wwc: what we cooked

hey friends! As some of you know, in blogworld, Wednesday is dedicated to fashion and what you wore, but I thought I'd change things up a bit and do a "what we cooked" post.

Now one could totally do a what I baked, what I made, etc. Doesn't even have to be about food! Well, Paco came over yesterday and he shares a love for crepes with me. I've been talking about wanting to eat crepes for months now. I got slightly jealous when Paco was in cali and he told me he had eaten some crepes back in April! The only other person I know who makes them is my stepmom.

After texts back and forth the day before, we settled that he would cook some and demonstrate how he makes them, as maria and I both wanted to learn.

totally sportin my apron! lol. what a guy!

We used this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I love this website and has been a definite go-to for years! I didn't twerk it, except to double the batter which made about 15 crepes, though I'd like to add vanilla and cinnamon to that batter next time ;)

You could use crepes for breakfast, lunch or dinner with different fillings...
totally up to you!
We decided to have em more as a breakfast food.

I cut up strawberries and we placed those on top of a spread of cream cheese in the center of each crepe. (BTW the Nice brand of cream cheese at Walgreens is on sale for $1.29 this week til saturday!) Then just fold each side to the center and walllahhh--you have a beautiful presentation!

You could add whip creme and more berries of your choice, or even powdered sugar.
Paco did such a good job at making them. {thank you mr.! ;)}We sure enjoyed them. I was spoiled yesterday.

 

 Mmm most delicious crepes! 

Here's my top order of starchy breakfast foods:
Crepes
Waffles
Pancakes
French Toast

What's on the top of your list out of those? If you like crepes, how do YOU eat them? As a breakfast food, dessert or as a meal for dinner with beans or meat and vegetables?

the story of a bird that flew into my life

Yesterday started out as a typical day. Nothing too crazy going on. I had my plans, which consisted of making some cards for a couple people as well as typing up a blog post.

I had a lingering migraine since early morning and so after breakfast, I took an aleve, came back to my room to take a little nap waiting for my migraine to go away. Around 1130 A.M. I started getting to work. After the kids and I cleaned up our mess, little P and I went to get the mail around 2 p.m.

Since there was been rainfall some nights in the past week, there are muddy puddles near our mailbox. So as we are approaching, I see a bird stuck in the mud! The closer I got to it, I could tell that it was injured and probably got ran over a bit because he/she was still alive, barely breathing. My eyes began to tear up as I thought how I could him/her. Little P and I came back to the house, which Little P yelled, "Tia, Tia, can you help us!? There's a little bird stuck in the mud outside."

Actually, Little P's mom, Maria, went out and picked up the bird for me. She brought it in and washed off the mud in the bathroom sink (she totally put gloves on and is recommended if you are ever wanting to help a fallen bird.) Anyways, after that she wrapped him up in a paper towel and handed him to me. I held him close to my chest and examined him.

His right wing was injured as there was a pink bald, burned looking spot, where there should have been feathers. The very front of his beak looked chipped as he/she was also bleeding more inward there. His right eye was totally closed the entire time I "watched" him and he/she would sometimes open their left eye. The top of their head was also burned/bald looking.

Oh our hearts just dropped for this baby. I have no idea how old this bird may have been, but he/she was very lightweight. In reality I know there wasn't much I could do to help him/her, but there was just no way I could leave him/her outside stuck in the mud to burn to death in the sun and heat beating down on them.

I made a MAJOR mistake of giving it water to drink. I learned this after I googled "how to help an injured bird."

You may think you are hydrating them, helping them of thirst but no. Actually "forcing" water into them, well that water can go straight to their lungs :( :( double sad face. this is because at the very back of their beak, the liquid goes straight to their lungs.

The other mistake I did was while still in the paper towel, I set him on a towel, thinking it would be softer and more comfortable. Wrong again. The information I found said to get a shoebox size (open) and place several tissues inside to help the bird feel like it's in a nest. So we did that. Plus, an injured bird needs silence and darkness.

