Help for the Miller Family

You all know that I am in the process of adopting a child.  You also may know that last summer I ran a raffle on my blog to raise money to pay our portion of the adoption costs that my oh-so-amazingly generous friend is not covering.  In one week we raised over $6,000, which will hopefully more than cover our costs.  We look forward to getting to pass on any unused portion to another family waiting to adopt.

A good friend of mine, Alissa from Rags to Stitches, was inspired by your generosity and has felt led to help some friends of her's, the Miller family, who are currently in the process of their second adoption.




Alissa's giveaway is going on all week long, so be sure to stop by Alissa's blog and check out the fantastic prizes that you could win, including a *fabulous calendar* from Much Ado About You, of course!

Just for a little added encouragement to participate in Alissa's giveaway, I have a super fantastic deal for you!

So here's the deal:

If you blog about Alissa's fundraiser, I will give you a $10 credit towards a Much Ado About You planner.
If you post about it on Facebook, I will give you a $5 credit towards a Much Ado About You planner.
If you tweet about it, I will give you a $5 credit towards a Much Ado About You planner.

If you do all three, you could get a planner for nearly half-price!

*You must include a link to Alissa's blog <http://www.ragstostitchesboutique.com> in your posting.*

Leave a comment here letting me know what you did, then email me a link to your blog posting and/or a screenshot of your Facebook or Twitter posting, and I will send you an email with instructions on how to use your credit.

Dinner in for a Rainy Friday

It's raining here in Southern California.  And it's cold.  I realize that for those of you that live in the areas of the country that regularly see temperatures in the teens, 47 degrees may not seem cold.  But to a woman that was born and raised and still lives in Southern California... I'm freezing!

So what better than another Quick Fix Dinner Idea for a rainy Friday evening?

Today I am going to show you perhaps the quickest and easiest recipe I have:

Teriyaki Chicken and Noodles

What you will need:

Frozen Teriyaki Chicken from Costco
Egg Noodles
Butter
Parmesan Cheese
Lawry's Seasoning Salt

...that's it.

Boil water and add egg noodles.

Don't forget to add salt to your water.  You should always salt your pasta water, although I recently read somewhere {from a trusted source that I now cannot remember} that you should add it after you add the pasta.

Heat oil in a fry pan and add the frozen chicken.  {The box at Costco comes with the bags of chicken.  One is probably enough for two people... I always cook both.}

When the egg noodles are nearly finished your chicken should also be heated through.  Add the Teriyaki packets to the chicken pan.

Drain your noodles.  {I don't like to dirty extra dishes, so I don't bother with a strainer.}

Add butter,

Lots of parmesan,

and seasoning salt to the noodles.

Serve.

A Simple Quote

"If God was {small} enough for me to figure out, He wouldn't be {big} enough for me to worship."

JB Phillips

WIWW

Here it is!  My very first What I Wore Wednesday. 

White cotton top from Nordstrom {$38}

Pink Tank from Nordstrom BP {$14}

Jeans by CAbi {$98}

Pinstripe Slip-ons by Roxy {$38}

 

Green 3/4 Cardie from Nordstrom BP {$24}

White Tee from Nordstrom BP {$20}

Skinny Jeans by Vigoss {$58}

Scarf from Nordstrom BP {$18}

Frencchh Boots by Steve Madden {gift... retail for $149}

Black Long Sleeve Henley from Old Navy {too old to remember}

Plaid Top from Nordstrom BP {gift}

Skinny Jeans by Vigoss {$58}

Black Scarf from Nordstrom BP {$15}

Linderr Boots by Steve Madden {gift... retail for $199}

I am realizing two things from this posting: {1} I shop at Nordstrom a lot. and {2} I like Steve Madden and am ever so grateful that people know that and give me his shoes.

Now, at the risk of sounding incredibly hoaky, I must say that while I find fashion fun and a great creative outlet, I also realize that this is extremely superficial.  The most important accessory that I try to put on everyday is a smile {wow... that really sounds incredibly hoaky}.  I just think that nothing makes you look and feel better that a good attitude.  Some days I fail {Marlo, Jen and Donna would attest to the fact that yesterday was one of those days... I had a printer tantrum again}.  But some days, even when I am feeling sad or stressed or frustrated, I remember what it makes me feel like to see other people smiling, and it reminds me to put on my best accessory {yellowing teeth and all}.  And you know what... it makes me feel better.

No, I am Not a Stalker

Okay, well maybe just a little.

I recently revealed that I once met Justin Timberlake.  Now I will tell you the story of how that happened to occur.

So it was 2002.  Brooke's oldest was a baby, and I don't think I was pregnant yet.  *NSYNC was playing a concert that night at our local venue.

We happened to have a friend {who shall remain nameless} that was currently working at the Ritz Carlton and may have given us a little tip that a certain boy band might be staying at their hotel. 

So Brooke, her baby, her mom and I spent the rest of the day hanging out in the hotel lobby waiting for the boys to stroll through.  One at time, they began trickling through... Joey, that other one that no one remembers, and finally JT.

Somehow we talked Brooke into approaching him.  She asked if we could get a picture, and he said he couldn't do pictures, but he would sign anything we brought him.  Brooke came running back over to us and we madly sifted through our purses looking for things he could sign.  {No, we had not prepared ourselves for this little outing.}

As we walked back over to him the hotel staff approached us and very sternly scolded us, telling us we were not to bother their guests.  JT saw what was happening, said it was fine, and waved us over. 

