I Have a BIG Announcement!

...and no, I am not pregnant, but this is something almost as good! I have been chosen as a Semi-Finalist in the 46th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest! I've been trying for several years now, and this time they liked me! My recipe, BALSAMIC CHICKEN CRANBERRY PANZANELLA, is in their "Amazing Doable Dinners" category and it will be posted at bakeoff.com for two weeks starting today, where the world gets to choose their favorites. If I'm one of the 33 top vote-getters, I will get to go to Las Vegas in November for a chance to win a million bucks! No lie! Needless to say I am super excited and kinda nervous. And I would LOVE YOU if you went online and voted for my recipe! You can only vote for each recipe one time, so it's easy for you and each vote is very important to me. So tell you friends via email, facebook, twitter, or what-have-you. I wanna win! Thanks for your support! Love ya! Here's an easy link that takes you right to the voting page:

http://www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/Voting-Home/Voting-Gallery

Remember These?

oosh. Blogger is being retarded today. Can a girl not edit a blog post up in here?? Oh well...  

Remember these Subway-art Easter eggs, that I tried to make last year and failed miserably? Well, not gonna even try this year. I'm sticking to the second kind pictured below. Give me chocolate, baby! I'm too old and too busy to even think about doing something fancy this time around (and I must tell you that this photo is definitely NOT my handiwork - it's from Lil Luna, and you can go HERE to get the full scoop on how she created these beautiful eggs).

It's sure looking like Spring out my window and life is mostly lovely, not counting the allergies, but we press on, right? Happy happy! The Easter season is a joyous one.

So, my dear friends, let's all go and make someone happy today!

"The sun has come out, and the air is vivid with spring light."  —Byron Caldwell Smith
 

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."  —unknown

I Guess I Should Mention...

Warning: this is a personal post. I have hesitated talking about this on my blog because life has been completely crazy for the past several months, but I guess I really should tell y'all that we have moved. Yep. We sold our Rocklin home this past November and are temporarily renting in my childhood home-town a few miles down the road in Loomis. We were fortunate to make a nice profit on the Rocklin place and are going to patiently wait out the roller coaster that is the current real estate market here in NorCal before we buy our next place. 

The reasons for the home sale and move were many-fold. Suffice it to say that both of our children left the nest this past year, and for that and other reasons we decided that we really needed to downsize and plan for our future in a more conservative fashion. So that's what we're doing. The part above where I said we were patiently waiting to purchase our next home? Well, I'm not very good at being patient and this home we're currently renting is just about half the size of the one we just sold and I am missing our big gorgeous remodeled kitchen and all the space we had in our old place and I am learning to be more humble and grateful and will sure as heck appreciate it lots and lots when the time comes to make a new place ours again. Life really is good, and I am not complaining. I have a WONDERFUL husband who loves me and does everything in his power to make me happy. Love you sweetie! I have two amazing, healthy and talented children who are working hard to make their own way in the world, and I am so thankful to be their mama. And I have my work, which is taking me in new directions this year that I am very excited about, and some new incredible opportunities have also come along that may turn into something great for our family, fingers crossed...

So where will this next year take us? We shall see. But I know that everything will work out for the best, and life will go on as it should. No worries. Life is good.

"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."  —Gordon B. Hinckley
 
"Get busy living."  —Stephen King

Bring on the Spring...

Oh my, February was a tough month. I was sick, then Rich got sick, and we had lots going on and life was just kicking our fannies. So I am happy to turn the calendar today to a fresh new month. Hello March! Sweet March gives us the beginning of Spring, and Easter, and lots of things to look forward to. Bring on the Spring! 
 
Today I'm sharing my SPRING design from my "Seasons in Verse" clear stamp set that you can get from Impression Obsession. It's becoming a big favorite - lots of fun and very versatile. Go HERE to get yours today!

"Spring is the time of plans and projects."  —Leo Tolstoy

"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world."  —Virgil Kraft 

"In the spring-time,
The only pretty ring time,
Birds sing, hey ding a-ding ding,
Sweet lovers love the spring!
—William Shakespeare 

More Simplifying...

Life seems to get more and more busy. I thought as I got older I would have more time, but these days the opposite is true. I've decided to occasionally post simple inspirations here on my blog, with little or sometimes no added editorial content from me. Oh look, here's one now. 

I wish you all a wonderful day. Let's go be happy and do good.

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."  —Frank Zappa

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, more and more successful."  —Mark Victor Hansen

"Be an opener of doors."  —Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Word Is: LOVE

Feeling lots of love for my family these days. My kids are doing their best to find their way in life (I am doing my best to let them), and my sweet hubby works so hard every day for all of us. Oh, how I love them! Everything I do is for them. 

So in honor of Valentine's Day this week, here is another 5x7 printable for y'all. Rich, you truly ARE the love of my life, and forever & ever after this life ends. Thanks for loving me!

"Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that."  —Michael Leunig

"Who, being loved, is poor?"  —Oscar Wilde

"Will you love me in December as you do in May,
Will you love me in the good old-fashioned way,
When my hair has all turned gray?"  —James J. Walker

Alive.

Okay, so I thought I had a cold but it was the flu and it was awful and let me tell you there were many times over the past seven or eight days that I seriously wanted to die. Ugh. I am starting to feel a little better but oh my has this been a tough one. I know in the scope of the world my little temporary illness is nothing, and I am very grateful for that, but it has definitely shut me right down and put some things into perspective, that's for sure.

So. Valentine's day is coming and while I am not huge on that sort of thing (we should show our love EVERY day, am I right? I shouldn't have to be told to show my love and spend money on gifts or insist that money be spent on me...), anyway, I thought I'd share a little something today. This will be available later this year as a rubber stamp, but for now here it is as a 5x7 printable. Let me know if you'd like a pdf, or an 8x10, or even another color. I'm easy that way.

Lots of things on my list to get caught up on, and I have almost no energy and I can't breathe very well, but I'd better get to it. Maybe. Just a little. Okay. Here goes. Enjoy your day!

"Where there is love there is life."  —Gandhi