“Pan Out” – The Challenge (Wk 4)

Its Week 4 of the six-month challenge towards your dream or goal.  How are you doing?  Maybe you started out “The Challenge” excited and filled with anticipation and now the excitement has seemed to be all but gone.  WhAt NoW? 

This week’s focus is to Re-AsSeSs.  This is something that we will be doing from time to time during this six-month challenge.  That is because although sometimes you start off thinking that your goal is one thing you find out along the way that it is really something else.  Take for example the goal of losing weight.  Maybe you start off thinking that a certain number on the scale will bring you happiness, but along the way to your goal you realize that the ‘ole number on the scale isn’t what brings happiness, instead it’s the P e A c E you have inside because of the self-control you have developed allowing you to put food in its proper place.

Have you ever been on Google maps and were so close up you couldn’t get your bearings but as soon as you panned out you could see things clearly?  When re-assessing your goals, it is necessary to “PaN oUt” and see the big picture.  Sometimes we are just too close up to our situation to see things clearly, but when we step back and get some perspective things begin to come in to focus.

As you look at your goal don’t forget to “pan out” and see the big picture.  When you do, the map will be much clearer and you will have the AdVaNtAgE oF pErSpEcTiVe.

~Robynn

P.S.  Regarding my six-month goal of peace with food, I’m making progress!!!  I haven’t done perfectly, but one thing I am learning to do is ditch the “All-Or-Nothing” mindset with an “Adapt and Be Flexible” one.  (That’s another post for another day!)

Easter Eggs to Dye For!

Want to try a new way to decorate your Easter eggs this year?  My daughter and I used rubber bands!  Give it a try! You won’t be disappointed!

1)Boil the eggs and let them cool, then wrap the eggs with rubber bands!

2) Pour boiled water into glasses or bowls.  Add food coloring and a teaspoon of vinegar.  Place the “rubber band eggs” on a spoon and set them in the colored water!

3)Keep checking on the eggs until they reach the desired color.

4)Place the eggs on a dry paper towel and let them dry.

5)Now the fun part!

6)How cute is this?!

HaPpY EaStEr!

~L

New Beginnings

In Kansas, we live in what is known as the tall-grass prairie. 

When explorers first came to the Midwest they called it the “Great American Desert” because they witnessed hundreds of miles of prairie grass that was as tall as a man on a horse.  Each spring, by either lightening or fires intentionally set by Native Americans to attract large herds of buffalo, millions of acres of this tall grass prairie were burned to make way for new growth.

Our ranchers continue this TrAdiTioN each spring with controlled fires.  Soon after burning the old dry plant material, new lush green grass emerges for their livestock to graze.  As a rancher’s daughter, helping burn pasture was a yearly ritual that I very much enjoyed.  The crackling sound of the old stems and smell of burnt grass created a chalkboard-like pasture that was wiped clean for a new season.  These sights, smells, and sounds create a sense of nostalgia that takes me back to some of my fondest MeMoRiEs as a child.

Just like ranchers, we can perform a similar ritual this spring by eliminating the old to make way for the new.  If there is something that has been weighing on your mind or holding you back, now is the time to send it up in flames and get a NeW StARt on life.

~L

Easter Nests – Feature Guest: Tonya

This is my new, favorite EaSteR tReAt compliments of my friend Tonya who just shared this recipe with me.   I had to pass it along to you because I think it is so fun and yummy!!!  I photographed these pictures in her kitchen and it literally took her 10 to 15 minutes (max) to prepare.  (Not counting the hour necessary in the freezer.)   It is sooooo EaSY!! 

The ingredients for the EasTer NeStS:  1/4 cup of butter (1/2 stick), 2 cups of marshmallows, and 4 cups of Chow Mein Noodles.  Ingredients to fill the nests:  coconut & green gel food coloring for the grass, and Easter candy such as jelly beans, M&M’s, malted eggs, chocolate eggs, etc.

Measure 4 cups of ChOw MeIn NoOdLes.

MeLt 1/4 cup of butter.

Measure 2 cups of MaRsHmaLLoWs.

Add marshmallows to melted BuTtEr.

Stir marshmallows and butter until marshmallows are completely MeLtEd.

Add Chow Mein Noodles to melted marshmallow and butter MiXtUrE.

CoMbInE.

Butter a MuFfiN pan.

Butter your FiNgErS.

