Wearin' O' The Green

What are you wearing today? I bet you can't top what Travis picked out :

A green sweatshirt with green shorts

Accessorize with a tie and snow hat

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Crockpot Refried Beans

These are so much tastier than the canned refried beans and SUPER EASY! I love making these because it makes enough for two dinners for my family of 7. The day that I make them I will freeze 1/2 of it for another dinner. They are great to eat plain with some rice, or rolled up in a tortilla with cheese, or on tostadas, or added to this chicken taco soup to make it more creamy. It's a great recipe!

Crockpot Refried Beans

• 3 cups of dry pinto beans (washed and rinsed)
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 Tbsp garlic salt
• 1/2 medium sweet onion (don't chop it up, just throw it in)
• 1/2 cup butter

Put beans into large crockpot and fill crockpot 3/4 full of water. Add bouillon, garlic salt, and onion. Cook on high for about 8 hours until beans are soft. Throw away the onion. Strain the beans, saving the juice in a separate bowl. Add butter to the beans and some of the reserved liquid. Use a hand blender to mash beans. Add liquid and blend to obtain desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Cupid's Cafe

Happy Valentine's Day!
I love to celebrate with food and express my love through food...probably because I love food a little too much... Every Valentine's day, I try to make something festive for our Cupid's Cafe breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Here are some ideas:

Enjoy!

Heart-shaped French Toast

I Love You With All My Heart Dinner...everything is shaped like hearts

Valentine notes in lunch box - "It's O-FISH-al, you are the best kid ever!", "You are the APPLE of my eye", "Hope your day is Marvelous & Magnificent"

Make one sandwich on wheat and one on white bread, use a cookie cutter to cut out heart of each sandwich, then put wheat heart in white bread and white heart in wheat bread

The Come-Back Kid

Oh, how I am glad that 2013 is behind me because it was sure a challenging one! I feel like it was the year of getting my feet planted firmly on the ground only to have them knocked out from under me. But I got back up each time.
The year started off with me trying to get my baby weight off. I started running again and worked my way up to 6 miles. On one of those routine runs, I felt an intense cramp in my right hip. I tried to walk it off and start running again but is was impossible. By the time I hobbled home I could hardly lift my leg. After weeks of being misdiagnosed and being in pain, I finally found out that I had a stress fracture in the femoral neck of my hip. The doctor told me that I could not put any weight on that leg until it healed. I laughed in his face. WHAT!!!???? How was I supposed to care for my family, especially my 1 year old in a split level home? The estimated 4-6 weeks of being on crutches turned into 9. It was one of the hardest and most frustrating things that I have gone through...but it strengthened me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I learned how to depend on others for the simplest things like carrying my baby down the stairs, grocery shopping, and cleaning. I was humbled by the love and support that I received. I learned to appreciate my body and independence. I learned to be patient as I was waiting for that dang bone to heal. I also learned that crutches are great for other things...like giving my kids a little nudge, reaching those hard to get things on the top shelf, and even defending a soccer goal.

Well, after those LONG 9 weeks, I SLOWLY started to strengthen my leg and get back to my original goal of losing weight. I worked hard, lost most of my baby weight, and felt stronger than I have in years. During this time I was also going through extensive testing to see if I was healthy enough to donate a kidney to my dad who was in kidney failure. In December I got the news that I would be part of a 6 person kidney paired exchange. I worked even harder to be the healthiest that I could to have a better recovery and to donate the best kidney that I could to my recipient. On December 18th I had the opportunity to donate my kidney. It was major surgery and I required a lot of help during my 6 week recovery, but it was totally worth every moment of pain and discomfort because I was able to help my dad and my recipient to have a better quality of life. I guess that I needed a reminder of what the Lord wants me to learn...patience, how to accept help from others, appreciation of my body, and a greater love of the ultimate gift of life from our Savior.

So, I find myself again at the bottom of a long upward climb. But I am going to get up, brush myself off and start again. Just call me the "Come-Back-Kid".

My Good Sararitans

Luke 10:30-37

 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

This parable has a special meaning to me because I have been blessed with many Good Samaritans lately. What is a Good Samaritan? In my mind it is someone who recognizes a need to help someone else regardless of race, religion, and cultural boundaries. Is is someone who acts on that need and shows compassion. It is someone who gives of himself to meet that need. It is someone who enlists the help of others to provide care. It is someone who encourages others to "Go, and do thou likewise".

