Yummy Recipe & Some Layouts

I was searching online for cholesterol friendly recipes since my dr. said mine is a bit elevated. I ended up at the website for the cholesterol lowering drug, Crestor. They have some yummy recipes in the Tools & Resources section. Here is one I tried tonight. OMGosh, it was so good.

Pesto Chicken With Penne Pasta

	Nonstick vegetable cooking spray 1/4 tsp olive oil 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces 1 sliced green onion, including green tops 1/4 (13 3/4 oz) can water-packed artichoke hearts, drained, sliced	1 tbsp basil pesto 1 tbsp low-fat sour cream 2 oz whole-wheat penne pasta, cooked according to package directions without salt or fat 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
	Nutrient content per serving:
	Total calories: 496 Protein: 39 g Carbohydrates: 49 g Fat: 16 g Calories from fat: 29%	Cholesterol: 76 mg Sodium: 437 mg Fiber: 8 g Saturated fat: 4 g
	Instructions: In a skillet sprayed with nonstick vegetable cooking spray, over medium-high heat, add olive oil. When hot, add chicken pieces and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until done. Transfer chicken pieces to a plate and set aside. Add green onion to the skillet and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add artichoke hearts, basil pesto, and low-fat sour cream. Stir well and add back chicken pieces. Add cooked penne pasta and mix well. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Makes 1 serving.

I rejoined Weight Watchers Online and have been preparing to start the weight loss journey again. I am going to the store later this week to stock up on all my fave healthy foods. I {heart} salads with lots of fresh veggies and some turkey or chicken breast thrown in for protein. I bought a new salad spinner from Bed Bath & Beyond. I have lots of containers for freezing & storing foods/meals. It is my plan to spend this Sunday afternoon cooking for the upcoming week. As for exercise....I have not made up my mind what I am going to do. I am very very nervous about joining the gym again with my knee problem. I am giving thought to searching Craigslist for a used Elliptical for at home. However, going this route will require me to remove my couch from the living room, which I "think" I am okay with as I still have my recliner. I don't want the elliptical in the basement because, well, my basement is scary. Between the spiders, the crickets on steroids that can jump 50ft in one leap, and just plain creepiness....well, let's just say it isn't a place I want to exercise in. No, I would rather be able to watch TV while I sweat.

This upcoming weekend is National Scrapbooking Weekend which means TONS and I mean TONS of fun things happening in digi-world. I recently decided to take the rest of April off from my creative team responsibilities, however, I was doing so well on my weight loss preparations that I decided to go ahead and scrap anyway. Here are a few things I have done that I don't think I have blogged about.

Using an upcoming kit from Lyndsay Riches called Berry Delight

Memaw is getting sweet kisses from Trevor & Caiden.

Ahhh, the tulips in my front yard. Only a few bloomed but the ones that did were gorgeous!

I used several items from various TaylorMade Designs kits & the SMILE border was from DeCrow Designs called "A Word In Edgewise"

Created for a Scrap Orchard Challenge where we had to use just ONE word on our page, either Fresh or Grow/Growing

The kit, So Delightful by LCC Amy Stoffel & the photos are courtesy of Wikipedia

An upcoming kit by Amy Stoffel called Sweet Tart & also using one of Amy's templates for the design.

I am working on a layout of Caiden riding the same tricycle but these photos went really well with this kit!

Using another upcoming kit by Amy Stoffel called To The Moon as well as some new templates by Scrapping With Liz called, Background Templates

Same kit as above, from Amy Stoffel

I have had these photos of Trevor for quite awhile now so I was excited to finally get to use them.

Brandy Designs needed a layout using her kit, Ki Ki. I remembered these photos of Trevor from Sept 2009!!!!

Again, Brandy needed a layout done with one of her kits and this is one using her kit, Gone Fishin'.

These are some photos from mine & Dad's trip to (well, you can see where). Perfect for this kit of Brandy's.

And, that about catches you up. Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you try the recipe I posted....would love to know if you love it as much as I do. God bless :)

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Hump Day Post

I really don't like that I am not blogging as much as I used to :( Thought I would jump on and say hello to my many...okay, 3 followers, LMBO!

There has been lots going on at work and in my life personally recently. Work has finally picked up again so that is a definite praise. I would really like to take a Fri/Mon combo off just have some time away but not sure that is happening anytime soon.

Many many prayer requests being lifted up this last week. Bill Satterthwaite (father of my bff's DD) recovering from colon surgery & now battling a severe blood infection. Shawn Smith & his family in the loss of Shawn's father. However, his dad came to know Jesus during his battle with cancer so we also rejoice in knowing he is fully healed & walking in heaven right now. My mom continues to have complications from her knee replacement surgery. Swelling in her legs (lymphodema) and more recently battling a terrible headache. A friend of mine is moving this weekend and we have yet to find just 2 strong guys to help with the heavy/bulky items. One of my digi-world friends, Trina, lost her grandmother to a stroke this week and is having a very hard time with the loss. Just so many needs.

