It's My Life

I recently stumbled onto this recipe in my Bloglovin feed, it was posted to FoodGawker. It is a Quinoa Power Salad from  GMO Free Girl .  In some effort to eat healthier and cleaner I made this salad up for my lunch this week. Have your jumped on the Quinoa bandwagon? It is a whole grain that reminds me a lot of a cereal. It is full of fiber and protein.  It comes in three varieties or colors: white (the most common), red, and even black. The Boy loves it. The Husband tolerates it and I really enjoy it.  We have used it as a side dish in place of rice but this recipe features it.  Quinoa Power Salad serves 4. 2 cups quinoa (I used red) 4 cups of vegetable broth 1 head broccoli 5-6 large carrots 1 cup parsley salt and pepper Coconut-Cilantro Dressing 2 cups cilantro 1 cup coconut water 1 lemon, juiced 1 garlic clove Directions Cook the quinoa in the both. ( I use my rice cooker to make perfect quinoa every time!) Slice ...

Memorial Day Weekend was our big kickoff to biking the Katy Trail. The Katy Trail is a rail-trail that has been built on the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT or Katy). It is 240 miles long and runs from Clinton, Missouri to Machens, Missouri. One of two train cars on the Katy Trail. Reminding everyone that this trail is a rail to trail project.  My family made it a goal to bike this trail in 2014. We are not experienced bike riders so we knew that we would not be riding end to end. We set about with a smaller, hopefully more attainable goals. The first goal was to bike from Sedalia, MO to Clinton, MO ( a mere 37.5 miles). We developed our plan and our back up plans and headed off. We decided to use a family member as a support car (someone who can drop us off, pick us up, and supervise The Short Chic while we were off biking).  Our Plan A was to make it all 37.5 miles in one day. Plan B was to bike take two days and bike from Sedalia to Windsor, MO (20....

Another school year is in the books. The Boy has finished his junior year and The Short Chic just finished her kindergarten year. Time sure does fly! Having the end in sight for The Boy makes me wish I could slow down time for The Short Chic. Since time slows for no one, even Mommies, I have developed a few strategies for at least preserving these fleeting moments. This year I made a Last Day of School Autograph T-shirt for The Short Chic. She is going to wear it on the last day of school and collect autographs from all of her friends. This way, when she is no longer small and kindergarten was years past we can look back at her t-shirt and reclaim a glimpse of who she was. Last Fall I introduced you all to this wonderful product from Avery, DIY Iron On Transfers as I used them to create our Halloween costumes. My inspiration for this project came from a post by  Sugar Bee Crafts . She used a silhouette machine, which I do not have.  I remembered that I had some ...

It is the end of the school year. Each night The Short Chic has been bringing home mounds of papers. I am sure her teacher is cleaning out the classroom before summer begins. The Kindergarten students have practiced writing all year long. They even had a publishing party last week to share some of their stories but really to share the progress they have made. The Short Chic says she wants to be a writer and an actress when she is grown up. I am going to share a few of her stories with you. They make me smile! Of course I begin with the one about me. A Day With Mommy written and illustrated by The Short Chic translation by Mommy "One day I had a day with Mommy. It was my birthday." "We ate McDonald's for breakfast. Papa joined in." I went to school. It was time for lunch. Mommy brought me lunch." "Me and Mommy and my friends shared a cookie." "We got our nails painted. I got flowers on my nails. It was th...

Lately it feels as if the world has just been in my face. Everywhere I turn another situation is there giving me the finger.  I feel really ganged up on. I feel really tested right now. In this overpopulated world, I am feeling alone and vulnerable. Things that were constant for me have started changing. I am not sure the direction they are taking me, let alone I am not sure it is a direction I will like. I find myself hurting. Not a physical pain but more of an emotional one. I have been here in this space before. A few times. I don't really like it here. I feel the need to protect myself from the emotional hurt. I usually do that by closing myself off. Turning inward. Isolating. I know my tide will turn. I just don't know when. Until then, please know that I am doing what I know to do. I am tightening my circle. Keeping my head down. Focusing on what matters the most. And breathing. I just need to keep breathing.

The end of the school year is upon us. The Short Chic is about to finish her first year of school and is already looking forward to being a First Grader next year. The Short Chic loves her teacher and talks about her all the time. I know the school year provides us with several times to express our gratitude towards those who teach our children. We just celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week. If you are like me, I am always trying to find the best gift I can to show the teacher our thanks. I started making Acrylic Clip Boards this past year for holiday presents for my co-workers. They are easy to make. Relatively inexpensive. And just super cute! Here are some of the clipboards I have recently made: Now let's get to the how to of the project. I took a class at Creating Keepsakes Convention (CKC) a few years ago on Acrylic scrapbooks. That class really helped me figure this project out easily. The first step, as with any project, is to gather your supplies.  I found ...

The Husband and I are getting really good at the hitching up and pulling out of the driveway. This time it only took us 15 minutes! Less than an hour drive from our home we visited our second state park; Wallace State Park in Cameron, Missouri.  The park has four campgrounds, a lake with a swimming spot, and nice nature trails surrounding the area.  We used the  online camping reservation system  to make our reservations. The nice thing about the system are the photos of each campsite. We tried our best to find the perfect camping spot and I think we scored a jackpot!  We were close to a line of trees, had nice shade, and a play area very close to our campsite.                                                                                    ...