I’ve realized that I don’t enjoy surface level conversation. And what I really mean by that is I don’t enjoy gossiping at all. I don’t like listening to people talk about others in a negative way to others.
I was hanging out with some mom friends that I actually met through my daughters. It’s not like we had bad conversation but it would also be like, “how do you feel about this person?….” Or, “what do you think of this person?”
I just couldn’t engage. I feel like I’ve read enough books where you can’t judge people like that. You never know what an individual has gone through or has experienced. It’s not fair. Where’s the empathy?
During this girl time I felt incredibly reserved and wanted to just blurt out, “is anyone reading anything good right now?” But I just listened and observed and recognized.
The kinds of conversations that I enjoy is talking about history or insane memoirs from people you’ve never heard of. I want to talk about things you’ve learned or an experience that changed your life. I want to engage on how to make this world better not degrading another persons way of handling things.
Tell me something funny that made you laugh! Or something that freaks you out! Or can we talk about how this whole earth experience is crazy in itself. Like, isn’t this all so weird? You know what I mean?
But…..
in order to have these types of conversations one has to give themselves permission to be vulnerable and to have a degree of confidence in themselves I feel.
I have had some amazing conversations with other people that I just can’t believe what they have shared with me. And I feel incredibly honored to make a person feel comfortable enough to sharing intimate details of their life with me.
When we let our guard down we help others to do the same. But some people don’t let their guard down because I believe there’s a level of insecurity or fear.
And that’s okay. With time we all evolve.
Thanks for listening :).
Share something with me if you have a moment! Would love to learn about YOU, My dear reader!
I don’t need to know you or see you to know that you reading this, dear reader, are beautiful.
Sometimes we need to be reminded how special and unique we are. Allow me to remind you.
You are a once in a lifetime. Shaped and molded in a way that cannot be duplicated. A rare commodity.
You aren’t perfect my friend, and guess what, nobody is. Each of us is flawed in our own way. But isn’t is wonderful?
How boring it would be if we were all the same and shared all the same experiences. It’s our differences that bring color and vibrancy to this world and universe. It’s the differences that help us to grow and grant us permission to see through the many different filters of life.
Celebrate those “imperfections”. Learn to love yourself. Learn to see yourself. You are worthy of your own love. Love yourself. You are loved.
There is no need to seek approval from the outside. When unkindness greets in those unexpected moments you shake it off immediately and most definitely don’t take it personally.
But again, I don’t need to know you or see to know that you are beautiful. You are. You are a miracle. You are here, you are alive. You’re doing it.
You’re a gift, you know that right? You truly are. You have purpose. You have value. You have magic flowing in you. There is so much light in you, even if right now the clouds are blocking the view. It’s there glowing brightly.
This is a funny question to me. I can’t help but smirk. A flood of camping memories come to mind.
Have you ever been camping is like asking me do you drink water? What kind of question is this!
Camping has always been apart of my life. Since I was a kid! Camping with family in Alaska, girls camp in cabins, and does sleeping in your backyard count? Sure it does, why not!
But the love for camping especially grew when my husband and I began datingand through our early twenties. Not everyone has the camping streak in them but with us, we loved it. And we still do.
Him and I would camp in tents and sometimes in his Dads little beat up Van. One of our favorite places to camp is at a place called ‘Eagle Creek’ in Arizona. It’s like a hole in the wall, only a few know of this hidden oasis. Lush trees, beautiful rivers. No RVS, no bathrooms, no service, it’s strait camping over there. Incredibly peaceful and serene and just so much fun every time. My husband has been camping there since he was a kid and I feel so incredibly special that he shared this special place with me and now we share it with our children.
However we have amped our camping lifestyle since then. I guess we are kinda like “glampers” now. We have an RV that we love and it’s much easier to camp RV style when you have kids. We enjoy the luxury and comfort that comes with this home on wheels. It really has become a second home.
With the camper we camp at the lake, the beaches in Mexico, the sand dunes, and sometimes just in the Mountains behind our home.
So yes, I’ve been camping.And I love it.
RV Camping Mexico. Beach Front. RV Camping At The DunesEagle CreekLol younger days when we slept in tents
There’s a book I just began reading called, “A Child Of The Native Race.” A story of woman who was born to an Indian family but taken away at 18 months old and raised by a white family. It’s a story of returning to her roots.
In her dedication the author Sandy White Hawk says this,
“
Even if we came into this world in the worst of circumstances.
We are not that circumstance; we were sacred when we were born
separate from the hardship that surrounded us.
Our life is good and has a purpose.”
“
This quote above really resonated with me in such a way. I don’t know that I can fully put into words.
It resonated with me because of my own adoption story and discovering my roots and finding my biological family. And it resonated because of my daughter, and her adoption story.
And currently, we are fostering my nephew, who we plan on adopting.
It is sad? The circumstance? In a way, yes, yes it is. And that should be acknowledged. But it is also a gift as well in it’s own way. And the gift may not be recognized until many years later (I can testify to that). This quote above affirms what I already know. That each of us are sacred, no matter how we entered this world. No matter the circumstance in which we are born into.
