Valentine's Day

Lots of us view this as just another corporate holiday to spend more money on silly things like candy, flowers, or other crap that will either make someone's ass bigger or wilt and die. If you're single, it's viewed as a day that sucks big time and we spend our day dwelling on how much you're against this dumb day. But the fact of the matter is that it's a day to celebrate the most important thing in the world; love. We all need it, we all want it, no matter how much it can sometimes hurt. 

There are four types of love mentioned in the Bible; Agape, Eros, Philo, and Storge. To sum them up simply, Agape is God's love for us and our love for other humans selflessly. Eros is sensual love, Philo is a connected love, beyond affection, say with friends. Storge is love for family. These are all important and on a day to celebrate love we should not only think of those we share Eros love with. We receive love from our friends, family members, and on a good day, even total strangers. If there is one thing worth living for, that four letter word is it. It can make us smile, laugh, cry, scream, crazy, and even babies. So maybe I am cheesy or whatever for wanting to do something special on this day to celebrate love. 

My father, who is by far the least romantic (though highly affectionate) man on Earth; gives me a card and candy every Valentine's day. Usually the card included many misspelled words and the candy is some he wants a diabetic bite of. Though he always wants me to know he loves me. I thank God every day that I have such a wonderful husband to spend each day with, always telling him I love him. If there is one word we could use more in this world, "love" is it. I know I will catch flack for my annoying mushyness in this but who cares!? 

Love you all.

-Meg

January

So I have been absent from blogging over the past couple of months.  I have been busy being unemployed and working on things at my house, mixed with a little bit of time wasting also, I will admit.  It has been difficult not working and having an income, but now that I have graduated, I will start subbing at the local city schools in February and hopefully an art position will open soon in the fall.  

I took on quite a few projects on my time off.  One of them was organizing my disgusting closet under the stairs.

Yeah, it was bad.  Half of the stuff was things I have needed to go through since Shannon and I first got married.

Yeah, much better.

What's sad is when I began to pull everything out, my entire den was filled with stuff. It's so easy for things to get cluttered in life, when you just hide them in a closet. I added these super easy shelves, and it made a huge difference. 

I also hung a few of Shannon's (oh and one is mine) guitars above the sofa to have a little more space.

Levi's favorite spot. 

I also decided to hop on the teepee wagon and make these teepees for my pets.

There are tons of tutorials out there on how to make these, I combined a few different ones.

So onto the next project- my kitchen. It was a mustardy yellow, and I became very tired of it. I never dreamed I would paint anything in my house white; it always seemed so boring to me. Yet, I noticed most of kitchens I saw and adored were white. So I went for it.

I am in love. It's so bright and simple. The actual color is natural cotton by Valspar. I still don't have kitchen cabinets among other things but this little touch has made it easier to deal with. 

Oh and look at this cute little Pyrex dish I thrifted.

So now that I'm finished sharing projects, I have to share a recipe, and since it's national handwriting day I decided to handwrite the ingredients.

I worked at a bar and grille for 4 years in our little town and one of the best things there was the blackened chicken, so this is inspired by that. I actually cooked a lot of chicken for this and cut up half for green salads, and used other half for this.  

To start, coat your chicken in extra virgin olive oil, then heat your cast iron skillet. While it's heating, pour the blacked redfish seasoning along with salt and pepper. Lay both sides of chicken in seasoning and cook until done. 

Next, chop up 1 apple, about 3 stems of celery, and broccoli. Add all of the ingredients to the shredded chicken, along with remaining ones. A tip to easily shred the chicken is to put in kitchen aid mixer with paddle attachment until it's shredded to the point you want it. Has to be hot still to work well. Serve on toast Orr crackers or lettuce. Enjoy. 

I'll try not to stay gone so long this time! 

-Meg

Coconutties

It's freezing here in Alabama, literally. It has been colder than I remember it being in a long time and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I have been trying to keep warm today and spent most of it inside making food for tomorrow. It's truly crazy how times flies by more and more everyday. I cannot believe Thanksgiving is almost here and the year will be ending soon.  I have so many things to be thankful for this year and I won't bore you to death with a long list like everyone is doing these days (sorry if you are one of those people, it's very wonderful to be thankful for all of those things).  I will keep my list short and sweet, I am most thankful for family and friends. Without them life would be one boring, unfunny, sober place to dwell. So here's to all of you, you know who you are...much thankful for your place in my life and mine in yours. 

On to the important thing about Thanksgiving... Food! These coconutties are a favorite of mine. They are also pretty simple and easy. They are like an almond joy but with no almond. 

Coconutties (this is a stupid name, but that's what everyone in my family calls them in loss of an official title for them).

1 bag of shredded coconut

3/4 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup of powdered sugar

1 tbsp. crisco (yep, crisco)

I tsp. vanilla extract

1 bag milk chocolate chips

Start by mixing coconut, sugar, milk, and vanilla with spoon or paddle attachment. 

Should resemble this...

Mix well, then refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

 

While waiting, line a cookie sheet with foil. After they mixture has cooled use a small spoon to spoon out small proportions.

Use hands to form small ovals, then place on cookie sheet. May need to wash your hands every so often to get the sticky off so ovals form better. 

Stick back in fridge for about 30 minutes. 

Melt chocolate and crisco in double boiler on stove. The crisco just this out the chocolate and makes it easier to dip, plus it makes it taste even better!

 

You could use dark chocolate if you prefer.

