Christmas is here

Christmas is finally here and we have been so busy. We decided to do another live tree this year and I am so glad we did. They are not perfect, by any means, but they are so worth the imperfections. This one seemed too skinny and not very full, but it has made that little corner just explode with delight! I walk in my door and I get this amazing feeling! It is just beautiful. Last year, we received this ornament for Mabel. It's my favorite ornament. It is front and center on my tree, right next to Dusty's (RIP) collar.

As promised in my last post, I was able to make the Mexican Casserole from Janetha (Meals and Moves).

Here it is:

The list of exact ingredients are in my last post.

Saute your onions and green bell peppers in olive oil.

Make sure they are soft.

Then add Ground Turkey

Break it up and cook meat. Add taco seasoning and combine.

Once meat is cooked and taco seasoning is fully incorporated, add rice, tomatoes (I used can) and black beans (rinsed).

Add enchilada sauce and greek yogurt and stir.
Then add LOTS of cheese!

Then bake! YUM! It was beyond delicious! And the leftovers are even better.

Ok, next. While I was cooking the casserole, I realized I had a half of an onion left over and some leftover ingredients in the fridge. So, I made a greek salad. YUM.

Start with chopped onions (bigger than a dice).

Chop a seedless cucumber and add to the colorful bowl!
Add a couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle a generous teaspoon of Greek Seasoning.

Stir together. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Cut up a handful of cilantro and add to salad.

Finish by taking a lime and squeezing half in the bowl. If you like ALOT of citrus, add the whole thing!

Enjoy!

Much Love.

A better blogger.....

She looks like a good blogger......

I would like to become a better blogger. You know, one that people want to read because it's enjoyable. How do I do that? Maybe I need to take a class. Or maybe I just need to become more dedicated to my blog. My posts are obviously boring because I don't even like reading them, so I need to step it up on that end as well. So, here is me trying to step it up.

Mexican Casserole

Matt follows this amazing blog called Meals and Moves. Janetha gives HEALTHY recipes and they really are good! We have made several. This one looked AMAZING and we are actually trying it tonight. I will blog tomorrow (see I'm trying here.....) and let you know how it goes.

<--- This picture is from Janetha's Meals and Moves website. I hope mine looks this good.

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey, chicken or beef
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 (15 oz) can black beans
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 (11 oz) can green enchilada sauce
1 cup 0% plain greek yogurt (can sub sour cream)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chiles
avocado or guacamole for garnish
serve with whole wheat tortillas

Directions

In a skillet, sauté onion and bell pepper over medium-high heat.

When they soften, add your ground turkey.

Add the taco seasoning.

Once your meat is cooked, add rice, tomatoes and black beans. Mix well.

Pour in Enchilada Sauce

Add greek yogurt.

Add cheese.

At the very end add the chiles.

Pour it all into a 9×13 baking dish and cover with more cheese!

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees until warmed through

Toast some tortillas

Serve with guacamole.

So, there it is. I think it's going to be delicious. YUM YUM YUM!!

Much love.

New addictions

Lately I have been finding fabulous new blogs that I am becoming addicted to. I wanted to share...

1. Ruby Press- a ultra chic boutique that blogs about their favorite finds.
http://rubypr.com/blog/

2. Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone-it's just great.....enough said.
http://www.brooklynlimestone.com/

3. What's up Whimsy- a girl trying to get into the interior design world describing herself as "contemporary whimsey, with a hint of vintage" <--- Exactly my style!
http://www.whatsupwhimsy.com/

Enjoy! And have a great weekend!
Much Love.

Singing In The Rain/Umbrella

I had to share this video. It was so great watching this on Tuesday. I bought the song on iTunes the very next day. Is there a song that resonates with you always? Umbrella was that song. It reminded me of college and everytime I hear it, I sing at the top of my lungs. Now, I believe I will be singing this song at the top of my lungs! Have a wonderful Thursday!!


Much Love.

Building a buffer...

My sister Robin sent this to me this morning. I had to share. It is exactly what I needed right now. I hope you have a great start to your week.

Build a Buffer Around Your Schedule by Rick Warren

Reverence for God adds hours to each day. Proverbs 10:27 (LB)
"Without margin in your life, you'll think, Oh, no! Another thing to do! Sorry, God -- I'd like to do that, but I'm just too busy."

In preparation for a decade of destiny, we’ve been talking about the need to be physically healthy – that God wants us to take care of our bodies. And I want to stress one more time that unrelenting stress harms our bodies. Why do we wait until our health plummets before we decide to create margin in our lives? The Bible teaches that your body needs downtime in order to heal and re-energize. Listen to why this is so important: when you’re overloaded by activity, you can only think of yourself. You’re in survival mode, just trying to make it through another day. And that limits your usefulness in ministry!When you have no downtime or margin in your life and God taps you on the shoulder, saying, “I’d like you to do this for me,” your first response isn’t joy. Your first response is, “Oh, no! Another thing to do! Sorry, God -- I’d like to do that, but I'm just too busy.” We end up resenting the great opportunities God brings into our lives. But when we deliberately and specifically add downtime into our lives, we become available for God to use us as we head into this decade of destiny. You don’t have to live on overload. You don’t have to live in survival mode. Begin today to build a buffer around your schedule. Then enjoy the benefits of margin -- and see what God does next!

