Happy Monday!

Happy Monday :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was a little bit crazy....! Friday night I had car trouble. My freaking car battery decided to completely die, right after I got gas. So I'm at the gas station, after work, in the pouring rain, and had to figure out what to do. Thank God for roadside assistance! Ended up having to use them TWICE that night!! uggh!! Never helps that when you are stranded, that you of course have a million places to be! It all worked out though, and I suppose I'm just thankful to have a car. You seriously don't realize how much you rely on it - until it's out of commission! :) Sunday was a good day though. Taught preschool Sunday School in the AM, had a great brunch with friends, and then went to a fun super bowl party! The party was great, the friends were great, but the outcome - NOT great! I was totally rooting for my Colts :( :(. I'm happy though, for the Saints, since they had never won before. The highlight of my day was seeing a guy from my hometown (Ventura) in the game!! He is number 54 for the Colts - Freddy Kiahoe! Pretty exciting. So, even though they lost, at least they gave me a good first half! :) Theres always next year!

Other than that, nothing too eventful. I bought a crock pot, so that's pretty exciting. I can't wait to try it out! Thanks for the great recipes so far! If anyone has any more, feel free to send them my way :) Especially good vegetarian ones. Busy week ahead! Connect Group (small group) tonight, Board Meeting tomorrow night, dinner w/a friend on Thurs! Should be good.

Please continue to pray for my dear friend Jaime. The IVF did not work :( So, they are going to try that one more time.. I don't think I could pray any harder! They have been through SOOOO much! Seriously like 7 or 8 years of trying and dealing with all this fertility stuff. So much money & time invested into trying to have a baby :( Soo, I am hoping that this next attempt will bring much success! Maybe even twins! :) One of my other good friends gets to find out what kind of baby she is having this weekend - so that's really exciting! I only wish she lived closer. :)

The only other update for me, is that I may be moving!! To NYC! I have always absolutely loved the city, and for the past several years thought about what it would be like to live there.. In the past year, I have been actively researching places there & trying to see if it's something that could ever work... and in the past few weeks, I have found a great program that NYU offers. They offer a huge summer session, and open it up to anyone that wants to take classes there. It's awesome!! :) And they offer summer housing, to both students & non students alike. For students it's much cheaper, but it's great to know that you don't have to be a student to live there. It's just cool because housing is one of the hardest things to secure in NYC, and so to have it be guaranteed & set up, it's a huge relief. The campus is in Greenwich Village, so a great part of NYC! The tuition itself is pretty pricey, but if I took a 1-2 unit class it wouldn't be soo bad.

Soo, we shall see. Doing tons of research & looking into it. It would be a huge thing... Great, amazing, wonderful experience....but huge! I've never done anything like that before, so we'll see :)

I am also looking into Occupational Therapist programs. I have always wanted to go into teaching, and this is just a different form of that. It's working one on one or in small groups with children with special needs. I would love to work with younger children up to preschool age ideally! It seems like it would be an amazing alternative to teaching, especially since the teaching job market is pretty tough right now.

A lot to think about :) Please keep me in your prayers!

Hope things are great! I need to be a little better about updating this! And get into my projects of course! I still want to cook at least one new recipe a week, and hike at least once a month, and get my cupcake project started. So much to do, so little time :)

xoxo
Sara

New things I love!

Just a quick blog today, with a couple of new products that I love :)

1)Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Makeup! This stuff is great. It's the best foundation that I've used to date. It goes on as a powder, but covers like a liquid. It's super natural looking & easy to apply. I LOVE it! I highly recommend it. The starter kit is $60 in the store (Can be found at any Bare Escentuals store or Sephora) which includes two shades of foundation, a warmth/bronzer powder, a toner, and three brushes, oh and a mineral veil to go on top. It's a great value. BUT on their website, they have a great $30 TV offer that includes the foundation, bronzer, mineral veil, brushes, & some special items like mascara, etc. A much better value! I am going to order that - because that's how much they sell the foundation for alone. It's great. :) I'm the type of person that can't leave the house without foundation on - so this is my new favorite product! And the way that it looks, motivates me to add more makeup too - like eye shadow, and today even mascara! Normally I just wear foundation to work, but this has inspired me to take a little bit more time :)

http://bareescentuals.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-BareEscentuals-Site/default/Experience-Show?cgid=BM_GETSTARTED&brandId=BM

2) Chai Rooibos tea from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf! This is a limited edition product, about $8.50 for 20 tea bags. Pretty good value, and is delicious :) I got some today + had it with vanilla creamer & sugar. This morning at CB&TL they served it iced, with vanilla powder - and it was delish! I'm tempted to go back & get the vanilla powder. Delish! :)

Description: Sweetly spiced notes of cinnamon & cloves perfectly complemented by creamy rooibos for a naturally caffeine free infusion.

