{ a fun little “about me” }

A blog I followed posted this on Facebook today and I thought it would be a great place to start my blog back up again.

1. Favourite color?
Pink!
2. Favourite place you’ve ever been to?
Munich
3. Favourite pizza topping?
tomatoes
4. Favourite word?
Fabulous
5. Favourite vegetable?
okra
6. Last book you read?
Deep Fried and Pickled
7. Favourite sport?
Football
8. Last album you bought?
She & Him – Volume 2 or Elton John’s Number One hits
9. Coke or Pepsi?
(DIET) Coke
10. Biggest pet peeve?
Not introducing onesself on the phone.
11. Puppies or kittens?
Puppies
12. Bacon or Nutella?
Nutella
13. Favourite TV show
Castle
14. Pick an Olsen twin.
Mary-Kate
15. Favourite season?
Summer
16. Favourite date of the year?
July 4, the best grilling/pool holiday
17. Current guilty pleasure?
Free cheesy mysteries on my kindle.
18. Favourite Disney princess?
Ariel
19. Favourite alcoholic beverage?
Margaritas!
20. Choose your entrance theme song?
Fat bottomed Girls – Queen

What are your answers?

{Cake Cookies}

These are the easiest cookies you will ever make. So easy, I almost hate to share my secret.

I got this recipe from a friend at work. She made Strawberry Cake Cookies with white chocolate chips. My husband loves the Devils Food Cake with chocolate chips and m&ms. I’ve heard that Red Velvet is good with white chocolate chips too. I tried Lemon with Vanilla Candy drizzle a few nights ago, wanna see? They were fabulous!
The possibilities are endless. Let me know if you try them and what flavor you tried!

Cake Cookies

1 box of duncan Hines Cake Mix
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 egg
1/3 cup of water
1/2 stick of butter
whatever add-ins you want
1/2 cup of sugar

Oven at 350°
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Mix everything but sugar.
Roll cookies into 1in balls and roll in sugar.
Place about 2in apart on lined cookie sheet.
Bake about 13 minutes.
Let cool.
Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

{Cancer}

It is my zodiac sign but that isn’t what I want to talk about today.

We all know someone that had or has cancer. My Meme has been diagnosed with cancer more than once. I have in the past few years lost a great-aunt, the child of a family friend, and most recently another family friend to the cancer that I was diagnosed with. That’s why this is so heavy on my heart today.

I am a survivor. In 2008, we found Melanoma in my leg. Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer there is. It’s a vertical growing cancer, a silent killer.
Here is my story:
I have always been fair-skinned with red hair. No one has ever described me as “tan”. My mom has slathered sunscreen on me since I was a small child. I have moles. One particular mole changed colors and became raised in the spring of 2008. I finally made an appointment to have it removed. The doctor told me that it was nothing and proceeded to remove it. (Me passing out on him is another story in itself, ask me one day, it’s funny.) That was on a Wednesday. The following Tuesday I received a phone call from the doctor himself. He wanted me to come in and talk to him about what he found. Long story short, I had an appointment with a surgeon the next day, pre-op on Friday and surgery on Monday. My cancer was reaching Stage 4 and it is by a miracle that it hadn’t spread to my lymph nodes. I have a 5 in scar on my left leg that reminds me that I need to stay in the shade and wear SPF 3000. I also get checked head-to-toe at least once a year. This July I will be cancer-free for 5 years! My request to you, GET CHECKED!! Every year. Do it.

We all know about Relay for Life and we watch all of our favorite teams wear pink in October, but what are we really doing about it? I don’t have an answer. Wear a ribbon, whichever color you’d like. Melanom is black, childhood cancer is gold and breast cancer is pink. Purchase items that proceeds will go to cancer research, or donate directly. From what I read, some cancers can be prevented by living a healthy lifestyle. But please support cancer research or donate to organizations that help families with cancer. Cancer is scary but knowing you have people that support you is a comforting feeling. 

I recently helped (through my job) a few kids raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. They were adorable and raised over twice their goal! Check out alexslemonade.org for more info.

 

Hugs of Hope is a local organization that helps families with children with cancer in many ways. Find them at https://www.facebook.com/hugsofhope
And Relay for Life Lowndes County is usually in April/May.

 

{Four More Things}

We are constantly telling each other that we need to blog more, so here I am making a weekly installment of {Four More Things}

These will be four things that have caught our eyes, we have fallen in love with or that you need to know!

 

 

– Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks! No, actually I want to share this amazing app that added to this yummy photo. I have followed A Beautiful Mess for a few months now, their blog is amazing beautiful and I hope to grow up to be like them one day. They created a photo editing app that reflects their style. You have options for filters as well as a number of add-ons to make your photos pop!
The girls at A Beautiful Mess have had great success in their first few days being in the top app purchases! They are celebrating by giving away an iPad mini! Check out their blog and giveaway here.
http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2013/05/ipad-mini-giveaway-to-celebrate-our-app.html

 

 

– Save Rock and Roll
Fall Out Boy, you have captured my heart once again.
Ears, please forgive me when I am old for listening way too loud.

 

 

– The thing I dislike the most about having a Kindle is the Bookstore. I love love love my Kindle. But I miss the browsing and smells of a bookstore most. Stacey and I ventured into a $3 Book Warehouse the other day. It’s no B&N but it was entertaining. I came back from our trip with a few treasures.
Kiss Me Like a Stranger – Gene Wilder (a retired library book – $3 Book Warehouse)
Second Calling – Dale Hanson Bourke (finding something bigger for myself – $3 Book Warehouse)
9 Things You Simply Must Do – Dr. Henry Cloud (a book actually on my Amazon wishlist – $3 Book Warehouse)
What I Wore Today – Gemma Correll (doodle book – found at TJMaxx)
Anchor Shorts (GAP Outlet)

– It’s officially SUMMER!
At least it is in South Georgia. Days have hit over 90 degrees more than once this week and our first lake trip is planned for this weekend so that makes it official.

