reminder of the day....

miracles do happen.

for. real.

don't EVER forget it.

--------------------------------

"there are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; or you can live as if EVERYTHING is a miracle"

-Albert Einstein

Albert, I will take option TWO. 

:)

Hooray for Miracles!

tell me about yours.

i love to be inspired.

mis-matched.

....this was me - all day Sunday.

yep, i baked bread, made muffins, did laundry, cleaned and tromped around outside in this get up.

white sweats with a strawberry print that stop at mid-calve, black polka dot socks pulled up to my knees and a mismatched sweatshirt.

not caring, really.

NO ambition to "get pretty".

my outside outfit was matching the feelings inside with precision. 

mis-matched

these days

inside

i feel a bit mis-matched.

feeling a million emotions.

{i am sure looking at all my old scrapbooks aided this a little...HA!}

led in several different possible directions.

WHICH path do i choose?

WOWSA - did we really sign up for all of this, girls?

SOMETIMES

life gets confusing.

out of sync

causing a girl to re-think the very ideas that glue her soul together.

 growing.

BIG TIME.

and

hanging in there.

Do ya have those moments?

please tell me you do - assure me i am not alone.

REALLY...

 i don't even need to ask, do i?

 - because this is life

EVERYONE

EXPERIENCES 

HARDSHIPS - OTHERWISE KNOWN AS - GROWTH

So what do we do about it?

i don't know about you, but i cry. a lot.

then i get brave.

i hear whispers, 

{i swear i do. - but shhhh, don't tell anyone - they might think i am LOSING IT! :)}

telling me

leading me

in directions i never thought possible.

i start to see the light

little by little

i open my eyes to new possibilities

and i call on my faith.

to move me forward.

because this i know for sure.

there is no benefit in quitting.

no benefit in staying weak

no benefit in shutting out the world.

the pain you endure eventually becomes your strength

embrace it

knowing 

it is a gift

to get you to where your going.

....it  is a BEAUTIFUL adventure

so dry your tears and enjoy.

LOVE AND HUGS!

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”

Og Mandino quotes

----------------------------------------------

Here is the WINNER - I am sending you a BOOK! :)

-----------------------------

 Emily said...

Hi Angela

I love reading and think I could do with some motivation at the moment - the possitive energy is a bit low.

My fave books are any that make it hard to put them down, big fan of J D Robb (a bit cheesy but a great read)

Email me at: angela@unitystampco.com

...motivation monday

{i love all of these}

if you are open minded

you should read these.

new ideas.

new thoughts.

perspectives.

if you agree with the authors - or disagree there is growth in all of it.

OPEN YOUR MIND to grand possibilities.

These are:

motivational

loving

and 

inspirational reads.

One of my BEST FRIENDS gave me

  IF LIFE IS A GAME, THESE ARE THE RULES.

It helped me SO VERY MUCH as I was in my late 20's early 30's.

Priceless Information and WISDOM.

I have been referencing THE POWER OF POSITIVE thinking since I was 21.

My mother in law gave it to me RIGHT AFTER I got married.

Do you think that was a hint?

lol.

At any rate it is an OLD PUBLICATION with timeless wisdom, advice and encouragement.

I LOVE IT.

I want one of you to HAVE IT!

INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

ENERGY BUS

love em'

THE SECRET

Oprah found this and told me about it.

I love it.

All about the LAW OF ATTRACTION.

If you are open to new ideas - YOU WILL LOVE IT!

The last book...

JACK CANFIELD'S LAW OF ATTRACTION

MORE good stuff - you will recognize JACK'S name from all the:

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP FOR THE SOUL books.

So these are just a few of my favorites.

wanted to share with you.

OH!

...and I DO LOVE NOVELS.

THIS ONE - 

I 

have 

read

12 times since i was 19.

:)

I want to motivate you!

a GIFT.

I will send one lucky gal -  
"If Life is a Game, These are the Rules"

HERE IS WHAT YOU DO!

Follow the "Create this Moment" blog - Subscribe.

Then leave a little comment sharing your novel reading adventures or favorite type of books/favorite book.

I will pick ONE LUCKY WINNER! 

I will personally send you this wonderful book! :)

tell. your. friends.

---------------------

OH! 

by the way!

ONE LUCKY FOLLOWER WON

Kitchen Logics.

random.org 

chose 

TRINI

Please email brooke@unitystampco.com with your mailing address!

Thanks so much! 

----------------------

Scrappin' it OLD SKOOL. :)

...these are not well taken photos

:)

i took them quickly 

so i could share them with you.

i dug WAY back into my close and found the treasured OLD SKOOL Scrapbooks.

my friend susan and i used to get together ALL THE TIME.

paper

stickers

markers

tri-dots

circle cutter

scissors

glue

this was all that was required 

and

we thought we were VERY EXCELLENT at our craft...didn't we Susan?! :)

i look at my pages now and chuckle

i couldn't STAND open space. 

sticker here.

tri-dot there.

busy

busy

busy.

however - the beautiful thing is this

the memories are recorded.

and i love that.

as i went through my scrapbooks

one

by

one

my heart fluttered.

a bit of happiness and sadness mixed up - is there a word for that?

melancholy?

perplexed?

confused?

i don't know - all i do know is i felt BOTH emotions 

strong.

