Today I am thankful for...........

If you've read my blog, you probably know that I have a thing about gratitude.

Sometimes it's hard for us to remember to be thankful for what we have. Life can get pretty crazy, as it has for me the last couple of month (hence the lack of posts - sorry!).

I think it's doubly important during the crazy times to really focus on the things that make life good. It's easy to notice the BIG things in our life; getting the job, vacations, celebrations, falling in love and winning the lottery (OK I know nothing about that one, but there are people who do.)

The time when it's most important to be grateful, is when things aren't the rosiest.The things we should notice? Sometimes the littlest things make all of the difference.......

Unconditional Love from a pet - Every morning my Daisy leaps (yes leaps with no warning) onto my shoulder and snuggles in for a love fest. She gets as close as possible and purrs like a motorboat. There's nothing like it for starting your morning.

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." ~ George Elliot

                                                                                

Three weddings and an engagement - We have 3 weddings to attend this summer and two of our closest friends just announced their engagement. In a world where marriages expire faster than a gallon of milk, it's encouraging to see people who are still willing to commit their lives to each other. To say yes - you are the one I want to grow old with. 

"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage."  ~Martin Luther        

                                                 

Health and Contacts - 

Getting an all clear this week on a health scare for a relative - Enough said right?

 

After my eye surgery earlier this year, I'd pretty much ruled out being able to wear contacts again. It was going to be glasses for me here on out, which I was okay with. (As I said before, the ability to just see outweighs pretty much everything else.) So imagine my surprise when the doctor suggested we go back to contacts. They actually think it could help protect my eye, as long as we can rule out the allergy they originally thought that I had. Two weeks of wearing them - so far so good :)

"It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver." Mahatma Gandhi

                                                             

Having a passion - Hubby turned his love for flying into a full time teaching job this year. He works crazy hours (anywhere from 6am to 9pm), but he's absolutely loving it because he loves what he's doing.

I've always written (or at least dabbled in it), but this year in particular has brought a new focus for me. Ever since the writing conference last year, my friend and I have put renewed effort into our goals. Meeting a couple of times a month for a writing session, joining writing groups and taking online classes, forced me to keep focus on my goal. The hours are long, and there are days when I'm exhausted, but I'm loving every minute of it too. 

"You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it." Oprah Winfrey

                                                                            

Dark Chocolate - Hey, I said it's the little things right? 

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." Charles M. Schulz

What little things made your list for this week?

~ Adrienne
 
                                                       

Tuesday Testimonial.....

Healthy Options......

Lately I've been looking for ways to update foods that I love, to a "healthier" status. Two of my new favorite finds, are doing just that.

#1 - PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter - Made by Bell Plantation, this peanut butter has 85% less fat than regular peanut butter. How does this compare to other peanut butters? 

A typical serving (2tbsp) of a popular brand (not naming names) - contains 16grams of fat, 190 calories and 3 grams of sugar. The same serving size of PB2? 1.5 grams of fat, 45 calories and 1 gram of sugar!! A majority of the oil is removed from the peanuts in their process, leaving a peanut butter powder. 

To make a serving, you simply add a tbsp of water for each serving (more or less depending on desired consistency) and you're all set. It also comes in a dark chocolate option, which is very good too. Something to note - For anyone who loves those popular brands of peanut butter and are used to that very sweet taste; this may be a difficult taste to acquire. It really is just peanuts, so the taste is decidedly less sweet, but I believe those who love peanuts will love this as well.

#2 DAMY Health Natural Weight Loss & Body Transformation Experts  - The website is run by a husband and wife team of Amy and David Layne, who specialize in anything health and fitness related.

Now, let me preface this by saying this site does promote a couple of different diet and exercise programs that are available for purchase. I haven't purchased any of the programs so I can't speak to their effectiveness, but there are a number of testimonials available to read from satisfied customers. However they do offer, for anyone to access, all of the recipes that they use in their meal plans. They offer lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts

The part that fascinates me about this site is the way she creates seemingly decadent food, using extremely healthy ingredients. You can find anything from homemade LARA Bars, cheesecake made from Greek yogurt, pizza crust made from cauliflower, to a peanut butter cup made from pumpkin puree (I think that will be my recipe for this weekend.) The pictures she uses to show off her creations make it hard to believe that they're made from anything but the bad stuff. (I wasn't able to copy any pictures here so please,please check out her site to get the full effect of these recipes!)

So far I've tried her recipes for hummus, bread sticks, cauliflower pizza dough and cauliflower bites, chocolate chip protein balls, Spicy lime roasted chic peas and my personal favorite.....chocolate chip cookie dough made from......chic peas. I kid you not.....

