A Day in the Life

Weekend are never as relaxing as I think they should be. This one no exception. Despite the business, some of it fun, I got the chance to make home made tortillas and chicken tortilla soup. Seriously good, folks. 

But best of all, my husband made deep-fried ice cream for dessert. Oh my gosh. So good. We bought the deep fryer for each other as a Valentine present. Nothing says life like hot oil, right? ; )

I'd love to post pictures but my phone is still being stupid (Hate it when a smart phone isn't)I'm off to the Apple store today. 

It was kinda nice to have my husband in charge of dessert while I handled dinner. Usually on the weekends it's the other way around. 

Mixing things up every once in awhile is nice. 

Did you do anything unusual this weekend?

Friday Facts, Fantasy, Fun

If you've followed me on Twitter for any length of time, you'll be familiar with my obsession, interest, in shoes. At one time, I used my current favorite pair for my avatar. Well, even though the shoes have been replaced by my book covers, my interest hasn't waned. On Facebook, I follow a few fashion sites such as these, just to see pictures of their awesome shoes. Here are my top pick for shoes. On the practical side, the first two and the last two are the ones I'd most likely wear and the second pair is my favorite!

 

If you want to follow my erratic but frequent postings, follow me on Facebook. Seriously, I repost at least a picture a day! (My facebook account is under my real name, Shawna Guzman!)

A Day in the Life:

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! This is a man whom I admire. One of the things my mom did right was to raise her children as color blind as possible. I remember as a child thinking to judge someone by skin color made as much sense as judging them by eye color. My sister is mixed race and only 18 mos older than my oldest daughter. They grew up together and she spent a lot of time at my house  Growing up, I taught her and my children that we are all shades of brown. Ironically, it wasn't until my kids started school and were taught not to be prejudiced that they realized that people could be segregated by skin color.  I distinctly remember my now 12 yo coming home and telling me that her aunt couldn't drink out of the same water fountain. Thinking the teacher didn't mean that to be the lesson.

The sad thing about prejudice is it knows no prejudice. Anyone can be biased and judge by appearance only. I've experienced it. I know what an ugly thing it is and I am all too aware that Mr. King's speech is as needed today as it was back then.

Martin Luther King 

Friday Fun

Yup, sometimes it feels like this. Have a wonderful Friday everyone! 

Got any plans for the weekend?

A Day in the Life: Cooking

The other day, I'd promised my husband stew and homemade bread for dinner. Not such a hard thing. Stew is easy, bread time consuming but also easy.

I had a doctor's appointment in the morning but I figured I'd have the afternoon to cook. Yeah, you know what they say about the  best laid plans. So here is three-o'clock and no bread is started. Still determined, I decided to search online for a better recipe than I have now.

I found a recipe for beer bread. A light goes off. We have a lot of beer left over from the holidays. My husband and I aren't big drinkers and it seemed like everyone brought some beer to the festivities we hosted here. I have raspberry, orange, regular beer and even some pumpkin variety. You get the idea.

But better yet, this loaf does not have to rise and bakes in an hour. The entire prep took less than fifteen minutes. I had plenty of time.

Oh. My. Gosh.

This bread was good! I mean really good. Why don't I have a picture to show you? Because it was gone before I could get my camera out. But my husband and I were calculating how many loaves we could make with the remaining left-over beer so chances are, I will be able to post one later.

It gets 5 out of 5 stars from me!

If you want the recipe, just let me know in a comment.

A Day in the Life: Chocolate, peanut butter cookies

My husband has a sweet tooth. That suites me just fine because I love to bake. It's one of those reasons we were made for each other. But not only does he have a sweet tooth, he appreciates my taking a recipe, deconstructing it and putting it back together in a completely different form.

The look of enjoyment on my husband's face is really all the inspiration I need. That he calls me a Sweet Genius doesn't hurt. Of course it is in his best interests that I continue baking but let's not go there. ; )

Take these cookies for instance (And note the awesome silicone baking sheets my husband bought me for Christmas. I'm honestly not sure how I baked without them...okay that's stretching it a little, but they make clean up so easy!)

Sorry, got sidetracked.

These cookies are from a lemon cookie recipe. Yup. I looked at the recipe and thought it would work with chocolate and then, as I was craving peanut butter, I poured in some Reeces Pieces and there you go. Divine. Oh, did I mention easy? As in it takes longer to bake then to whip together?

Yup.

Leave a comment if you want the recipe, I'll  gladly share.

Facts, Fantasy, Fun

You know you write, worry, polish, submit, cringe, rewrite, worry, polish until your rough-hewn gem turns into a sparkling jewel. (or so you hope) And then one day, you release it to the eyes of the public where you know some might love it as much as you, but chances are, others won't.

It's tough, I tell you.

But it's also exciting and addictive.

So here we go. Book One of the Triune Stones series is now available for preorder. Journey of Awakening releases on February 11th, smack dab in between my son's birthday and Valentines day.

Here it is on Amazon 

Resolutions?

I was thinking about priorities when I saw Beth’s post on Everybody Needs a little Romance 

I don’t make resolutions. I don't think there is anything wrong with them, but they do tend to be hard to keep. I think if you’re gonna do something, don’t resolve to do it. Just do it.  Yeah, I know the new year is a new start but so is each and every day.

Last year, after the birth of the baby who does not sleep, my husband and I had to reassess our priorities. Obviously, the baby took up a lot of my time. There were things I just wasn’t getting done that I wanted to get done.  This required a hard look at obligations.

First we had to separate the things I wanted to do from the things I had to do. I have to get the kids to school each day on time, fed and dressed. I want to get them to school after I’m dressed and made up, having worked for a least an hour and gotten them a hot, nutritious breakfast.  Yeah, so not happening. Not when I only get 5 or 6 hours of sleep.

My husband took over the finances. Yeah, that was hard but do you know what? I could almost feel the pressure ease off my shoulders. I don’t even look over his shoulder.

I stopped volunteering at the school. That was hard because I enjoyed it but it just didn’t make the top ten list this school year.

I also had to put me higher on the priority list. I am my own worst enemy. I have this idea that I can do everything.  I can’t. But trying has negatively effected my health and as my husband tells me, without my health I can’t do anything so taking a few moments for me isn’t selfish. I’m still getting used to that one.

Writing. Yeah, this is my stress relief and an added stress. Writing takes time. Time for me is more precious than money, but making more money doing something I love sure would take some of the financial stress away. So writing has stayed high on the priority list...it fluctuates between four and five. 

This year, if I had to make a resolution, it would be to resolve to remember that I don’t have time for everything I want to do, and what I get done that day, is what I needed to get done.  No beating myself up for not getting the best dinner on the table or for not finding time to clean out the pantry... again, or prune the roses.

My resolve, not for the new year but for always, is to live the day. Really live it. Enjoy what I’m doing, while I’m doing it instead of thinking of all those things I am not doing. To love with my entire heart and not hold back whether out of fear or for any other reason.

Have you made any recent changes or resolutions?