3) I got my hair done last night! Just a cut, but I'm really happy with it. It was quick & looks great. I have been getting a lot of complements. But then again, it always looks great right after they do it & get it all blow dried and cute. :) Either way, I'm super happy with it, and would definitely recommend the place. If you're in the LA area, here is a great stylist. His name is Greg, and works at Saints Studio -- Broadway & 2nd street (near the 3rd street promenade). Number = 310.587.2435! If you're in the Ventura area, I'd definitely recommend my old person too! She's great - but the drive is just too much, and it's too tough to squeeze her in when I'm in town. Her name is Jessica C & she works at the Michael Kelly Salon.

I'm only like 3 inches away from having my natural hair color back! I'm soo happy! I don't even remember how long it's taken me to grow it out, but it's almost here! Ahh! I know that of course once it's all back, that I will want to get highlights again... but I definitely want to wait a little while & wait till it's all health & natural again. Exciting.

I start my 2nd part time job tonight, doing childcare for my church - so I am looking forward to it. Only a couple hours - so it'll be the perfect amount of time. Season 5 of Weeds will be at home waiting for me, but I'll probably have to wait till the weekend to finish the season. I watched the first disc of the season earlier this week.. and wow - it is insane! Not sure if any of you follow that show, but it's intense! Whew!

Hope things are great with everyone & that you are all having a great week!
xoxo

oooooooh life!

Man, I feel like life has been so crazy! Nothing really super exciting going on, but haven't had much time to update! Can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I've updated.

First & foremost, please pray for one of my dearest friends & recovery from surgery. She gets the results next week + I am praying for amazing results! I will update more once the results are here, just so I don't jinx anything! So please keep her in your prayers & thoughts!

Today was a really great day! Two exciting things happened! One, I got a 2nd job! I have been wanting a second job to save extra money for a LONG time now, and haven't been really on top of it, and so finally something fell into my lap! I will actually be working for my church, Oasis, doing childcare for special events! It works out great, because a) it's not a huge time committment & b) it's just whenever I am free to help at the events. Love it! I'm so excited, and I'm actually starting tomorrow! :) In addition to that, my other 2nd little side job, of walking a neighbors dog twice a week, should be starting up again soon! So that should be good! Two little side jobs to save up some extra money! :)

My 2nd exciting thing that happened to me, is that I was asked to speak about Social Justice at a womens conference in April. I am so excited! As you all know, I am passionate about social justice + volunteering + attempting to change the world, all that I can ~ so I am really eager for the opportunity to talk about this! I cannot wait!! :)

In other news, I am just focused on getting organized, prioritizing/time management, & saving for my big move! I am planning to move in March or April, into a bigger place that allows dogs! I cannot wait to have a bigger place, so that I can have people over, entertain, have a dog, etc. I have been researching places for months, maybe even for a year now... so I could not be more excited! I will keep you updated once I find a place!

Aside from that, just been busy volunteering + spending time w/friends. I volunteered last weekend at our Saturday social justice event @ church -- which I haven't been to in a while, so that was really good to see everyone + serve in that way. We were assembling gift packages for Treasures (www.iamatreasure.org) - an amazing organization that our church partners with. I was responsible for writing out Valentine's Cards for the women so that was a lot of fun, considering my Hallmark addiction! Spent Sunday morning volunteering with my preschoolers, which is always fun. And then the afternoon at the beach doing laundry. I love that I get to do laundry at the beach house. I enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing + reading. Loved it. And wrapped up the weekend with movie night. Saw the Blind Side which is AMAZING! So inspiring. :) And in between got to hang out with friends, so it was a great one. The weekend before, I volunteered with Much Love Animal Rescue both days & had a blast with all our cute new doggies.

This has been a great week so far! Tonight I'm getting my hair cut, so that's exciting. Tomorrow is the first day doing childcare at Oasis. Friday I have dinner w/friends, Saturday I am volunteering with the Social Justice team at church, and then headed to Ventura to visit my friend that we are praying for above, and then dinner with another friend. Can't wait! It's been since before Christmas since I've been to Ventura. January has been a crazy busy month in LA so I haven't had much time to get back. And then Sunday I will be busy with the preschoolers & meetings at church. Should be a good one. Looking forward to an amazing week/weeekend.

