Oklahoma!

It's just darling!!

This song comes from Rogers and Hammerstein's first musical, lively and western, titled "Oklahoma!"

{I confess I have yet to see the movie, so I can't really reccomend it.}


My mom sang the song Oklahoma! in concert choir when she was attending college.
I've enjoyed listening to a recoring of it since I was younger.  

I found this version (from 20th Century Fox Video Oklahoma!) on Youtube, and had to share.

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!

Linus and Lucy

It's a popular Christmas song.

Why it's classified as a Christmas song, I'm not exactly sure.
I mean besides the fact that its from the movie "A Charlie Brown Christmas"...Lol

This song happens to by one of my dad's favorites.

I think it's because he grew up watching Charlie Brown from a young age.

Even though I haven't really watched much Charlie Brown,

This song is special to me too!


Our family has a Christmas-time tradition.

In December, when everyone has their Christmas lights up, our family drives around our subdivision to see the Christmas lights!

We've done this since I was very young.


My dad made it extra special by creating a game.

It was called "The Reindeer Game".

The rules were that as everyone looked at Christmas lights,

You look for "Reindeer" (White light-up deer yard decorations)

We would spend an evening driving around as a family, sometimes with my cousins too...

With all of us with our faces plastered to the window screaming
"REINDEER! REINDEER! I SAW IT FIRST!"


So one night, a few years ago, we came to a house with flashing reindeer.

This was unusual!

We stopped and for some reason, my dad decided to roll down his window.

Weren't we surprised when we heard music!

"Linus and Lucy" was playing to synchronized Christmas lights!

It was very similar to this house:

We were amazed and entertained by this spectacular display of lights!

Every year since, we've stopped by the "Charlie Brown House" as a part of our drive to look at christmas lights.



This is just one, of many fond memories I have of Christmas time.

In my opinion, Christmas really is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Merry Christmas in advance! ;)

A Heroic Combination

So today I decided to pretend that carbs are not my adversary.
Rather, for the duration of this day, it shall be pretended that carbs are a symbol of amnety.

In following this idea, I started the day with coffe+ plenty of vanilla creamer.

Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal.

Lunch was leftover pizza.

And dinner, was lots and lots and lots of french bread and spinach stuffed pasta shells!

And to celebrate the yum-i-liciousness of my day, I am just now finishing the worlds most

Heroic Combination

Superman Ice Cream + Brownies FOR THE WIN.

There is nothing better, at the end of a long stressing day, then a bowl of ice cream...

And ice cream with brownies.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!



Sorry guys, I do mean to do some longer posts about deeper subjucts.
But food is on the brain!

NMN

Guess what??
It’s NMN!!!!!!
What is NMN, you ask?
Why, it stands “No Makeup November”, of course!

That’s right- this month, I’m not going to wear any make-up.

It’s not that I’m a make-up junkie…
The most make-up I wear on a normal day is mascara, eyeliner, and maybe a tinch of eyeshadow.

So why am I doing this?

Well, first of all, I think self-confidence is important, especially for girls!
God made you beautiful, just the way you are. You don’t need make-up to fix “imperfections”cuz God doesn’t make mistakes.
Psalm 139:14 says “14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works…” (NKJV)
I don’t want to depend on make-up.
I want to depend on God! :D
If I feel insecure about myself, I don’t want to use make-up to repair my confidence.
Those days are the days when I can grow closer to the Lord, asking him to give me contentment and joy in my appearance, and thanking him for making me just the way I am!
Be confident in the girl God made you! There’s need to hide behind make-up ;)


Secondly, while looking pretty on the outside is nice, I know that God is far more concerned about the inside.
1Peter 3:3-4 says: “3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward… 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (NKJV)
Sometimes it seems like looking perfect, is being perfect.
But it’s possible to look like a Barbie doll, and still be ugly on the inside.
The important thing is inner beauty!
Love, joy... a gentle and quiet spirit.. patience, peace..
When I focus my attention on inner beauty, it will show on the outside;
In the way I treat others and in my eyes and smile! :) My friend Katie (the one who I got the idea for NMN from) said this on her blog:
“Something that I've noticed in my friends, without their thick eyeliner, is their smiles. Gorgeous things, smiles. They are so so so much better than make-up at enhancing beauty. I love it. And I've been forced to really examine my concept of beauty during these 9 days (so far). It's not outward at all. In fact, the external is like a screen, it reflects what's inward. That's why smiles look so great on people-it's projecting an internal joy.”

Taking a make-up break is a good way for me to maintain a healthy view on beauty.

Now don’t misunderstand me here: I don’t think make-up is wrong. Make-up is a fun compliment to an outfit. It can express your creativity and your personality. It’s useful for covering up zits! It can make you look dressed up for special occasions. There are many good reasons to use make up.

But when I use it, I hope to keep things in perspective.

I’m not saying it’s going to be easy… especially when those “I feel crummy” days come.

But: I’m up for the challenge.

Are you?

Carbs, Carbs, Carbs

Carbs.

You never notice them until you try to avoid them.

But when you do try to evade them,

You realize

They’re everywhere.

In your cereal.

In your Pb&J sandwich.

In your orange juice.

In the dressing on your salad.

In your taco.

In your mini candy bar.

In your baked potato.

In your banana.

In your fried chicken and rice.

And,

In your pumpkin spice latte.

They lurk where you least expect them…

Tempting you to eat them as they hide in your favorite foods.

You ask yourself “Do I need to live on boiled chicken, peanut butter and water to avoid carbs??!!”

Don’t worry. There is a solution!

You can make:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

That’s right… with a few adjustments, I *think* this recipe could be nearly carb free.

Cut the sugar back to 1/3^rd cups and substitute it with splenda.

Yes, splenda is gross and I don’t like to use it

But in the name of avoiding carbs I’m willing to give it a try.

This time I made the cake w/real sugar so it has carbs. But it’s still a low carb cake.

Here is a picture of the one I made today:

Isn’t it beautiful? {if I do say so myself}

It’s so tasty too! ;)

If you would like to try the recipe, you can find it below.

Happy baking! :D

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch round cake pan, and dust with cocoa powder.

2.       In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.

3.       Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slices can also be reheated for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.

4.       (optional) for the topping melt choco-chips with shortening. Top with raspberrys and let sit till top is set.