Cookies Cakes Chocolate Baking Oh My!

I absolutely love to bake sweets and breads. When I get the notion , I will bake anything from chocolate cake to cinnamon rolls or bisquits from scratch. I love the preparation involved and the time put into it. I love the aromas floating through my house while things bake. My family always enjoys my baked goods and that makes me really happy. I can get lost in my own little world when I bake. I like looking up recipes to try and experiment with. Sometimes I come up with my own ideas or add ingredients to different things.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1

 egg

1

cup  Creamy Peanut Butter

1

cup  sugar

1/2

cup   Peanuts

1

tsp.  vanilla

     

HEAT oven to 350°F.
BEAT egg in large bowl with mixer until foamy. Add remaining ingredients; mix well.
SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. Flatten, in crisscross pattern, with tines of fork.
BAKE 10 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Things That Changed Me

I was just talking to my husband about how I have changed since I gave birth. I used to cuss a lot , I used to be able to handle watching horror movies and tolerate cussing in a lot of situations. But in the past year and a half , I have become closer to God and closer to realizing more and more that a lot of things I was doing and some I still do are sinful. I have been working to correct that. Giving birth has made me realize I need to be more spiritual. It has made me realize that my son is a gift from God to help me realize that the message he is sending me is to see the error of my ways. Well it worked. And I struggle everyday to do what's right and to not get angry in sin. I work to change my train of thought with my judging , my eating, my patience, my belief in God and being more grateful everyday. I repent almost every night and some nights I'm either closer or farther away and I either start over or move forward. I try to read the bible at bedtime and pretty much learn it all over again. I do make sure to thank God many times everyday for everything , especially for all I have been given in this life. I try not to take things for granted anymore. I'm not trying to be perfect in any way, just better. I know He loves me for me and he is there unconditionally no matter what. That is amazing. Thank you God for this life and all the gifts you have given me.  

Do unto Others

I love charity work. Although I don't do a lot of it. But when I do help or donate, it feels amazing. I get letters from a church a lot with advice in them and scriptures. They always ask for donations to help their cause and I don't mind doing that sometimes. I also get stuff in the mail from cancer foundations and veterans foundations. I cant always help them though. I know this is supposed to be for avid charity work but I'm not going to lie and say I'm the most helpful out there. I would like to be though. I do love passing stuff on to others and giving my sons clothes and toys away after he has out grown them. I love that feeling I get when someone's day has been made because of a good deed. I am however participating in a pay it forward project this year. I asked for 5 people to volunteer their time to send random people and act of kindness in the mail at any given time. I got 6! So these six people will get that act of kindness and they as well will do the same thing for others this years. Creating a huge connection across the world of love and kindness without expecting anything in return. One of my resolutions this year is to do more and help more. I really want to accomplish this goal and keep it up. I want to inspire others to do so as well. God tells us to love one another as He loves us and I would love to spread the word.

I'm not as think as you drunk I am

I don't really drink anymore. But in my younger and not so smarter days I could throw them back like nothing. I had a couple favorites , Jack and coke and sex on the beach. When I drank beer , it was miller vortex or bud I believe. Nowadays , if I drink. it would be a jack and coke or just a beer. I never want to get wasted ever again. Totally not worth it. But I cant say that my younger days weren't fun because they were and I am who I am for these experiences. There are a lot of good drinks out there that can be enjoyed without overdoing it. :)

Pretty Puppies ,Fuzzy Fur Babies

I think Dogs are the most loyal and true pets anyone can have. I had a lot of dogs growing up. I loved every one of them. When I was 10 , we got two collies ,Ozzy and Katie. That breed ended up being our families favorite breed. We had chows , and labs and other breeds as well though. Some in my family love chihuahuas as well. They say you cant teach an old dog new tricks? Yes you can because I did. I adopted a sable and white collie , Sable. She was 5 years old an I was able to teach her new things just like a puppy. She was almost 12 when I lost her. She walked without a leash and could be trusted to go out and come back in without any trouble. Sometimes she would open the door herself. She was my rock through a lot of emotional id had in the years she was with me. She loved everybody. I truly believe dogs are humans best friend and when they are raised right and shown unconditional love , you have a friend for life. I'm hoping once we get our own house , we can get our son a puppy and maybe he will love dogs as well.