Many of her recipes are considered gluten free and vegan, but just a warning for anyone with a nut allergy - many of her dessert recipes do call for nuts. Overall, a very refreshing take on how to eat more healthy using a very creative imagination.

Happy Eating!!

 ~Adrienne

 

Daisy's Big Day.....

So, I realize that I've been MIA lately.......

I've been trying to move myself along in the book writing, which means other things have taken a back seat. That and a longer than expected recovery from my eye surgery (just a lot of annoying eyestrain), has meant no new blog posts. (I also spilled coffee on myself this week, resulting in a 2nd degree burn on my arm, so we're doing just great.)

 I promise to try and get back on track soon, but in the meantime I have a guest host today.......

Anyone who knows my cat Daisy, knows that she has an extreme personality (she pretty much thinks she's human). So I thought she could give an insight into what a typical day is like for her.......

Day 1....Morning

My owners refuse to draw my bath for me......so I'll sit in the tub and wait. I'm sure that I can outlast them.

Breakfast time........they aren't attending to my needs fast enough, so I will just help myself.....can someone help me get this Tupperware open??

 

Mid-morning.....Time to play who will blink first......or what I like to call torturing my big brother.

Time for my morning snooze......talk amongst yourselves........

 Lunchtime.......can't get the fridge open so I guess I'll just rearrange the magnets for them.

I could look at myself in the mirror all day.......in fact I do sometimes....

 .......as long as it doesn't interfere with my afternoon nap........

 Late Afternoon......Dammit - they've got some kind of bars on my cell.......my escape is foiled again! Curses! Oh well, maybe I can see if my big brother wants to play hide and go seek again........

Does it look like I want to play hide and go seek???

Fine.....I'll leave you alone grumpy pants. 

Here I sit.....alone.....waiting for my servants to return from toiling in the fields.....or whatever it is that they do.

Evening.......Sigggghhhhhhh....my people have returned and all is right with the world.

All right.....enough with the picture taking! Move along, shows over!

It's not about the towels.....

          

            I caught a marathon of the Kardashian's recently (sue me - It was a day when nothing was on and I needed to rest after my eye surgery.) It was an episode from the end of the season where newly married Kim and Kris decided to go out on a dinner date to reconnect. Call me crazy, but a couple newly married should not need to try and reconnect. I watched as they sat in strained silence, waiting for their food to come. I'm telling you, never has food delivery looked more like a death row reprieve. Later she commented during a monologue that they didn't seem to have much in common. Again....say what?? The kicker though, came when she had a mini breakdown at the thought of her new husband moving (gasp) all of his things into her house.

           I have to say that even though we all knew at that point how their story ended, it was still pretty shocking to see how ridiculously out of touch they both were with what a marriage truly meant; not a wedding mind you - a marriage. I remember the entertainment news coverage of every step of their courtship and warp speed wedding planning; everything from their initial dates to registering for gifts. If there was one thought that stood out in all of this (and this is a piece of advice for anyone getting married) -
                                              It's not about the towels!
         It's not about the towels, the sheets, wineglasses, or the china pattern, or any other wedding gift you'll receive. It's only about you and the other person, and the fact that you are committing the rest of your life to each other. It's making sure that you know as much as you can about that other person, and still wanting to say "I do."

         Let me say this loud and clear. If the idea of planning your wedding is more exciting than the idea of being married....you're not ready to say "I do." If you're more excited about the idea of an open bar at your reception than in seeing your future wife waiting at the altar.....not ready. If you're more excited about wearing a pretty white dress, the honeymoon, picking out new towels, or anything other than being an everyday husband/wife.. ...you......are......not.....ready.

         Towels fray, wine glasses break, wedding dresses yellow - marriage is not something you can trade in when the wear of years start to show. You need to make sure you're giving as much attention to your marriage as you are to planning the wedding. If your boyfriend isn't very nice to you when you're dating, a wedding won't change that. If your relationship consists of endless fights, an over the top wedding will not correct that.
         Now, I'm not saying that you need to date someone for years before you determine if they are the one. Hubby and I were married a year and one month after we met. What I am saying is know the person you're marrying and make sure they know you, (the real you, not the one who made sure you looked perfect for each of your first dates.) The you who has bad hair days, is cranky in the morning, has less than perfect credit, and sings along with the radio.....to every song. Ask each other those questions that you both need to know the answers to before saying I do. Do you want kids? What kind of saver/spender/bill payer are you? Where do you see your life in 10 years? Really listen to their answers and then watch their behavior to see if it matches up. If he tells you that he likes quiet nights at home, but wants to go out every night, that says something. If that is who he is, then it's who he is. It's not a bad thing, but make sure it's your thing. Likewise, if quiet nights at home are what you crave, then don't pretend to love going out every night in the secret hope that he'll change once you're married. Tell him, this is who I am and this is what I'm looking for. If you are both in it for real then you will find a way to compromise now and then (dinner in tonight, dinner out with friends tomorrow). Hiding who you really are, or turning a blind eye to who they really are is not fair to either party.

