Where Do I Begin?

Everyone always writes sappy crap about what the previous year has brought, and how this new year is going to be a year of...I dont know...freaking wonderful stuff or something. Everyone is always glowing with anticipation of this new unwrinkled future. I kind of feel that way myself, but I don't want to glow. This "glowing" reminds me of when I was a kid in Kentucky spending time with my grandparents for the summer.

My cousin, brother, and I would always stay a few weeks in Somerset. My grandparents lived in the country, and in the evening we would sit on the front porch with opened Mason jars and wait. We waited for the lightening bugs to come out to play. These little magical bugs would appear slowly at first...a blink here, and a blink there. Then all of the sudden, they would be everywhere. The boys and I would run around the yard jumping and shouting in the night air, with nothing but the echo of our voices and the crickets making noise. After a few minutes we would begin our attempts to catch a lightening bug. I can remember sealing the Mason jar, and staring at the bug so close that my nose touched the glass. No matter how many air holes we poked in the metal lids of our jars, the little burst of light never made it to morning. Instead of waking to a continued magic, we woke to nothing but a shallow vessel filled with silenced insects. The romance had worn thin through out the veil of our summer night, and left us void.

Maybe this description is kind of dramatic, but I find it a fitting illustration. I don't want to wake up on Dec. 31, 2010 feeling void from another year filled with hopeful dreams that lay flat in the wake of my real life decisions. The definition of glow is "a light emitted by, or as if by a substance heated to luminosity." Emitted. To give forth, or release. Well, this year...I don't want to give my light away. I don't want to release it. I want it for myself; to last all year long. I want to sustain my motivation that pushed me to make resolutions for myself.

After thinking it through, I have decided on some personal goals for myself this year. In order to sustain my light, they aren't crazy, out of control, never going to reach when thinking in terms of reality goals. They are simple and meaningful goals that I can take one day to the next, while leaving no luminescence behind. Only leaving "the void" behind to echo in the dark without me.

New Year Upon Us...

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man." - Benjamin Franklin

We have been out of town for the Christmas holiday, enjoying time with our family in Florida. It was a great trip, and I felt truly blessed to be surrounded by such special loved ones. It was a fantastic trip.

We returned home on Tuesday evening with plans brewing for another New Year's Day brunch. We had one two years ago, and had planned to make it annual. Last year, everything got in our path making it impossible. This year was a good year to revive the tradition. As the original brunch, we invited the Nichols' family and Plemon's family.

Since we put our suitcases down, we have have been cleaning and organizing. I've been so busy this semester that, sadly, cleaning has been put on the back burner. Things were always NEAT, but CLEAN...not so much. I went in full force with the deep clean. Needless to say, after two days of battle....the toothbrush (favorite cleaning tool) and I have won the war against dust/dirt.


All of this was to preface the fact that I haven't really had time to sit and think about the new year creeping in through the door. I finally sat down long enough to mess about a bit on the computer, and I found this quote by Ben Franklin. After thinking about it for a few minutes, it's been decided...this is my moto for 2010. I am still thinking about what this new year will mean for me, and how to make it the best year possible. I will get back to you on that one... As for now, be safe and have a lovely New Year's Eve. Here's hoping the new year will find you bright eyed and ready to fly.


Much love- Paperwings

Christmas Spirit is Upon Me!

Just wanted to tell you all Merry Christmas! I hope you are all surrounded by loved ones for the holiday season, and are able to appreciate the blessings bestowed upon you. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, beautiful sons, and so much more. I am feeling festive and a bit sentimental, so forgive me. :) Love to you all!

Cute Printable Christmas

My lovely friend, Erin, sent me this link, and I thought it a good idea to share with you all. It's a cute little nativity scene for kids to color and put together. I wanted to try it out with my three year old, but I ran out of time (We are leaving for Florida tomorrow.) I am not sure if he would be old enough to do it anyway. He's not really into coloring. Anyhoo, there's always next year! Take a look, it seems easy enough.

Free iTunes Holiday Sampler

I found this on another great blog Freebies4mom and I thought it best to share with you all! It's a pretty decent sampler with 20 songs, and best of all...it's FREE. Get yourself into the holiday spirit by listening to some music gifted to you from iTunes! Enjoy!

Going to See Rob Bell

Just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that I am going to see Rob Bell tonight! Not that you really care too much, but he's an awesome speaker so you should care. :) If you have never heard of him, you should check his robbell.com site and read about him. Or if you are so inclined or intrigued by my own interest in Rob Bell, check out this site and watch some of his Nooma videos. They are awesome and short.

A Kind Alternative

I will be honest. I am a bit nervous about Thanksgiving. I absolutely love holiday food...I mean, who doesn't? The difference between me and a lot of people is that I HAVE NO DISCIPLINE. I rely on small food portions prepared daily before I go to work to help me keep my intake IN CHECK. When I have a table full of food (delicious food) in front of me, I have a tendency to over eat. I am especially weak in the dessert department. This is where my "kind alternative" comes in... I have found a great recipe for Pumpkin -Carrot Bars with cream cheese frosting. I cant wait to try it. Low in calories while remaining full of flavor, these pumpkin bars make a great dessert and they're relatively guilt-free. They're high in vitamin A, and a bar only contains 70 calories and less than two grams of fat. With nutritional stats like that, it's OK to go back for seconds. I hope I am not the only one who tries these out!

Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Modified from SparkPeople

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup finely shredded carrot

Cream cheese topping:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with cooking spray.
2. In small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. In larger bowl, use electric mixer to beat sugar, Earth Balance, and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie filling, and carrots. Beat until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
5. To prepare cream cheese topping: mix together cream cheese, sugar, and milk until thoroughly blended.
6. Drop teaspoon-fulls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl and cut mixture into batter with a butter knife.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 48 squares.