It was so nice to see the MANY different types of people that came to support Robin at the benefit on Saturday. It speaks volumes about her and the way she has touched so many lives. It is just astounding. I know she is fulfilling God's plans by bringing people closer to Him and it is working!! He is going to heal her and allow everyone to be IN AWE OF HIM!

Just trying to stay above water....

Have you ever felt that you are sinking slowly and you are desperately just trying to keep your nose and mouth above water so you can breathe??

That is where I am right now. I am taking three graduate classes and up until this point it has been fine. I teach all day and then after school I work on my grad school material before going to class. Since we are getting to the end of the semester, the work is increasing and my teaching is getting more stressful. I have a breakdown once a week to Matt. I just sit and cry and say that I can't do it. I agreed to coach the Academic Team and the Dance Team again this year and it has been a lot of fun. But pairing those teams with 3 grad classes and full time teaching is WAY TOO MUCH and I feel as though I am on the brink of a nervous breakdown. I do not want to sit here and get people to feel sorry for me....but it is nice to just write this down and get it out. Ok, I'm done.

On to a much lighter note, my sister's benefit is this saturday and I am so excited about it. The girls have worked so hard and have done an absolute fabulous job. There are so many people coming to support Robin and show her love! Please come out and have some yummy food and drinks and get your dance on!! It is going to be a blast. It starts at 8:00pm @ Newport Central Catholic and it is $25 at the door.

It has come...

The time has come for Robin to return to MD Anderson in Houston and get the reports on whether or not the chemo has been working. I feel like this day has been drawing near for some time now. I cannot believe it has been almost 9 weeks since Robin was in Houston last time. I think back to that time when she couldn't walk, she looked 8 months pregnant because of the fluid and tumors in her ovaries, and the way she looked so darn sick. It makes me nauseous thinking about it.

Now, 9 weeks and 4 chemo treatments later, she walks a mile a day, plans birthday parties like nothing is wrong and plays with Mora and Lucia all the time. The chemo has to be working. I keep telling myself this, but I think that is where I am thinking wrong. No, I am not wrong about it working, I am wrong about the chemo. God is healing her. I know he is. And that is a big step for me to say, especially on my blog where anyone can read. I am such a public school teacher, where I know I have to keep my beliefs on religion to myself, as to not have an agenda toward anything. Well, this is not my professional career....this is my sister! I will not hold back when it comes to her, especially because it is her that has taught me to have this type of relationship with Him. I used to think that if I went to church and was a good person, I would be fine. Nope. I must have a relationship with him....this is not a one way street and I have learned to talk to him about my day and my worries (although He already knows them-but I like to say them out loud to make sure!). Since then, I have been calmer and feel as though he is showing me that there is nothing to be afraid of in this situation. He is protecting her and I know that He will not let harm come her way. He does and always has had a plan for her, and I am thinking now that it is to be an inspiration to others going through similar situations. She is just amazing!!!

Thank you to everyone who has been storming Heaven in her behalf. I really appreciate it and I know he is listening. If you have some extra prayers, please don't stop! Also, please send a few up there for my dear friend, Cassie, to be blessed with something she has wanted her entire life, a child. She is another one that God had another plan for her....she is an inspiration to those wanting a child. Her blog is amazing...and I know that God has His hand on her as well.

Much Love.

An Amazing Weekend...

Wow, where do I begin? This past weekend was incredible and was exactly what Matt and I needed right now. We arrived to Chicago at about 11:30pm on Friday night after a very long week. We headed straight to Boystown, an area in Lakeview, to pick up Matt's race information that our friend Chucky had picked up for us earlier in the week (so nice of him). I also got to see the lounge that Chucky works at and it was so cool. Very ultra chic and stylish. I wish we could've stayed longer but Matt needed to go to bed early for the race the next morning.

We woke up around 5:45am on Saturday and Matt stretched and then left and walked about 1.5 miles to where the race started. I was able to take my time getting ready and head to Starbucks and really enjoy walking the streets of downtown early in the morning. Our hotel was 1 block west from the Navy Pier and 1 block east of Michigan Ave so we were at a perfect area. On my way to the race, I caught this perfect picture over the river coming in from the lake. The sun was coming up and it was beautiful. I actually sat on the bridge for about 10 minutes just looking at the city light up by the sun. How corny, huh? When I finally came back to reality, I headed to the race. I met these lovely 2 women who come to Chicago every year for the Urbanathalon to watch their husbands and they knew the perfect spot to watch the runners to catch them at 2 different places. It was so perfect. So, I caught him running during his 2nd mile here (we were all cheering for him, that is why he is looking at me!) and then caught him again by the lake doing his 2nd obstacle (police barriers and construction barriers-see below for complete list of obstacles).

