Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night and Small Favors by Jim Butcher

So...you might have noticed that I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately.  There are two reasons for that.  One, it is spring and spring is a crazy time of year for teachers.  Testing, testing and more freaking testing on top of the already HUGE load of work makes for lots of stress.  Two...I have been reading.  A whole lot.

I can safely say that I am more than hooked on the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.  So much that when I first started this post I only had three titles and then I hit "save" instead of "publish" because I needed to get started on the next book.  Now I am back to finish this post and need to add three more books to the post title.

I am not going to go back and recap all of the stories.  I will say they are a little formulaic but that is kind of what happens when you have a long standing series like this.  There are reoccurring characters that come and go and while I suppose each story could stand on it's own, there are definitely some overarching story lines in addition to the specific story.

There are 4 more left in the series (that is published) but I don't get the impression that the series will be over at that point.  I do think though at that point, there are some other authors I would like to spend some time reading.  But until that point, I really do need to wrap this up.  Book 11 is waiting...

Oh...this officially completes my goal of reading 50 books!  Yay me!

“As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher

Tonight I had a friend come over who is grieving in a way that I hope I never have to experience.  Her life, as she knows it, is over and she has to pick up the pieces and carry on.  And she will.  She is stronger than she knows.

We have been having many conversations over the last few weeks.  I have tried hard not to give advice but instead to listen, ask questions and listen some more.  I have said, "I am so sorry." many times when I feel like there is nothing else I can say.  Hugs, kind words and my friendship is really all I have to offer.

Tonight, though, we talked a little about me and something that continues to challenge and frustrate me.    I haven't written about my weight struggles for awhile now but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it.  I have slowly over the last 18 months undone some of the hard work I did.  I have a lot of feelings about it that I could write about for awhile, but honestly, I mostly feel ashamed and embarrassed that I have done this to myself.

I am not sure what happened.  I wish I could pinpoint how I derailed myself.  This problem is nothing compared to my friend's problem, but it is still a problem. I do know that if I don't do something soon to turn it around that the few clothes that still fit, won't for long.  

So, I have a plan.  For tomorrow.  I am not looking any more forward than that.  Tomorrow, I will make a plan for the next day.  And I am going to try and follow that pattern for awhile. 

My friend...you know who you are...thank you.  One day at a time seems like a good plan.  We are probably both stronger than we know, but luckily, we have each other to remind ourselves when we forget.  

Photo A Day May 1-12, 2013 A very special edition of Photo A Day... I have completed a whole year!

I am not going to lie, I am pretty excited about this post!  I have now completely the Something A Day challenge that my sister and some of her friends started a year ago.  It was funny to go back and read this post which was the kick off post to this whole challenge.

I need to figure out what I am going to do with all of these photos.  It only seems fitting that I do something to put them all in one place but to be honest, I need to wait until the school year is over.  We have 5 weeks left and taking on an extra project just seems like too much right now.  I am going to do something though soon.  I am thinking a Shutterfly book would be the easiest way to go.  The photos are all organized and it would not be too tough to unload and go.  But, again, I need to get through this week.

I am very proud of myself that I made it this far.  It has been fun working with the different cameras I use capturing all the different kind of moments that make up my life.  It is a collection of my year, through my eyes and I am so glad I did it.  So glad in fact, that since I have gotten into the habit of taking a photo a day I am just going to keep going.

But before I do, here are the photos from the last 12 days which complete an entire year of a photo a day.

may 1, 2013
tools, flowers, wooden spoons, pink bowls and tiaras
all very complex

may 2, 2013
this is the flower girl dress from my sister's wedding which was almost 2 years ago
taelin wear it still almost every single day

may 3, 2013
we were waiting for some friends and i thought real quick to snap a couple a picture
i would love to take my nikon here and see what i could get
still love this one just the same though

may 4, 2013
our awesome 3000 racer enjoying her spoils 

may 5, 2013
it has pretty much been summer weather here 

may 6, 2013
making sock puppets

may 7, 2013
i actually had this many bags in my car so that
when i cleaned it out i could organize the mess

may 8, 2013
what i came to bed to, evidently someone decided to join me

may 9, 2013
i love containers.
 i especially love containers with pens and pencils

may 10, 2013
this is not snow, it is cottonwood (or so I think as I squint my swollen, itchy eyes)

may 11, 2013
taelin wanted to know when this caterpillar was going to live in it's raccoon.
a better mother would have correctly her

may 12, 2013
it seems weird that i take a picture of joe on mother's day, but there is a reason.
this is him at 6:30 in the evening because he got up with a taelin a little before
7:00 so i could sleep in and then eat breakfast in bed.
he also spent part of his afternoon hauling around new plants for the
garden/yard at lowes and then planting blueberry bushes.
 i pretty much love him completely

Chicken broth in the crockpot...how have I not thought of this?!?

I am back, still not studying, to tell you about something I can't believe I hadn't thought of myself.  I actually use a lot of chicken broth in my cooking and have come to depend on having it in my freezer.  Awhile ago, I roasted a chicken for dinner and then used part of the chicken that was leftover to make homemade chicken pot pie.  What I was left with was a fair amount of chicken meat and three very full days of work ahead of me.  I knew that I needed to do something with it before I was off again so I did a quick Google search just to see what other people did and low and behold there was someone that used a leftover roasted chicken to make chicken broth in the crock pot.

Yahoo!