          Give yourself and the person you love, the respect you both deserve. Give marriage the respect that it deserves. Remember.....marriage first, towels second. 

                                                ~ Adrienne

What I've Learned.......

What I've learned this week .....

#1 People say the strangest things...

Overheard in the doctor's office waiting room:

Husband and wife discussing pain tolerance:

Wife - "I just don't think you have a very high tolerance for pain."

Husband - "Yeah I do. I had hip surgery. You've never gone through anything like that. The only thing you've gone through that you could maybe compare it to would be child birth....I guess."

I'm thinking he was going to experience a whole new kind of pain later that day.....

#2 Retirement can make you do some funny things.

My father in law retired back in October and like many new retirees, he's been enjoying it to the hilt. He travels, goes out to breakfast with the guys, and takes naps when he wants. But lately there have been signs that perhaps he's getting a little bored. He decided to try baking......a cake......just to see..... if he could.

This was the picture hubby sent me at work.....as you can see it was not just a cake, but a 3 layer cake. Let me make this clear......he made 3 separate cake mixes and then made one HUGE cake out of it. It was so big that he didn't have enough frosting for it. He had to use cool whip for the bottom half and then the homemade, (yes, he also made his own frosting) cream cheese, frosting on the top layer. It fed 9 of us and there was still half a cake left!! We're pushing for him to find a job......and soon!

#3 Everyone should have a Kevin Costner as their friend. 

 

            As most people know by now, Whitney Houston's funeral was yesterday. I viewed a small portion of the ceremony, in particular, Kevin Costner's extremely moving tribute. He spoke, not as a movie star, but as someone struggling to hold it together at the funeral of a dear friend.

         One of the stories he told involved Whitney's screen test for the movie "The Bodyguard." As he pointed out, even as popular as she was at the time, she was still required to try out for the job, as she had no acting experience. At one point it was determined that it wasn't going to work out, as she would be on tour at the time the movie would be shooting. Kevin Costner was so sure that she was right for the part, that he convinced the studio to postpone things for a year. Even after all of that, she still had to try out for the part. He met her in her dressing room the morning of the test, where she expressed her concern over being able to do this. As he put it, she wondered if they would like her enough. After reassuring her that she'd be wonderful and that he knew the part was hers, she asked for a few minutes by herself. After about 20 minutes, she arrived on set. Four minutes into her test, there was a call for a break. Kevin took Whitney aside and asked what she had done during the time they had waited, to which she replied that she was just thinking. Kevin took her back to her trailer and stood her in front of a mirror. As he explained during his speech, Whitney had removed the makeup they had used on her for the test, in favor of her own, thicker, much heavier, stage makeup. She'd feared that the makeup they used didn't cover her imperfections enough. Unfortunately her makeup was not made to withstand the hot lights used during the test shoot, and consequently it was now running down her face. Kevin said Whitney was mortified and asked him if anyone had noticed. The gentleman that he was, Kevin told her that no one had and made sure she was ready for the rest of the screen test. As everyone pretty much knows by now, "The Bodyguard" was a huge hit, earning more than $400 million as well as Oscar nominations for 2 of the songs in the movie

          Kevin's story was touching and yet heartbreaking. Some might even say, it was a little unkind to tell. It wasn't bad enough that Whitney is gone, now someone is standing in front of the world telling a story that highlights her flaw of being seriously insecure. At the height of her career, being one of the most popular celebrities in the world, she felt she wasn't pretty enough to pass a screen test. It spoke volumes about how fragile her psyche must have been. I actually think that story alone, was one of the only "true" stories that have been told since her passing. I think Kevin knew very well what he was doing in telling that particular story. He was humanizing her. He said to the world that in spite of all the accolades, awards, money and fame, Whitney was a person, who could be just as scared and full of self doubt as the next person. The demons that we all face were no stranger to her. Perhaps because of her fame and the pressure she felt, they overwhelmed her even more. Perhaps the drugs and alcohol were an attempt to combat the demons and insecurities that she faced. From the outside, we saw a beautiful woman with an even more beautiful voice. For Whitney, she saw someone for whom there was never enough makeup to cover her imperfections.

        I've heard and read a number of comments about Whitney this week. Some were kind, expressing sorrow at the loss of such an amazing voice and memories of the joy her music had brought. But too many of them were jokes made regarding her drug addiction and erratic behavior in the later years of her career. I think it's easy to forget sometimes that celebrities are human too. Yes she was Whitney Houston, big singer and movie star. But she was also some one's daughter, some one's niece, and some one's mother. To Kevin Costner she was a friend, and he had no shame in telling this to the world.

