-salt & pepper

Method
1. In a medium sized pan, bring 1 C water and 1/2 C quinoa to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer on LOW until all of the water is absorbed. This should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. *Cooking your quinoa on low is extremely important. If you let it simmer on a hotter flame, the water will absorb too quickly and the quinoa will turn out hard! (I've heard you can cook it in a rice cooker too.)
2. Cool the cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for at least an hour before preparing the salad.

3. To prepare the salad, slice grape tomatoes in half [hot dog way] and cut the block of fresh mozzarella into bite size pieces. Mix together. Then add the chopped basil and cooked quinoa and give the salad a toss. Next, drizzle on the olive oil and season with a little salt/pepper (to taste). Give your salad a final toss and serve cool or at room temperature.

I'm not sure what I think of quinoa.  While I was eating I took too big a bite and about killed myself on a tomato or hunk of cheese. Geesh!  Cut it up small!  After that I was scared to eat anymore.  It's supposed to be really good for ya.  That's all I know.  I'm sure I'll try it again soon:)






<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.farmgirlpaints.blogspot.com"><img vspace="none" hspace="none" alt="feed my family friday" src="http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu20/folly_surf_fisher/feedmyfamily-1.jpg" /></a>

So I'd love for you to link up a recipe and join in the fun. 

Have a blessed weekend friends.

556.  friends you can talk about anything with

557.  lunch at baker's crust with my first friday girls

(chasing a fly)

558.  how my honey makes me laugh out loud

559.  big chick's new smile;)

560.  having this place to spill my thoughts

561.  you for loving me with your words