An Apple a Day Keeps the Jealousy Away!

Hello pretty ladies! I am inspired to dive in deep today because of what I just read on my friend Nicole's blog. So buckle up and hold on tight!

I think she hits the subject of jealousy HARD on its head! Jealousy... everyone is guilty of it in one way or another. Whether we want the life someone else has or just one part of it, just a moment even. We are ALL guilty! I am going through a really challenging experience right now where jealousy and discontentment are trying to take me over!

Both of my sister-in-laws are pregnant (one of which has been trying for some time now). I think that it is GREAT that our God has given them this blessing, please do not get me wrong. I JUST WANT TO BE PREGNANT TOO!!!!! Yeah, I said it. There is nothing more extraordinary than going through a pregnacy (minus the sickness, uncomfortable sleeping anything, and body changes). When the day finally comes to have your little dumpling, the adrenaline and nerves are pumping inside of you as hard as fists pump on the Jersey Shore. Then, the moment comes when you are face to face with the one you love right beside you as it is time to welcome the blessing into your world. It is MAGICAL! Tears, trembling, sobbing, smiling... THE MOMENT YOU HAVE WAITED 40 WEEKS FOR HAS COME! She is HERE! It brings tears to my eyes just typing about it.

That is my baby!!! (Well, WAS my baby. She is definitely a BIG GIRL NOW!!!!!

What do I have to be jealous about, really? God blesses me EVERY SINGLE day with the moments I am given with my WONDERFUL family!

I have been fighting like the dickens to keep jealousy out of my life. Brandon is (actually) being the smart one when planning our family. He wants to make sure that we are stable financially AND spiritually. I understand his argument, I DO... I just have our life planned out somewhere along the lines of:

1) Get married. CHECK!

2) Have a baby. CHECK!

3) Have the next baby when the first baby is NO OLDER THAN THREE. NO CHECK!!!!

4) Have the last baby when the first baby is NO OLDER THAN SIX and the second baby is NO OLDER THAN THREE. DEFINTELY NO CHECK!!!!

I have this wild idea that my children should not be any more than 3 years apart mainly due to the fact that I wished everyday growing up that my sister and I were closer. She is 6 1/2 years older than I am! I was either her baby doll to dress up and drag around (literally) or her worst nightmare once I turned 3. She had REAL friends to play with then, and I just wasn't as fun when I could talk (tattle)! THE POINT IS that I do not want McKinlee to be too old before she has a younger sibling.

THE REAL POINT IS....

I AM NOT IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE! NEITHER IS BRANDON..OR McKINLEE for that matter!

GOD IS IN CONTROL! I have to step back and let Him hold the reins to my life. He is the glory. He is the truth! I also have to turn my cheek to the GREEN EYE OF JEALOUSY! God will provide for me. God will give me what He has designed for me. I have to TRUST IN THE LORD! I lay it all out at His feet. He is the ultimate provider! He is the answer!

I stole this verse from a blog that Nicole is also a part of with three other young women called Fearless. This blog is one of the best parts of my day! I love reading what these four women share through our Lord. He has given all four of them such a beautiful way of communicating His love. Everyone should definitely CHECK THEM OUT! 

"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that... Don't compare yourself with others." Galations 6:4

I hope that everyone has a WONDERFUL rest of their day! Love you, girlies!

Oh, and the recipe for the day is:

Apple-Cinnamon Cake

Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 large baking apples, peeled and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat 1 1/2 cup of sugar with the butter, vanilla extract, and cream cheese in a bowl until soft and creamy; beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, stir together the cinnamon with 1/4 cup of sugar. Stir 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar mixture into the flour mixture; reserve the rest of the cinnamon sugar. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture to make a smooth batter, and mix in the apples. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with the reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the cake pulls away slightly from the edges of the pan, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool cake completely on a wire rack before removing the pan and slicing the cake.

A not so SMOOTH(ie) transition for Mommy!!!

I feel like a complete goob for not posting in five days, but in my own defense I have had a pretty hectic (yet exciting) past five days. I am THRILLED  to announce that we have finally enrolled McKinlee into "Big Girl School" (as we like to call it instead of "daycare"). I dropped her off for her first day this morning before heading into work. She is in no way a fan of mornings, so I was not surprised at all when she refused to wake up at 7:00 this morning. I tried tickling, kissing, STANDING HER UP ON THE FLOOR (which resulted in her SCREAMING and CRYING lying with half of her body on the bed and the other half dangling on the floor). She refused to take her medicine, cried the entire way there, and wanted me to carry her in the door to the school (which is very UNLIKE her to want to hug/hold me...she is not a very affectionate child). I thought for sure she would not want me to leave her there! So I put her things in her cubby with her right by my side, spoke with her teacher for a few minutes, and then walked down the hall to the room where all of the children who had been dropped off so far were playing. Before opening the door, I turned to McKinlee and said, "This is it big girl! Time for your first day at Big Girl School!" She buried her head in my shoulder and whined. I put her down on the floor and started to open the door to the room and before I could get the door open enough to where she could fit through, she squeezed through it and ran in and immediately starting playing with the others like I had just disappeared! I was amazed! I knew that she would not have a HARD time (like some kids who scream, "NNNNNNNOOOOOOOO, Mommy...don't leave me here!!!!!"), but I never imagined she would have an EASY time with it all. I was thinking somewhere in between---silly me, huh?