Who are my Good Samaritans? Stephanie is my family's Good Samaritan. She recognized the need of so many who are in kidney failure...like my dad. She did not know my dad, but she acted and decided to donate her kidney to someone in need...and that someone was my dad. She literally gave of herself to save someone else. My dad will now have a better quality of life because of her compassion and selfless service.

I also donated my kidney 5 weeks ago to help my dad. I was not a match for him so we participated in a paired exchange program in which my dad and I were involved in a 6 person chain of donors and recipients who could donate and receive from each other. Because of our Good Samaritan Donor - Stephanie - I was able to "Go, and do thou likewise" and donate my kidney to a woman in need.

What a blessing to be a part of such a life-changing chain of events. 6 strangers coming together to help those in need. A Good Samaritan is also someone who acts on the seemingly small and simple needs of others. During my recovery I have had many Good Samaritans help my family and I in small ways that have meant a lot to me. More than they will ever know. Countless words of encouragement, meals, caring for my children, fasting and prayer. I know that recognizing and acting on the small needs of others can bring about life-changing chains of events as well.

Let us all be Good Samaritans. Let us all follow the Samaritan's example and "Go, and do thou likewise". Let us all set aside any prejudice or pride and look for ways to help those around us. Let us all link ourselves together in love and compassion and become a chain reaction of doing good.

The Rent Collector

Yes, I am still alive. Yes, I know that I have fallen off of the Blogosphere and haven't posted anything in 7 months. It's not that I haven't had anything to write about...because sheesh a lot has happened. It's just that I forgot the importance of the written word, the value of writing things down, and the impact that stories can have on others. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that my words are important, valuable, and make an impact on all of you who still read this (thanks for hanging in there). What I am saying is that I realized that it is important to me. I like to share my stories, recipes, failures, and successes so that my family and I can look back on them and remember the good along with the bad. I stopped writing because I lost sight of my word's worth. Thanks to this FANTASTIC book, I remembered that my opinions, values, thoughts, and beliefs do matter and that I need to write them down.
So I'm baa-aaack. Not everyday, maybe not every week or even month. Just when I have something worth writing about. The Rent Collector by Camron Wright is worth writing about and definitely worth reading!
The Rent Collector is about a young mother who lives in the largest waste dump in Cambodia. It is not about where you live, but how you live. It is about finding hope and rising above your circumstances. It is about the value of literacy and the written word. Even in a dump where worthless things are thrown out, treasures are found and seemingly worthless people are befriended and treasured as well.
It helped me to see that amid my posts that I see as being worthless and garbage because of my imperfections and insecurities, there are treasures to learn and that I need to write them down and share. So in the next few posts I will try to catch up on the last 7 months.

Playing Peek-a-Boo With Time

Do you ever have days that seem like they will never end? When you are so exhausted and you look at the clock and it is only 10:00 in the morning and you say to yourself "how am I ever going to get through this day?" Well, somehow you do, and you keep going day after day. Some wonderful, some mediocre, and some never-ending. Then, one day, you look back and an entire year has gone by in what seems like a blink of an eye. And the culmination of those marvelous and miserable days have produced one of the best years of your life. It is hard to see that perspective in the midst of a hard moment...but they do pass quickly and life moves on as if time is playing Peek-a-Boo.

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was so exhausted from having a new baby. I closed my tired eyes and when I woke up to what seemed like the next morning, one of the most wonderful years with Megan has passed by.

She has gone from this:

to this:

 

in seconds. 

So, Happy Birthday Megan! I can truly say that I have LOVED every day with you this year. The days filled with pure joy and wonderment, days of crying and worrying, days of being spewed with every kind of bodily fluid known to man, days holding you close and knowing that you would grow up but wishing for those tender moments to last a little longer. But then time played Peek-a-Boo and those sweet baby days are gone and I miss them. I am so thankful that I experienced them, and I will remember them and treasure them...but DANG IT, they went by way too fast!

I guess my point in all this is to enjoy the moment of life you are in right now. Even if you are bone tired, and your clothes are covered in stains of every shade of yellow. Time doesn't wait and one morning you will wake up and realize that those were some great days after all!

Boo to Peek-a-Boo with time.