WASH THE WINDOWS

I am reading a book right now that I'm sure some of you have read before. It is Home Improvement by Dayle Allen Shockley. It's a really cute, practical every day living book. It compares home cleaning and organizing skills to our actions and daily living. The last chapter I read was Wash The Windows, and it was about keeping a cheerful attitude. I loved the way she ended the chapter, and thought I'd share.

*Hi, my name is __________, and I am a full-fledged, bona fide grumbler.
*I am solely responsible for my irritating behavior. Not my spouse. Not my children. Not my mother. Not my father. Not my circumstances.
*I have chosen to allow other people's behavior and life's annoying situations to dictate my mood and my reactions.
*I have chosen to speak the words I speak and the tone of voice in which I speak them.
*Therefore, I can choose to stop allowing other people's behavior and life's annoying situations to dictate my mood and my reactions.
*I can choose to speak with a gentle and cheerful voice, even if I think it might kill me.
*I can choose to speak positive and uplifting words to my family, friends, and strangers.
*I can do all things through Christ.
*I will start today.

She also goes on to say, "Life is not the way it's supposed to be, it's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

Excited About Cooking

I am so excited about this blog I came across yesterday in search of a specific recipe. I love to cook, but a lot of times I need motivation because I get tired of the same things. My husband really gets excited about new recipes so I usually try for one or two new things when planning my two week menu. However, this is always such a big job it seems. I use spreadsheets for almost everything I do, and that includes my grocery list, & menu. So I sit down with my computer in front of me and piles of cookbooks surrounding me in search of new recipes almost every two weeks. I truly love cookbooks and looking through them, but mostly if they have pictures! Well even in doing this it is so much work to make my menu, because another thing about me is I love variety. My friends that have shopped with me know this is so true! This "variety" carries over in my menu planning. I will not plan two similar meals in a two week period. This goes for things like Italian, Pasta's, Casseroles, Mexican, etc. I also will not cook the same meat two consecutive nights in a row. I know that is kinda crazy, but I like to have different things if I'm going to take the time to cook. So now that I have said all that I can tell you the reason I love the new blog! For the Love of Cooking has lots of pictures! I love how she even takes pictures of the ingredients for most of her recipes. Sometimes it is hard to find a new ingredient that you have never used before so this works great to be able to see it before going to the store. Not all of her recipes are totally healthy ones but with what I have seen it is obvious that she tends to think healthy in her cooking. I noticed she uses mostly organic foods and does things to avoid frying. I never have been a big frying person my self because it is so bad for you and it makes such a big mess. She has several different categories of foods which makes for tons of options. I love that I can just sit down and within clicks, cutting and pasting I have recipes with pictures in my documents, and I can put the ingredients into my grocery list easily. I'm sure there are a lot more cooking blogs out there, but this happens to be the first one I have even looked at I think and it meets so many of my likes that I am just excited about it!