Little P and I both prayed and prayed for this little bird.
However, as a few hours passed, I could tell the bird was declining. His breaths were more shallow and he was bleeding more.

James came in my room to discover our friend. We talked about what to do. It just made more sense to help ease the transition of life to death for this baby who was suffering. I told James there is no way I can do it. I can't physically hurt him, run him over, etc. We thought, it's more humane this way, right, as difficult as it was?

James took the box outside and waited, because  1. it was beginning to smell 2. birds do have diseases, bugs, etc. not the most sanitary thing.
James mustered the courage to help this bird along to birdie heaven if there is one.

We said our goodbyes.

Some people might laugh at this story and think, pshh it's just a dirty bird. There are thousands of them everywhere, what's the loss of one?

But this bird to me was special. He/she was hurting.
They were an innocent living thing that was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
This bird was one of God's precious creatures.
The bird symbolized life to me as well as being sensitive to life itself, even if that's in the form of a brown, cream and black bird.

I loved you, even for your last few hours.
I hope I helped you feel somewhat comforted.

chop chop karate chop

It all started with Groupon.

You know I love to save money and get good deals, so groupon is a great site that allows me to do such things. Well, maybe at the end of June or early July, they had a deal for at Toni & Guy, the pricey-to-me hair salon. The deal was a cut, style & deep-conditioning treatment for $29, valued at $70!

I had the tab opened on my laptop for two days debating on whether or not I should splurge on such a thing for myself. I justified the desicion by telling myself, "well yeh, you have spent $30 on a gel manicure, so why not do this that will last much longer!" SO I clicked purchase. I've been wanting to cut my hair differently for quite some time. I was getting tired of my long, heavy hair as well as wearing it the same way as a messy top bun ya know.

Last week, I called the make an appointment for friday. James came along with me and we got there about 20 minutes early. My hair stylist was Yvonne and she did a great job. I was sort of nervous to chop off so much, but I had confidence in these professionals!

I showed Yvonne a magazine with a couple photos of hairstyles I liked and we both agreed to not go super short otherwise it would enhance my full face.

Here's the wavy mop I started out with, the chunks of hair on the floor and the finale.
Sorry for the not the best quality photos, I forgot my camera and took these with my cell phone. My hair feels so much lighter and I like it alot, especially when styled and teased and pouffed!

a la hairspray!

I am happy with my purchase! Oh and when Yvonne was doing the final touches of my hair, I saw James in the mirror, wiping his eyes. He was tearing up because he said it looked so good! hahah. What a friend! :)

Have you ever made a drastic hair cut? Are you signed up with Groupon? What was your best deal you scored?

weekend recap + (giveaway!)

WoW! Another week gone by!
I feel sort of bad that I haven't really blogged for more than once a week lately. (sad face).
I even miss the more frequent posts and substance-filled writings. I don't know when things will calm down, but I hope to eventually get back to writing and posting better quality content.

Life has been mostly good for me lately. Who wants to hear about complaints all the time? Nope, not me. Everyday last week I had something positive going on. After I type this blog post, I'm going to FINALLY get caught up on my note writings and tending to emails.

So here's the scoop on how my weekend went and make sure to read further down as Chelsee from Southern Beauty Guide put together a FABULOOUSS GIVEAWAY that yours truly is participating in once again! :)

I'm leaving out friday because that deserves its own post! ;)

Saturday: A wonderful afternoon spent with my mama. We had Rubio's for lunch. We both got the blackened tilapia taco plate and it was oh-so-yummy! I am sure you are tired of me raving about them! haha. As delicious as they were, the cook made them a bit too peppery/too spicy..so both my mom and I could only eat one taco. My nose started to run and my lips were burning! lol. We talked the entire time and just caught up with everything. Plus, my mom did my toes for me and now i feel so much better. Nothing like good mother-daughter bonding time!

Later that evening, Paco & J-bird (she's 12) & I went to an outdoor concert. The band played a variety of covers like from Chicago, Seal and Santana. They were great at interacting with the crowd. A couple young guys break-danced and there was a cute elderly couple enjoying the show together. It was fun!