He was super nice, way taller than I expected, and even more handsome.

Turns out that was the day that it hit the news that he and Brittany had broken up.  Had I known when we were talking, I would have offered a shoulder to cry on or something. 

I just remembered a funny thing that happened that night at the concert.  {Yes, I went to the concert.  I am that girl.}  I was sitting with my friend Kailynn, and we had pretty good seats.  We were just a few rows back from the stage.  To our right, there was a couple sitting in the front row of the side seats.  A few people started to approach them and we realized it was Corey Feldman and his wife.  Then we heard the girls next to us say, "Who's Corey Feldman?" in their very best valley girl accents.

It was at the moment that we realized that we were too old to be at an *NSYNC concert.  My stalking days were over. 

I have lots of other embarrassing celebrity sightings {I do live in Southern California} that I will tell you about someday.

8 Random Things

I was going to tell you 10 random things about myself this morning, but I have only come up with 8 and I have to leave to go take my niece to her My Gym class.

So here are 8 Random Things:

1.  I am 33 years old and if I stopped dying my hair it would be mostly grey.  I'm not kidding.

2.  I hate the color purple, but I wear it a lot.  I think purple looks nice on brunettes with brown eyes.

3.  Even though I do not have any fallopian tubes and I am on birth control, last week I actually thought I might be pregnant because my belly was so big.  In actuality, I think that the late night Doritos and candy for breakfast are catching up with me.

4.  I hated my wedding dress.  The night that I went for my final fitting I cried and my sister {who may be the nicest person on the planet} yelled at the Seamstress because she was only making matters worse.

5.  Two and a half years ago I woke up from surgery to be told that my doctor had to remove both of my fallopian tubes.  That night I was in my bed puking from the anesthesia and super sad that any chance of a natural pregnancy was now permanently removed, but I had my husband and my two best friends with me, and it is actually one of my fondest memories.  It was a moment in time that I will never forget.

6.  I keep telling Nathan that when we are exorbitantly wealthy I want him to surprise me by having Candace Olsen come and decorate my entire house.  He says he's sure she's not busy because Full House ended a long time ago.  I tell him that he is thinking of Candace Cameron and Ashley & Mary Kate Olsen, but I am talking about Candace Olsen.  We have had this same conversation multiple times.

7.  When I was in Junior High, my mom and sister won a contest to have a date with a Soap Opera star, Matthew Ashford who played Jack on Days of our Lives.  They had such a great time on the date, that we were all invited to come to a taping on the closed set of the show.  So I have been to Salem.

8.  My very first job was passing out balloons as the Easter Bunny at our local Hallmark Store.

I Heart my Mom

I am so excited to share something with you all! 

But first let me tell you that I happen to have the most incredible mom on the planet {sorry... mine's the best}.  I am extremely grateful for such an amazing relationship with my mom, and I can truly say that it is the most easy relationship that I have.  My mom and I are very similar, except that she is not at all controlling {which is probably why our relationship works}.  She is my cheerleader, my encourager, my counselor, my mentor, and my friend.

A couple of years ago my mom decided that she wanted to start a daily devotional with my sister and myself that we could do by email, as a way of connecting each morning around God's word.  We started out going through the New Testament.  Along the way several friends and family members joined us, each morning being encouraged by my mother's thoughtful responses to what we were reading.  Last year we went through Psalms.  This year we have begun to sift through my favorite chapter of the bible, Genesis. 

Have you ever read Genesis?  It is the best book!  Anyone that thinks that the bible is boring should check out Genesis!  It's better than any daytime soap opera.  There is mystery, intrigue, murder, infidelity, infertility, consequences, wrath, revenge... it's fascinating!

Anywho... last year for Mother's Day my sister and her husband bought my mom a domain, and tried to get her started blogging her daily messages.  She hesitated.  We all encouraged her because there were so many people joining our study everyday, it would be much easier for others to share this experience with their friends if they just had a website to log on to.  She hesitated some more.  We explained that this was not to bring her glory, but to share this amazing journey with even more women.  She still hesitated.

Last week I finally had some free time on my hands, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I went back through all the emails she has sent out since the beginning of the year {since we stared Genesis}, and posted them to her blog.  I then contacted my friends at Designer Blogs and ordered a darling little layout to make things pretty.  Then came the challenging part... I had to teach my mom how to blog.  Eek!

The good news is that she is figuring it out.

Please check out her blog meet Me in the morning.  {The capital M in Me is for God, not my mom... just to clarify.}

My mom does not believe that anyone would want to follow along as some old lady babbles about the bible, so let's show her!  {She is not old, by the way, although she would love to tell you a story about how I recently called her old.  She tells everyone that story.}

Please become a follower and join us on this journey.  I have so enjoyed reading her messages each morning, and I know you will too.  I do it while I dry my hair {I have just enough time to read her message and Lysa TerKeurst's blog, and catch up on the world with my FoxNews ap}.  I have already studied Genesis at length, {I went through Beth Moore's The Patriarchs study twice... another one I highly recommend}, but I am learning all sorts of amazing and interesting facts about our God and our heritage each day. 

If you have never read Genesis, this is a great excuse.  If you have never read the bible, what better place to start than in the beginning???  You can start with the very beginning {her first blog post} or you can join us where we are today {Genesis 9}.

Tell your friends.

Get your bibles.

Come meet us all in the morning!