a new graduate

Say hello to my hunky husband.  Oh and me.

I finally graduated.  It was great, and fun, and all that good stuff :)  No really, it was super awesome!  I just have been pretty much done for a year, only had to finish my recital to graduate.  So it didn't feel like a real graduation because I haven't been in school.  Haha, but it is setting in.  I got an email the other day saying my degree had been posted and my copy would be mailed out to me in the next couple of months.  Whoo hoo!  So I really am very excited.  Our little man was a champ all day long.  He was so good and totally crashed on the way home, it was a long day for an almost 6 month old :)  So, without further ado, I present to you myself, a brand new graduate.  I'll be here all week folks...

-Megan

why I'm ok with being "close-minded"

Recently, a person who I was friends with on Facebook posted a status that said this: "In all honesty I've been posting a lot of controversial stuff recently because I have over 800 friends and that has to change. I'm just too lazy to go through them all and unfriend the ones I don't talk to anymore haha. So if you're offended then by all means unfriend me. I'm looking to declutter my life of those with closed minds."

Although I thought it was an interesting post, I just kept scrolling and didn't think much of it over the next few days.  She has different opinions than I do and has always posted things I don't necessarily agree with but that doesn't mean I don't like her or anything.  I just don't read the articles she posts if I don't like the sound of them.  I don't even get on Facebook all that often anymore so I really didn't think I would ever even notice what she was posting.  But then last night when I logged in, she had posted a picture with a caption on it.  A very vulgar caption.  The meaning of the caption itself was, again, something I didn't agree with.  Which wasn't the problem.  The problem was the glaring vulgarity of the language used.  So I went to her page and scrolled to see just what she had been posting.  Most of the statuses in the last couple of days were along the same lines.  I went back to looking through my news feed but it just kept bothering me.  I didn't want to unfriend her, because that meant I was close-minded right?

Then I realized something that to me was very profound: if she considers using vulgar language as being open-minded, then I don't really care to be.  I have a small baby.  One day he is going to get big and be able to read.  Do I really want him to be scrolling through my Facebook and come across something that has numerous ugly words and meanings?  Absolutely not.  And beyond that, I believe that if we surround ourselves with words and actions that aren't good, then we will eventually become desensitized and those words and actions might one day become our own.  I don't want that to happen to me.  I want to stay positive and happy.  I don't think I'm close-minded, I think I am logical and choosy about what I let in my life.  And if someone else thinks I am close-minded because I choose not to read some things or agree with some things, then I am perfectly ok with being that way.  In fact, I am happy to be "close-minded".   This life is too short to let ugly things be in our minds, hearts, and lives.  Someone is always going to think you are close-minded.  Don't let them bother you because there are millions of other people around who think you are completely open-minded.  It doesn't mean you don't like those who don't agree with you, it just means that we are all different. 

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So fill your life with whatever is important to you.  Be choosy and be happy.  I choose positive, Christ centered messages.

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-Megan

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Why does pumpkin have to be a fall flavor?  I love pumpkin and I am pretty sure I make these cookies year round.  They are super moist and are even better the next day after spending a night in a sealed plastic bag.  They are the perfect cookie for a fall night...or if you're like me, a winter/spring/summer night as well!

 

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour (plus or minus)
• chocolate chips (optional)

Cream together the shortening, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin.  Then add and cream the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt.  Add the flour a little at a time until the dough is thick but still sticky.  Sometimes it will be almost a whole cup more but other times it will barely take the 2 cups.  It all depends on the air pressure and humidity with these cookies.  Add chocolate chips to taste.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes.  After you get the dough finished, cook just one cookie and then add more flour if needed before you cook the rest.  You want the cookie to stay fluffy instead of falling.

I always hear to cook one cookie before you cook the rest.  And I NEVER do it!  However, I always do it with these cookies.  I always think I have enough flour and I almost always never do.  So please please cook one cookie first!  Usually these cookies only take me about 8 minutes to cook so it doesn't take forever to test the one cookie to get the rest of them perfect :)
 

-Megan 

valentine canvas

Valentine's Day seems to be a love or hate holiday.  You know what I mean?  You either love it or hate it.  Which I don't understand.  I've been single on Valentine's Day before and it didn't depress me or anything.  I look at it as a day to celebrate any relationships you have with someone you love.  That could be a significant other, or you could just let your mom know that you really appreciate and love her.  Maybe I'm just weird, but whatevs.  Anyway, I always want to decorate so here is a fun decoration that comes together really quickly.