Remove coconut from fridge and using a fork dip each into chocolate coating the whole thing, then place back on lined sheet.

Refrigerate for about an hour at least. Now, eat them. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Much love,

Meg

Applesauce

So one of my favorite things has always been applesauce. I can remember eating a huge jar full each week. It is one of the easiest things to make, and perfect served warm on these chilly November nights. (Yes it's actually been pretty chilly in Alabama at night). 

Stovetop Applesauce

6-8 apples (any kind will do)

1 tbs. cinnamon

I tbs. nutmeg

1/2 c. Brown sugar

1/4 c. Honey

3/4 c. Water

If you are just cooking for 2 like me, 2 apples are just the right amount for 1 serving each.

Peel apples and chop up into bite sizes pieces. Add to boiler with remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer for just a few minutes. 

At this point you can either leave in chunks, or break them up with a blender or whisk. 

This will stay good in the fridge for about a week. Enjoy! 

Meg

Beeswax Candles

I have a soft spot for anything dealing with bees. Growing up, my neighbor was like a second father to me. He took me everywhere, bought me whatever I wanted, taught me the importance of being an Auburn tiger, and so much more. I began helping him in his shop as soon as I could crawl, and was running a table saw at the age of 8. He taught me how to put things together, and how to create. 

Me at about 2 doing a little cleaning in Buck's shop. 

He was a farmer, a carpenter, and a beekeeper. He would take me along to check on the hives. I can remember being surrounded by bees but I never was really afraid because he never seemed afraid. I would help him harvest the honey and that was the best part. Buck died when I was about 14. I decided to travel to Colorado with my best friend and her family. I will never forget the call I received from my dad. I had to fly back home to Alabama,(first flight I ever took) and it was so tough. He had a sudden heart attack.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. My dad does a lot of woodworking now and he even uses the tricks and trades that Buck taught him. So I decided to make some beeswax candles, and when I opened the box of wax, the smell automatically took me back to Buck's shop. 

Buck and I in my parent's backyard. 

Beeswax is great to burn for many reasons it produces negative ions when burnt and that helps get rid of bad stuff such as pet dander, dust, allergens, etc. Plus it smells subtle and warm. 

Materials needed:

Beeswax(I ordered this online, but you may be lucky enough to find some locally) I used about 1.5 lbs for this project.

Coconut Oil

Pliers

Large gauge wire or wick holders

Clothespins 

Jute

Container ( these I made from concrete, poured into styrofoam cup, inserted smaller cup inside, taped down, and let dry).

To begin I melted my wax and oil in a pan I purchased just for this at the goodwill.

Melt on medium, and add in about 3 feet of jute while it's melting. This preps it to become a wick.

While wax is melting, I cut down small pieces of wire to use as wick holders. Real wick holders would work better but I didn't have any of those. 

Once wax is melted, carefully pull out wick and cut down when cooled off to sizes you want them. I then clamped these wire c's to one end of wick. Place in container and use clothespin to hold up.

Should look something like this.

Then pour your wax mixture a little at a time into a styrofoam cup, and carefully pour into each container. Let cool, then trim wicks. Boom, you just made a candle. Or you could just skip all of this and come buy these from me at the farmer's market. 

 Enjoy. 

-Meg

Bacon Cheese Dip

So, I love cheese, and bacon, so I found a similar recipe and modified it. 

Ingredients:

I packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix

1 bag shredded cheddar

1 bag of real bacon bits

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

8 oz. cream cheese

Salt and pepper

Oregano

Cayenne

Basil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix all ingredients together, and season to taste with salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. Place in baking pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Serve with chips or crackers. Now, good luck on not eating the whole pan...it's addicting. Hope you are all enjoying the chilly fall weather.

-Meg

B is for...

Babies.

I have to admit the amount of courage I am looking for to post this is hard to find. This is a subject that for most peoe is warm and fuzzy. My life has never quite happened the way I figured it would, and for the most part I am quite ok with that.  For example, I never thought I would have married the man that I did or be 27 years old when I graduated from college, but both of those happened along with many more outcomes. But I have to admit having a baby was never much of a doubt. I would get married, and when I wanted, I would have a baby. 

Well, God decided it wouldn't quite play out that way for me. I spent a big portion of my life trying not to get pregnant, and when I actually want it to happen, well, nothing does. It has been over a year and almost a half now since we started trying. I told myself I wouldn't share my story until the fabulous day comes when I find out I am going to be a mom, but something told me to do it now, maybe to help someone who may be in the same position I am in.  It's extremely frustrating when everywhere you go and all you do the conversation ends up with the b word. Whether it's your friends bragging on their own, or a relative asking when you are going to have one. 

I have only been married for 2 years, yet the pressure of having a little one is like a meth head on a an episode of breaking bad. I imagine what my life would be like as a mom, and how it would feel to have a mini me or Shannon, and it is a dream. I can't imagine a world where a part of us recreated ceases to exist. So part of me becomes bitter. I find myself becoming mad when I find out people are pregnant, and sometimes cry until I can't breathe when it becomes too much. It seems unfair to live in a world where my husband and I have so much love for each other and can't have a baby yet, when people who don't even care get pregnant at the drop of a hat. 

If it wasn't for my level- headed husband I would have had a mental breakdown by now. He always reminds me that God has a plan for us. I know it hasn't been that long, but this post isn't just for me, it's for those of you out there that feel the same way and can relate. 

Oh and why is this stuff so expensive? Weird. 

-Meg