A Simple Way to Make Soup

"It's really simple," she told me. "You just take whatever jar of spaghetti sauce you happen to have in your cupboard.. and dilute with water and that becomes your tomato base. Then you simply cut up whatever vegetables you have in the fridge.. and there's your soup!"

What a brilliant idea! Ever since I put in my new kitchen, I imagined myself cooking delicious dinners in it. But if you recall my 5-minute egg or my tuna casserole, you'll know I am not a very good, imaginative cook. 

Last night, I poured in the Prego Pasta Sauce (the expiration date was 8/31/07 but it smelled okay when I opened it up) and added water and soon I was cutting up potatoes, carrots, asparagus, green beans, bell pepper, onion and even poured in some rice.

And then a little bit more rice since it had dropped to the bottom of the pot and I couldn't see it. I waited about five minutes... stirred it... didn't see too many flakes of rice, so I poured in some more. I wasn't sure how much I had poured in. But within fifteen minutes my soup had turned into a more of just a rice dish.


I nearly broke the spoon trying to stir through that sludge of rice. If you're hungry, come on over. I have enough to feed an army.

More fabric to show!

There was a month or so where I was hammering out all kinds of fabric designs, but wasn't in a place to show them until now.
This is another new release for Michael Miller Fabrics called Jungle Jam.

These were a lotta fun. The large piece was done several months earlier and we had the artwork thumbtacked to our design wall. I had nearly forgotten about it when Kathy asked me to design a few coordinates to go with it... "let's send it out by the end of the day tomorrow..."

And I put my foot on the excellerator of sheer adrenaline and simple passion of of illustrating and design and this is what I came up with.

i sure love my job.

facebook

Facebook has been a strange phenomena for me.

Suddenly I am connecting with friends I haven't seen since I was a teenager doing missionary work and its stirring up all kinds of various emotions for me.  I haven't gone to church since that time, and I have mostly lived my life worried what my missionary friends would think of me knowing that about me. Afraid of disappointing, and fearing the feeling of judgement.

At the same time, it was such a long time ago that many of my friends who are in my life now, have no idea that I was ever in full-time ministry. Just like the people I knew back then, don't know about my un-churched life now.

Such a criss-cross of interractions and experiences in my lifetime.

During the time I served as a missionary, (making $19 a week)... I spent weeks in the roughest, most brutal neighborhoods of Harlem and in Flatbush and Bushwick districts of Brooklyn, NY, Portsmouth, VA, Tacoma, WA and Dallas, TX --and even in women's prisons.It was such an adventure.

We spent hours praying for the lost that they might find Jesus. But deep in my heart, where I was afraid to look myself, I wondered and worried if I had ever really found Him.

"Please God," I would pray. "Please reveal Your love to me in a mighty way." I prayed that same prayer everyday. With my eyes closed and heart pounding, I would be afraid to open them in fear of what I would find. Would I see Him in all His glory? Would I fall on the ground from the force of His love? Each day, I would open my eyes and each day I woudn't see anything except for what was in front of me and simply believed in faith that "yes, Jesus loves me for the bible tells me so."

During my stint as a missionary and afterwards, I feared I would say or do something that wasn't perfectly right or good. My insides were constantly swarming with emotions. Always conflicting, always feeling less than. Always admiring others' beauty and shaming my own.

And now that portion of my past has reunited to my future. All blending in, side-by-side in facebook, like an outdoor picnic with friends from all different walks of my life, I need to let it go and let life make its own history.

So. Here I am. Thank you for those who still remember me and want to friend me. This is me. Living my life the best I know how. I have a long way to go, but enjoy moving along with you.. toward a deeper spirituality and being a better person in this life of ours.

So. Let's start the charcoal. Lets unthaw the meat. The party is about to begin and you're all welcome to participate. Its gonna be party of a lifetime.

Winners and Losers

I grew up in the age where there were winners and losers. 

Not everyone received a trophy for coming in 5th place. There was only one winner. 

Now a days, no one comes home a loser. (I see it a lot on talk shows, like on Ellen for instance). They all are winners. 

I understand why they do that. It doesn't discriminate. It doesn't create any feelings of shame for the loser. But it doesn't really create any kudos for the winner either.

I've been a winner and I've been a loser. Either place, it has pushed me forward. 

As a loser, I learned by falling short of my goal pushed me to want to do better and so I learned how to strategize. When I won, it was my hope fulfilled. It propelled me to believe in my dreams and inspired me to continue further. 

The other day it was pointed out to me that my Tot Town fabric was shown on the website TRUE UP as Best Juvenile Print of 2008!

I feel really satisfied by that. 

I think everyone fears not fulfilling their potential. Not maximizing all that we are meant to accomplish.  

This new year I am focused on living the life my soul intended. Just like you are wanting to live the life your soul intended. We're really not any different after all.

Here are two of my fabric designs. One is from the Bot Camp line. The other goes along with my Sea Monkeys. You can visit our company blog to see more. You'll really enjoy Kathy's blog, filled with lots of fun ideas and free tutorials. Just remember when you're hangin' out there, to remember to come back here, too.

I'll be waitin.

My Skiing Monkey fabric

I designed this fabric to go along with my sea monkey fabric. Available in flannel and cotton. Would you wear these as pajama bottoms? I would!


I would like to wear pajama bottoms out of these, too.  (Monkeys are such a kick to draw because they are so funny doing anything human!)

I sure love my job. I never know from week to week, what I'm going to dig out of my pockets to design.

And suddenly there was nothing left of December and the year 2008 slipped right out of my hands like a sudsy bar of soap.

December was a very busy month for me. As I know it was for you.

I spent the second week in New York City upgraded to an apartment suite overlooking Times Square. It was beautiful. Snow fell the size of snowballs. I went there on business to work and to also attend our company end-of-the-year party in SoHo. It was such a wonderful, magical week for me.

And then Christmas zipped around the corner in a rapid pace and I was busy focused on that. Afterwards, my best friend flew out here to visit me for a week and suddenly it was 2009. And then that sped by in a blur and soon it is now a week after that.

Happy New Year!

My wish for you this new year is for you to discover some sweet magic in places and in people you'd never expect it. And with this glimpse of enchantment, your life will feel softer and more beautiful.

I will be back soon.