The original that I went off of used lipstick.  I wanted something a bit more hardy and that I could keep for more than one year so I used paint.

Here's how to make this valentine canvas:

Buy a canvas in any size you wish (mine is an 8X10).  Lightly trace a heart shape in pencil in the middle of your canvas.  Paint stripes on a diagonal in different pinks and reds.  While that dries, cut out the letters to express whatever Valentine sentiment you'd like.  I used a cricut machine but you can use whatever you'd like, you can even just print them off on a colored card stock so you don't have to cut out each letter.  This is probably the option I would use but I borrowed my mom's cricut for this craft.  Glue the letters to the bottom of the canvas and you're done!  P.S. If you don't want to do the letters you don't have to, the canvas is just as cute without them!  Win win :)

My inspiration is from here

-Megan

schedules, summer, and such

Are you a list maker?  I most certainly am.  I'm one of those people that when I do something, I put it on my list just so I can cross it off.  Call it what you want, it makes my brain happy.  I really want to blog more on this here little space of mine.  But I always think about it when I'm nursing my baby or something and then the thought gets lost somewhere.  So I've made myself a little schedule that is like a list so I have a little bit more organization to what I write about when.  I think it will help.  At least I hope so :)  I'm going to try to blog here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Mondays will be about whatever I want, Wednesdays will be craft/DIY centered, and Fridays will be Foodie Fridays!  So here's to lists!

So it's Monday.  What do I write about today?  Today I am wishing for warmer and sunnier weather.  I was looking through pictures and found this one that the hubby took this last summer at work one night.  

I'm excited to not have to bundle up all the time but I'm even more excited for it to start getting lighter in the evenings.  I seriously celebrated on December 21st this year.

-Megan

superbowl treats!

Hey there.  It's been a long time.  But who am I kidding...it's not like I post here daily or something.  Anyway, the reason for my absence is a good one.  I've been enjoying my yummy little one that I just adore!  I mean really, I don't think I could love anything more than I do this little guy.  Because I have a serious phobia of putting pictures up of him where just anyone could see them, I'll let you enjoy a picture of his little totsies :)

The rest of him is just as amazingly cute :)

The SuperBowl is in like 2 weeks or something!  You would think I would know this since my husband is a diehard football fan, but I don't.  Who are you wanting to see in the epic matchup?  Over here we are rooting for the Broncos to smash the Patriots this weekend.  You have to love Peyton Manning, he is pretty much amazing.  I hope he can pull out one of his awesome games!  

What do you cook for the SuperBowl?  We always have lots of delicious food and treats.  Last year, I decided I wanted to something delicious AND fun, and here is what I came up with:

And they were both so easy.

Let me 'splain:

For the rice crispie football: make your rice crispies as you usually would and then shape it into a football.  Once it is all cooled, melt some chocolate and put it into a gallon zip-lock bag (if you have frosting bags and tips then you can use those, I don't so I had to get creative).  Snip off one corner of the bag and "pipe" your football stitching on.  Snip off a bigger corner so the stitching looks big enough.  Here is a time saving tip: if you don't have time to let the rice crispie cool, just stick it in the freezer for a few minutes.

For the football cupcakes: make your favorite batch of chocolate cupcakes.  Melt white chocolate and put it in a zip-lock bag.  Snip a small corner off and pipe the stitching onto wax paper.  While they dry, frost your cupcakes with chocolate/brown frosting.  You don't want to frost them earlier because you don't want the frosting to dry out on top.  After you frost the cupcakes and the stitchings are all dried, pop them off and gently press them onto your cupcakes.  Another time saving tip: you can easily make the stitchings earlier and just set them in a cool room or the fridge until you need them.

Let me know what yummy things you will be cooking up!

-Megan

BOO pumpkin

Who's ready for an easy and cute Halloween craft?  I made this last year for Halloween and was so excited to get it out again this year!

 

 

Here's how to make your own BOO pumpkin:

You need: a craft pumpkin, black buttons, and ribbon

Steps:

1.  Draw BOO in pencil on your pumpkin to make sure you get the letters right (if you are confident you don't have to do this step, the lines in the pumpkin messed me up on my first try)

2.  Hot glue your buttons over top of your pencil marks

3.  Tie a bow and hot glue it to the stem of your pumpkin

 

You're done!  Easy right?? 

 

-Megan