I'm still here!

(quinoa chicken salad)

(uncooked quinoa)

Greetings!

It's been a while - although I blog endlessly in my head - it just never really happens here. I'm a dreamer not so much of a doer. But this morning as I was playing with Sweet William I looked up and saw a sign that I had made just before he was born and it says "Live what you Love". I'm halfway there. I am blessed to be able to stay at home with my son and I have a supportive husband. But lately as much as I love those two parts I feel I am missing a bit of other things that I enjoy.

So how do I move ahead? Prayer. That's what I know.

On the other hand going back to my one previous post - I have lost weight - unfortunately that was due to some gallbladder attacks. Ever had gallbladder issues? Tell me about it. Talk about serious pain hey! However I am managing to keep the weight off by making some better diet decisions. Matt and I went into Vancouver to the Whole Foods store and I fell in love with some of their products. I now know to cook with Quinoa (so yummy) and made the following recipe the other night. Also I haven't tried my hand at it yet but they sure know how to make tofu taste good.

QUINOA SALAD WITH CHICKEN:

Using a rotisserie chicken really does save time as the whole foods website says.

2 cups of water

1 1/3 cup of quinoa

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups shredded chicken

1 1/2 cups of green grapes

1/2 cup of roasted almonds

Method:

Rinse quinoa and bring the 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the quinoa with a inch of salt, reduce heat and cover to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

In a large bowl whisk together vinegar and salt and pepper. Slowly add the oil whisking well. Add quinoa and stir to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss.

Really good served warm or cold. We put ours on top of romaine lettuce and it was great (even without any salad dressing).

P.S. I have to figure out how to make things appear where I want them so excuse the randomness of the pictures! Thanks.

A start!

(On the bus in Whistler headed to the paralympic alpine skiing - it's the latest pic of all 3 of us)


Well here we go! A place to talk about me! :) Not much to tell - give me a postage stamp and I'll write it all down on the back for ya. But seriously- a place to settle my thoughts and keep track of what inspires me...

A bit about me though:
The most important thing, I think, is that I love the Lord our God - I try to do it with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. There's always a bit of a learning curve with me though.

This past year (2009) was a big one - I gave birth AND turned 30. Now what? Motherhood is my absolute favorite thing I have ever experienced, the joy that fills my heart is cosmic. I am blessed in that for now I am able to stay home with my sweet William and enjoy this time that passes in an oh so quick BLINK.

Right now I see some time opening up - I mean between now and when Will starts to crawl! Oy-vay! I SO SO SO enjoy reading other peoples blogs and being inspired by them. There are so many fantastic ladies out there sharing themselves and their creative juices. THANK YOU. I now want to be like so many of you. lol.

So bottom line - I want to play too! I will post my life and the things I am playing with. The things I see myself posting about for now are as follows -
To be a fixer upper of things, to throw 3 sweet bashes (small, creative, pretty, parties), to lose 10 pounds and to follow God more closely so that I can be a better wife, mother, and person! So,I will fill you in as we go.

WARNING - ADVISORY. I want to be be disgustingly honest here too - like road kill you just can't help but look at!!! That honest. And if that really is the bar I'm going to set for myself I may as well tell you that I am eating chocolate chips (semi-sweet I was so desperate)right now, so I'm not getting any closer to that 10lb dream. See ya later.