This Is Me!!

This Song “This Is Me” by Keala Settle from the movie,The Greatest Showman, really speaks to me. Let your Freak Flag Fly!!! Be you! Don’t apologize because you aren’t like everyone else! We are all wonderful and unique in our own ways! Celebrate YOU!!! 

Dr. Seuss said it best,

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

This Is Me by Keala Settle from the movie The Greatest Showman

I'm not a stranger to the dark

Hide away, they say

'Cause we don't want your broken parts

I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars

Run away, they say

No one will love you as you are

But I won't let them break me down to dust

I know that there's a place for us

For we are glorious

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

Look out 'cause here I come

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

Another round of bullets hits my skin

Well, fire away 'cause today, I won't let the shame sink in

We are bursting through the barricades

And reaching for the sun (we are warriors)

Yeah, that's what we've become

Won't let them break me down to dust

I know that there's a place for us

For we are glorious

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

Gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

Look out 'cause here I come

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

...This is me

And I know that I deserve your love

There's nothing I'm not worthy of

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

This is brave, this is bruised

This is who I'm meant to be, this is me

Look out 'cause here I come (look out 'cause here I come)

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum (marching on, marching, marching on)

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

(Whenever the words wanna cut me down

I'll send the flood to drown them out)

This is me

Read All About It!

I have written and rewritten this post about a million times! I’m just not able to accurately convey how I feel about this subject. I’m so very passionate about this and it’s literally on my mind all day long!

You’re probably thinking that I must be crazy about the craziest thing. Maybe I am and I don’t mind it at all.

I’m talking about...FOOD!

Again, you’re probably thinking that I’m crazy. Let me set the stage for you...I have 3 Sons and 1 Husband! All they do is eat!

People say, “Of course, Boys eat a lot.” Um...no, my Boys were literally born to eat! They have always been big eaters and they are active, so I let them eat everything! Logan and Mason were going through a growth spurt at the same time and I spent the entire day feeding them! When I was a stay-at-home-mom I cooked 3 meals everyday...for 8 years!

By no means am I complaining, I loved it! I grew up with a Grandma who showed her love through her cooking and a Dad who taught himself how to cook when my Mom went to work. Cooking is not only a vital part of life, but it’s very satisfying as well. Not only do I fill the hungry bellies of my Guys, but it literally makes my heart happy to cook for them.

We like trying all different kinds of food and thankfully with traveling and searching for recipes, we are able to try anything. My Boys are very adventurous with what they eat. Frog legs, sushi, calamari, curry, gator...the list goes on. They have always been good about trying things which is great because then we don’t have to rely on “kid food” when we eat out.

I’m always looking for recipes. One of the first things that I did when I found out that I was pregnant with Logan was to look for recipes that I could easily (and cheaply) double or triple! I know what we like and I know that with the right recipe, I can get them to try new things and like them.

I’m not into “hiding veggies” in my kids food either. When we had the boys, we decided that since we wanted them to be healthy and to eat well, we had to as well. We started them on fruits and veggies from the beginning and it has never been a problem for us. Yes, there are certain things they don’t like, but then we don’t eat them. As I’ve told many people, I am not a short order cook, you eat what is put in front of you and that’s it. I take great care in cooking healthy and tasty food for my family, so no one ever goes hungry.

Let’s be honest, I don’t cook healthy all the time. If we want pizza, then we eat pizza. I try where I can to incorporate as much of the healthy stuff to outweigh the bad. No one is perfect and I certainly don’t try to be.

I love cooking and food so much that almost 2 years ago I joined the Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador Program for the Allrecipes Magazine and Website. It is a volunteer position and I am not compensated for my work. The products received from advertisers are only used for experience-based reviews.

The Allrecipes community is amazing! There are so many home based cooks with different backgrounds that bring a lot of unique and yummy recipes to the table! Recently, my recipe for Spicy Grilled Broccoli was published on the website. Let’s just say, I was super excited!
Food is something so simple but so powerful because it brings people together from across the World to across the table. With food you share your background, your ideas and techniques and your love…it doesn’t get much better than that!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/266399/spicy-grilled-broccoli/

Summer Fun

Pool time at Mom’s with the Family #Family #SundayFunday #HotinOhio

Be Free

I’m not a fan of heights at all. I don’t freeze up and start shaking (no judgements) but I do get extremely nervous. I don’t mind roller coasters. They go so fast that before I know it, my nervousness has changed into excitement! I tell you right now, I will not be sky diving or Clift jumping any time soon.