I, myself, have some good news. My blood work came back normal with the exception of some elevated cholesterol. So, I have reset my eye appt and go in Friday to get my new glasses. Can't wait to no longer have blurry vision in my right eye!

I am beginning a new journey starting in May.....more on that later though. Yes, I am keeping you in limbo so deal!

Leaving you with some recent layouts or at least layouts done since my last post:

Done for a challenge about reflections using She's A Hoot by Wild Dandelion Designs

Caiden looking so happy as he runs around on Easter day!

Using a collab kit from Amanda Heimann Designs & SuzyQ Scraps called Going Green

Same kit....the boys on Easter Sunday while hunting eggs!

Gorgeous kit Amy Stoffel is coming out with on 4/23 called So Delightful

Same kit....another RAK layout for Ramona (her girls are so easy to scrap!)

Another upcoming release from Amy Stoffel & Krystal Hartley called Artesia & yep, another RAK for Ramona...this kit was made for these photos!!!

Kit called Out Of This World by Brandy Designs @ Polka Dot Plum

Same kit...Trevor and his classic Trevor face!

And so, now I can relax for a few days since I finally blogged! Hope the rest of your week is filled with abundant blessings!!

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Ahhhh.....spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous with the exception of 1 1/2 days this past week. I {heart} spring. There is something about watching the world around you gradually change from brown & barren to green & alive. Easter Sunday was down right nearing "hot". Okay, maybe I was flashing a little but still.....I was sweating. Oy!

The week after Easter flew by. I literally felt as though I woke up Monday morning exhausted from a fun filled Easter the day before and suddenly it was Friday. I am sure the time flying has nothing to do with the fact I am now on FOUR creative teams! Yep, you read it folks, FOUR! I now happily create for Brandy Designs @ Polka Dot Plum, LCC Amy Stoffel - Amanda Heimann Designs & Lyndsay Riches all at Scrap Orchard. However, I was asked by Amanda to do some other creative work for her apart from the usual layout creations and I agreed. So, I am not actually required to do layouts for her. I get to put my skillz for creative writing into effect by coming up with the 1 to 3 sentence kit descriptions for the kits she designs. It's fun!

Today I went to a baby shower in the morning for a short time and came home, opened the windows, turned on the stereo & cranked it and proceeded to do some Fly Lady cleaning. I spent 30 minutes in each room. I am amazed at what I can accomplish in 30 minutes when I know I am being timed. It makes me stay focused. The livingroom was decluttered, dusted, & vacuumed. The bedroom was totally rid of all clothes piled up everywhere & vacuumed. The bathroom was....well, I really just emptied the trash, cleaned the sink-mirror-knick knacks & toilet. But, it looks so much better just doing that! I had already worked on the kitchen earlier in the week but it still needed things done. I admit, I didn't do anything in the kitchen today. However, I did accomplish quite a bit so I gave myself a break and decided to catch up on some DVR'd shows I had recorded.

I didn't take a nap today like I thought I would so I am getting tired. I will leave you with a ton of scrapbook layouts to look at.....

Some old pics of Trevor I used with this kit called Happy Go Lucky from Scrap Orchard.

I did this for a challenge at Scrap Orchard where we had to use the title Lucky. I love the Funky Brushed Alpha by Brandy Designs!

This is another challenge layout where every element on our page had to be a circle excluding, of course, journaling & our title. This template by Scrapping With Liz was perfect for this challenge.

This is the first kit I officially worked with for Lyndsay Riches and it is called Talkin' About Boys. Good thing I have 2 adorable boys to scrap about. Here they are on Easter being bombarded with gifts, candy & camera flashes!

Another kit from Lyndsay Riches called Spring Flings & Easter Things and a freebie template from Brandy Designs. Caiden is giving his Nana a sweet kiss!

A gorgeous kit from Brandy Designs called Flock Together.

Miss Amy has a new kit coming out on April 16th and I have done 2 layouts with it but just don't seem to be able to do it justice....his is one of my feeble attempts.

....and here is the other one.

Her most recent release is April Showers Bring May Flowers and is a collection of 2 separate kits along with a word art pack. These colors are classic Amy!!! And this photo shows our "classic" Trevor!

...same kit from Amy

This was done for a color challenge where we had to choose coordinating colors from a color wheel. I opted to use 3 colors all next to each other....yellow, yellow-orange & orange.

Another one using the April Showers Collection by Amy and a fabulous template from Scrapping With Liz

This is one using Amanda Heimann's template set, Wave On Wave, and I paired it with her recent kit, Spring Fling!!

