Looking Up

First, an update:

Today was actually a pretty good day. So far, there have been no tears, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. I'm glad to say that although my situation and burden hasn't been miraculously removed from me, God has been growing me every day. Things are happening in tiny increments, but I'm just glad to be climbing up out of that pit.

I realized today that it has been exactly four weeks since I had that doctor's appointment. Four weeks since my future changed. Four weeks since I was forced to start letting go of my plans and start listening for God's. My sense of time and date has been (and still is) off, so I am incredibly dependent on my calendar, my watch and alarms, and my lists. The first two weeks, I know I was a zombie. I probably couldn't tell you what I did during that time period. I know I must have done stuff, I just wasn't paying any attention. At the beginning of last week, I feel like I finally started to move forward. I finally had a big ol' cry-fest on the phone with Mitch while I proceeded to tell him everything I'd kept bottled up while I was hiding from the world. We got to have a real talk about it, something we didn't get to do before I came back to school. I started baking again. I started taking better care of my body, and caring about the food that I was putting into it. Instead of hollering at God and waiting for Him to fix everything, I dove into the Scriptures. And I am so glad that I did.

Here's some of the verses that I've been meditating on recently:

Habakkuk 3:18

Proverbs 19:21

Romans 8:26

Luke 22:42

Colossians 3:3

I'm not totally 100% yet, but I am making progress. Some days are harder than others, and I have no idea why. There's not necessarily that triggers the tears, they just invite themselves to the party.

Like I mentioned above, I have gotten back to baking. I made two batches of brownies, and I thought that I had met my baking nemesis. Good news, though! They weren't failures! (I was so preoccupied with having them turn out well that I forgot to take a picture, though. Oops.)

I also made The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. I was so excited with the way that they turned out, and I think I fell in love with the icing. So, to the dismay of my waistline, I am now trying to think of what else I could put that delicious glaze on. Cakes? Streusel muffins? I'm started to get excited!

Unfortunately, I need to really buckle down and focus on school now. Educational Psychology test in the morning, and a whole mess of things to do after that! I'll see you back here for Thankful Thursday, but for now, here's my current favorite Bible verse (aka today's favorite):

Psalm 103:17 "But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him."

A Week in my Kitchen

This week, I got to spend time in the kitchen. This week's kitchen-time has been all about making "real" food, but I have some other, not-suitable-for-dinner recipes lined up that I want to try. So, here are some of my adventures from this week. Nothing fancy, mind you, but it was good food, and it filled me up.

On Monday night, I made my very first pizza from scratch! I got the recipe for the dough here from Annie's Eats, and I loved it. I also loved that her instructions involve the use of a stand mixer (which I just got for Christmas!!).The recipe makes enough for two pizzas, so I have the other half in my freezer for the next time I'm hankerin' for some good pizza. The toppings are pretty simple, as I chose to make my favorite pizza. [For future reference, it's Hawaiian pizza. :) Plenty of pineapple and ham.]

*By the way, the pizza also reheats well.

This probably doesn't really count as a kitchen adventure, but it is something that I whipped (well, blended) up several times this week. What you see in this cup is my version of a green smoothie. What's in it, you ask? Well, it's pretty simple. Here's my go-to recipe:

Basic Green Smoothie (yields about 4 cups)
     -a few handfuls of baby spinach
     -1 large orange, peeled and segmented
     -1 banana, cut into pieces
     -about 1 cup of blueberries
     -1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
     -1 cup skim milk
     -a few handfuls of ice cubes.

Just throw it all in the blender, and start it up! This usually makes a LOT of smoothie. We're talking about 4 cups worth here, depending on the size of your fruit and the amount of ice you use. I've been separating it into two 16-ounce servings, with one for right then and the other going into the refrigerator for the next day, but you could easily split it into four servings and either share them or freeze/refrigerate them for later.

*Don't worry, you don't actually taste the spinach. It just makes everything green and adds tons of vitamins. I'm actually hoping that by drinking these, I will get over this miserable cold faster!

This was tonight's dinner. I didn't make the pesto spread, but aside from that, I got the recipe for this Turkey Bagel Burger from The Pioneer Woman, aka Ree Drummond. Have I mentioned how much I love her? Because I do. I am enamored with her. And even though she uses entirely too much butter (have I mentioned that I think butter is kind of disgusting?), I am convinced that she can do no wrong in the kitchen. The second season of her show on Food Network premiered last Saturday, and I missed it because I am a dum-dum. For some reason, I forgot that when she said it would be on at 10 a.m., that she was referring to Eastern time. For me, it was on at 9 a.m. Alas, I missed it. But I will not be missing it tomorrow morning! I set several alarms just in case. (Side note: The Pioneer Woman was also on Paula's Best Dishes this evening. Paula and Ree on the same show, in the same episode? I was simply beside myself.) Anyway, before I let my love for the Pioneer Woman get me sidetracked, I was talking about my dinner. A simple turkey burger (recipe linked above) on an everything bagel (I used a Thomas Bagel-Thin), with the toppings I had in my refrigerator. The mess on the right side of the plate is just some onions, mushrooms, and green pepper that I cooked up.

In other Pioneer Woman news, I had ordered her cookbook last week, and UPS brought it to me on Tuesday! I was so excited. I am definitely itching to try my hands at making her cinnamon rolls, along with just about everything else she included (most of it with drastic reductions in the amount of butter used). But just like any other reasonable woman, I have priorities. And those cinnamon rolls are definitely a priority!



Tuesday night, I made a baked pasta dish from the Taste of Home website. I'm still undecided about whether or not I liked it enough to share it. I'll probably make that decision after I reheat some for tomorrow's dinner, and we'll see if it's photogenic enough to post about.


After just those three recipes, I am set on food for quite awhile once you factor in that I eat simple sandwiches every day for lunch. Yay for having a full freezer!



*Please pardon the pictures in this post. They were all taken with my cell phone (not the smart variety).