Showing posts with label Featured Friend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Featured Friend. Show all posts

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Meet My Mama Bird

I have someone I want you to meet. She's so special to my little heart, so near and dear to every day in my life, so sweet, kind, and graceful, but strong with the heart of a lion. Who could be this phenomenal?

My dear Mama Bird. 

Over the last two and a half years my Mama Bird has fought, not only for herself, but for the love of her life, my Popsicle, and for the family that they have so perfectly created. She has fought against the indifference of a dozen doctors, the mystery diagnosis that seemed as though it would never come, and doubters who were sure her intuition was wrong.
Mama Bird isn't just an amazing woman of God with the grace of an angel but she also trumps the strength of a 20-foot bear. She doesn't just make wondrous dinner for all when the house is flooded with guests, but she also manages to teach us kids how to love being in the kitchen just like she does. Most Stay at Home Moms put up their list of "occupations" talking about being a teacher, a nurse, a mediator, an advocate, a financial analyst, an advisor, and the list goes on... Well right now, my mom is literally doing it all.
She is nursing my father back to health in a brutal fight against Lyme's Disease through daily infusions and constant maintenance of his PICC line. She is battling health insurance after their denial of my father's illness. She is advising me on my journey to become a wife. She mediates between a rambunctious, although adorable, eight year old and a slowly healing husband. She is managing the businesses her once thriving entrepreneurial husband started and ran. She is teaching us kids to grow, not only in our maturity, but in our faith in a great and always strong God. 
Mama Bird isn't just taking care of the logistics at home, but she tops it all off being more fun than any other mom could be, especially in the two-year long pickle we are currently experiencing. She not only keeps old traditions alive, but manages to make new ones on a regular basis. Her joy is contagious. I can't count the number of times people have said they don't know how she does it. She does it because God has blessed her with immense strength and power, despite her small frame. 

You can see the amazing words, recipes, and adventures of my Mama Bird just like you see mine by checking her out here. I promise you will be blessed... Probably much more than you will reading through my posts. 

Who blesses you, inspires you, amazes you?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Fan Favorite

So with college graduation taken care of and my walk down the aisle impending I have really come to appreciate my number one fan in life, Mama Bird. She is just a sweet, amazing woman... And guess what? I'm her fan favorite!


It's hard to find someone more supportive, more fun, more silly, more helpful, more encouraging, more honest, and more joyful than my dear Mama Bird. She has been my biggest fan from the moment we met (almost 22 whole years ago!) and still continues to be the first person to cheer me on... even when I'm ready to give up!

I know she's not in this picture... But guess who took it?
And who sat there the whole time I was in my two and a half hour surgery...
And who took care of me for the world's LONGEST week that followed!
I'm sure it hasn't always been easy to be my mom or fun to deal with the hormones, broken bones, and hard to handle behavior... But she manages to keep a smile on her and push me to grow! 


Not only do we do everything together... But we also love to dress the same (just for holiday spiritedness like Fourth of July!) and we have a ton of clothes that are the exact same... Though we try to wear them at different times. :) 


My love for cooking comes from her and the countless meals she made in her beautiful kitchen as I was growing up. Now we have the joy of cooking the same meals one night a week and comparing as well as sharing what's a hit with our boys... or what's not! 


And... finally, much to her delight, I am a girly girl. Being a major tomboy growing up was something I truly loved and enjoyed, but now that I'm all about pink, flowers, and ruffles she just can't contain her excitement (and it turns out neither can I!). 

What a lucky gal I am! I can't wait for her and Popsicle to walk me down the aisle... And to be neighbors for life! Thanks Mama Bird... and I love you. 

Who's your biggest fan? And who is your fan favorite? 
Share, not only with me this week, but with them too! 

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Ooey Gooey White Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies have always been something I have loved. But I hate when/if they are not soft, gooey, and absolutely delicious! Lauren, a mom of two and the writer of one of my favorite blogs, posted these yummy sweet treats and they quickly became one of my favorite things to bake!


I made mine a little bit different than hers (being the fan of white chocolate I am!). Check her original recipe out here.

Ingredients: 

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 package instant vanilla pudding 
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla 
  • 1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt 
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips 
Directions:

  1. Beat butter and sugars together in a standing mixer until fluffy. 
  2. Add pudding, egg, and vanilla. 
  3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. 
  4. Stir in white chocolate chips (I have also added cranberries to add a fruity little twist!). 
  5. Spoon onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. 
  6. Bake at 375 f for 7-10 minutes. 
  7. Let cool as long as you can resist on a wire baking rack. 
  8. Enjoy! 
Don't forget your tall glass of milk on the side! (Or soy milk if you have allergies like mine!)

From a New Friend: Project Do Me

In all of the blogging that I have been doing lately I have found plenty of time to troll through many blogs and check out what other amazing writers are doing. This morning I found Ky after she commented on one of my posts (so that means she actually found me!). Her blog is absolutely adorable... Her life as a traveling fan of her hockey hunk fiance. As she travels the world being his number one fan, she writes so honestly about her adventures, her homesickness, and her love for the man she is going to marry! 






Ky posted about her Project Do Me and I was immediately intrigued. She then closes the post challenging readers to take part in the Project... So, here I am to give it a good girl scout try! 

Daily: 
1. Read myself to sleep, instead of watching TV. 
2. Comment on several blogs a day to increase my online presence. 
3. Read my bible and do a bible study with J. 

This Week: 
1. Do a Mama Bird Feature on my blog. 
2. Move some of the millions of photos from my computer to my external hard drive. 
3. Follow up a run with abs and arms (despite how much I truly hate them!). 

This Month: 
1. Share my blog link with ten friends that I want to know about it, but am too shy to actually share. 
2. Graduate from college with Straight A's for the best grades in my college career. 

This Year: 
1. Start a Bi-Weekly feature of different bloggers that I truly love! 
2. Get toned on my own without a trainer. (I know I can do it, I just have to start)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

First Feature... EVER!

So I have the pleasure of sharing a new foodie friend of mine who I talked about in my last Eggs in Purgatory post! She invented the Summer in the Kitchen Blog Party... where you can escape the coldness of winter (unless you live in San Diego like me! and are more concerned with escaping the heat!) by creating a sweet little summber vibe in your kitchen!

I made dinner for J and wanted to make it a little bit fun and romantic by plopping ourselves on a picnic blanket on the floor! He thought I was silly, but was such a sport... and BOOM! Lovely little picnic with lots of laughing at me spilling my Eggs in Purgatory all over myself... Not so practiced in eating without a plate or table. But sweetly fun nonetheless!

Please check out my new friend, Laurie, on her blog and enjoy the other ways foodies brought summer into their kitchens!