These are TEN years ago....

TEN?????

TEN!!!!!!!

am i even that old?

think about it.

10 years.

wow.....the changes.

i am now surrounded by 6 ft children

1. anticipation of the first graduation

2. second drivers license

3. third child becoming a teenager

4.  ONE 7 year old that is pretty TICKED he is not in ANY of the old scrapbooks I pulled out.

SUCH IS LIFE.

Chris and I - FIVE YEAR anniversary - babies.  we were babies.  i was 26 he was 27.

I pulled this page cause it STILL remains to be one of the BEST DAYS of my life.

Spent it with JUST my brother and my husband in a boat on a near by lake by a hole of sunfish.

It was 70 and sunny, and FOREVER I will cherish this memory.

James was pretty excited we brought home SO MANY FISH.

Chris was stylin with those overalls - don't you think?

Nic and Luke

Now a SENIOR and a FRESHMAN.

wow.

James 1 - Nic 7 - Luke 5

The Magnuson Kitchen Island.

this exists in right as you walk into our home

the kitchen and the island are RIGHT THERE.

 it holds precious memories.

one after the other.

Check out the scrapbooking technique.

See the gingham corner and the flower sticker!

HA! 

Corner of one of the scrapbook pages - CHECK OUT THAT sticker.

Hee, Hee.

Chris and I at Cross Lake.

Lovely times with Friends.

I knew he was cute - I just didn't remember him THIS CUTE!

Look at that bent over ear and GREEN EYES!

.....hanging out waiting for his toaster strudel

This was one of my FAVORITE scrapbooking layouts in the late 90's

Suzy Zoo Stickers - didn't get ANY cuter back then!

Nic's first day of 1st Grade.

again.......wow.......

In the boat early June with my boys.

Mrs. Grossman's Stickers (see that in the corner)

Another OLD SKOOL layout - 

....seriously funny.

what can I say?

I was scrapbooking by candle light I have been doing it so long! 

....was i ever this young?

...another fishing layout. 

these were always the greatest memories.

however - i think this was an illegal pull from Green Lake....

Not positive.

shhhhh.

So there it is!

A BLAST from the past, both creatively and personally.

Not the most STELLAR WORK - but priceless just the same!

I treasure the journaling so much - there are memories there that could not have possibly been remembered had I not done these!

NOW i need to create some NEW STUFF to share!

How long have you been crafting?

DO YOU FIND that your past creations bring you some comic relief?

Share if you have a moment!

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. 

 ~From the television show The Wonder Years

Some SATURDAY Home Cooking at the Magnusons

Earlier this week in the Unity Forum at Splitcoast  Stampers -  I asked for some simple inexpensive recipes to feed my family with.

Morissa Sweeny directed me to her BLOG.

...and YUMMO she had a recipe on there that LOOKED Amazing.

A MUST TRY

So here it is Saturday - and I am ready to dig into some cooking.

Following Morissa's Recipe and adding a few steps/ingredients of my own.

WARNING: THIS RECIPE IS FAR FROM FAT FREE.

Please DO NOT email me with any complaints about the amount of butter OR garlic that I use. 

Cook at your own risk.

{k?}

....because pretty much THOSE TWO ingredients are my secret to YUMMINESS.

Here we go KEEPING IT SIMPLE.

Ingredients.

chicken

butter

parsley

garlic

chicken stock

white wine

bow tie pasta

flour

mushrooms

olive oil

Not Shown: Salt & Pepper

Optional Ingredients

Parmesan Cheese

Onion

Step 1: Cut up Chicken {bite size pieces}

Step 2: add garlic and butter to fry pan

Step 3: Cut up onions

 Step 4: Add Chicken and Onions Salt & Pepper  to Fry Pan

Step 5: Invite your really smart husband to help.

Step 6: In small another  fry pan heat up butter, garlic and mushrooms

Step 7: Be VERY careful NOT to step on your German Shep's NOSE.

WHY does he ALWAYS have to lay there while I am cooking?

Don't mind me, Jakob.....GEEZ!

Step 8: Boil water and add Bow Tie Pasta Cook till soft.

Step 9: Combine chicken and Mushrooms in ONE PAN.

Step 10: Take Pasta and Chicken/Mushroom pan and MIX together in one large bowl.

YUMMO.

Step 11: Time to make the sauce.

Chicken Stock made from Chicken Bullion cubes

Step 12: Combine all sauce ingredients {measurements listed below}

Step 13: Add in Chicken Stock

Step 14: Whisk till Thick

Step 15:  Add Sauce to chicke/mushroom/pasta mixture

Step 16:Mix &  Feed a family

Finished Dish with Parmesan Cheese and Pepper.

