life and quotes be yourself, judy garland, quotes 2:18 pm
This was my favorite movie growing up (thanks Dad for watching it 34,234 times!)
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
—Judy Garland
…Because you will be proud of yourself later if you don’t spend your life acting like someone else…
Uncategorized 1:30 pm
You know I'll have a few baked goodies for my Saturday brunch festivities...
Everyone that knows me is aware of my love of all things travel-related. I love to visit big cities or small towns… and if I won the lottery, the first thing I would do (after a 6 month holding period to think things over) would be to take at least a month to travel and see more of the world. Then, when I returned, I would get my finances in order and start investing!!
As much as I enjoy traveling, sometimes I enjoy sitting at home and relaxing all day. Tomorrow morning I will be making brunch for my mom, step-dad, and husby… and will hopefully spend the morning relaxing and just sitting around with everyone doing nothing. Maybe I’ll post one of the recipes soon 
…Because a stress-free weekend makes for a stress-free life…
life 1:20 pm
I have never cared a lot about what strangers have thought of me. I consider this important because people will always judge you…so why waste time worrying about their opinions?
While I’ve been good about this aspect of things, I have noticed that I’m not always good about taking opinions in stride when they come from people I care about. This can be good and bad– but I have to work on having more confidence in every decision that I make (or in my opinions even if they aren’t easy to agree with). I should always be proud of my decisions. From that confidence will come support…and having supportive friends and family is what life is really all about.
When everything is said and done, your family and closest friends may not always agree with everything you say and do. This is just a fact of life– I can’t be perfect and I can’t expect everyone to think my choices are perfect. What really matters is that they accept me for who I am and love me for who I am. The rest means nothing.
…Because your friends are the family that you get to choose…
recipes baked treats, baking, banana bread, bananas, blueberries, bread 8:08 pm
The Best Banana Blueberry Bread Ever!
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cups ap flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
4 large ripe bananas
1/3 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)
3/4 to 1 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp vanilla extract (my friend Kristen got me the BEST Mexican vanilla that I used for this)
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup blueberries (plus extra for garnish)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well in between each addition.
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.
Add bananas (smashed up), vanilla, and walnuts and stir until combined. Fold in blueberries. DO NOT OVER-MIX.
Lightly grease TWO 8″ loaf pans.
Pour the batter into both pans evenly. Sprinkle some blueberries in a row on top for a garnish (I use about 15 berries per loaf).
Bake for 40 minutes and set on a metal rack to cool completely.
Slice with a sharp knife and enjoy Try not to eat the whole loaf in one sitting.
…Because bananas and blueberries are meant to be baked and shared with friends…
life 12:45 am
A classic scene...
Because today marks the 3 year anniversary of my step-brother Jimmy’s death, it will be a hard day for me. Days like this are never easy, but they teach me a lot. They teach me that nothing is predictable, you should never give up on people or yourself, and you should ALWAYS be thankful for the people that make your life worth living.
I am going to smile today and remember the fun times that I had with Jimmy; this way I honor him the way that he deserves to be honored. He wouldn’t want me to spend the day depressed and sad. I may even watch Top Gun tonight– one of his favorites (we quoted it all the time).
…Because sometimes “the pattern is full” and your favorite people can’t be with you for as long as you think they deserve to be…
life and love and memories 7:34 am
This is what it's all about.
I love when situations or people surprise me– in good ways. I’m not fond of times when people surprise me in bad ways or when people do things that I am shocked about or disappointed in… but I love when I am caught of guard by a good deed or a nice gesture. For example, a friend of mine did me a favor right before I left my old job and went on to work at a new company– she wrote something for me that was better than I ever could have written and I could tell she put so much thought and time into making it unique and personal. This meant a lot to me. I’m not sure that she realizes how grateful I was/am for that, but I have thought about it quite a few times since.
I think that it’s so easy to get caught up in the monotony of everyday life that you sometimes need a surprise to wake up you again and remind you that life isn’t always predictable. The beauty of life is that you never know where it will lead you. Sometimes people that you thought you’d never see again end up playing starring roles in your life years later. I hate to say it, but sometimes people that I have doubted at one time or another go on to surprise me and make me realize that I shouldn’t have doubted them. This reminds me never to doubt people unless they give you a reason to do so…and to never sell yourself short.
The other day I got home to find a package waiting for me from my dad in Alabama. Since he didn’t tell me he was going to be sending me something, I was excited to see what was in the box!
Well, I opened it and saw that it was a hard-cover journal he found that I had given my grandma (Grammy) in 1998 for Christmas. It was a gratitude journal with pages that were meant to be filled in by the recipient. She certainly did a good job of adding detailed entries with little highlighted sections and scraps of paper when she had no more room. She wrote down a lot of little things in her life that were going on… the people that came by to visit her, the things she did, what the calendar dates signified (like anniversaries or days she lost loved ones), the temperature outside, and even highlighted over the days that I called her next to a little smiley face she drew in (which was almost every single day).
I was so glad to get this book. It is now one of the most special things I own– one of the things I would grab if there were a fire. I love that my dad knew it would mean a lot to me and sent it, I love that he held on to it, and I love that he didn’t tell me he found it before he sent it. Getting it in the mail made my day (maybe even made my week). I was tempted to sit down and read the whole thing, but am forcing myself to read it slowly and enjoy the fact that the little things were enough to keep her completely happy…100% content with her beautiful, simple life.
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