Perfect Vegetable Soup

Are you hoping to get a little healthier in 2015? I have a great tip…when you're hungry between meals, eat homemade vegetable soup!  

I got this tip from a friend a few months ago and it's saved me over and over again. I try to make it every weekend and snack on it throughout the week when I just can't seem to feel satisfied. It's great for a meal, but it's an even better NO GUILT snack between meals.

This is a very loose recipe, and all quantities can be adjusted up or down, depending on your preference. DO NOT be intimidated by the long list of ingredient…this is super easy!

Perfect Vegetable Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil (or avocado oil)

1 onion, diced

5-6 stalked celery, diced

6 oz. can tomato paste

1 bag baby carrots, cut in half or quartered

1 can diced tomatoes, with juice (15 oz)

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth*

2 cups water

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf (if you have one)

3-4 zucchinis or yellow squash (or combo), cut into coins and again in 1/2

16 oz bag frozen green beans (large handful)

** leftover meat or veggies

Add the oil, onion and celery to a large pot and cook until the vegetables are translucent. (about 5-7 minutes) 

Stir in the tomato paste (will be very thick), then add carrots, diced tomatoes, broth, garlic, oregano and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. 

Add zucchini, squash, and green beans. Simmer another 30 minutes, then taste the broth to see if it needs salt. If so, add 1-2 tsp salt to taste. (salt content will depend on the broth you use) Remove the bay leaf, when you find it!

* If there's not enough broth, add more. If there's too much, add more vegetables.

** You can change the flavor of this soup, week after week, by throwing in last night's leftover meat, diced, or any vegetables you have in your fridge. 

It's Official: Big Christmas Announcement

After days and weeks of weighing the pros and cons, praying, talking, talking some more, praying some more…we've finally made the decision to move to Dallas. I'm still having trouble believing it. I was convinced Mike would get cold feet and want to stay in our nice, cozy, predictable, Phoenix life.

On our trip out there, I had gotten to a place where I was honestly fine staying or going, but I still felt more led to give it a try. I left the final decision up to Mike. I've told him for a couple of weeks that he could make the decision, but within the last week, I was truly fine either staying or going, whatever he thought was best for our family. 

As of a conversation with his V.P. on Tuesday night, he decided we should relocate. Then he proceeded to toss and turn all night, wondering if he made the right choice. 

Here we are, two days later, and he's already feeling better about it. Nervous about all that we have to do, skeptical about how his job will change in the upcoming weeks, uneasy about leaving our comfortable life and the only city he's ever lived in, but we're going. I still seems a little surreal that we've made the final decision. 

We'll put the house on the market, hopefully sell it in a couple of months and probably move in March or April. That's our timeline, anyway. We'll see if God has different plans. 

Merry Christmas to all! 

#57 - Clean out the paperwork in my file cabinet

#57 is completed from my 101 in 1001 list. Exciting? No. Done? YES!

Since it's been so long since I cleaned out the paperwork in our file cabinet (at least 3 years), it wasn't much effort to grab entire folders of past insurance information, tax documents, receipts, and other things that we no longer need and dump them into a bag to recycle. Don't come running to my house to steal my identity, though…we're definitely shredding the tax documents. ;)

I did have fun flipping through old college papers I wrote (why I kept them, I'm not sure…maybe because I spent so many hours researching and writing them?) - and even found a story or two that I wrote when I was Kaylin's age. I can't wait to show the kids in the morning. Hilarious! My mom is not a pack rat (like *ahem* apparently I am) so I don't have many elementary keepsakes left. I might have to hang onto these two, just because I can!

Goodbye, unnecessary paper clutter!

#38 - Pre-plan my three most important tasks for the day every evening before bed for a month

I have developed a new strategy for tackling my daily to do list. Every night for a week, as planned, I wrote out 2-3 time-sensitive tasks that I wanted to get done the following day. To that, I started adding one non-time-sensitive task that I'd inevitably been putting off "until I had time to do it." Which, let's be honest, is NEVER. 

I'm tackling all of the big and small things on my list. Get a bedskirt made with the fabric that's been collecting dust for years? Done. Put felt on the bottom of the kitchen chairs so they slide more easily? Done.