A "just for the heck of it" layout using Amanda Heimann's kit, Spring Fling

I do NOT like this one at all. Too many different styles trying to happen on one layout!

I love love love this photo of Caiden. Just look at that sad little face! I used Amanda Heimann's Wave On Wave template & various papers/elements from Pretty Happy & A Beautiful Day

These next two are RAK layouts (random acts of kindness) for a fellow Scrap Orchard friend, Ramona The Pest. She graciously sent me some photos of her darling daughter's so I could scrap something other than BOYS! This is Olivia

....and here is Abby!

A random layout I did using one of my fave Butterfly House photos...

Some Easter shots of Caiden

Good night....thanks for stopping by :)

xoxoxo

Dabbling in Hybrid-land

Okay, so many of you who know me or follow my blog may remember that last fall I packed up nearly all of my traditional scrapbooking supplies. I was going to sell them on Craigslist because I never used them anymore. Well, I was disappointed no one was interested in my ginormous stash of goodies. And so, they remained packed in boxes in the basement.

At Christmastime I was asked to make a Blessing Jar for the daughter of my Sunday school teachers, Mya. That was probably one of the first times I did anything hybrid.
What IS hybrid, you ask? here is a simple definition I found online:

hybrid scrapbooking--combining traditional and digital elements on a scrapbooking page.

For this blessing jar (didn't take a photo, sorry) I dug into my DIGITAL stash and created a 6"x10" page using some colorful digital paper & various elements such as a rainbow, sun, flowers & word art. I printed out the finished digital page and wrapped it around & glued it to the jar. However, to make it truly hybrid, before I wrapped & glued, I used my handy-dandy Crop-A-Dile to punch about 6 holes at the ends of the 6"x10" paper. Since the ends of the paper did not meet up once wrapped I threaded different colors & types of ribbon thru the holes and tied them. I then add ribbon to the lid of the jar, too. It turned out amazingly cute!! Perfect for Mya....Miss Girly-girl.

I put my supplies back up fully not intending to use them again. Until recently that is. One of the new CT's I am on is for Amanda Heimann Designs at Scrap Orchard. Someone on the team did a tutorial for a simple hybrid project: A Layered Flower. I thought I would help her out by making one so she had an example to show others when she posted it on the blog. It was super easy and I love how mine turned out. As you can see, I added it to a card I made. The card was for my SIL's birthday.

Okay, so yes, I liked making the easy little flower but man, did I make a MESS in my scrapping room just to make that one little bitty flower!!! Ugh....don't miss the mess! However, I did think it was very neat to not only use my digital kits in more ways than just digital but also continue to use up my enormous stash of traditional supplies.

Fast forward 1 week to today. Day before Easter. Scrap Orchard is having a 2nd birthday bash sale where the entire store is 35% off. So, I went looking through the market and Scrapping With Liz, as always, had some new templates I just HAD to have! And then I saw it....a Hybrid Easter Basket Template. I clicked on it and looked at an example posted with the kit and it was so cute. I knew I must buy it and try my hand at another project....a more intense project this time.

Geesh, was it ever more intense. I won't say "hard" intense....time consuming is more the word. I started out by designing the little boxes using the template. I knew I was doing something wrong....missing a step or two but could not figure it out. I then went down to my printer and proceeded to print out the completed templates. Next came the cutting, trimming, scoring, gluing and assembling. I thought I had a mess with the little flower project. I had a MESS going on with this one!! I fumbled around but eventually got them both put together & looking cute. Again, I wondered what I had misunderstood to make mine not look quite "finished". So, I headed to the forums at Scrap Orchard where I posted photos of my finished boxes along with my need to have a good, visual tutorial on doing hybrid. Within moments some of the ladies were commenting on my project and giving me some guidance. Soon I realized my mistake. Like anything, it is a learning process.

Will I become what they call a Hybrid Artist?? I don't know. I have learned to never say never about much of anything anymore. I never thought I would ever be hooked on digital scrapbooking. Then, I never thought I would ever use my traditional stuff again. I never thought I would be single at age 39.....oh sorry, that is a whole other post in itself :) To say I will never get hooked on hybrid would be silly due to my track record of saying never. I will just say that I do enjoy it.....I just wish I could do it without the MESS!
And no post is complete without some photos of my projects....enjoy :)

This is the card I made using the layered flower hybrid project....

Credits: Spring Fling by Amanda Heimann Designs @ Scrap Orchard

The finished Easter baskets for the boys.....now to get them filled with goodies!

Credits:
Hybrid Easter Basket Squared Template by Pixel Geek Designs @ Scrap Orchard
Papers/Elements from the kit "Hoppity-Dee" by Jady Day Studio @ Scrap Orchard