"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

    I have very exciting news! I am going back to school and I'm super pumped, I have no idea what I am going to major in or be when I grow up but I am excited to get back into the intellectual swing of things. Jaysens response to be my question of "what do I major in?' was to tell me to find something I like and that I'm good at but the only thing I am really good at that I like is being a mom and obviously that isn't a college major so until I figure out was else I'm good at I will just try to be a good example to Charlotte.

        I made some roasted red bell-pepper hummus the other day and the best part about it was that nobody in the house likes it but me so I didn't have to worry about it disappearing. I would post the recipe but I just threw random stuff in it. Sorry.
       
      I have been reading a lot and have been mildly disappointed, I finished a book last night and it was just crass and not good, the girl stays with the abusive boyfriend  instead of going with the chivalrous rescuer. GAH!
      I did however read A Brothers Duty by Bill Sanderson and it was acceptable, a nice little christian love story and I also read A Caribbean Spell by Maureen O. Betita, it was basically a knockoff of Pirates of the Caribbean the movie with sex,  but it had some interesting twists and I always like a good adventure. Neither of the books were that spectacular but they were free so... for the right price they were interesting to read.
   

Find your passion and start doing what you love.

       Today I was off work and it was very fun for me to spend the day home with Charlotte watching her favorite movies, going outside and cooking. I know its awful that we let her watch TV and movies but at least she has good taste, her favorite movies are The Sound of Music, Marry Poppins and Pollyanna.
        Charlotte and I made Turtle Brownies (from a box), banana nut bread and Chicken and rice. I don't know what my mom does but she makes the BEST banana nut bread and I just cant seem to get it the same, its very annoying, I'll try making it again tomorrow. This is the recipe (if you figure out how she gets it so delicious let me know)

Banana Nut Bread
By: Marie Chamberlain

1/3 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 3/4 Cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Cup Mashed Bananas
1/2 Cup Chopped Nuts.

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs to the sugar and shortening and beat well.
Sift together all the dry ingredients and add to the shortening, sugar, egg mixture. Mix in bananas and nuts and mix well. Pour into a greased, floured loaf pan. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes.
Remove from pan and cool on rack.

       I also made the Chicken and Rice dish tonight that despite the fact that I think rice is stupid and I don't like peas I rather like this dish its yummy, easy to make and easy to eat.

 We ate it outside in our beautiful backyard. Here's the recipe for that also-

One-Dish Chicken and Rice

1 (10-ounce) Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1/3 Cup Mayonnaise
2 Cups Chopped Cooked Chicken (I usually just buy the frozen already cooked chicken in the freezer aisle because its fast.)
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion (Jaysen doesn't like onions so I just put onion powder in instead of actual onions)
1 Cup Frozen Peas and Carrots
2 Cups Cooked White Rice
1-ish Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Blend soup, milk, salt, pepper and mayonnaise in a medium bowl. Combine chicken, onion, peas and carrots, and rice in a large bowl; mix gently.
Gently fold soup mixture into chicken mixture to combine. Fold in half the cheddar.
Spray a medium casserole dish with cooking spray. Spoon in chicken mixture.
Sprinkle top of casserole with remaining cheddar. Bake until top is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

I promise it is really delicious. Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at Roasted Red Bell pepper Hummus.

Aren't our flowers beautiful!