When we enter into this world we couldn’t be anymore pure. Each of us, first born, are so full of life, curiousity, adventure. It is the world, the pressures, the fears, the power and greed that work to steal us away from who we are. We become confused, afraid, and we feed ourselves lies.
Listen to me….
We are sacred gifts. We are miracles. We are love. You must never forget that. Never forget how significant you are. Never doubt your capabilities. You are chosen. That is the truth.
Forgive others. Forgive yourself.
Many of us DO enter this world through challenging circumstances. But how we come into this place does not define who we are. We are still chosen to be here, despite the troubles that may surround us. And we will find our way.
Lean not on your own understanding.
Live your days recognizing the gifts that surround you. Remind others that they are treasure. Help others to see how remarkable they are. We are never alone on our journey.
Discussing and sharing is healing and it’s connecting.
You’ve probably heard someone say once or twice before, God is good. And how would you define that phrase?
I feel like I’ve had some type of revelation and I’m excited to share it. God is good.
In the past whenever I would hear that phrase I would repeat to myself, God is good. But then think, what does that even really mean?
How do we interpret that? Well for one, we can look around at nature and be astonished.
Like, are you aware of what an octopus can do! It’s pretty spectacular. That in itself points to an incredible creator.
But God also reveals his work and skills in tribals and in times of distraught.
Let me share a little story that just took place a couple of days ago. A story of my daughter getting some deep splinters and what unraveled into a spiritual lesson.
At our house we have a little wood deck that my husband actually made. Picture a yard of turf, then you can two steps onto this wood deck that bridges to a giant sand pit.
Our daughters have so much fun in our backyard. Tons of laughing and imagination. My husband and myself always say how much we love just watching our children play. It’s truly a blessing.
Well one late afternoon the girls and I had just got back from picking up a half pepperoni and half cheese pizza. The girls raced to the trampoline to play with the puppies that we just recently got (2 border collie pups, too cute. But they chew on everything!) I shouted to come inside to eat and then………
Then, I hear screaming. I look out the window and my 3 year old is sitting on the wood deck, head down, crying hysterically. Echoing through out the neighborhood. My other daughter is shouting, “‘mom! She has a splinter!” I knew it was bad. This wasn’t the first time that this type of situation has happened.
I had just sat down too and taken two bites out of my pizza. I thought of course, this is parent life. I walk over to the deck nonchalantly (I’ve learned it’s best to not react too much when they’re in distress. Makes it way worse) and look at her foot. I see it and think, shit.
There’s 2 splinters that are deep in her foot. These won’t be easy to pull out with just tweezers, she’s going to need “surgery”. I call my husband and tell him what happened. Luckily he was already on his way home from work. He tells me to soak her foot in water. I take her to the bathtub.
That was a struggle as you can imagine with a 3 year old. Although it quickly became a party in the bathroom. Her sisters were there fully supporting her. One is feeding her pizza while the other is making her laugh with silly gestures. Her foot is soaking in the water, she’s got a lollipop in her hand, a “bravery” light up watch/bracelet, and her unicorn baby doll. At this point she’s calmed down a little.
Then dad gets home.
She begins to cry hysterically all over again which I totally understand. It’s like when someone asks, “are you okay?” when you’re totally not and you begin to uncontrollably cry. We’ve all been there right?
My husband looks at her foot and with no hesitation but complete confidence says, “I can get those out.” In my head I’m thinking, ummm are you sure, did ya see her foot, and I even suggest urgent care. I reiterate that they are deep and I don’t know if he can do it. My confidence in him is slim.
He says, we’ll wait till she’s asleep. Or we can leave it and let her body reject it. I wasn’t for the latter, I wanted those wood pieces out of her tiny little foot. Splinters can be painful! We all know this.
She quickly falls asleep, I’m sure to the exhaustion of crying. My husband gets all prepped up for “surgery”. I say that with a sense of humor. Our daughter rests on our bed. I give him his space while checking periodically on the both of them.
In this inconvenient moment I think about how amazing my husband is and I think about what a great dad he is too. This is when God comes to mind and the spiritual message enters.
In this moment my husband revealed to me once again what he’s capable of. I saw him in a different light caring for our daughter, coming to her rescue, and even our other daughters took notice watching their daddy take care of their baby sister. As one of my daughters watches from afar she says, “Daddy’s my hero”.
I believe God works and reveals Himself in similar ways. How would we know how great God was if it wasn’t for the hard times. How could God show us what He’s actually capable of doing if it weren’t for those muddy waters that we get caught in? It’s in these times of fear and pain and discomfort that God steps in and says, “I got you, wait till you see how I’m going to heal you and make this better again.”
Do we trust God? Let’s be honest, not always. Like my 3 year old daughter with splinters in her foot, instead of surrendering her foot and letting us help her she held her foot close to her and kept it restricted. We had to wait till she was asleep before we could even touch it!
It’s these moments, which can be unbearable moments that actually bring us closer to God. He reveals different sides that we never knew. We learn more of Gods capabilities, powers, and healing through these moments.
My daughter getting those splinters sucked. But because of those stubborn/painful splinters I got to witness my husband caring for our daughter. So gently he took those out of her foot without her barley even noticing. My daughters watching from afar developed a new level of trust in their Daddy.
