This is the story of my life right now. I used to draw almost daily in high school and then stopped for 10 years once I moved to college and got distracted with life. Since getting married, I have discovered I love making art again. Sure it's super amateur, but it's mine and I made it. I'm extremely proud of it. Here are 2 of my fun little stabs at being artistic. I even painted that frame!

I friggin love bookstores. Not just because books are cool, or because I met my husband for our first date at one, or because books smell good. It's because you can find AWESOME stuff there to expand your mind!

WHO DOESN'T LOVE A GOOD MIND EXPANSION NOW AND THEN?!

The bookstore we went to had the classics for super cheap! And they are in... wait for it... HARDCOVER. Hell yes! Can I get an AMEN?! Hardcovers are my favorite type of covers.

Got this masterpiece tonight for under $7. Can't wait to read all 682 pages of the crazy stories the Grimms came up with.


Mr. Awesome and I love to go to book stores. He's getting all programmy lately in computers, so we got him a cool book to teach him those skills. I also got a book on how to become a better blogger. Let's see how well it teaches me!

Anyone have any good books to recommend for me? I love fiction, WW2, and DIY stuff.

I have no idea what spawned a really funny dream I had the other night. Here's the story:

I was riding in a fancy train car through some country I've never been in. Everyone in the car was having a blast, but no matter how much I tried to join their groups they wouldn't let me in. I tried befriending them, but nope! I started to feel dejected and frustrated. That night in the train car, a group was watching a movie and I wanted to watch too. They said, "Ain't no skinnies be watchin' with us!" This was because all of them were large, curvaceous women. In my defense I tried to teach them how to be respectful to people of all sizes, and let them know that just because they'd been mistreated all their lives for being overweight, that rejecting me because of my appearance was just repeating the problem behavior! 

It didn't work.

They laughed me out of the room, and I decided to just go hang out by myself. I started eating a bunch of fried chicken that was sitting on the table nearby to feed my woes, and I could hear them all muttering, "Who does she think she is, like we'll feel bad for her, she may not have friends, but her thighs will never be huge! She doesn't even know us at all!" 

And then I woke up.  Probably one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had. If not the weirdest, it's at least  up there next to the frog detective that keeps chasing me, or the one involving care bears letting me float with them in a hot air balloon. All that one consists of is pure peaceful floating with some fuzzy, loving bear friends. I guess I've always had an overactive brain in my sleep. Must be why I'm always sleepy!

So, that dream got me thinking all about food all day long. That night I came home and made a huge batch of my new favorite food -- chicken and black bean burritos. I make a large batch of them and throw them in the freezer. Then whenever I'm hungry, or Justin is hungry, we just pop one in the microwave for 2 minutes! They are SO MUCH better than any store bought burrito I've ever had.



Here's my recipe:

LANA'S AMAZING BURRITOS

• Boiled and shredded boneless chicken
• Black beans
• Diced canned chiles
• Shredded cheese
• Tortillas

Just boil the chicken and shred it with beaters (it will save you tons of time!) Then open the cans of chiles and black beans, and stir them all together with the chicken in a huge bowl. Then pile a blob of the mix into a tortilla, add some cheese, and wrap it up! I wrap my burritos in foil for the freezer, but I'm trying to find a less wasteful method, so if anyone knows one, send it my way!

Y'all should try it and tell me what you think! Or come up with another recipe (this was all my own from what I know I like) and send it to me. I love food, so help a blonde out ok?

I should have shared one of my favorite quotes with the "Forgiveness" post. The advice in it is priceless. The quote is pinned on my desk at work, and I need to get a fancy framed copy of it for my home. It is the best advice anyone can ever take.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope we can all remember to forgive ourselves of our blunders and absurdities.

And since I'm on such a positive kick, I'll post my favorite pick me up song.  I've loved it since I was an awkward 17 year old getting knocked around by the emotional torment of high school.  If I ever feel low or like I'm trudging along through the mud pits of life... this song always makes me feel awesome. Of course it must be loud, and must be danced to. That is the only rule.

You know why I love animals? They love you no matter what. One time Justin and I were watching a show at the end of a long awful day. We were eating hot soup and finally relaxing. Justin got up to get something and accidentally spilled his drink on the carpet. He got frustrated because the spill was the icing on the cake of our horrible, no good, very bad day. In his frustration, he chucked a pillow and it hit the blinds causing a really loud noise.

Our cat, terrified by the sudden outburst of noise, attempted to flee the scene. Only he couldn't easily get out of there because I was sitting on the couch blocking his smooth getaway. He clambered over me, scratched my arm deeply in several places and caused me to spill my hot soup on my lap. Then Justin chased him out of the house for being a punk and causing problems. Poor scared kitty!!! (But can we say awesome protective husband? Nobody hurts his woman. Nobody. Hahaha!)

Shortly after this crazy chain reaction, we both felt bad for him and let him back in the house. He was neither angry nor skittish around us. He was just stoked to have cuddle time with his friends.

I wish people were more like this. Sometimes they are, but more often than not it takes more than 5 seconds for someone to be over it when you hurt them. A lot of times it takes even longer to forgive OURSELVES for pain we have caused. I know whenever I make mistakes, I berate myself for it for hours or days. I just feel I should know better than to do wrong. (How dare I be human!?) But animals just know we are all animals. We all react in situations whether for good or bad. So they forgive us a million times over and instantly.

To finish the story, the spill that caused the chain reaction actually had us laughing in the end. Who would've thought all of that would happen in a matter of 5-10 seconds? I know I was stunned when I was sitting there with a lap full of hot soup.

The moral of the story is, I love Justin and I love this cat. And we're a happy family. Oh... and forgiving is important!