I hope all is well with everyone! I still have a hike to post about, and am hoping to do another hike this Sunday - so hopefully next week I will post both. I am planning out my menu for the weekend/next week, so I am hoping to get organized & cook often! I need to be cooking at home at least 3 nights a week + so I need to plan everything out & get better about that! And..hopefully I will have some time Sunday to finally start my Cupcake Project. Will keep you all posted.

P.S ~ Still praying for Haiti too! Please keep them in your thoughts & prayers. I am really hoping that I will get to go there to visit and volunteer sometime this year. If not Haiti, then I have plans in store to do one of the following trips: India, Israel, or Guatemala. Trying to figure it all out + will post updates once plans are underway. Mexico trip is March 13th, so I am super excited about that!

Sending lots of love.
xoxo

Happy Thursday..

Happy Thursday! Wow, this week has flown by! Can't believe it's almost the weekend -- whew! A few things..

Went on a great hike last weekend, so I will post pictures/hike details on that as soon as I can!

New project: In addition to trying a new recipe each week (which I am a little behind on, but will be catching up on this weekend!) ~ I am taking on a new project.. Project Cupcake! I got a new book called: Hello, Cupcake. It is a great cupcake decorating guide that looks like a lot of fun! I will be slowly making my way through the book & trying out all the cute ideas. It should be a lot of fun, and I will definitely chronicle it on here. :)

Check out: www.muchlove.org, we got a ton of cute new doggies!! Love them :) I am so excited to volunteer this weekend & meet all of the new ones! :)

HAITI: Wow... It's hard to express the sadness that I feel for the people of Haiti and the tremendous disaster that they have experienced. I am praying like crazy, and hoping that the aid that is headed there will bring miracles to the people. I truly wish that I could fly there to help in anyway that I can. I always wanted to go to help after Hurricane Katrina.. So maybe I'll actually be able to go to Haiti. Who knows. So please join me in praying for the people of Haiti, and giving if you can! Every little bit helps!! You can text: 501501 the word Hele, to donate $5 to Wycleffs foundation that is helping with recovery efforts. You can also text to the Red Cross to donate 10$. There are SO many great organizations that you can donate too --so please google it & see what you can do to help.

Thankful ~~ Things like situations in Haiti and throughout the world, truly should make each and every one of us even MORE thankful for the many, many blessings we have. To have a warm home to go to every night, a reliable car to get me all over the city to various events, for food to nourish our bodies, air to breathe, and family & friends to support us through this crazy journey called LIFE -- I feel so beyond blessed.

Hope that you are having a great week..
Be blessed.
xoxo
sara

Prayer Request!

Please pray for my little niece, Alex (turning 10 next week), as her father died yesterday :(

It's so very sad, especially the circumstances surrounding his death.. :( But just so sad for her -- that's such a young age to lose someone in your immeadeate family.

I wish I lived closer to her (She lives in St Louis), so I could try to be there for her during this tough time... My mom sent flowers from us, but I know that there is more that can be done.. I'm just not sure what from a distance..

Hopefully I can plan a trip out there to see her soon!!

Thanks for the prayers..
xo

Random Thoughts ~ Top 10 of 2010

Hi Everyone!
Hope you are all having a great week :) Can't believe how quick it's flying by! Hopefully your first official week of 2010 is off to a bang!

I am really looking forward to this new year + all that it will bring. I am really trying to live in the moment and try new things and continually expand my hobbies, etc. Some of the areas that have and continue to be a focus are: learning to cook/trying new recipes & hiking more frequently. In addition, some new things I hope to try this year are: gardening, quilting, and writing more. I also hope to get back into scrapbooking and catch up on albums that are long past due!! I still need to do my Africa trips + Indonesia. I want to get better at taking pictures more often + also actually printing them + organizing them! This digital era is great - except for the fact that I almost never print the pictures I take! :) As always, I want to read more challenging books and continue learning. I am always thinking about going back to school, but haven't decided what exactly that I want to study.. And lastly, my passion to travel hasn't left. It's only a question of where and when... the planning and dreaming about destinations is ever present. This year, I am hoping to get to Israel to see my friend Rachel that is living there and teaching dance. In addition, I am hoping to either go to Italy or Costa Rica. My goal is to do two, one week trips vs. one two week trip. My list of places to visit is always growing, and it's so hard to only cross off one place each year! My dream would be to do much more traveling... just gotta figure out a job that will let me do that. :)

I love having goals, and I love that at the start of each new year we get to make new ones + focus on improving for the better. Forget resolutions, just focus on how you can live life to the absolute fullest + live out your dreams :)

I saw this on a few other blogs, a top 10 in 2010 list, of things that you wish to do in the year... Here are mine:

Top 10 Goals/Dreams for 2010:
1) Go on at least two big trips (two, one week trips) Israel, Costa Rica, and/or Italy.
2) Save money, budget.
3) Adopt a dog.
4) Write a book.
5) Cook a new recipe each week.
6) Go on at least one hike per month.
7) Take on one new hobby: quilting, gardening?
8) Go skydiving.
9) Go on at least 4 camping trips!
10) Complete scrapbooks -- Africa, Indonesia + trips that I take in 2010

Kind of a random list, but these are things I have been thinking about for a while, and what better time then now? I challenge you to make a list, and to accomplish all that you set out to do and dream about.