I do believe God works like this. And you know what? Yeah, God IS good. He takes unfortunate events and uses them to bring us closer to Him. God reveals that He can remove “splinters” and more. He can make those pains better. And sometimes like my 3 year old, we don’t surrender to Him. But it doesn’t even matter. He’s going to take care of us anyway.
If you want to recognize how God has been good in your life think for a moment of some difficult times. And think about the good that came from those times.
Read between the lines of your life and you’ll see and you’ll know how present God is.
Would love to hear how God has worked in your life or would love to hear a simple moment turned spiritual.
The splintersThe culprits.When he pulled the first one out.
1 tablespoon of soy sauce or light brown sugar (there was a time I didn’t have soy sauce so I substituted with brown sugar because it just seemed like it would be good and I was pleasantly surprised!)
Steps:
1. Place your meat in the slow cooker, along with the chunks of onion. In a small mixing bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, except for the butter. Pour marinade mixture over the meat. Top the meat with the butter. Place lid.
2. Cook on low for 8 hours. Once the 8 hours are up shred the meat well and serve immediately.
Serve over white rice or with some corn tortillas.Enjoy!
Note: when putting away the leftovers I did drain a lot of the oil from the meat.We ate it for 3 days and every day was better!
I think I won some mom brownie points with these waffles this past weekend. They are scrumptious! And well, with a stick of butter of in there, of course they are!
Don’t you love when you try a new recipe and you are pleasantly surprised! Of course sometimes you try something new and you experience disappointment. But sometimes the recipe risk is the best thing ever!
I’ll be making these today and actually freezing them so my girls can eat them for the rest of the week. We topped our waffles with fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. I hope you enjoy these as much as our family did!
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Charcuterie boards are so much fun! They are kind of like snowflakes, they are each unique in their own way. And what a way to display your creativity! I love it! This blog is specifically meat and cheese but I see myself sharing a sweets charcuterie board blog too in the future. So many possibilities!
I went to a wine tasting last weekend to celebrate a friends 35th birthday. There was a total of 5 of us and we all met because of our daughters. Our girls all met last year in kindergarten and now our little beauties are in first grade. It’s been so much fun developing these types of friendships and I’m so grateful.
Back to the wine tasting, one of the girls brought a prepared charcuterie board that we all got to enjoy and indulge in. A friends of hers actually creates them as a business!
Just sitting with the girls drinking some wine in the vineyards while snacking was pure bliss. If you’re a mom you know how badly you have to take some time for yourself to recharge your batteries.
The board we snacked on.My favorite is the spicy meat paired with a flavored goat cheese and crispy cracker. So yummy!
We all get excited about having a charcuterie board party. Maybe the wine was kicking in or we were just really hungry which resulted in this charcuterie board being the best thing ever. But this charcuterie board inspired this blog.
I share some layouts to help you with your charcuterie board party that you may be planning and some common pairings. You don’t have to follow it exactly but use this more as a guide and have some fun with it!
Thank you for reading and have fun charcutering! (I just made that up)
Charcuterie Board Visuals
Charcuterie Board Pairings And Tips
Would love to see your board! Share it with us on instagram!
Love when you discover a delicious recipe on accident! I call this a chili soup because my intentions were to make a chili but at the end of this whole thing the consistency was more like a soup, but I was not upset! This is so good! With the perfect amount of heat! I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Total Cook Time: 6 hours and 15 minutes
What You Need:
A crockpot***
1 1/2 – 2 1/2 lbs of chicken thighs (not breasts or tenders)
1 4oz can of green chiles
1 1/2 cup of chicken broth low sodium
5 poblano peppers
1 8oz block of cream cheese
1/2 to 1 cup of frozen corn
2 15.5oz cans of Bush’s Best White Beans in Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
For The Spices:
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of basil optional
Toppings (Definitely Would Not Skip):
Freshly Diced avocados
Shredded Monterey cheese or Pepper Jack for even more of a kick
Fresh Chopped cilantro
Crushed up tortilla Chips
Steps:
1. Add your chicken thighs, chicken broth, Green Chiles, 1 poblano pepper with the top cut off and seeds removed, the olive oil, and spices. Set for LOW at 6 hours.
2. At 4 1/2 hours, line a cooking sheet pan with foil and place the remaining 4 poblanos on the pan. Broil both sides (3- 5 mins on each side) until charred. Immediately place the peppers into a large ziplock bag and allow to steam for 10 mins. After the 10 minutes, peel the skin and cut in strips.
3. By now there should be about an hour left to cook. Quickly open the lid and add the block of cream cheese, the 2 cans of beans undrained, the corn, and the roasted poblano peppers. Place lid back on crockpot adding about 15 to your cooking time. (Total crock pot time 6 hours and 15 minutes)
4. Turn crockpot off, remove lid, and begin to mix and shred the meat. Taste and add additional salt or spices as needed.
Serve immediately with fresh cilantro, Monterey cheese, and diced avocado!
So good!
Note: if this is too spicy, just add a dollop of sour cream to your serving. Enjoy!
The Wild Gems 