What I Ate (When I Got Home from Vacation) Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!!

I hope you are doing amazingly well because it's been a long time since

I visited you on a What I At Wednesday!

As you know, I've spent the last week with my family in Tennessee and Kentucky. Derek had to work, so sadly I had to leave him and the dogs behind. It's safe to assume that I was absolutely gluttonous during the time I was away....because I was :-) All I wanted when I got home on Monday night was some fresh fruits and veggies. All I found was some old chicken wings, cheddar cheese and some very overripe pears.

Ugh!!! What the heck was I going to eat????

Luckily, I had picked some things while I was away that aren't so easy to find in Canada. They helped to tide me over until I had time to hit a grocery store.

For breakfast I had chocolate peanut butter Puffins. Can you believe that this is the first time I have ever had Puffins??  LOVE THEM ~ especially the peanut butter ones!

I also scored some Key Lime Larabars. Best flavour ever!!! And really, really hard to find! Thankfully I've now stocked up.

For dinner, I improvised and ended up with something pretty delish. In a wok I combined a package of Green Giant Vegetable Rice Primavera (whole grain rice, zucchini, broccoli and red pepper), a can of chickpeas, 1.5 cups of diced tomatoes, a pinch of cumin and tumeric and salt and pepper to taste. I let it simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes and then served. For a quick on-the-fly dinner it was really, really good!

And I absolutely CANNOT leave without giving some honourable mention to something my neice and I made while I was away. I found it on my beloved Pinterest. This Popcorn Cake is a fun dessert to make with the kiddos in your life and it tastes as sweet and sinful as it looks!

So there are some of my recent eats. What have you been munching on lately? If you're looking for more foodie inspiration head on over and visit Miss Jenn at Peas & Crayons.

What kind of eats do you come up with when the fridge is totally empty?

Happy Wednesday. I hope you enjoy your day!

Andrea

Being Thankful for What You Have

Happy Sunday folks! So, I had this post scheduled for posting on Thursday. Obviously something went haywire with the scheduling and I find my post never actually posted. So....I apologize for the delay, but I want to share this post even though it's late. Better Late Than Never :-)

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and family!!! To my fellow Canadians...Happy Thursday!! (sorry kids, I'm off on vacay and that's all I could come up with {wink wink})

Yesterday I arrived safely in Nashville where I met my dad and we headed on out to my sister's place in Jackson, TN. We bought groceries, I had a quick hair appointment with my sis (have I ever told you how awesome it is to have a hairdresser in the family??), I met my nephew Bentley (cutest baby ever!!!!!) and spent time with my 4 year old neice, Reese AKA Reese-a-roni.

Today it's all about cooking, family and mapping out our Black Friday plans.

Life is good.

The only that would make it better was if Derek was here. Sadly he had to work and miss out on this little vacation of mine.  

Before I get into today's post, I just want to say thank you so much to Kelly for her guest post yesterday. She and I think so much alike and I loved her reminder that we should be grateful for all the wonderful things in our lives whether they be big or small.

Her post was a really great intro to what I wanted to chat about on this fabulous Thanksgiving morning.

Today I am thankful for many things......

• my hubby who had to stay home this weekend because he has to work
• my health and the fact that I am strong and able and independent
• my happy and healthy neices and nephews - our family is blessed with 4 awesome kiddos!!!
• all 4 of my grandparents who are healthy, able-bodied, awesome individuals
• my job - they're pretty hard to come by these days so I consider myself to be really lucky to have a steady and secure position where I work with lots of really, really great people
• my house and the fact that I am lucky enough to own it
• my dogs who give me unconditional love 100% of the time
• my country who provides me with safety and security and gives me the right to speak and think freely

So as you can see, I'm pretty freakin' lucky and I have alot to be grateful for. It has taken me a long time to actually see all the greatness that is my life. Today I am happy to say that I am PRESENT and AWARE and even though Derek & I have our share of hard times (like any of you out there I am sure), I am still able to appreciate what I DO have.

I used to be a person who had the bad habit of "wanting what I don't have." I still find myself longing for "more" but not constantly like I used to. My old way of thinking used to go something like this - "Sure I have a house, but I want a bigger house with a bigger yard; and yeah I have a decent job, but I want to a position that's more exciting where I can make a boatload of money"....you see where I'm going with this???? Now, don't get me wrong I think it's great to have dreams and goals and to work hard to achieve them, but that's not really what I was doing. I would constantly compare myself to others and wish that I had it as good as they did.  I had a bad case of "Keepin' Up with the Joneses."

Why is it so hard to really open our eyes and see the blessings that are laid out in front of us? Accepting the hand you've been dealt in life does not mean you are resigned to be unhappy and unfulfilled. What it means is that you stop wasting time thinking about what you don't have and start enjoying what you DO have.

Today, as we give thanks for our daily bread, I want to issue a challenge to each and every one of you.

I challenge you to LIVE IN THE MOMENT!!!

Stop worrying about what you don't have and focus on what you do have. You might be surprised at how many blessings are in your life right now and I promise you that you are going to find a lot more happiness in the things you can enjoy in the present rather than always waiting for that day in the future when you think you'll have what you want.

 

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Take a moment everyday for the next week and write down one thing that you are thankful for. Start making a list....let's call it our "I Am Thankful Journal".

 

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 After you jot down what you're thankful for, take a few minutes to reflect on how it makes your life what it is today.

What are you thankful right this very minute?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving/Thursday and enjoy the day!!

Andrea

PS - I AM THANKFUL FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WONDERFUL READERS!!! MY LIFE HAS TRULY BEEN TOUCHED BY EACH & EVERY ONE OF YOU xoxox