And Everything In Its Place...

Photo credit - Eclectic home office design - HOUZZ

Let's pretend this is my home office. Loving the white desks and mocha walls. Everything in its place. Ah, a Type A's dream. But I am not a Type A nor do I pretend to be. I do however, like to be organized.

My desk looks like this:

Anyone notice my spray painted terra cotta pot? Spray painting is an illness.

Everything I need, for the most part, is at my fingertips. Now where did I put that Macbook? Ohh, I don't have one! Maybe someday...

Anyway, I put in a lot of time at this desk, job stuff, blog stuff, husband/kids/school stuff. It's never ending. Facebook and emails are not my friends, but they seem to think so because we correspond on a daily basis.

I found a fun site that carries the most awesome desk accessories. You will convince yourself you need to be organized when you see what See Jane Work has to offer!

You'll find so many cute must-haves like the collection by "Bob's Your Uncle" (I laughed so hard at that name, okay, maybe I just thought it was funny) featuring these adooorable punctuated page markers. Or maybe you'll be inspired by the beautiful desks and home office photos like I was.

Page Markers from See Jane Work

Take a peak and look around. What's your best organizational tip? Do you have a home office or craft area/room? What can't you live without?

Now, Look Who's Blogging...

My husband (a public high school teacher) started a blog last week. He's writing about a hot topic in our country. He arms himself with knowledge, wielding it like a sword. I never told him to blog about it, but I have encouraged him to make his voice heard.

He is much braver than I am in that respect. He shows no fear in confrontation and I've always admired his gumption to move forward. Sometimes in my overly cautious tendencies, I stalemate, too worried about the "what ifs." Yet worrying is wasteful.

Instead, I mull over decisions humbly. I have never questioned my motives as much as I do now. Because believe it or not, so much of the trouble we encounter seems rooted in selfish motives. I unfortunately speak from experience.

But back to my husband, he is a Wordsmith in my eyes. His prose is poetic, so much so that when he asks me to read his writing, many times I have to re-read a line because there is much to "chew." Jane Austen (one of my favorite authors) would be quite proud.

Talks in our house have involved "doing what is right," and "being informed." But on those same levels, there is an undercurrent of fear (just being honest...) Typical fear of the unknown, common amongst all of us.

And so we do what we can, whether it be wielding that sword, or pen, fighting the good fight...and waiting for the inevitable outcome, whatever that may be.

Who Likes Cupcakes? We Do! We Do!

 

Lemon Cupcakes with Citrus Icing

We're only weeks away from Spring right? We need to celebrate! Here's the recipe for the "I-made-these-from-scratch!" Lemon Cupcakes. They're so yummy. Enjoy!

CUPCAKES

1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1  cup sugar
2  teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup safflower oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1  teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

ICING

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2  tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

2. To prepare the cupcakes: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Combine the oil, eggs, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Add to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 17 to 19 minutes or until lightly golden and the cupcakes are springy when gently touched. Place pan on a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan, transfer to the rack, and let cool completely.

4. To prepare the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a bowl and stir until smooth. Spread some of the glaze over each cupcake with a small spatula and let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

NUTRITION PER SERVING

316 calories
3 g protein
45 g carbohydrates
15 g fat
1 g saturated fat
35 mg cholesterol
183 mg sodium
0.5 g fiber

55 MINUTES       12 SERVINGS        316 CALORIES

Recipe from: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook

A Smorgasbord Of Blogs

Photo credit - Zefa

So I was thinking, when I first started blogging with my friend Kate way back in 2008, ('CityMom, CountryMom, A Tale of Two Moms') I swore that I'd be witty and funny. That happened on occasion and I learned that I was a closet techie.

On the next blog, in which I partnered with another friend, ('Gracenotes95') was going to wreak of my faith. That lasted a year, it was a good year though. I learned that I would overtake that blog with my posts and need to have a blog of my own.

The third blog (which shall only be revealed as 'MMA' due to serious privacy issues) was going to be about "transparency," that was the new blogging buzz word (or you might have read "authentic.")

