Welcome, Spring!

I am excited to participate in Just Live It’s “Bloggers Like Us” challenge for this month.  I have wanted to for awhile, and when I saw this challenge, I knew I could take part!

One of the things that always says “Spring” to me is the new life.  The chicks and ducklings up at the feed store.  Our friend’s new baby goats.  And for us, the kittens.

Our cat has had a litter of kittens just about every year since we’ve had her.  Seeing those little kittens tells me that Spring is right around the corner.  Oh, the joys of new life!

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Learning

I am really enjoying listening to the Healthy Life Summit!  The talks that I have listened to have been AWESOME, and I look forward to listening to more.

Check it out here.

Healthy Life Summit 2013

NOTE:  Please use discretion when listening to things.  This may not be appropriate for all ages.  If you are under your parent’s authority, please make sure that they are O.K. with you listening to this before you do.  Don’t just listen to it because I recommend it.

I’m lovin’ it!

Snow Down at the Creek

It snowed yesterday.  It snowed, and snowed, and snowed. 

Needless to say, the world is a rather white place today.  My siblings and I went for a walk down to the creek.  If you remember this post, I love the creek.  I had never seen it in it’s snowy garb, so I was pleased to see it this way.  I hope you enjoy!

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Gettin’ over the log

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Following Drakie

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A photographer’s been here 🙂

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I’m Still Alive and a Fish Recipe

Yes.  I’m still here.

Sorry for the long(ish) absence.  Life has been really crazy over here.  (Actually, I should be cleaning my room right now.  But, hey.)

On Tuesday two good friends and I put together a fancy dinner for the leadership couples in our church.  It was a BLAST – but still a lot of work, and very exhausting.  We decorated our basement, and set up a table with white tablecloths down there.  The night of, all of us – my friends and their brothers and I and my siblings – dressed up fancy and served/waited on the parents.

Anyways, lots of fun, but it took up Monday (cooking and prepping) and Tuesday (more cooking, prepping, and then serving).  Wednesday was takedown and we had company, Thursday Mom and I had to run an errand, and on Friday I spent the day at a friend’s home making Milky Way Bars (which was a blast).  And today Mom and I went shopping again.

So, basically, I’ve been busy.

Now, a (hopefully) brief story – I have some large-ish hoop earrings that I wear quite a bit.  Well, on Monday I went to put them on, and one broke.  I was pretty bummed!  I wear those a lot!  Thankfully, Mom had just received a coupon in the mail for Kohl’s (where I got my first pair) and I was hopeful that I could find another pair.

Today Mom and I went to Kohl’s, and they didn’t have any.  I was not too thrilled to say the least.  So on the way home we stopped at a different Kohl’s, and they had a pair of the hoops!  Not only that, but they were on sale, along with a bunch of other earrings, so I got several pairs.  And that makes me really happy. 🙂

Also, I got some pairs that *actually* have color on them, which makes me happy that I am branching out (most of my earrings are silver).

Moving on now.

I made this really tasty fish for dinner.  It turned out so well that I want to post it here, mostly so that I can make it again (I am bound to forget).

So, without further ado (or earrings), here it is.

Fish in Sauce (I am really creative with names, am I not?)

10 fillets of fish (mine was either catfish or tilapia, I didn’t look)
Salt and Lemony-Dill Seasoning (or dill)
Butter (and lots of it!)
1 onion, minced
2 c. Chicken broth
1/2 c. Water
3 Lemons, juiced
Dill and lemony-dill seasoning
Minced green onions

1.  Melt the butter over medium heat.  Fry the fish over medium heat on both sides until cooked through, being careful not to overcook.  Sprinkle the fish with salt and lemony-dill seasoning while it’s frying.  Add butter as necessary to keep it from sticking.  When cooked, transfer to a 9×13” pan.

2. Scrape out any burned bits from the pan and pour out any burned butter.  Add a pat of butter and the onion, and sauté until softened.

3.  Add the broth, water, and lemon juice.  Bring to a simmer, and simmer for 8-10 minutes.  Add four tablespoons of cold butter one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition until the piece of butter is gone.  Sprinkle the dill and lemony dill seasoning into the sauce.

4.  Sprinkle some green onions over the fish in the pan, pour the sauce on it, then sprinkle some more green onions on top.

Enjoy!

If you try this, please let me know if you like it!

Love,
Allison

Friday Night

We were most of the way through dinner when Drake gave me a sideways look.

“I wonder who could hold water in their mouth longer.”

I finished my last few bites quickly (or at least I tried to), then raised my glass to Drake an took a sip of water.

Game on!

We both lifted our cups to our lips, and took mouthfuls of water.

And so it started.

I got up and started clearing the table.  Since Dad was playing music, I started dancing around (kind of showing off :)).  I pulled out a piece of masking tape and wrote on it, “I have a feeling that this is going to end in water coming out of someone’s nose.”  I showed it to everyone, then wrapped it across my forehead.

Drake pointed at me, and then did thumbs down.  “You’re going DOWN!”  I shook my head, then signed the same thing back to him.  “No, YOU’RE going down!”

And then Dad put on a song that was in three.  I started waltzing around.  Drake stared waltzing around on the other side of the room.  We both stopped, and then Drake entered the kitchen.  He was standing real close to me, and I jumped away from him.  I didn’t know what he was doing!  I thought he was trying to make me swallow/spit out my water.