J-bird got a snowcone and after the last song, due to the incoming lightening storm, the band quit playing and we headed to get some food/snacks. Thankfully it didn't storm where we were, but where my mom lives was storming so bad! She was worried about us but I assured her that we were prepared with an umbrella, 2 large garbage bags and one plastic walgreens bag to cover certain parts of my wheelchair, plus Paco said he didn't mind getting wet. After we got back and Paco headed home, I got into bed. J-bird and I stayed up talking and looking at a bridal magazine til 11:15 p.m.

Sunday: I got to go to church with my one of my besties, C and a friend of hers joined us as well. It was funny because we literally were walking and singing in the rain on the way to church. We thankfully had umbrellas as they both covered me with them. The temperature was lovely! At church, we might have been slightly disappointed that there really wasn't much of a gospel message, but the worship time and the music was awesome. I actually found two of the songs today and added them to my playlist on spotify including:

One thing remains by Passion ft. Kristian Standfill
Our God by Chris Tomlin

After we got back from church, the friends went to pick up Paradise Bakery for lunch. We ate and chatted for a bit and took pictures of course!

I love C's hair and her dress!

After C left, my stomach started giving me sharp pains again! I put my heating pad on and had to take a pain pill. It was doing this to me on thursday night as well. I must have the heating pad on for at least 3 hours. I laid in bed while reading a magazine and then went to sleep.

And here we are on this wonderful, partly-cloudy Monday! I am feeling good so far. Even if it's partly-cloudy in your life, may the sun shine brightly upon you. Loves! and Goodluck if you enter the giveaway!

Bekah//Brittany//Katie//Erin//Natalie//Kristin//Jessica//Jacquelyn//Leslie//Morgan//Amanda//Chelsee//Rachel

What's Up For Grabs: Re•solve(Bekah)-Ad Space JustJacq(Jacquelyn aka Princess Kate Middleton)- Ad Space & Pair of Earrings Rhyme & Ribbons(Amanda)- Ad Space At Home with the Hinkleys(Natalie)- Cash The Party Girl's Guide(Erin)-Ad Space Hopelessly Ever After(Kristin)- Cash He Calls Me Grace(Katie)-Cash & Large Ad Space Sunny Tales & Happy Mail(Brittany)- Ad Space With a Side of Chocolate(Leslie)- $15 Gift Card to the Store of your Choice Wonder What's Next(Jessica)-2 months of Ad Space & $10 Target Gift Card Believe in the Sparks(Morgan)-$10 Gift Card to Starbucks Rachel's Country Roots(Rachel)- 2 months of Ad Space Southern Beauty Guide (Chelsee)- In Post Ad Space a Rafflecopter giveaway

weekend news, forgiveness + eshakti promo code

SO how was everyone's weekend?

Friday + Saturday I spent making cards fulfilling an order a friend made.

I had all of my crafting stuff out all over my bed. Oh, plus my friend tessa came by saturday afternoon and we worked on decorating her binders for school (she's a teacher).

Sunday, Paco & I went to church together again. It was so great. A handful of people came up to me to introduce themselves and I did a better job at remembering people's names lol. Paco and I were both not as nervous as the week before. One of things spoken at church was about forgiveness and being offended. The message spoke personally to me as I have been going through a situation regarding these topics.

How can I hold anger at someone who I let offend me with their comments, when Jesus gave up his life me for all of my sin and for the entire world? He made it possible for me to be forgiven. He made it possible for me to have eternal life. He made a way for the way.

Forgiving someone and letting go of hurt isn't easy. I know.
But it is possible and it can be done. I feel like I need to forgive and make peace with the situation/person because it's weighing me down. I truly believe God wants us to enjoy life but to also remain in harmony with our brothers and sisters.

Today-James and I went to see the Lone Ranger. The only reason I wanted to see it was because of Johnny Depp! I'll say that it was entertaining for sure with some funny moments. Would I want to see it again? Probably not, but it was a good time for a mental escape. Plus, I enjoyed having company.