I've even been completing items that have been pinned on my Pinterest boards. I added a sticky magnetic strip to the inside of my bathroom drawer to hold all of my bobby pins in one place. Genius, right? Not my idea…Pinterest. I also updated the old, oak frames hanging in my hallway with a coat of black spray paint and they look brand new. LOVE them!

And have you noticed that I'm suddenly tackling my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list again? Yeah. This is how I'm plowing through those items. The frame above my bed that's been broken for 5 years? Done. Schedule laser eye surgery? Done. Special dates with the kids? Done. Invite neighbors over for dinner? Done. 

I was shocked at the weight that was lifted from my shoulders when some of these longer term to-do items began disappearing, one at a time. I usually add one extra household project - sometimes big, sometimes small - to our schedule each weekend. Too easily, things pile up and I get so overwhelmed that I hide to avoid it all. My friend DutchMac calls it "Ostrich Syndrome". Pretty much sums it up!

I also discovered the beautiful option of categorizing my to do lists in my iPhone. This way, when I want to sit down and get some work done, I open my Tastefully Simple to do list. If I'm feeling crafty or want to do things around the house? There's a list for that, too. Out and about? I can run an errand on the way home.

It's my own little piece of hyper-organized, OCD heaven. 

#38 is crossed off my 101 in 1001 list!

Being a Sheep

In most situations, I'm pretty on top of things. I know what's going on, where we're going, what I need to bring with me, etc. There are very few instances where I blindly follow someone else in charge.

As a homemaker, I'm constantly aware of the next meal that needs to be prepared, which groceries we need, which chores should be completed next.

As a homeschool mom, there always seems to be checklist in my head of the items we've accomplished and topics that still need to be discussed.

In my Tastefully Simple business, no one is going to do my job for me, so if I don't bring my A-game, my parties are unsuccessful and my income suffers.

Get the idea? Is it the same in your world? 

I'll never forget overhearing a former co-worker asking her husband to grab milk on his way home from work. He called back from the dairy aisle asking which kind of milk he should buy, because there were so many options. My co-worker replied, "You seriously don't know which kind of milk we buy? You open the refrigerator every day, pour yourself a glass out of the carton, and you can honestly tell me you don't know if we drink 2%, 1% or skim!?!?!?" She was appalled.

Personally, I remember feeling like she was pretty harsh on him. But now, 11 years later, I can officially understand how that happened. 

I went on two trips this summer where I made virtually no decisions and was "along for the ride", so to speak. I felt like a sheep…responsible for nothing, all I needed to do was comply with already-made plans.

First, I went to Kansas City for my high school reunion. The reunion events were all planned out, and friends had coordinated times where we could get together before or after to catch up in a more intimate setting. All weekend long, I was literally told where to go and what time to be there, and I just showed up. It was incredibly freeing to not have to be in charge of anything for four days. 

Then in August, I went to Baltimore for our Tastefully Simple annual conference. I traveled with a couple of girls from my team, one of which is very organized, like me. But I let her be in charge of details like transportation to and from the airport, our hotel reservations, things like that. Her authority continued after we arrived. I was so clueless that, at one point, I walked in the complete opposite direction from our hotel to the convention center. It was the first time I had to be there earlier than the other girls and I should have walked left, but instead walked right. 

With no one to guide me, I was a lost sheep in downtown Baltimore. 

Toward the end of the trip, when I realized how little I was using my brain all weekend, I drew the parallel between me in that moment and my former co-worker's husband. Or many spouses of go-getter significant others, for that matter. When one partner takes the bull by the horns, I can see how the other would think, "Why bother? She/He's got it figured out."

I am that go-getter. Not to say that Mike is a sheep, by any means. But now I understand why he asks seemingly "silly" questions now and then. He's just along for the ride, in many cases. He's become comfortable there.

It was kind of fun to be in that position a couple of different times this summer! Contrary to popular belief, I do not need to be in the driver's seat all of the time. I am very comfortable being told what to do, as long as someone else takes control.

Vacations when I'm not in charge are definitely my new favorite. 

#2 - Fix the frame of the collage above our bed

This is so sad. SO PATHETIC. 