Chris gives it 5 stars - and thinks I am pretty dang good at making a Saturday Pasta Dish.

HOORAY! 

{i will add- CHRIS helped, cause he is SUCH a good cook}

THANKS SO VERY MUCH, Morissa! 

The Magnusons are eating well tonight thanks to your recipe!

Hope you don't mind I changed up a few things.

Creamless Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Pasta and Mushrooms

8 oz. Farfalle Pasta (Bowtie - Barilla Pasta Plus is my recommended.)

1 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms (Baby Portabellas would be yummy. I had plain old mushrooms.)

1 T. olive oil

2 T. butter

4 chicken breasts

onion {optional}

1 T. Garlic

1/2 c. white wine

salt

pepper

Cut up chicken into bite size pieces - {optional - cut up onion into small pieces}-  In pan add butter, garlic, chicken, onion, salt, pepper.  Saute till cooked through.  As the chicken comes to a full cook add wine to deglaze your pan  - scrape bottom to add flavor into your chicken, simmer till cooked thoroughly.  

In another small pan add butter, mushrooms, wine, salt and pepper.  Saute' mushrooms for flavor.

Mix mushrooms together with chicken mixture, set aside.

In a stock pot add water, salt and olive oil to boil for the pasta. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain.

Combine pasta and chicken/ mushroom mixture in one large pan/bowl.

Proceed to sauce.

Sauce

1 c. chicken stock (or vegetable...We have a couple vegetarians in the family, so I try to accommodate.)

1 c. white wine (gulp down the rest WITH dinner!)

3 T. flour

2 T. butter

1/2 c. parsley

3 T. minced garlic (I used the type pre-minced in olive oil.)

salt and pepper to taste

Add butter to a large skillet and bring to a SLOW simmer. Add flour little by little and whisk in quickly. (Do NOT have the pan too hot or it will burn the flour!) When all the flour is in SLOWLY add in the white wine and stock, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk after all liquid is added and bring to a slow simmer. Add in remaining sauce ingredients. Continue to whisk until the sauce has thickened. Add pasta and mushrooms to the skillet and mix throughly. Serve topped fresh, shredded Parmesan cheese. Don't forget to enjoy it will your leftover white wine. :)

PLEASE NOTE: Pictures above show all ingredients DOUBLED due to the magnitude of the boys in my household.

What is your favorite Saturday night FEAST?! 

FOLLOW my "Create this Moment" blog for your chance to win THIS.

i will announce the winner on MONDAY, picked from the FOLLOWERS of this blog!

Look for MORE recipes SOON!

This is what the Our Little Kitchen tab will consist of in the future!

CHRIS cooks some UNBELIEVABLE dishes so he will share as well! 

Taking a MOMENT to notice....

....we have all been there.

walking around in a fog...

 going through the motions.

...just getting through the day, the week, the month, even THE YEAR for some.

numb. un-motivated - not really taking notice of anything.

....it's so typical of people at certain times in life.

actually

said it before - will say it again....

my opinion is 

you shut down to grow

babies grow when they sleep

our souls grow when we go numb for a bit.

we heal.

THAT is a beautiful thing. 

because

when we wake up again.

we TAKE notice.

...and everything seems a little bit more joyful, a little more interesting and just plain funny in some cases.

when you consciously take a moment to notice

perhaps you will find it as entertaining as I did today.

walking around unity i made the decision to notice what i had not noticed...fun stuff.

I walk by this EVERY DAY - not noticing.

This NEST has been in the bush right by the Unity door all winter....NOPE, did NOT NOTICE

Brooke has these adorable magnets on the side of her desk - a gift from her kiddos - NOTICED THEM TODAY!

Michelle was given a GLOAT BUTTON as a SECRET SANTA GIFT for Christmas? 

DID NOT NOTICE it TILL TODAY - ...and it will NOW be put to USE!

I open this fridge every day and grab MY FRENCH VANILLA CREAMER - DID NOT notice everyone else's

 {unless, of course, mine is GONE - HA!} 

Tommy T's Motorcycle?!  

Where did that come from?

I DID notice I was missing a WINE GLASS from my home -

 however....

DID NOT notice till today it was on the shipping desk at Unity with a CANDLE IN IT!  

HOW in the world did that happen? 

These two adorable little pals have been sitting in Chris's office for MONTHS did NOT NOTICE the button....I will leave it at that.

Thanks Lindsay Spencer {Unity Artist} for this guys little girlfriend!

 THESE GUYS wish I HAD NOT noticed these pink pigtails we brought home from CHA last year, BUT I DID 

.....and they were sports enough to put them on for me today!

....and the BROOM DUSTPAN words are HUGE - HOW in the WORLD did I not notice THAT?

The bathroom is RIGHT NEXT to this, NOPE walked by it EVERY SINGLE DAY.

....not to mention Mr. "I AM DUSTPAN"

____________________________________________

“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.”

Paulo Coelho quotes ________________________________________