Wednesday, November 25, 2009

My Artistic Debut


Here is the painting that I donated and sold.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

I'M AN ARTIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so now I can actually call myself an artist. Last night was the My Angel Foundation's Gift of Life Art and Wine Social. I had donated a painting that was auctioned off at the silent auction during the event. I was incredibly nervous because I didn't consider myself an artist, it is something I do to get my emotions out and to be creative. I think the founder was a little sceptical about me because I haven't been doing this for that long and I haven't been trained or haven't gone to school for it but he took a chance on me. At the end of the night mine went for the highest amount, selling for $230 with 7 different bidders throughout the night. THE FIRST PAINTING I'VE EVER SOLD, SOLD FOR $230!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still in shock, I think the guy who took a chance on me was too, he had a bit of a shock in his voice when he told me congratulations. November 13 is usually a pretty rough day for me, it's the day my mom died and most years it's filled with many tears and sadness but this one was filled with excitement and joy and wonderful family and friends. I had a friend, that I've known since childhood who is from Des Moines but left here for school and then moved back, who came to surprise me with flowers! And I had some wonderful friends from my Bible Study who surprised me by coming as well. I also had my aunt and uncle Jody and Randy and my aunt Diane who came as well, along with my dad and his wife and my sister. I think I'm still baffled as to what happened last night, I'm so speechless and blessed and moved and and incredibly humbled by everything. Yesterday I started the day by going for a 4 mile run and counting my blessings as I ran. On and off, but 4 miles worth of blessings is a lot, and I wasn't done with them, but my legs were definitely done running! All I can say is God is good, and he is constantly blessing my life, even if I don't realize them. I was reminded that all blessings are good and come from God and that He is enough, forever and always. Hands down, one of the best nights of my life and that it was on a very bittersweet day made it that much better!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Multi Talented

I've never been someone who is amazing at one thing. I think I have a lot of mediocre talents that suffice for a normal average person. I'm not a world renown chef, a marathon champion, a pulitzer prize winning author, or Picasso but I am a cook, a runner, a writer, an artist and many other things. I don't tell a lot about myself openly with people I don't know very well. I don't even like talking about my personal life at work, and I've worked with the same people for almost two years. I am a very personal type person and I got a little red when someone wanted me to announce to a group of people that I will be a featured artist at the My Angel Foundation Art and Wine social on November 13, 2009. I don't know if subconsciously I don't think that my accomplishments are that great or that I'm just hard on myself. Who knows. I am very excited for the event though, I'm just a little worried that no one will get/understand why I painted what i did. I like it, if I feel like crying when I look at it, that's a sign that it was meant to be painted and that it's something that I am truly in love with. Not only is the event part of a great organization that I am very passionate about but it's on the 9 year anniversary of the day I watched my mom die in my dad's arms. I remember it like it was yesterday and still carry it with me everyday. Nine years, you would think that some of the sadness had worn off, the guilt had faded or the terrible memory of seeing my mom dying on our bathroom floor would be a little softened. It hasn't faded or worn away. It's still right there in the forefront of my mind, affecting many things I do on a daily basis, and probably will for the rest of my life. I don't I know God had this planned from the very beginning of my mom's life and mine, and everyone who was affected by it. Since that day, November has and probably always will be bittersweet for me. I absolutely love fall, but the memories of losing my mom will still make it a little bit bittersweet. I think a lot of the things I do because it helps me have an outlet to my emotions and the massive amount of them that had to be dealt with in a very short amount of time, nine years ago, and they've just stuck with me. I love my mom, I love what she gave to me, I love that her death has pushed me to be someone and something more than I could have ever imagined, I love that she made me strong, I love that she lead me to the Lord, I love the 16 years I got to spend with her and I love the prospect of seeing her again in Heaven. Weather it be cooking, painting, running, loving, learning, crying, laughing, etc, I carry her with me.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Bistro Dinner With a Few Sweets Thrown In











A couple of weeks ago I made poached stuffed apples and had them over fresh arugula. It was good but I went to make it again and this time I was going to change a few things. I pulled the arugula out of the refrigerator and it was half frozen so I decided to wilt it with some onions and put some of the poaching liquid in it as well. It turned out better than I thought! So I took it to a friend who I thought would enjoy it and we had a great dinner. I poached the pears in Port wine and apple juice. I sautéed some challots in olive oil and then wilted the arugula in and added some of the poaching liquid. The filling for the pears originally was blue cheese, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. I left them out of anything and sprinkled them ontop of the dish after it was done, so it all stayed fresher.


I made monster cookies for the church service on Saturday night and I didn't have enough regular chocolate chips so I mixed in some white ones and I had some extra frosting from something so I made some of them sandwich cookies. Either way, I didn't take any home that night!


My boss was having a jewelry open house and asked me to make some red velvet cupcakes. I had catered a Valentine's Day dinner for her church last February and that was one of the desserts so she was familiar with them and loved them.


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

I have a blog!

I really like to cook and one day I hope to own my own coffee shop and bakery. For the time being, I'm still testing recipes and researching things to make sure everything is perfect before I start on that venture. I have a great memory but sometimes it does fail me so I created this to catalog everything I make/ideas I have/or random thoughts. Thank you to all of your who are my loyal test subjects thus far and I hope to not disappoint in the future!