Tuesday Testimonial

It's all about the Fire.........

                                                                                 

        I have a confession to make......I've been cheating on my books. I've started something of an affair with the..... Kindle Fire.

      How did it come to this? How did I fall into such an addiction? After all, I was the one who swore up and down that I could not do without real, actual books. I love bookstores, the smell of books, the heft of them, collecting them. I was the girl in the Kindle commercial who says that she likes the satisfaction of folding the page down to mark your place. I'm the person who goes to rummage and garage sales and the clearance rack at Barnes & Noble, searching out a great book bargain. (I even wrote a post where I bragged about buying 32 books.) I have books in every room in my house; they've taken over my nightstand, the top of my dresser, all the book cases, baskets on the floor and the coffee table. I couldn't pass up a book deal. I was in a word addicted, and that became an issue. See, I'm also one of those who doesn't get rid of my books, unless I absolutely hated it. So needless to say, at the rate I was going, I was going to need another house for all of my books. I'm pretty sure Hubby wasn't going to fall for that, so something had to give.
                                                       
                                         

       So I started listening when people extolled the virtues of all the tablets available out there. I started looking at the different options in stores, just as a detour on the way to look at something else....I wasn't serious after all. Then right before Christmas, Amazon came out with the new Kindle Fire. Reading a review that likened it to the Apple Ipad, (without the Apple price) is what pretty much sold me.

NOTE - There are a lot of options out there for tablets and I think they all have great features. I will not be debating one against the other here, just listing why I took up said affair with the Kindle.

       Things I love about my Kindle Fire:

• Portable
• Tons of options for books (in the past if I wanted to take books on a trip, I had to try and guess what genre I would be in the mood for, and find room in my bags for at least 3 book choices. Now I can have hundreds in one spot.
• Amazon Prime (a yearly membership) gives me unlimited streaming of TV shows, certain movies and one free book a month from their lending library. I read the popular Hunger Game series with this option.
• Their are hundreds of other free book options that you can download. (I downloaded The Velveteen Rabbit and Les Miserables.)
• E-books tend to be a little bit cheaper than paper copies, which means I can buy more :) :)
• The Kindle can be used as an Ipod.
• Web access
• Email access
• You can download a ton of free games - Memory Trainer, Tetris, Solitaire, Majong, and yes even Angry Birds. Although in my opinion, that is the true addiction that you have to watch out for!
• Color Graphics
• Very user friendly
• And 2 of my personal favorites.......
  You can bookmark a page, as well as highlight passages.
  
  
  So, while my pulse will always quicken at the sight of fully stocked bookshelves and I will still frequent my local bookstores, I now have an alternative option. One that will not involve Hubby having to build me another house......and that makes all of us very happy.
  
  So, does anyone else share my addiction?
  If so, what are your favorite features?
  
  
  
  ~ Adrienne

  
  

Nothing like Nostalgia......

Nostalgia is an amazing thing.....one minute you're driving along in your current day to day life, and a song comes on the radio; a song you haven't heard since you were in college. In my case the song was "She's a Beauty," an 80's classic. In an instant I was on a bar stool at a local college hangout, singing along with my friends. Although I attended college in the late 90's, this particular bar was known for playing old school 80's music (probably to draw in people like us). Our friend Scott bar tended there and was known to offer a free drink to anyone who could name the band and song title. He would sing along at the top of his lungs, playing drums on the bar. I was overwhelmed by the vividness of that memory - how in one instant I was back there with my friends on a Saturday night, absolutely loving life. Don't get me wrong; my life now is very good and I wouldn't trade it for anything......but I might give up an hour or two just to go back and hang out for a drink and one more song.....

 

I was hit with another flash of nostalgia today, when a new ad for the Superbowl was announced.  This ad for the new Honda CR-V was on the Today Show this morning......"Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?"
 

That's right, Honda has taken the classic 80's movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and made it into (what I believe), will be a great marketing tool. Those of us who came of age in that time period should be hit with some pretty good memories. I love the intro where he speaks to the camera about this being his worst performance, and yet his boss bought it. However, I was a little saddened when the person covering the story, commented on the fact that Matthew Broderick is now 49!!

(What?? Ferris isn't ageless??).....time really doesn't stop, does it? I'm also disappointed that Cameron and Sloane weren't part of the commercial - wouldn't they all still be together? In my world they would be.....Oh well...either way, it made me smile and flash back on a great time in my life.
 

          So that's my trip back in time.......how about you? 

        Have you taken any trips down memory lane lately?

Adrienne

PS - The name of the band is The Tubes......

PPS - I can't resist........"When Cameron was in Egypt's land... let my Cameron go!"