Having kids, I had to overcome my fears…or at least hide them well. I don’t want my boys scared of everything. I want them to live their lives as fearlessly as possible. Fearless…but not dangerous or stupid.

Now that my boys are getting older, some of my fears have crept out of hiding. They see that I’m a little scared or nervous and they encourage me! They want me to have fun with them! Also, there are times When I’m the only parent able to go with them. What I’m nervous about ends up being an amazing time spent with my Boys!

I don’t want my boys cowering in a corner or hiding in my arms, scared of trying something. I want them to take risks and to enjoy the thrill of the unknown. Just think, if people didn’t take themselves out of their comfort zones, technology wouldn’t be as advanced as it is and there would be nothing thrilling or fun to do!

No one would know who Steve Jobs was because he wouldn’t have done anything to know about. No one would have seen Evel Knievel do his amazing stunts if he just sat around and did nothing in his life. Life would be so boring!

I do want my boys to be safe, but I know that I can’t protect them from everything forever. I want them to work hard and to enjoy their lives! I want them to be able to do everything they want to do in life!

Sometimes, the best adventures are the ones that scare us the most.

Playing with Yarn

I went to Hobby Lobby several weeks ago for the HUGE yarn sale. I found 3 skeins of I Love This Cotton. I had been meaning to try it, since they were on sale ($.82!) and the same color, I went for it! I have been working with a lot of cotton yarn for potholders lately, so I’m used to the feel of the yarn. I like the feel of ILTY, but it doesn’t work as well for potholders. So I set it aside and started to brainstorm.

Eureka! I can make a Market Bag! I started scouring Pinterest for patterns of bags and found some that looked pretty simple...and once I looked at the patterns, they weren’t so simple. I started playing around with the yarn and decided that I would make my own Market Bag. I figured that the worst thing that would happen would be that I had to frog the whole thing and put it away until I wanted to try again.

I kept working at it and surprisingly, I didn’t frog once! I made the whole bag and the strap in a matter of days! I’ll have to make another one and actually write down the pattern, but here is the finished product!

Sisters

Sisters are a great thing to have in your life! They are our first friends and sometimes you realize that they are your only friends.

Two years, 10 months and 3 days after Angela was born, I showed up and made her a Sister. I’m not sure that she was exactly thrilled about my arrival, but I wasn’t going anywhere. I was definitely the little sister who was always tagging along and wanting to hang out with my Sissy and all of her cool friends. Angela, on the other hand, wanted me to get lost. 

We were the sisters who always bickered over everything. Sometimes we would get along, but more times than not, we were fighting over something silly. Angela and I are complete opposites. Angela is the firstborn, so she has always been very organized, goal oriented, and would always follow the rules. I, being the youngest child, was messy, did what I wanted and broke the rules every chance I got. 

We are two Peas in the same Pod...but we are vastly different Peas. This caused a lot of issues, but now we have been able to appreciate out differences. I now seek Angela’s calm and wise council, while she can now understand my craziness...well, a little bit! Differences make the world go ‘round and maturity is terrific!

After growing up with one sister, I have been blessed with receiving 5 more sisters through marriage!

Andréa is only about 5 months younger than me. She is tall, gorgeous (Hello! She’s a Model!), and just the sweetest girl in the world!

Sara is the youngest. I had the privilege of watching her grow up from elementary school to young adulthood.

Sophie is my newest sister. Though I don’t know her that well, I would best describe her as a Fairy, mixed with a Unicorn with a little bit of sass thrown in! Sophie is sweet, funny and very eclectic.

Kim and Christine are John’s stepsisters. We don’t see then all that often, but they are always so welcoming when we get together.

I have an interesting mix of Sisters. There is Beauty in Diversity...especially when it comes to Sisters!