Use your fingers to FoRm nests.

Place in the freezer for 1 HoUr.

Remove nests with a KniFe.

Combine cOcOnUt and a few drops of GrEeN gel food coloring to make grass.

The best green grass you’ll ever EaT!

Time to fill the nests with GoOdiEs.

Place CoCoNuT gRaSs in nests.

Fill the nests with your favorite CaNdy.

Time to EnJoY!!

~Robynn

How Do You Measure “More” & “Better”? – The Challenge (Wk. 3)

Sometimes goals are very cOnCreTe.  You want to save up money to buy a car, go to school to get a nursing degree, or run your first 5K.  These goals are very specific.  You either have reached the goal or not.  But, then there are those goals that aren’t so concrete such as you want to be a better wife, have more patience with your kids, or not be so worried about what others think of you.  These goals are much more vague and although they are noble and worthwhile to pursue, if you don’t make them specific you will ever really know if you accomplished the goal.

So, how do you make a vague goal sPeCiFic?  The best way to do this is to ask yourself what that quality looks like in concrete terms.  For example, if your goal is to be a better wife, what does being a “better wife” look like in your eyes?  Could you be a better listener by giving your husband 100% of your attention when he is talking to you, have dinner waiting for your husband when he comes home from work, be more supportive of him by not criticizing him around friends and family?

Once you know what a “better wife” looks like then you will need to quantify it.  (This will probably look different from everyone else depending on you and your husband’s needs, personalities, and individual situations.  Don’t think this has to be a carbon copy of someone else.) For example, “I will have dinner on the table when my husband comes home from work 4 out of 5 times a week.”  “I will plan a night for us to go out on a date and do something we both enjoy at least once a week.”  These goals are very specific.  You either did them or you didn’t.

Let me share a personal example with you.  In the Suede•Sofa’s six-month Challenge, my goal is to be at peace with food.   I know in order to do this, I must use self-control in my eating.  That is a good goal to have, but how do I know if I am using “self-control?”  I have turned that vague goal into a specific one by quantifying it.  One bad habit I had was eating all my food for that day by breakfast or lunch.  Then I would try to compensate by skipping dinner.  My specific goal to counteract that bad habit is to eat three meals a day – saving calories/points/etc for each meal.  I want to do this at least 4 days a week.  At the end of the week I know whether I met my goal or not.

Notice that I am taking <s m a l l  s t e p s> in this goal.  It would be unrealistic if I expected myself to do this seven days a week.  But 4 times a week is an achievable goal.  Some weeks I may be successful, other weeks I may falter, but I am at least moving towards the target of self-control.

In this process it is important that you don’t expect perfection, but rather PrOgReSs.  As long as you are getting closer to the goal you are succeeding.  If you seem to be failing miserably it may be time to reassess your goal.  Make sure it is something that you can succeed at regardless how small the step.  As you get small successes under your belt you can up the ante little by little.  Remember this:  SuCcEsS bReEds sUcCesS.  

     So, go for “MoRe” and “BeTteR”.  Just be sure you know what “more” and “better” looks like.  Then you will have a clear cut target and increase the chances that you make it to your goal.

~Robynn

Easter Sweets

Ok, so I love sWeeTs.  You can find the coolest looking ones (in my opinion) at Easter, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day.  These BuNniEs fall into that category, so I thought I would share.

Then, of course there are the classic ones that have been around for a while.  I think these PeEpS are just plain ‘ole fun!  Did you know that they have been around since the 50’s and they have also been the #1 non-chocolate selling Easter candy for 20 years?

I’ve always been a PEZ fan!

Cadbury Mini Eggs for the chocolate lOvEr.

Because CuPcAkEs are so “in” at the moment, I thought I would get my helpers and we would make some.  I just didn’t have a lot of time to make them from scratch so I bought a mix and frosting in a can.  (My helpers did not mind a bit!)

Helper #1 dumps the cAkE mIx into the bowl

Helper #2 FroSts

This is the FuN part!!

Giving attention to DeTaiL.

The finished ProDucT!

These MeXicAn WeDdiNg CoOkiEs have been a favorite since childhood.  Even though I have only had them at Christmas I thought it would be fun to throw a twist by sprinkling them with pastel colored sugar.  They never stay around for long at my house!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened

½ cup C&H Cane Powdered Sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

2 cups nuts, finely chopped

C&H Cane Powdered Sugar (about 1 ½ cups)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

With electric mixer beat butter and powdered sugar.  Add vanilla.  Combine flour, salt and nuts; stir into sugar mixture.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 15 minutes* until lightly browned.  While hot, roll in powdered sugar.  Cool on a rack then roll again in powdered sugar to coat.  Makes about 5 dozen.