Mattis in all white. Matt actually did really well in the race. He finished 68/about 3,000. The numbers are a little off as to how many total ran because there were a number of relay teams and they count as 1.

I was so proud of him! Here we are as soon as he crossed the finish line. And guess what we did after the race?? SHOPPING! What a trooper. I did give him some time to shower and rest for about a half hour at the hotel, but we did not want to waste our time in Chicago in the hotel. So, we walked up and down Michigan Avenue and had a ball. We then headed to the Navy Pier and spent some time with Chucky, which was so fun!

Saturday night we went to Province Restaurant and we were so happy with our selection. It was delicious! If you are in Chicago soon, please try it! The chef really takes care of the customers and sends out a "taster" of his style right when you sit down. It is something that is not on the menu but a way to show you his type of cooking. We started with Goat Cheese Fondue with herb crisps! WOW! If I wouldn't have been afraid of being kicked out I would've licked the bowl. Matt decided to get a BBQ lamb with chorizo and cornbread and I got rare tuna with caper and red pepper vinaigarette. Umm, I cannot even describe to you how delicious it tasted. And to top it off, it was VERY AFFORDABLE! Gosh, I could really go on and on about it! YUM!

We drove back on Sunday and we were glad to get home to see Mabel. And I think she was glad to back to her home. She loves staying with my mom, but she curled up on our bed and did not move the whole night. We put this on her about 40 minutes before I took this picture. It looks like she enjoys it.

I hope everyone enjoys their week.

Much Love.

UrbanAthalon-This Weekend!

The time has finally come for Matt to run in the Men's Health Urban Athalon! I blogged about it a while back when I was still going to try; however, I have wimped out and now I will be cheering for Matt on Michigan Ave. He has been training his tail off for this and I am so excited for him. Check out below if you want to know everything he will be doing during the race.

We are staying at the Embassy Suites-Downtown and I am so excited for our little weekend getaway. Matt and I are great travel partners because we both hate schedules (which is weird because in our everyday life, we are all about schedules). When we are away, we do not want to think about anything but enjoying each other.

The last time we were in Chicago we were looking for apartments because Matt had just got a job offer from Chubb Insurance. How different this trip will be not worrying about where we would live and just enjoying Chicago.

The one thing we do think about before travelling somewhere is where we are going to eat. We do not care when we eat there, but we must eat there sometime during our trip. We research these places in the local city magazines or newspapers as "Must Eats." This weekend, we will be trying

Province on Jefferson Street. The place looks incredible to say the least. The building is made from all green sustainable materials and has a farm-to-table menu. I am so excited! Here are some views from inside the restaurant. It looks quite small, which is even better. I know I should make a reservation, but a part of me wants to just show up and sit at the bar and wait. Who cares how long.....

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend as I think this is one of our last ones with this AMAZING weather. I hope to be outside in Chicago most of our time there.

Much Love.

Time does not stop for anything.

It has been almost 4 months since my last post and I cannot believe how time has flown by. Time definitely does not wait up for you to catch up. So many things have happened over the past 4 months, it seems as if whenever I turn around, something else happens.

Teaching ended in June, but I was still going to school in the evenings at Xavier for grad school. I am absolutely in love with the administration program and I know that being an administrator is where I want to be. It has been amazing. I took a school law class and a principalship class in the summer and my professors were incredible. I know it is super expensive, but the connections and experience that you gain from your professors, it is worth every penny to me.

In late July, my sister Robin started feeling really bloated in her abdomen area. She went to the doctor and they found that she has a cyst in her ovaries. That day was the beginning of a horrific nightmare that we are still living. The cyst turned into her being pregnant. Being pregnant turned into impossible because her ovaries have been dead for months. Ovaries being dead for months turned into her have a malignant tumor from hip to hip in both of her ovaries. Malignant tumors in her ovaries turned into the cancer coming from somewhere else. The cancer coming from somewhere else turned into finding more cancer in her spine, ribs, pelvis and shoulder. The cancer in her bones turned into still not knowing where it was coming from. Still not knowing where it was coming from turned into getting a one year to live prognosis. Yes, you heard me correctly. She received that one year prognosis on August 31, 2010 and she has been fighting ever since. I wish I could pause time to spend every second with her. But it doesn't work like that. You must never take anything for granted. She lives 3 hours away in Evansville, Indiana, and I try to go down there every chance I can.
She began chemotherapy on September 2 and has since received 3 treatments. She is handling the medications like a pro.
So, that brings us to today. She writes on CaringBridge.org (search RobinEvernham) and is an inspiration to anyone she talks to. God is speaking directly through her to anyone that is questioning him and so many people are turning to him. It is AWESOME! I know that she can beat this and that prognosis means NOTHING. It is in HIS hands and no doctor can tell me otherwise.

Thank you to so many that pray every day for her. Keep storming the heavens for her!