Friday, October 15, 2010

How full is your glass?

-----Optimism-----
–noun

-a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

Are you optimistic? 
Do you look at a situation with a glass is half full or half empty mindset? 
Do you look at the negatives of something before seeing the positives

Do you believe in yourself? 
Believing in yourself is challenging sometimes, especially when you feel threatened or vulnerable...but this is the the time when you need to step up.  Take the bull by the horns, fight for your purpose, live happily, surround yourself with those who think, talk, and act positive...it's contagious you know! 

Use positive thinking to change your life.

If you feel as though nothing is going good for you, realize how blessed you are.  How fortunate you are to have what you have, as little or as much, it's still something. 

If there never were rainy days, would we still enjoy the sunny ones as much?

Take this little tidbit and think about it...
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Don't be afraid to fail.
Be afraid not to try.









Thursday, October 14, 2010

Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio is a great site that I listen to different genres of music on during the day, so I thought I would share this with you, since I adore it so much!

It is a great thing to turn on while you are folding laundry, doing the dishes, or sitting at a desk during work! 
Right now I am listening to a mix of songs by Pink and other artists similar to her.  You just type in what song you want to listen to, or an artist, or a genre, and it will come up with a playlist of songs similar to what you typed in.  This will develop a "station" for you.  So when you come back you can just click on whatever station you feel like listening to right then.  You get 40 hours of listening time for free every single month, and you can purchase a years worth of free music all the time with no ads for 40 bucks.  I haven't done this, becuase some days I just stream in radio from the internet live.  There are a few ads, but nothing like what is on the regular radio. 

It's a great thing to have when you are wanting to listen to a certain genre or artist at a certain time.  Hope you enjoy Pandora!



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Recipe Wednesday...it's something new!

Recipe Wednesday

Have you ever had a cannoli?  I hadn't had one until Jason and I went to New York last year in December to visit his cousin Michelle and her boyfriend Jack.  They took us to a pastry shop in Little Italy and we had one there...they.are.so.gooooood!
Seriously...get your hands on one of these...

Now, back to Recipe Wednesday...this is a recipe I found that I am for sure going to try maybe Sunday morning.  It is called Cannoli French Toast, and it looks yummmy!!


Cannoli French Toast
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar plus more for dusting
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
12 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, then stir in ricotta cheese. In a medium bowl, beat together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup milk.

Trim the crusts off 12 slices of sandwich bread and using a rolling pin, roll out the bread to flatten. Add 1 Tablespoon of the sweetened ricotta cheese to each slice, fold over and pinch the edges together. (The edges will seal during cooking.)

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive over medium heat. Working in 3 batches, dip the stuffed bread slices in the egg mixture and transfer to the skillet. Cook, turning once, until puffed and golden, about 3 minutes. Dust with more confectioners' sugar before serving. Syrup is good too.

So, as for Recipe Wednesday, be prepared to see some food I have either made or plan on making in the near future.  Hope you enjoy! 



Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Gotta say...I'm a little nervous...:S

Why you ask??  Well, my lovely husband Jason just signed him and I up for the Living History Farms race.  It's held down in Des Moines, the weekend before Thanksgiving.  If you have never heard of this before it is a 7 mile  foot race over hills, up steep slopes, through creeks, and over round bales...Jason and I have done it once before, a few months after we met, and it was hard...really hard.  I hadn't really trained for it back then, but this time around I have been running and working up my endurance.  I have been in the gym getting miles in and building up my endurance.  I feel sooo much more prepared for this race, but 7 miles still freaks me out!

This year Jason's brother Adam, and his fiancee Bridget are running it with us, so we are in for a good time! :)  Also, there are usually 7,500 people running this beside you...that's not an exaggerartion either, they cap it at that amount.  CRAZZZYYYY!!!!

People dress up in crazy costumes, I don't think we will be partaking in this part of it, but you never know!



I remember this creek...it's the one my husband pushed me into the first time I ran this race!! 

Oh man...what have I gotten myself into??

Things with faces

Monday, October 11, 2010

For the love of FALL!

 This is what Jason and I get to enjoy out of our front bay window...it's literally picture perfect. 

 
I saw this monarch land on a leaf from inside the house, so I zoooooomed in and got this shot.  It's the little things like this that make me smile :)

 
Here is a street by the high school...


Here's the tree outside of our house that I am talking about...I had a picture up last week of it where it was only green on the bottom, it has really changed fast...

Love the colors of fall...




Other happenings over the weekend... 
Jason's brother, Justin, competed in a Triathlon he qualified for over the summer.  He swam, biked, and ran in Kona, Hawaii...here he is finishing.

Way to go JUSTIN!!  We are proud of you!! 
Also, special thanks to Bridget for getting these pics, not sure how she got them, but they are GREAT!!!! Thanks Bridget!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Just a little inspiration for your Friday!




Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
-Buddha