Then he stared to waltzing around, and I could tell that he wanted me to waltz with him.  So I did.

And that proved to be my downfall.

We had been waltzing for 3 counts when Mom said “Look!” or something like that.

And that’s when I lost it.  I started laughing.  Not just giggling, like I had been doing off and on the whole time, but really laughing.

I knew, at that moment, that I was done for.

I ran to the bathroom and spat out my water.  After coughing, I burst out laughing.

Drake had followed me, and was silently celebrating.  He waited a bit longer, then spat out his water.

After talking a bit, I told him, “We’ll have to do that again.”  I still thought I could win.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” he replied.

Just another Friday night.  🙂

These Days

I made my bed this morning for the first time in 2? 3? days.  It’s just been like that lately.  I don’t get to make it in the morning, and then, when I do have time in the mid-afternoon, I just sort of look at it and think, “I’m going to be getting into it in a few hours anyway.  Is it really worth it to make it, then mess it up?”

So I’ve been leaving it.

These past few days have been filled with school, piano lessons and practice, reading, and the like.  Really, it’s been filled with life.

Something I’ve been thinking/reading quite a bit about the past few days is makeup and skin care.  Clothes and style.

I have been reading one book on beauty, and I have several more that I am looking at.  And then there was that book about color.  It just confused me.

Am I warmed-toned, or cool-toned?  Pink or peach?  What color are my eyes?  What is the color of my face when I blush?

And don’t get me started on clothes.

Mom tried to take me out clothes shopping the other day, but we couldn’t find anything.  Well, at least not what we were looking for.  We were trying to find some everyday long-sleeve shirts.  We ended up with a sweater (I have lots of sweaters) and a short-sleeved jacket and a knee-length skirt, all of which were on clearance.

(I want to be very, very clear – I am extremely happy with the things we did find.  But they don’t help incredibly when one has mostly short-sleeved shirts and sweaters, and it is 40*F out.)

And on top of it, I didn’t totally know what I was looking for.  It can be hard – I have a picture in my head, but of course we couldn’t find that, and I couldn’t describe it.  So combine frustration from looking at TONS of clothes, trying on lots, most things not working, and add the fact that I ate grain beforehand, which was altering my mood.  Basically, I was all but crying in the department store, and feeling so bad for my mom, who had taken me out shopping, and was putting up with me totally loosing it and us not finding anything, and she stayed so cheerful the whole time.  (You’re the best, Mom!)

And then I started looking at my dog and thinking how much easier it would be if we all just had fur.

(Thinking about it now, that might even be more work.  Tons of conditioner and several hair brushes.)

And hair?

We’re not even going there.

But things are starting to look a little bit brighter.

We walked into a different clothing store, and it looked like it had potential.  Not only that, but in the fifteen minutes that we were there, Mom found a cute blue jacket for me.

I think I need to go to a few more thrift stores.  Inexpensive clothes.  The best kind (if they are cute!).

And the beauty book I am reading is making a whole lot of sense, and not asking any questions about my coloring, and I am starting to feel like I could choose makeup without knowing if I am warm-toned or cool-toned.

And I am starting to look on the brighter side with doing my hair (like I am going to be trying a few things).

Soon I am hoping to start making some of my own products – lotion, cream, makeup remover, and face soap.  We’ll see where it goes from there.  I’m not sure I am ready to jump into making my own cosmetics, although that does sound fun.

And on another happy note, I started exercising again this week, after two weeks off (pre-Men’s Advance and post-Men’s Advance).  It’s been really, really great.

Well, I started this post just to post a few photos that I took today, and all that just came out.  If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening to my rambles and rants.

It’s good to get it all out there.

But, I must get to bed if I want to get up.

And I was only going to spend 5 minutes to post some pictures.

🙂

Here they are.

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My new jacket.  Love it next to my purple wall.

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I was prepping the beans for tomorrow’s dinner, and this one kidney bean was in the bag with the black beans.

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When I went in my drawer to grab something, one of my hair bands was in the perfect shape of a treble clef.  I moved it out carefully, and took a picture, so I could show you.  🙂

 

Good night!

Trusting His Grace,
Allison

Cousins

On Thursday my aunt and two youngest cousins on my dad’s side came down to spend a few days at our home.  There was lots of jokes, snow ball fights, games, and Nerf gun wars.  And talking.  And eating, of course.  🙂

We also celebrated Noah’s birthday while they were here, since it was last weekend and we didn’t get to celebrate it then.  Happy birthday, Noah!  It’s hard to believe that he is 15 already…

I didn’t take quite as many photos as I would have liked to, since I was still feeling under the weather.  Anyways, here are a few from their stay.

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Drake playing Hannah’s ukulele (he makes me laugh)

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Looking at books

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Getting ready to sing (I really liked how these turned out, so there are several :))

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*blow*

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Drawing for “Cranium

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We had just picked up “Cranium” at a resale shop a few weeks ago, and got to try it out this weekend!

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Smiles

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Hannah really enjoyed getting to snuggle with Lucy

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Ready for the Nerf war (or tag – I think they were playing Nerf tag)

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Their “cool-guy” poses

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These next few are just plain fun with cousins 🙂

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Hannah and Lucy snuggling again

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Thanks for coming!  And come back soon!  ❤