Well, I got out to the car and realized that I forgot to take a picture of her playing at school on her first day, so I hurried back in. When I opened the door to the classroom, I saw her crying her eyes out. I asked the teacher if she was upset because I left (now, in the back of my mind I am wanting the teacher to say, "Yes. She ran to the door and did not want you to leave"), but instead she replied, "No, she just got hit by another child because she took his toy." WHHHHHHAAATTTT???????!!!!!!!! That killed my heart. It's kind of reverse from the way you would think I would feel. I should be excited and proud that my little girl adjusts so well to school and doesn't cling to me like annoying plastic wrap, but I am completely devastated that she didn't care at all! Needless to say, my 30-minute ride to work was occupied by tears and phone calls to my husband and momma.

This is one of the emotionally hardest things I have had to go through with McKinlee thus far. Letting go of my baby and allowing her to grow up and learn new things from someone other than myself or her family is VERY HARD! I know that it is a great move for her to be a part of a social environment, so I am content with our decision to enroll her now. The best part about the "BGS" is that it is a CHRISTIAN-BASED facility. They have bible studies every day, and everything they teach has a splash of our Lord with it. Take for example, they have a new letter every week. They print out the letter, have the kids color it however they want to, and then they go over words that start with this letter. If the letter is "A", they relate it to Noah's Ark because ark begins with an "A". They tell the story of Noah leading the animals to the ark two by two, and they sing songs about it too. It is a GREAT facility, so I could not be any more pleased with our decision!!

In the spirit of children, I'll post a FUN and HEALTHY recipe for kids (adults too!!):

Yogurt Smoothies

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 2 8oz. containers of yogurt (any flavor, really)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 pint strawberries or blueberries or peaches...YOU PICK! I would definitely make sure to use the same flavor of yogurt, of course. But add the banana in any flavor! IT IS GREAT!

1. Clean and wash the strawberries and make sure they are dry. Peel the banana and slice it into smaller pieces.
2. Place the fruit into a blender.
3. Add yogurt into the blender with the fruit. Pour in the milk.
4. Blend it on the puree level for approximately 2 minutes or until smooth. Makes roughly 32 ounces

FROZEN:

1. To make this into a frozen snack, pour the mixture into a mold or cups and insert a popsicle stick.
2. Freeze for 4-6 hours, run container under warm water and serve.
                                                      Makes 6 to 8 popsicles

Hope everyone has a GREAT

The Sweet Sound of Music

Hello out there! I hope everyone is doing well. I can't wait to get started exploring the creativity of cooking throughout this blog. I hope that you will bear with me, as I am very new at this. I couldn't think of any other way to kick this off  than sharing a WONDERFUL recipe! I will be making these this evening for my family and friends.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes (makes 24 cupcakes)
Ingredients:
for the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 muffins pans with cupcake papers and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add in eggs, milk, oil and extracts. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour in boiling water and whisk to combine. Batter will be thin.
Fill each cupcake paper 2/3 of the way full with batter and bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
for the frosting:
6 egg whites, room temperature
1 3/4 cups plus 2 Tbs of sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) of butter, room temperature
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 tsp peppermint extract
green food coloring, as desired
Whisk together egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set bowl over a small pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves. You know it’s ready with the you cannot feel the sugar when you rub a small amount of mixture between your fingers.
Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to beat the egg whites into stiff peaks, about 10 minutes. The bowl should be cool to the touch before you move on.
Switch over to the paddle attachment and set the mixer to medium speed. Add the butter 2 Tbs at a time, letting it incorporate before adding another piece. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the frosting comes together. This will take a while, so don’t worry if it looks soupy or curdled at any point. I find that it helps (if it’s not cooperating) to briefly chill in the fridge for a few minutes and then remixing.
Place half of the butter cream into a small bowl and whisk in vanilla extract. Set aside. Using the remaining half of frosting in the stand mixer bowl, mix in peppermint extract and green food coloring. Alternately, you can mix 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of peppermint into each bowl if you want the peppermint flavor to be consistent through both colors. I’ve done it both ways and don’t have a particular preference. Place frosting in piping bag as detailed above and pipe as desired. Sprinkle cupcakes with chopped Andes or other chocolate mint candies.

To get the green and white swirl effect, I placed my prepared piping bag in a skinny tea/kool-aid pitcher and cut a piece of poster board to fit right down the middle of the bag, vertically. Then I filled one side with green frosting and one side with white frosting and carefully pulled the poster board out. I would suggest doing a practice cupcake first (I always pick the ugly duckling of the bunch) so the white and green is coming out evenly.

We will be having baked cabbage, corn, twice-baked potatoes, and pan-fried herbed pork chops for our entree before eating devouring these YUMMY treats!

Afterwards, it is off to the...

to see...

with special guest...

I heard one of Brantley Gilbert's new songs on my way to work this morning... take a listen...

Beautiful lyrics. I am not even going through a break-up, but this song brought tears to my eyes. I am THRILLED about tonight, and I hope to see some new reader-friends soon. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you have a GREAT day!