And one little last bit of news:
Today's the last day to use use my promo code PINK1688 to take $40 off your first purchase at Eshakti.com. no minimum order value! So if you've been eye-ing a certain special dress, now is the time to snag it! :)

cover your eyes

*post sponsored by firmoo.com. I only work with companies and products I believe in. 

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I like oversized frames to help block the sun rays, plus I feel quite fashionable & sophisticated! Luckily, Firmoo.com has lots of different styles of frames for the look you like!

 

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wore I wore + a little secret

hey guys! here we are on this blessed wednesday! how's everyone's week going so far?

Since it's scorching hot outside, my silly little friend took the following photos of me for what i wore today inside! Nothing too spectacular as I had to prepare to go to the imaging office to have a mammogram done!

No earrings. No bracelets. No deodorant (which is a MUST on any other day!).

I didn't want to say anything about the pain in my boob and my upcoming appointment today, because i didn't anyone to worry over something that probably didn't even need worrying about. My mom was so right! Plus, I felt like if I talked about it, it would just drive me to more worry.

WHAT!!? no deodorant!

If you've been reading, you may remember that I've been complaining some days in the past couple weeks of not feeling too well. Mostly, the not feeling well has been pain I've been experiencing in my right boob. For the past three weeks it's been subtle and gnawing and just there..I've taken a ton of naproxen(aleve) to help dull the uncomfortable pain.

I told my primary doctor a couple weeks ago and he referred me to have the mammogram which appointment was today. Because of wheelchair and physical logistics of the machine and my boobs ya know,we were unable to do the procedure, but we sure did try! Thankfully, the tech took me into a room to have an ultrasound done because as I learned, when there is not one specific point of pain or evidence of a lump, the ultrasound is the first way to go. Before the tech let me leave, she took the images to the radiologist. He read them and didn't see a tumor or anything concrete. He even said that I didn't really need to go through w/the mammo if I didn't want to.

The mammo tech ladies (2 of them) were so warm and friendly and willing to help try to do the mammo. They said that it's quite common for younger women (in their 20's and 30's) to have this kind of pain and that it could be due to hormones or intake of caffeine, or for no known reason! Well! I definitely think it could be that my hormones are outta whack! and well, I do consume alot of caffeine on a daily basis...HELLO COFFEE! So, Brittany is going to start to wean herself off the coffee. Oh dear God, help me! I know I can do it!

It actually comes at a perfect time to start not drinking coffee. But i mean, i like certain teas and chocolate too! One thing at a time! So tomorrow, instead of one full cup o coffee, I'll try only half a cup and then from then on, maybe skip one morning and then the next until I am free of my addiction! I do not want to keep taking naproxen everyday 1-2times because taking that stuff long-term is so NOT good for my kidneys! Slowly but surely, change is a comin'!

I'd just like to thank my Father in Heaven for letting things be ok and that I do not have a cancerous tumor. Breast cancer doesn't run in my family, but other kinds of cancer do. You can imagine my slight concern when after 3 days in a row of pain in my upper boob toward my armpit was aching and not going away. Happy we got it checked out and no need to worry anymore, i can breathe- thanks mom :) I am at a bit more peace.

Philippians 4:6-7

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

He took care of me.

from the holiday weekend

hey lovelies! I'm back!! So how was your 4th of July weekend? I know many people went out of town or did fun activities like swimming, hiking, playing games, bbq'ing and seeing fireworks! What did I do on the 4th? Well, I did rock the red, white & blue. And other than that, the only other thing that really made it feel like Independence day was the tasty hamburger i chowed down!(you'll understand in a minute), but i did not forget the meaning behind this special holiday: our freedom.
Freedom in this country and freedom in Christ!

 

By 6 p.m. I was getting tired, tired of sitting in my chair.
By 7 p.m. my back, neck and shoulders were hurting and I was so exhausted! I didn't even turn on my tv once I laid down.
By 8:15 p.m. I fell asleep! I was bummed at myself for not staying up and at least lighting sparklers that I've had sitting in a drawer since New years eve! We can kinda see some fireworks from our backyard, but I totally did not feel well.