Too much transparency however, taught me that you're life will not be private. (Hello! We're on the internet here. EVERYBODY can read your stuff, do you really want EVERYBODY reading it?) Yes, I do. Okay, not really.

The fourth blog was going to redeem my blogging efforts and show what a good sharer I was ('Share The Wonder'.) Then I did a 360 (within a month) and thought, let's keep it professional and niche-y (just in case your boss is reading.)

But, here's the thing, I can't have a niche, because everything I think about/feel about/am passionate about, is all melded together. Some people (like my husband) might call it whimsical, I call it being unable to compartmentalize. (Or, I am female, this is how it works.)

Writing, photography, random thoughts, recipes, DIY projects, cool techie things, blogging tutorials (ooh, I had lots of those,) are all a massive ball congealed together in my mind. Picture the rubber band ball. That is my brain.

That's why I can't have a niche. No matter how hard I try. And I did. Five times.

The lesson here? That we all blog for different reasons, that if a rubber band ball is what I am in real life (maybe I should change the name of my blog...just kidding.) then my blog is going to reflect that. (I smell transparency.)

If something in my life moves me, then I have to blog about it (oh, faith-> read this post.)

And if I really love taking pictures of food, then gosh darn it, scroll down some more and see my dessert photos!

In the end, to wrap up this plethora of excuses reasons of why I continue to blog, I must quote Descartes and write,

"I think, therefore I am."

Or better yet, I think (too much,) therefore I blog.
 

My Top 10 Desserts Of 2010

Caramel Cheesecake

To my surprise, I spent a lot of time baking and eating last year.

Hello Dolly Bars

Because there are always moments to celebrate. Like, hooray it's summer, let's pick strawberries.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Or how about, I just want to decorate cupcakes:

Vanilla Cupcakes With Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Pink Cupcakes For Our Princess

Lemon Cupcakes - From Scratch Baby!

And sometimes you have to give in to "quick" and "easy" and resort to a box mix *shudder*

Raspberry Bars

Raspberry Strudel (from a tube that you bought at Aldi)

Maybe I just can't be "Super Mom" today (box + a real banana.)

Semi-homemade Banana Bread

Cravings for chocolate however, will always win in the end.

Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Chips

I'm linking up with 5 Minutes For Mom

What An Autistic Child Taught Me One Morning

With delusions of grandeur since I was a teenager, I never knew that the 'smallness of humanity,' as Emily, from Chatting At The Sky calls it, could possibly become a meaningful part of my life.

I wasn't aware of this as I was called to help (as a sub for a paraprofessional) with a special needs child in my kids' elementary school. I was too concerned with the discomfort of my situation. I never trained for this, all three of my children were (Lord willing) "fully functional." This wasn't my specialty, or my degree, in fact, I wasn't even sure if I was remotely gifted in this area.

Other than a need to pay the bills, I wasn't sure what lesson was in store for me. Surely, God would find me another job, one that was "easier" less "heart-breaking," more "up my alley." There had to be something else for this "jack-of-all-trades."

As I cried inwardly of the difficulties I'd endured that day, I was sure God was saying "you see, you had it so easy, now you know how good you had it." So, like a petulant child, I prayed a thankful (yet selfish) prayer, "Yes, I know now. Now please find something else for me to do."

Two days later, in the midst of clanging breakfast dishes, papers to sign and lunches to pack, I would get another call, this time to assist with a 4-year-old autistic boy.

You see in this bevy of political upset in our state with words like "cut backs" and "layoffs" looming over the people (and I speak specifically about our teachers and paraprofessionals,) it's easy for us to forget about how this may affect the families, the marriages, the children. These children, the ones who need more of our time, more of our love. Somewhere there is little boy or girl who needs a community of caring people willing to take on his or her world with eager hands.

And so, if I were to dwell on my own needs, I might miss the lesson in all of this, that there is always someone needier than my family. That there is someone with bigger issues, harder choices, seemingly insurmountable pressure. So to quote my husband, when so much is being taken away at this time (wages, benefits, jobs) "may I always seek to do what is right, sacrificing self, for the greater good."

To be continued, I'm sure...