 

*I like my cookies tender and soft so I decrease the cook time to 7-10 minutes.

All that’s left to do is EnJoY!!

~Robynn

 

Rip It Like A Band-Aid

I don’t know about you, but even though spring is here, I’m having a hard time mustering up the energy to do any type of spring cleaning.  The weather has been great.  The windows are open and a nice breeze is making its way through the house. The aroma from the lilacs my daughter picked is filling up the kitchen.  Birds are melodiously chirping out my back window.  Come on!  What is it going to take for me to find the energy to utilize a day like this?!

Every now and then it doesn’t matter how ideal the conditions are, we just can’t seem to find the energy to spend it the way we intend to.  Don’t get me wrong, sitting back with a glass of lemonade and enjoying this time of year is a great thing, but we all know it isn’t feasible to sit around ALL season long!  Perhaps the best thing to do is rip it like a Band-Aid.  Stop thinking about what needs to be done and just do it.  I can promise you, as I write this snuggled in my bed at 1:00 in the afternoon, the last thing I feel like doing is springing off the mattress and diving into the dust on our bookshelves.  But look at the bright side, the end of the day will be that much sweeter if we can complete a task that has been hanging over our head for weeks.

Do you have something on your to-do list that you keep putting off?  Don’t let it continue to pull you down for another week.  Rip it like a Band-Aid.  Rest assured, it will only sting for a second.  :)

~L

This Is Not Reality!

I walked past this Barbie, and had to think, “Get a ReaLitY cHeCk!” I’m not talking to myself here and I’m certainly not talking to you, but rather those responsible for selling us this bill of goods – the media, pop culture, Hollywood, and anyone else wanting us to believe the insidious lie that we need to look this perfect.

To PuT it iN pErSpEcTive, consider this:  Could you look like this Barbie (or the picture perfect celebrities we see gracing the covers of magazines in the grocery store checkout isles) if:

You had a full-time hairdresser and makeup artist getting you ready every day?  Well, “Maybe.” You say, but I’m _____ pounds overweight, so “Maybe not.”  I’m glad you brought that up because I failed to mention that you also have a personal trainer who monitors your daily exercise, weight, etc.  They even make house calls.  Exercise not producing the desired results?  Plastic surgery isn’t just an option; it’s a WaY of LiFe for you, Baby!

You’re thinking that you’re getting closer, but still there’s the issue of eating right.  Not to worry, because you also have aT yOuR diSpoSaL a dietitian who will carefully plan your meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner, so that you know you are eating the right amounts of protein, carbs, and fats.  I can hear you saying, “That’s all well and good, but I get home from work exhausted, needing to cook dinner, my kids have activities and homework, I have to pay the bills, pick up the house, schedule appointments, and shop for groceries.”  Not to worry, because although you may work hard, you have a chef, a nanny, a personal assistant, a chauffeur, a manager, as well as someone who shops for you, pays the bills for you, cleans for you, picks up your messes, and yes, eVeN tHinKs fOr yoU.

Now before anyone gets upset thinking I’m blasting these women who live this life, understand that my criticism is targeted not at them or their lifestyle, but rather at the ImPosSibLe and uNreAlisTic sTanDaRd that is projected on women by society.  If you have acquired these kinds of resources, use them for God’s glory and thank God for them.

However, most women do not have the resources that these extremely affluent women have.  Instead, they dO tHe BeSt they can with what they have.  This is their reality.  They are married, single, divorced, widowed, with children, without children.  Women who cook, clean, pay the bills, deal with financial pressures, grocery shop, wipe snotty noses, cart kids around, make appointments, and manage all the other affairs of their household.  Its no wonder that they have little if any time to think about themselves.

This reminds me of the ProVerbs 31 Woman. If you get a chance today, I encourage you to take a few minutes to read it.  You may see yourself on these pages. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%2031&version=NIV

But notice how the standard is not perfection and outward beauty.  Verse 30 says it all:

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

What a breath of FrEsH AiR! Finally a standard that is actually possible to attain!!

~Robynn