I love to read!!

One of my very favorite things to do is read books. Before I became a mom , I could read at least two books a week. When I was pregnant , I read 7 books in two weeks. My husband calls it my habit  and he helps me keep up on it. Reading a book and getting into a good story is like going to another world for me, a temporary get away. I love getting lost in a love story and getting excited with a suspense story or a mystery! I love books that make me cry or laugh out loud. Those are my favorite authors. The ones who can make me feel the emotions of the characters and feel the story. I always feel at a loss when a story or series is finished and I didn't want it to be over. Reading started for me in the 6th grade. And from there on , I could stay up all night with a book reading it. I have quite a collection of different authors now. Once in a while I will pass them on to other people to enjoy because I kind of want to pay it forward or thin out my small library. I have my son in a kids book club and I am hoping he loves reading as much as I do. right now he loves being read to so that's a good start. I always preferred to actually hold a book and turn the pages. It's not the same for me on any kind of electronic device. I don't like it. I really hope these devices don't make actual books go extinct. That would be a sad day for me. I used to write short stories and I've written a lot of poetry in the past 15 years or so. It's kind of like an outlet for me to express myself because I am not very good with words coming out of my mouth. I wish I could shake the hand of the very first person who wrote something down and made it into a story because it started a beautiful thing in this world.

Health and Wellness/Influenster

I'm not the skinniest girl out here but I have a goal to be healthier and in better shape. I used to blame my thyroid and I blamed baby weight. But it was all my over eating causing the weight gain. In 2013, I started watching my portions and walking three times a day with my son. I lost 27 pounds but now that it's winter, that's a little harder. So we alternate going to the gym. I try to stay away from a lot of soda and sugars and focus on proteins , fruits and vegetables. I may not be a big wellness advocate honestly but I do want to reach my goal while teaching my family to eat healthier and watch portions. My husband is now my biggest support and gives me that push I need to stay motivated. I know there are lots of different pills and certain diets out there but, what works best for me is smaller portions and less sugar. I can't wait for summer again so I can get outside for my workouts and play with my child. It's great cardio.

Eco friendly

One of my favorite ways to be Eco-Friendly is to walk or ride a bike to places or just for fun. I know a lot of pollution comes from vehicles. Other ways I like to try to help the environment is recycling anything and everything possible. I fill my recycle bin everyday. I like knowing that it is going to be saved and used for something else or made into something else. I don't do enough to help but I do feel good about what I do accomplish. Every little bit helps. Ways to be for environmentally ware is to make an effort to reuse and recycle. If you see discarded trash on the ground, pick it up. If your destination can be walked to , do it or ride your bike. Reuse bottles like soda ones for bird feeders or holders for different household items. I save the little trays my sons food comes in for other things. I wanna use an old muffin pan for flower seed starters. I like coming up with ideas for reusing things and hopefully lessening the amount of needless waste that leaves this house. I like some eco products like St. Ive's , its really gentle on my face and skin as well. I've come to like stuff that's all natural and gentler on my skin without the harmful chemicals.

The Outdoors

There's nothing I love more then being outside and seeing the sun and the beautiful blue skies. I love taking my camera with me on walks and capturing nature. I grew up outside pretty much. Learned to fish , camp and go on boat rides on the water. I like to help take care of nature as well. I pick up litter and help animals if they need it. I love planting trees and flowers and feeding the different beautiful birds. Where I live , it's not warm that long in the year so I take every advantage there is to be outside and enjoy the fresh air. At night I love being in the country and seeing the moon and stars as vivid as the ycan be. The land is very flat here so it looks like the stars are touching the horizon and you can see for miles and miles around. I miss the hills of Indiana but, by far the skies here are the most beautiful I have ever seen. I'm hoping my son becomes a nature lover as well. I want for him to want to be outside as much as I do.