Banana Blackberry Breakfast Smoothie…
In this edition of ridiculously easy and extremely healthy breakfasts, I am featuring the Blackberry Banana Breakfast Smoothie. Since it has only a few ingredients and can be whipped up in minutes, it’s a breakfast that is very much “work-friendly.” Read more…
“Yet You Can…”
“The cow runs away from the storm while the buffalo charges directly toward it — and gets through it quicker.” ~Wilma Mankiller, the first ever female chief of the Cherokee nation
MANGO!
No, not that kind. Today I’m talking about the yummy and beneficial fruit you can add to your salad to create a light yet filling summer meal – it involves no cooking, little time, and it’s delicious! Read more…
Get Creative: Some Right-Brain Thinking
You’ve heard the terms “right brain thinker” and “left brain thinker” before, and have probably classified yourself as one of the two. In a nutshell, left-brain thinkers tend to be more technical and better with numbers, while right-brain thinkers tend to be more creative. They are the inventors, storytellers, and designers. If you are interested in getting your right-brain cranking, pick up a copy of “A Whole New Mind,” by Daniel Pink. It’s a great motivator, and a very interesting book that will change the way you look at things and approach business and life. Here are some tips that are featured in the book to get your right-brain juices flowing, so you can unleash your creativity for whatever project you’ve been wanting to start:
DIY Firepit for Neat Freaks: Outdoor Project #2
Yep, it happened. DIY is officially our drug of choice. And while we were already on our outdoor DIY kick, we decided it was time to build a firepit. But not just any firepit, of course – as anyone who has ever met my husband knows, his obsessive compulsive-cleaning-disorder-brain couldn’t possibly build something without thinking of the potential mess it would create, and this meant weeks worth of deliberation on how we could build a filth-free firepit. He was determined to have the best of both worlds. For two straight weeks it was a one-man tug of war between “Me want fire!” and “Oh, dear, but we can’t have a mess!” It was like watching a UFC fight between Martha Stewart and a Caveman. It wasn’t easy. But his research paid off, and it finally happened – the Firepit for All Neat Freaks was born! And what better timing then right before Memorial Day? It’s simple because it doesn’t involve any cement and it’s very easy to build. And it’s neat because you can clean it in a matter of two minutes – just lift the bowl out and dump the ashes in the woods, or use it as fertilizer for your garden. Check out the finished product below, then scroll down for the DIY instructions. And don’t miss the delicious smores recipe at the end!
The Firepit for Neat Freaks
Umm…is it just me?
Really, Nasoya???
Commenters, feel free to share your best caption! And Nasoya, if you’re out there, you got some ‘splainin to do! 😉
Like Two Passing Ships in the Night…
For details on this print: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/two-ships-passing-scott-rhoads.html
This past weekend, we went to NY for the wedding of my first cousin. She married the man of her dreams, and if you spend just a little bit of time with them, you can see they are meant to be together. We were at the wedding because the bride is my cousin, yes, but the groom is also a friend of my husband’s. The funny thing is that they both attended our wedding – separately. Before their first date, before any get-to-know-you talks, before they even spoke to each other, they were in the same room watching us feed each other wedding cake. My cousin was a bridesmaid in the wedding, he was a guest. Neither of them brought a date. They began dating less than a year later, thanks to a re-introduction by my sister and her husband, and have been inseparable ever since, but we couldn’t help but notice the clip in our wedding video where they walk right past each other, both looking opposite directions, through the Viennese hour. The first time we saw it, it was like watching a movie: “Holy crap! Just turn around! How are they not even seeing each other?!” But alas, no sparks flew over chocolate fountains and cookie trays. No matter how many times we watch, there is still no hooking of arms while feeding each other sips of champagne; no flirty glances from across the room. How could this be?!
What We’ve Got Here, is Failure to Communicate
“Communication is everything.” We’ve heard this so many times before, and have witnessed it on all levels large and small. If you work in a corporate office (or any kind of work environment, for that matter,) chances are you experience miscommunication on a daily basis. Emails and text messages are perfect examples of just how important communication is, and why it’s so easy to misinterpret what someone is trying to say. So many things can be misunderstood in an email or text, partly because you cannot read tone of voice, emphasis, or any kind of warmth or feeling, and partly because we are encouraged to communicate like robots to be careful we don’t offend anyone or misspeak.
Even outside the workplace, some of our biggest problems in life occur from simple miscommunications. A fight can break out between two perfect strangers; a relationship that has gone on for years can be compromised; wars can erupt between countries – oftentimes, it is lack of communication that sparks all of these instances. Isn’t it ironic, considering we have countless ways to communicate with each other? Sometimes it seems that the more methods of communication we create, the worse off we are. It makes me wonder if maybe we should take a step back every once in a while and simplify how we communicate. While we sit at our computers, or go about our day-to-day lives, with all of our tools, big words, and fancy ideas, we should take a minute to think about the world that is going on around us that many of us don’t even notice. Maybe we can take a cue from nature. Take, for instance, this little interaction below:
Recently I posted about ways to make the most of your plot of land, along with the pic of our DIY vegetable garden. Here is the DIY info on how you can build something similar:
Materials: shovel, pick axe, rocks for the border, soil, (see note in directions), pebbles, stepping stones, some type of weed-barrier cloth.
Directions
Step 1: Plot out the area of how big you want your raised beds to be. We wanted three beds, all around the same size as a standard raised box bed. Make sure when mapping out the size and place for your garden, you give yourself a little room to move around it and have access to all your plants easily. Mark out the area with a spray paint, or rocks, like we did here.
mapping out your garden space
This recipe is awesome, a) because it’s super easy and doesn’t require many ingredients, and b) because you don’t need to turn on a stove, preheat an oven or fire up a grill. You can make a big batch of it all at once for a party, and serve it in a bowl with a side of bread for guests to assemble. This recipe feeds about 6 average sized adults, or 12 pairs of Olsen twins.
Ingredients
Live For the Season 