This isn't so much a regular recipe so I am just going to write out what I did.  The night before I was going to make the broth, I put the leftover chicken in my crock pot   (I have one of those that the ceramic part lifts out and can be put in the frig.)  I chopped up an onion, threw some garlic cloves in, added some celery and some carrots and a couple of bay leaves.  I put that in the frig until the next morning.

The next morning, as Taelin was putting her shoes on, I pulled out the crock pot and filled it with water.  I turned it on low for 10 hours and left.

When I got back home, I had the most amazing chicken stock already to go.  I pulled out the veggies and the chicken and pulled all the rest of the meat off.  Then I used my mesh strainer to catch all of the things I wouldn't want in my chicken broth and made a really good chicken and rice soup.  I didn't measure how much I got, but I know that I put several good sized containers in the freezer for later.

Do you see how good that looks?  Maybe I have a problem?

I don't know that I would do it every time this way, just because I can get way more stock when I am using my big stock pot.  I generally throw more veggies in when I am using my stock pot to add flavor and color but when I am doing that, I have to commit myself to be home (which isn't a problem...I like my house) because I am not going to leave my stove top running when I am not here.  But, it was certainly great for being able to use the chicken leftovers I had in a time frame that wouldn't waste them.  

I still had enough chicken leftover to make some chicken salad for the next couple of days for my lunch and extra broth for the freezer.  That is quite a bit for one little chicken!

Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice

So, I should be studying for my upcoming reading specialist Praxis test that I have to take in order to renew my reading endorsement before they change the whole system (again) and it becomes more difficult to add it back onto my teaching license.  (It didn't transfer from my transitional license from Montana to Oregon and at the time I was doing my Master's work and didn't have a reason to add it back on.) I have no plans or need for it right now, but it could absolutely come in handy someday soon so I thought I should go ahead and do it before I have to do more than take the dang test.

Like I said, I should be studying but instead I am here.  I realized the other day that I have added a few new recipes to my rotation and that since hitting my 50 new recipes, I haven't really added any new ones although I have tried some and kept a few.  And since I would rather be doing just about anything else but studying, I decided tonight was a good time to go ahead and share this recipe.

The recipe I want to share is one that I found...wait for it...on Pinterest.  The original recipe can be found here and the first time I made it I followed it to the letter but since have changed it, mostly because I don't have all of the ingredients on hand and I am kind of lazy.

Here is what I have settled on for our house...

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 teaspoons of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 garlic cloves minced
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups white rice
1 can (13.5 oz) unsweetened light coconut milk
2 cups water

Directions:
1. Toss the chicken with the curry powder and cayenne pepper.
2. In a large pot, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil and brown the chicken on both sides and then transfer to a large plate.
3. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pot and then saute the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent and the browned bits have been scraped up from the bottom of the pot.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a minute.
5. Mix in the rice, water and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
6. At the point, add the chicken back.  Reduce heat and cook until the chicken in done and the rice has absorbed the liquid.  (I do stir it once while it was cooking just to redistribute things a bit.) It takes about 20 minutes.


The one time I had them on hand, I added in some white mushrooms when I added the chicken back in and Joe was such a happy camper.  I don't always have them on hand though so I have made this recipe without them too.  I served it once with diced tomatoes and that was good (if you like raw tomatoes which I am working on) and last time I served it with roasted carrots and I was a happy camper.  In general, this dish makes us all (even Taelin) happy campers.  (Although it wouldn't really be a camping friendly dish which I am starting to think about since we have a camping trip at the end of this month.)

The thing I like best about this dish is how the coconut milk cuts the strength of the curry and makes it oh so creamy!

Ok...I better get back to studying...or actually start studying. Thanks for indulging me.  :)

Photo A Day April 17-30

What a couple of weeks we have had.  A ton of fun with a nasty virus thrown in the middle of it.  (I spared you any really gross photos...I have my limit of recording life events.)

Anyway, this group of photo's closes out April, which means two weeks from now I will have completed a full year of photos each day.  I keep telling myself to get on here and post these weekly but it just isn't happening.  Apparently, I am really getting in this two week at a time thing.

april 17, 2013
She is super excitied to go kayaking

april 18, 2013
I walked by this clean basket of laundry for 3 days before I took
 this picture...and waited another day to put it away.

april 19, 2013
Trying to finish up my 2012 December Daily book  :(
 This is why I don't even try to "catch up" anymore.

april 20, 2013
a lucky beautiful day at the beach

april 21, 2013
My Scentsy launch party!

april 22, 2013
Rainbow toenails 

april 23, 2013
Taelin's play kitchen...notice the labeled containers...they may look a little like mine

april 24, 2013
Because I love you, my readers, I am going to spare you the
details of Taelin being sick and just say that hydration was the
name of the game for a couple of days 

april 25, 2013
finally feeling better

april 26, 2013
and a little help for me

april 27, 2013

april 28, 2013
a crack in my favorite baking dish...was sad to throw it away

april 29, 2013
I didn't get a picture of Taelin and Joe playing
but a side by side picture is still pretty cute.

april 30, 2013
plastic flowers...the best few dollars I have spent for Taelin in awhile

Love is when you can be your true self with someone, and you only want to be your true self because of them. ~Terri Guillemets

I like to think that I know how lucky I am that I get to share this life with Joe.  He is amazing in so many ways.  I also would like to think that he feels the same way about me.  Nothing is easier in my life than being with him.  I don't think everyone can say that about who they are spending their life with and when I realize that, it makes me even more aware of how lucky I am. 

I am beyond grateful.