a few things i need to remember about being an adult

Recently I've been navigating a new experience. The experience is unimportant, really, but the lessons are not. Here are a few things I'm learning, or re-learning, of late, and would be wise to remember:

you just can't always know how people will react to a scenario //  You think you know people, like really really know them, and then they do something to make you go, Huh? Didn't see that coming. People have all sorts of factors, internal and external, that contribute to the decisions they make in any given moment. They are complex beings, and will forever surprise us, and challenge us to better understand them.

and that's what living in community looks like //  When God made humans, the crowning glory of his creation, he made us all different. On purpose. Because one day, he would use those differences to refine us. Those differences force us to exercise compassion and empathy and forgiveness, and although it hurts, it's what pleases the Lord.

the flesh is hard to fight //  It's easy to rant and rail about how selfish people are, question their motives, wonder about trusting them ever again, and fantasize about blowing up in their face. That's your flesh talking. But the hard thing, and usually the right thing, is the opposite of all of that, and following through on that will always be a battle against your flesh.

doing the right thing doesn't always yield immediate reward, and it might not yield earthly reward at all //  I made a decision and followed through on what I believed to be the right decision, and just as I started to feel good about that, it bit me. There was some fallout that was not earth-shattering, but enough to make me angry, and very aware that doing the right thing hardly ever leads to warm and fuzzy feelings.

keep some wise people around you to affirm those right decisions //  When you're feeling not-so-warm-and-fuzzy, and defeated, and telling yourself that the world is a terrible place, it's important to have some cheerleaders in your corner for pep talks. And those people probably were the ones to encourage you to the do the right thing in the first place. They are winners. Work hard at having them around.

Being an adult is hard sometimes. What lessons have been your hardest to learn?

thankful thursday #171 {crock pot comfort}

This has been a week where I craved, and needed, comfort food like a crazy person. And anyone who knows me, knows that carbs + cheese = my coziest comfort. This recipe has it all rolled into one crock pot, and it has made me happy and thankful this week, many times over.

Now listen, save the chicken, there's not one healthy thing in here, so eat it sparingly (or not, if your week was like mine). But when you do it eat, indulge in its comfort!

Crock Pot Comfort
Serves 6-8

1 32-oz. pkg. frozen tater tots
1 small pkg. bacon pieces (or 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed into 1/2" pieces
salt and pepper

preparation
Season your chicken with salt and pepper. (You could shake a little garlic powder on there, too, for good measure if you'd like.)

assembly
Into your crock pot (mine is a 6-quart), layer like this, from the bottom up:

1/2 the bag of tater tots
1/3 of the bacon
1 c. of cheese
all the chicken (make sure the pieces are in a single layer)
1/3 of the bacon
1 c. of cheese
Rest of the tater tots
Rest of the bacon
Rest of the cheese

cooking
Cook on low for 4 hours. Check to be sure your chicken is done, and if you need to, cook it for 30 minutes more. Mine was good after 4 hours, but be double sure.

enjoying
You know what to do from here. Just scoop that bacon-y, cheesy, carb-tastic goodness onto your plate and savor it. (Maybe a green salad on the side would make you feel better about it all, but I doubt it.)

Wishing you a comforting meal this weekend, friends! Go on, be grateful!

thankful thursday #170

Do you know that feeling, when you find a twenty dollar bill in your jacket pocket from last winter?

That is a happy day.

That was not my day today, but I did find a tube of red lipstick and the coinciding gloss in a jacket pocket today, which, frankly, was better than feeling a twenty dollar bill under my fingers.

I've been looking for those for three months! Now that is a happy day.

There are some days when a good red lipstick just makes a girl feel better, and when it turns up after three months, I can feel grateful for that, no?

But it gets better.

This morning after a meeting downtown, I left my car in a parking deck and rode with my boss to another meeting in Mississippi. We arrived back to the parking deck tonight around 7:30.

I gathered my belongings from his car -- empty water bottles, notebooks, my heels I had replaced with flats for the ride home (no shame here), purse, iPhone -- made a stop at the garbage can, and headed to my car. He watched me to my car (because a downtown parking deck at night can be a little sketchy), I dropped my things into the backseat, climbed in, and locked my doors responsibly.

Per usual, I reached for my iPhone so it could charge a bit on my way home, but it was nowhere to be found. I searched my pockets and all the spaces it could be, retraced my steps, and felt nervous at my predicament.

I felt confident it would be in my boss's car, but naturally after having seen me safely to my car, he had left for home.

I decided to go to his house, push through the embarrassment, and ask if I could search his car.

I did. No luck.

With his wife's iPhone, I used the Find My iPhone App and determined that mine was back in the parking deck.

Holy scavenger hunt, Batman.

Using her iPhone as my guide, I returned to the parking deck and was led straight to my iPhone.

In. The. Trash. Can.

Thanks be to God, my water bottles and ringing iPhone were the only items inside it, so retrieving it was fairly easy.

That is, if sticking one's head into a garbage can is ever easy.

But the iPhone is sanitized now, in tact and charging safely.

But mercy, what a terrible feeling.

I'm thankful that today was a day for things like red lipstick and an iPhone, to be found.

What have you been looking for lately? I hope you find it soon, so you can go on and be grateful, too!

a wicked good weekend

Gosh, I love musicals. I don't see them nearly enough, but when I do, they make me so happy.

Mom and I went this past weekend to a favorite one:

I've seen it once before, but it was Mom's first time to see it.

She listened to the soundtrack on her trip home. I think she liked it.

Does it look like I was trying to strike a pose with my legs? I didn't mean to.