– With Love
April

{Four Things}

Things I’m loving right now:

– Smallcakes – The place that has stolen the hearts of out little town. A cupcakery that has pink walls, 15 regular flavors and a few daily cult flavors that has people waiting in lines out the door. I’m gaining weight right now thinking about all the flavors I want to try!

– Gym time. I just joined a new gym and oh my! It’s fabulous!

– Journaling – I bought a journal and have been writing more than about my day. See Stacey’s post about it here.

– Avocados – That squishy green fruit has become pretty popular lately!  Stace and I are trying out new ways to eat them and hopefully I’ll get a chance to share the Avocado Cheese Ball recipe soon. Check out a pretty cool Avocado Lovers community Pinterest board here.

{Journal Therapy}

          After quitting my job in November and knowing I would have a break before I went back to work, I thought I could use my time to reevaluate my life. Basically I was looking to “find myself”, whatever that means. I sort of lost my way for a while but then one day I reread some of my old journals to see where I’d been.  What I found was horrific. I mean really terrible. Before I even got through the first few entries, I was upset and angry all over again.

          I realized I had only been writing in my journals when I was overwhelmed with emotions, like anger or sadness. Essentially if I died today and someone read my journals, they would probably rule my death a suicide. When I was happy, I was too busy to write. So I decided to journal everyday, no matter how painful or difficult or how busy I got. What I have discovered is absolutely amazing. I have learned more about myself in the last two weeks than I had in two months.

          Since I obviously didn’t journal well before, I Googled ‘how to journal’. Silly? I know. But there are some pretty good tips out there, all valid.  Get a nice journal, good pen, safe place to write, time yourself, use prompts, etc. That’s all fine and dandy but this is my advice: just start writing and do it often.  No one else is going to read it, provided you keep it safe and don’t leave it out for others to find, so feel free to write crap.  Write terrible things. Write depressing things. Write angry things. But write the wonderful things too, and the weird things, and the unsure things. Write it all! Don’t censor yourself. Don’t let your pen stop; let your mind wander. Get off on that tangent. Chase that rabbit until you find Wonderland. Just get it all down on paper, so you can see it.

          The benefits are astounding. For me it’s discovering myself and keeping me grounded. Returning to my journal-my safe place-helps me slow down and take my life one day at a time.  I am the Captain of my life, my journal-my first mate, and my days-the uncharted territory. Cheesy, I know, but the only way to discover anything new is to keep moving through uncharted territory. So no matter how hard it is to write the truth, do it. Just start writing, you won’t regret it.

{Our 2012 Favorites by Stacey}

So it’s a bit late but as usual the New Year rang in without my consent. As such, I’m just now getting to our favorites from 2012 and here they are:

 

Album 

 

April: The Truth about Love-P!nk

Stacey: Blunderbuss -Jack White

 

Song

April: We are young- Fun

 

Stacey: All the Rowboats- Regina Spektor

 

 

Movie

The Avengers. Face it, everyone loved this one.

 

And last but definitely not least, our absolute

favorite, the most delicious

thing to come from 2012:

That’s right, this ginger brit had us swooning over

his sweet tunes, clever lyrics, and obvious charm.  And his best song isn’t

even on the album. This is Ed’s cover of Wayfaring Stranger:

{A Month of No Fast Food}

The holidays are a really tough time if you are attempting to eat healthy. Thanksgiving is just packed full of carbs and sweets, delicious ones might I add. Once Dec 1 hits, the leftovers are gone and it’s full swing into Christmas, with some kind of party or event with cookies and comfort food every time you turn around.

Now, let’s be a crazy person and add in No Fast Food December. But I decided to do it and I was sticking to it. I made a few rules for myself:
1: No FAST FOOD.
I work at a fast food restaurant. If it absolutely comes down to it, I can have a fruit cup, yogurt parfait or a grilled filet (from Chick-fil-A). But only if I am working and have forgotten my lunch and just can’t possibly get away. I only did this two, maybe three times.
2: Sandwich shops don’t count a fast food. I love places like Submarina. (What’s not to love? They put fresh avocados on their sandwiches!)

Those were pretty much my rules.
Let me tell you, this was hard the first few days. Especially when they made me bag at lunchtime at work. I had Waffle Fries in my hand and I couldn’t have any! Any kind of fried potato is my weakness! But towards the end of the month, I had this part down!
I slipped up and had a Breakfast in a Cup from Zacadoo’s one morning. My husband and mother said doesn’t count because it was just a small cup of grits, eggs and cheese. So you can say that I did or didn’t. I think I did pretty well for the month.

The only thing I craved was a salad from Zaxby’s, So on Jan 1 that’s what I had. Once I got it home and in my tummy, I knew that I didn’t have to have it. It’s now Jan 8 and other than that salad, I haven’t had fast food. I haven’t had any fried food in over a month! It seems like something I can get used to.

January is No Chocolate Month. This one is a little harder and I have failed numerous times already. Each day is a new day and I try again. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Have you ever tried to give something up like that? Lent maybe? How did you do?
Maybe try from today until the end of January to cut out fast food.