Hi friends!!
Ok some of you are working, others may be busy moms, you each have going on what you have going on ... etc. Here is my dilemma that I would LOVE ideas for!! MEAL IDEAS! I know this seems silly since there are SO many resources out there for recipes and ideas... however ... I am stillll struggling to find a breadth of creative meal ideas for Tim and I on week days post-work!? These ideas needed are not recipes with more than 3 or 4 ingredients. They need to be quick and HEALTHY ... ie FRESH! I have the same boring go-tos that I am just so tired of!! And when I look online or in my delicious cook books I find great recipes but they are what we have come to refer to as our "weekend" cooking! SO I need ideas.
ALSO, easy lunch ideas for work!! I have been doing frozen meals, soup, raw nuts, fruit, etc. but find myself starving by mid-afternoon. It is a frustration to find HEALTHY, LOW CALORIE options that still fill me up in a way that I dont get sick of the food the next day. Maybe I also need some really good afternoon snack ideas too!!
Thanks LADIES!! I know you will have really good ideas for me!!! XO
ME
PS an update: My dad is doing much better but we are continuing to monitor his health carefully. My cousins melanoma has been removed and preliminary tests say her cancer has not spread. My other cousin has another treatment coming up this week so please pray for that chemo treatment.
As an update to my previous posting on blonde hair ... my stylist did a "base" that was orange. It was terrible. I went back and made her fix it. Which she did but now there is just waaaay too much blonde. I am tired of the hair drama so I am seriously contemplating what it would look like to go "back to my roots" ... haha Stay tuned!
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!
xo
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Rally the Troops. Seize the Day.
Lessons I have been reminded of this week. Rallying. Believing. Hoping. Seizing.
A recap of the past 5 days:
an agressive melanoma diagnosis for my cousin (a mother of 6), yet another chemo treatment for my other cousin (yes, she has not just one but two life threatening auto-immune deficiencies), a hospital stay for heart related chest pains for my Dad and a number of other issues that will not be posted on a blog for the world to see (duh we all need to have some sort of private life, right?).
So "Rally the Troops": i am asking that if you pray to please please pray for my family! We are all experiencing in our own ways a lot of need and fear pressing in on us in many ways right now. How do I express with words what can only really be described as a deep heavy pressing and weight within my heart for the healing and restoration of so many people I love? Heart ache? Is that how you describe a desire that is so much bigger than just a "desire"? I am no philosopher but my heart is heavy and so I am just asking that if you pray to please pray for my family! I believe the Lord hears our prayers and answers them and so this week has reminded me of the importance in Believing in the Power of Prayer and Trusting in Him. That is all. Simply just want to ask for those who pray to genuinely pray for my extended and immediately family today.
"Seize the Day": All these situations this week have reminded me of the sweetness and blessing of life. And they have reminded me of how quickly life can change. In an instant! So Today, I came home, and drank a glass of wine out of a yet to be used crystal wine glass given to us for our wedding! It was my fun way of remembering that life could change tomorrow so today I am going to celebrate even something as small as drinking $5 wine out of a "fancy" glass. I must say, i Highly recommend it! A bubble bath is in the works as well!
Blessings and love! And Good night!
A recap of the past 5 days:
an agressive melanoma diagnosis for my cousin (a mother of 6), yet another chemo treatment for my other cousin (yes, she has not just one but two life threatening auto-immune deficiencies), a hospital stay for heart related chest pains for my Dad and a number of other issues that will not be posted on a blog for the world to see (duh we all need to have some sort of private life, right?).
So "Rally the Troops": i am asking that if you pray to please please pray for my family! We are all experiencing in our own ways a lot of need and fear pressing in on us in many ways right now. How do I express with words what can only really be described as a deep heavy pressing and weight within my heart for the healing and restoration of so many people I love? Heart ache? Is that how you describe a desire that is so much bigger than just a "desire"? I am no philosopher but my heart is heavy and so I am just asking that if you pray to please pray for my family! I believe the Lord hears our prayers and answers them and so this week has reminded me of the importance in Believing in the Power of Prayer and Trusting in Him. That is all. Simply just want to ask for those who pray to genuinely pray for my extended and immediately family today.
"Seize the Day": All these situations this week have reminded me of the sweetness and blessing of life. And they have reminded me of how quickly life can change. In an instant! So Today, I came home, and drank a glass of wine out of a yet to be used crystal wine glass given to us for our wedding! It was my fun way of remembering that life could change tomorrow so today I am going to celebrate even something as small as drinking $5 wine out of a "fancy" glass. I must say, i Highly recommend it! A bubble bath is in the works as well!
Blessings and love! And Good night!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Just shy of 2 months! Oops!
Whoa ... I can't believe how much time has flown! I must say there is MUCH to catch up on and at the same time NOTHING to catch up on! Life is completely wonderful and at the same time so routine right now that there just isn't much to report... not to mention that long work hours make blogging a distant and unlikely task! However, tonight I have a moment to stop and mention several somethings I am enjoying on this almost Summer 2011 Friday night!
1) A thoroughly fresh and lusciously green compliment to all things salad and vegetables ... Flat Leaf Italian Parsley. Ok I know, as my blog title says I am Always SLOW TO CATCH ON but I am enjoying cooking with this lovely green so much (don't be confused, most nights these days Tim and I are way too tired to do any sort of "gourmet" cooking ... if something involves more than 3 ingredients it is probably not being prepared at the Bratton's until the weekend). Tonight we used it on our roasted veggies and potatoes and it was yummy! Thank you Barefoot Contessa for your simple yet tasty directives!