While I was pregnant with Jason (you know…my kid who just turned 5…) the stucco on the outside of our house was torn off and replaced because of a builder defect. I remember laying in bed, trying to take one of those, "I'm so pregnant that all I want to do is sleep" naps while a team of men pounded away on the other side of the wall of my bed. I hid under a pillow - it was a good thing - when suddenly the frame from around the border of my over-the-bed decor began falling down. On top of me. 

I decided to do a thicker frame…after Jason was born. Now here we are, 5 years later, and I just finally got around to finishing this project. It just hasn't been a priority, to be honest. No matter how simple it seemed. 

This was the 2009 "done" picture…

A couple of weeks ago, our pastor at church was talking about laziness and how even though everyone is so "busy" these days, often we don't get around to the things that are most important. Or the little things on our to do list that don't seem important, but weigh us down. 

This project was one of those things for me. 

That day, I bought two 8' pieces of baseboard to replace the frame. That next week, I had my friend's husband cut it for me and took several trips back and forth to Lowe's and Home Depot getting the right adhesive for this never-ending project. 

Then today, Mike and I were ready to put the frame up. But, sure enough, I was sloppy with my measurements for the friend who cut the baseboards for me and there was about a 1/2 inch of green showing outside of the frame. (*sigh*)

So I taped it off and painted it. Then let it dry. 

I was determined to get this stupid thing done TO-DAY. Mike eventually hung the frame, but where I originally placed the 12x12 foam squares wasn't centered, so the top part of the frame left no green border to be seen. That had to be moved. No problem, because I used the amazing Command Damage-Free Hanging Strips. I pre-planned for mistakes!

And finally…FINALLY…I think this project is totally complete. I'm not going to comment about the fact that I think the white is too light against the tan wall because it's done. DONE. I could mess around with the centering of the squares a little more, but I'm sick of trying to make it perfect. It's done. For now.

(plus, I want to eventually paint our bedroom…)

#2 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days is complete! I'm just going to have to live with it!!!

#7 - (Dare I say...?) Have another baby OR totally come to terms with the fact that we are complete as a family of five.

I just realized I never posted about this, but #7 is crossed off my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list. Back in May, I thought I might be pregnant. I was late. Really late. And for the first time in more than a decade, I took a pregnancy test and was relieved that it was negative. It was a weird moment for me.

I sat there for that long "three minutes" realizing how comfortable I've become with how independent my kids are. They can get themselves breakfast when Mike and I sleep in Sunday mornings. They are learning to cook and clean and stay organized and they are so much less needy as each week passes.  They help pick up and shop and are valuable contributors to our household, instead of just adorable little rollie pollies. We have a good little routine going, the kids and I, with school, chores, and throughout the week. 

Then I saw the little pink line, without a plus sign, and sighed a very surprised sigh of relief. 

I am still very, very open to adoption down the road, but for now, I am okay with our family of five. Kaylin still desperately wants a baby sister, but as she gets older, I don't think she realizes how big of an age gap there would be if we had a baby in the near future. 

So I am crossing this one off the list. I don't plan to get pregnant anytime soon, and since the clock is ticking, I think I'm starting to run out of time to have another baby in my tummy. And I think I'm okay with that.

It's hard to believe that the last time I was pregnant was more than five years ago. It seems like an eternity!

Getting the Kids Involved in ALL THOSE Pinterest Ideas

I recently found a great blog post about 8 Genius Ideas for your Homeschool. The list was great, whether you homeschool or not. We already do a couple of the ideas, but I think we're going to incorporate the first one: "Home Ec Day". 

It got me thinking about an idea of my own I came up with recently. I have so many great blog posts and articles pinned on my Pinterest board, but sometimes have trouble fitting in fun things like science experiments and craft projects. 

So I've made my kids responsible for them. 

Once a week, 10-year old Ryan looks through my "Weird Science" Pinterest Board and picks an experiment that he wants to do with the kids. He's in charge of preparing it and gathering the supplies. Then Kaylin, my 8-year old budding artist, is in charge of planning a craft for her brothers. 

While Ryan or Kaylin is in charge, their siblings practice taking direction from them, listening to instructions, and showing them respect. 

Now all I have to do is find something for Jason to be in charge of so he can have a sense of control in his little life!

(if you're interested in following me on Pinterest, click here)