Friday and saturday....I did some "summer" cleaning...one, sorting papers for recycle and others to the "need to shred" bag! Also, made some oatmeal chocolate chip walnut cookies for the first time! They came out yummy! [i unfortuntaly spaced to take pics, but will next time, because everyone loved them!] I've eaten four so far. Most of them, I gave away to friends. While browsing others reviews on Allrecipes.com, I learned that adding baking powder, or baking powder in general, helps the cookies to rise and not turn out flat and crispy! Wow! I had no idea!

Sunday was the best day of the 4-day weekend. I got to go to church with paco. We had such a good time. I got to hear other's testimonies, which two of them struck me. It was like God knew what I needed to hear. One of them made me teary eyed. I don't remember exactly what was said, but I believe it was divinely planned in His grand scheme of things.

So, after sunday school, paco and I waited for the  reserved bus to pick us up. We arrived, waiting a few minutes early. Our pick-up time was 3:15-3:45. At 3:40, we both went outside to wait figuring they'd be there any minute. We were both sweating and spraying ourselves with the spray bottle I had in my wheelchair pocket! lol. Well, by 3:59, I called the emergency #, which is the weekend supervisor since sundays their dispatch office is closed. Them not showing up or being that late has NEVER happened to me before in the last 5 years, so I wasn't afraid to call! I called, left a message and never heard back from them. Paco kindly waited outside in the at least 105 degree heat majority of the time to keep an eye out, poor guy. After I was out there for a while, I went back in and we agreed that if they didn't show up or call by 4:15, we were taking the city bus home. Paco called to see when the next bus came. While I was inside, I texted paco and said at 4:26, "let's go!" So we walked to the bus stop which had no bench or awning for shade, however, i was so grateful for this little scrawny tree that provided just enough shade for us! The bus came, had working a/c and we made it home without passing out!

We were laughing, ok, mostly I was laughing at the situation, while we were walking back to my house from the bus stop! Thanks to Paco for maintaining such a positive attitude in such an unfavorable circumstance, especially for the first time we've gone to church together in years.

It was a blessed weekend indeed.

Oh! and I  watched Dirty Dancing on Lifetime! a total fave!

update & exciting news!!

It's been a week since I last posted. I want to thank you all who have left me sweet comments on feeling better. Our Arizona weather continues to be quite dry. Maybe you've heard about the wildfire burning in Yarnell, Az that sadly took 19 firefighter's lives this past week. So sad. My heart just broke for them and their families when I heard the news a few days ago.

I haven't recieved the results from my chest xray, which I had done friday morning. I am feeling better, but at times throughout the day, I have a bit of trouble. I am still pretty hooked on my breathing treatments/saline..like being hooked on phonics!

Also, there's definitely some way exiting news I gotta share! Well, about 2-3 weeks ago I was contacted by the assistant editor of AllYou Magazine. Have you heard of it? I know that it's sold at Walmart, but I think i read somewhere recently that the magazine is available at other retailers. Anyways, they said that they loved my video that I submitted back at the end of March for their America's Smartest Shopper contest. Although my video was not selected as a finalist, they wanted to have my video featured as their video of the week on the homepage of their website. So, just YESTERDAY, I was emailed to say that my video was up live!! Soo, you can check out my video about a great deal I scored and the coupon strategy I used to do so.

Since friday, I've been a busy bee. I apologize that I have not responded to emails! I really appreciate those of you who have taken the time to correspond with me. I promise I will get back to you!

I'll leave you with some photos from the weekend of me and my fab friends! there's been enjoying jamba juice, spiritual discussions, shopping, church, paradise bakery, playing hello kitty bingo, movies and ice cream!

thanks to allie for our bracelets!

C & me after church. what's going on with my hair?!

Not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow besides rocking the red, white and blue, but wish you & yours a happy & blessed Independence Day!