2) I am loving my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I decided I am going to make at least one fun and refreshingly new recipe by her once a week. Luckily she makes the "Joy of Cooking" a lot mroe simple than some other fabulously inspirational cookbook authors! :) My next goal is to make her snap pea and black sesame seed salad! I will let you know how it goes (next August ... haha just kidding).
3) I now have a mini-mini-garden where I am growing Basil, Thyme, Cilantro, and Rosemary. I will say we had a 90 degree day that I think killed our Rosemary (which is very sad because I love Rosemary on our salmon) and our cilantro had a brush with death but for the most part the others seem to be doing well. I think the woman who lives in the unit on the back of our cottage property has been watering our Basil though which from time to time is turning the leaves yellow. Tim and I discussed it and I think we might have to take drastic measures and leave a note asking for her to not water it ... since she primarily only speaks Spanish do you think we should write it both in Spanish and English?!?! Haha
4) there are surely other fun things to report but I am tired and gonna go veg on the couch for the first time in days ... again don't be confused and think we have a thriving Los Angeles social life... my sister graduated from college last weekend so this week has been a lot of catch up from being out of town. Might I say, Fort Worth, Texas just gets more and more fabulous every time I go there! When I am there it is like being home after a long trip and I just find myself breathing!! Sunny, warm (HOT), cozy, and fabulously busy with a million things to do! Renouned art museums, restuarants, LIVE music all over, and a rich Texas history. Not to mention a million memories and my passionate love for TCU makes it just like a weekend in Heaven (haha that might be a slight dramatization)! Did I mention sweet college girlfriends and a cost of living that is incomparable!?? One of my besties is living in a 1 BD 1 BA duplex that bigger and more recently updated than mine and Tim's and she is paying less than half what we are paying in LA!!?!?!?! I mean so AWESOME! For now I will have to just do the "if only's" until we get to find affordable housing someplace where we can also find work!
5) And for my final notes, I just need to brag on my sweet, smart, hard working and precious sister who was just selected for an elite, competitive, and full-ride scholarship for her graduate program the next two years. A Masters in Special Education ... a set of skills that would never play to my strengths that makes me admire her in a way that I cannot explain! I just love her so so much! And am SO PROUD!
Ok signing off!! Missing my ladies more than you know!
1) A thoroughly fresh and lusciously green compliment to all things salad and vegetables ... Flat Leaf Italian Parsley. Ok I know, as my blog title says I am Always SLOW TO CATCH ON but I am enjoying cooking with this lovely green so much (don't be confused, most nights these days Tim and I are way too tired to do any sort of "gourmet" cooking ... if something involves more than 3 ingredients it is probably not being prepared at the Bratton's until the weekend). Tonight we used it on our roasted veggies and potatoes and it was yummy! Thank you Barefoot Contessa for your simple yet tasty directives!
2) I am loving my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I decided I am going to make at least one fun and refreshingly new recipe by her once a week. Luckily she makes the "Joy of Cooking" a lot mroe simple than some other fabulously inspirational cookbook authors! :) My next goal is to make her snap pea and black sesame seed salad! I will let you know how it goes (next August ... haha just kidding).
3) I now have a mini-mini-garden where I am growing Basil, Thyme, Cilantro, and Rosemary. I will say we had a 90 degree day that I think killed our Rosemary (which is very sad because I love Rosemary on our salmon) and our cilantro had a brush with death but for the most part the others seem to be doing well. I think the woman who lives in the unit on the back of our cottage property has been watering our Basil though which from time to time is turning the leaves yellow. Tim and I discussed it and I think we might have to take drastic measures and leave a note asking for her to not water it ... since she primarily only speaks Spanish do you think we should write it both in Spanish and English?!?! Haha
4) there are surely other fun things to report but I am tired and gonna go veg on the couch for the first time in days ... again don't be confused and think we have a thriving Los Angeles social life... my sister graduated from college last weekend so this week has been a lot of catch up from being out of town. Might I say, Fort Worth, Texas just gets more and more fabulous every time I go there! When I am there it is like being home after a long trip and I just find myself breathing!! Sunny, warm (HOT), cozy, and fabulously busy with a million things to do! Renouned art museums, restuarants, LIVE music all over, and a rich Texas history. Not to mention a million memories and my passionate love for TCU makes it just like a weekend in Heaven (haha that might be a slight dramatization)! Did I mention sweet college girlfriends and a cost of living that is incomparable!?? One of my besties is living in a 1 BD 1 BA duplex that bigger and more recently updated than mine and Tim's and she is paying less than half what we are paying in LA!!?!?!?! I mean so AWESOME! For now I will have to just do the "if only's" until we get to find affordable housing someplace where we can also find work!
5) And for my final notes, I just need to brag on my sweet, smart, hard working and precious sister who was just selected for an elite, competitive, and full-ride scholarship for her graduate program the next two years. A Masters in Special Education ... a set of skills that would never play to my strengths that makes me admire her in a way that I cannot explain! I just love her so so much! And am SO PROUD!
Ok signing off!! Missing my ladies more than you know!
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