Live.Laugh.Love
xoxo

Recipe of the Week!

We'll, last week I didn't get around to making anything ~ so my goal is at least two new recipes this week!

Last night, I made some delicious Easy Cheesy Enchiladas! I have been wanting to make enchiladas for a long time now, so I am really excited that I finally made them. They turned out GREAT!! Even though it took FOREVER, I absolutely love cooking! It's so fun to see the end result. Although, I feel like cooking takes so darn long, that by the time you're done your not even hungry anymore! :) These are leftovers that I will definitely be eating!!

Some things I love about cooking: end product, sharing with others, trying new recipes, reading cookbooks, finding new recipes, grocery shopping for ingredients, having the kitchen smell delicious, etc. It's just fun + generally relaxing!

Some things I hate about cooking: opening cans and/or using a can opener, chopping things!!! especially onions! I am too impatient to cut things up into really small pieces... ugh!!, cleaning the dishes, having a ton of leftovers and/or wasting food.

The things I love definitely outweigh the bad...but I definitely need a miracle chopping machine + an electric can opener! :)

OK now here is the recipe info!~

I am going to copy & paste from Rachel Rays site where I got the recipe. It's a great recipe.

My Notes:

--I did not use the scallions.... To be honest I wasn't even sure what a scallion was - so I just omitted that ingredient.

--The recipe asks for a medium size onion -- I got one from the store that seemed big. I only used like 1/2 to 3/4 of it...and even that probably could have been minimized. I personally don't love onions and/or chopping them - so I might even leave them out altogether next time.

--I didn't have two skillets to do her trick of heating them just right...so I just would heat one and then wrap it, then heat the next, etc. To avoid the oil getting too hot, I would take the skillet off the flame and turn the heat off until I was ready to heat another.

--I ended up making 9 enchiladas, not 12. The pan I used to bake them in didn't hold 12, so I did two batches -- and the corn tortillas that I bought only came with 10. 1 broke during the rolling process, so it came out with 9. :) I used a pie pan...pretty funny, but it actually worked out well.

I think everything else was great + pretty self explanitory. They turned out great and I really enjoyed them. I did pick aside the onions and some of the chunks of tomatoes - but that's just me. I'm sure if they weren't there the flavor wouldn't be as good. I have attached some pictures from my cooking experience.

Happy Cooking & Eating! :) xoxoxo

Easy Cheesy Enchiladas
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons (2/3 palmful) chili powder
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) cumin
1 14-ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken or beef stock (use vegetable to make this vegetarian)
3 tablespoons canola oil
12 corn tortillas
4 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons (a handful) cilantro leaves, finely chopped
4 cups shredded Monterey Jack, Longhorn or mild cheddar cheese, divided
Yields: 4 servings of 3 enchiladas per person
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Heat EVOO in small saucepot over medium heat and sauté the onions and garlic until tender, about 7-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, chili powder and cumin. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes and stock, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.

While the enchilada sauce is simmering, soften the tortillas: Set up two skillets next to each other on the stovetop. Place one over medium heat with the canola oil and heat the other empty skillet over low. Using tongs, soften each tortilla 15 seconds on each side in the oil, shake off any excess then transfer to the dry skillet to keep the tortilla warm. Repeat this process with the rest of the tortillas. As you soften each one, place it underneath the last tortilla you browned. Eventually, you will end up with a stack of 12 softened tortillas in the same skillet.

In a bowl, combine the scallions and cilantro with 3 cups of cheese. Fill each softened tortilla with about 1/4 cup cheese and roll it up. Set the rolled tortillas in a row in a baking dish. When all the tortillas have been rolled, ladle the sauce evenly over the dish and top with the remaining cup of cheese. Bake until bubbly and brown on top, about 15 minutes. Serve with salad and spicy refried beans alongside.

If you click the link to the website, it's cool because it includes a little video of her making it from the show! :)

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/easy-cheesy-enchiladas/