And the Orpheum!

It reminds me of the Fox in Atlanta. It's beautiful. And historic.

It has, after all, been entertaining since 1928.

Then our group of thirteen friends dined here.

And we bid farewell to our wicked good trip to Memphis.

Did you have a wicked good weekend, too? I hope so!

thankful thursday #169

February 2014 will go down as Birmingham's most unproductive month, I think. I've been at my desk for what feels like a 25-hour work week for three weeks.

I kinda like it.

Of course, that doesn't really count the overnight stay I had here just two weeks ago.

But yesterday! The snow was so pretty! I can't remember ever seeing snowflakes so big.

I was grateful to enjoy it from my couch this time, though. With power. And heat. And water.

Did you get snowed in? If you were warm and cozy, go on, be grateful!

thankful thursday #168

When the snow flurries today were spotted, there was no taking chances around here. Schools dismissed without hesitation.

I knew the possibility of being stranded at my office again was slim to none, but frankly, I didn't care. I was absolutely not spending another night there. So I left at 3:30, and I didn't feel badly about it.

At all.

I could be thankful for that and call this Thankful Thursday done.

As it turns out, my Thursday night obligation also was cancelled, thanks to the weather fright, and I ended up with an unexpected free evening that did my soul good.

This week has been challenging, and well, I was thirsty for no plans. For some time with friends to share my heart. For the chance to capture a couple of extra hours in my day to reflect.

I sure did appreciate that early nod to my weekend.

How about you? Are you looking forward to the weekend? Go on, be grateful!

hello monday (settling down)

I haven't greeted a Monday since November. I'm overdue. Let's do this.

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Hello, February.

Where in the world did you come from?

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Hello, snow.

You snuck up on us. Fast.

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Hello, new bench-I'm-using-as-a-coffee table.

I'm so glad to have found you after twelve months of searching.

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Hello, new rug.

Another relief to have you in the fold after endless searching.
Especially at the bargain for which you were purchased.

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Hello, scary iPhone restoration.

I'm never confident in the wipe-out-and-startover process, but I'm glad this time you cooperated.

So. Thawed ground. A new look to welcome me at home. An iPhone back in working order. Settling down a bit.

Surely signs of a good week, yes?

a note about quesadillas en masse

Was that Super Bowl a bust, or what? Gosh, it was boring. And the lovely Lori wasn't able to co-host the party this year, thanks to the winter blitz that sent the entire I-20 corridor into an icy tailspin. That made me sad.

But, there is some redemption to be found in good food.

Last year, we thought pulling off a San Francisco- and Baltimore-themed menu was hard. And you know what? We were wrong.

Denver and Seattle are for-real hard.

Did you know Denver is known for this "specialty" called Rocky Mountain Oysters? If you aren't familiar, look it up -- I was having none of that.

I also thought slinging fresh fish around like they do at a Seattle market might be a little much.

So you see the challenge here.

I can't say this was my favorite Super Bowl menu I've ever done ...

... but there were a couple of winners tucked in that menu.

See those Seattle Smoked Salmon Quesadillas up there? Man, they were good. But risky! I wasn't sure how successful their holding time would be, nor how they could be made en masse ahead of time.

So I rolled the dice on this technique, and so pleased I did!

Smoked Salmon Quesadillas for the Masses
(and Plain Cheese Ones for the Picky Eaters)
Makes 8 whole quesadillas

16 soft taco flour tortillas (I used Mission)
16 oz. block pepper jack cheese, grated
8 oz. smoked salmon
16 oz. Mexican cheese blend, grated
Sour cream and salsa for serving

Long before your guests arrive, you're going to brown the tortillas and assemble the quesadillas. (And when I say "long before," I mean a couple of hours.)

To brown the tortillas, heat a skillet over medium heat (my cast iron skillet worked like a charm). Coat with butter, and brown the tortillas one at a time for about 2 minutes on each side, or until they're your favorite golden brown color. (While the tortilla is cooking on its first side, butter the top of it, so when you flip it, the other side gets a little bit golden, too.)

Now all of this is a little tedious, because you're buttering up the skillet and the tops of tortillas like a crazy person, before each tortilla hits the heat, but it's worth it. Stay the course.

While you're assembling these beauts, pick the prettiest golden sides to be on the outsides. So on your first tortilla, evenly spread 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese. Tear 2 oz. of the salmon into small pieces and evenly distribute on top of the cheese, and finish with another 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese. Top with another tortilla. You'll make three more of these.

The plain cheese ones are even easier. Use your favorite Mexican blend, or cheddar, or whatever you love. Use about 1 c. (or a nice generous handful) for each quesadilla. Make four of those.

Stack these all up on some wax paper, and set aside until you're ready to bake them off (maybe in the fridge if you're talking about a few hours).

When you're ready, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place as many quesadillas as you can on a baking sheet (I was only able to do two on each pan), and cook for about 10 minutes. They'll be crispy, with ooey gooey cheesy goodness bursting out of the sides. Use a pizza cutter and slice each quesadilla into 6 triangles.

They will obviously not stay hot forever, but they're still tasty even after the heat has left the party. Since I was only baking two at a time (one of each flavor), they came out intermittently throughout the evening, and so that was how mine went down. Serve them up with salsa and sour cream, and you'll have happy guests.

Of course, you could put anything in the world in these, and keep the same technique -- chicken, steak, grilled veggies. Yum. Yum to all of it.

The revelation here is that we don't have to be scared of preparing quesadillas ahead of time, and en masse, so let these little guys revolutionize your next party!