January 2010 - 10 Blog Smiles for the first time

Welcome to my blog!  This is a once a month blog about things that make me smile.  This includes our baby that is on the way, gardening, the Bible, cooking, exercising, books, and the outdoors.  I am looking forward of sharing more of my life with you, so here are 10 things that make me smile.

1.  Our Baby
This month we found out we are having a little girl!  She is on track for her June 6th due date.

She is turning and kicking frequently to my delight. 

2.  Gardening

If you like to plan, then the winter time is a great time for daydreaming about your summer garden. Lately I have been considering getting some of the new rose bushes that are bred to resist drought (important in TN) and to resist other things that plague roses. Such as this Knockout Rose.  Or this David Austen rose.  Has anyone tried these new rose bushes?  Let me know what kinds you have had success with.

3.  The Bible
In 2010 I've decided to study the life of Jesus Christ.  I am already really excited and I've only gotten to his birth!  It has been great to see God's faithfulness.  God sent a message to Mary by an angel saying that she would have a baby that would would be God's son, and she did!  God sent a message to some shepherds by an angel that the Savior had been born and where to go to see him.  They went there, and saw the baby.  God was faithful to what He said!

4.  Cooking
These last couple of years  I've increasingly enjoyed how to cook from whole and fresh ingredients (instead of highly processed).  Being pregnant I'm trying to learn how to keep cooking simple to say off of my feet.  Here is a recipe that I enjoyed recently.   Originally it called for 1-2 t cayenne.  This was WAY to spicy!  So I've adjusted it down.****Note:  When I first posted this recipe I forgot to include the 2 cups water in the ingredients!  Oops!  My apologies to Anna and anyone else that attempted to try the recipe.  Posting recipes on a blog is a bigger responsibility than I realized.  Someone's dinner is at stake!

Easy One-Pot Red Beans and Rice from "Cooking Healthy Across America"

Ingredients
1/2 pound andouille sausage
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 ribs celery chopped
14 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz kidney beans drained and rinsed
2 cups water
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t thyme
2 t basil
1/2 t cayenne
1 T paprika
3 drops hot pepper sauce
1 bay leaf
1 c uncooked brown rice 

Brown sausage, onion, garlic, celery for 5 min.  Add rest of ingredients except rice.  Bring to boil.  Add rice, simmer covered for 45 min.
You can add a chopped bell pepper at the end if desired.

5.  Exercise
These last few years I have enjoyed doing Zumba, yoga, pilates, hiking, swimming, biking and water polo.  With being pregnant the best thing I've found for me to do is water aerobics! I am really thankful to have a pool a mile and a half down the street!

6.  Smart Shopping
My friend Anna has me now finding coupons to go with the grocery store sales to have double savings and to have fun in the hunt.  Here is a great website to help with that.  http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ 

7.  Reading
A book that I read recently and enjoyed was "The Irish Country Doctor" by Patrick Taylor.  It is a simple and sweet story about an young doctor in Ireland learning how to be a country doctor.  (the title is really descriptive of the book!)  I liked it because is was fun, lighthearted, and had interesting towns people.

http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Country-Doctor-Books/dp/0765316234  

8.  Documentary
"Young At Heart" is a documentary about a senior citizen chorus that sings rock songs.  My favorite part was when they went to a prison to sing.




9.  Keeping In Touch
These past few years I have been spotty with keeping up with with friends, something that I really want to get better at.  Hopefully this blog will help.  Here are some updates that you may not know.  My husband Luke and I live in Murfreesboro TN (40 minutes south east of Nashville).  We bought a home here a year ago, which we are very thankful for.  We've enjoyed lots of traveling the first 2 years of marriage including travel to Florida, California, Hawaii, Colorado, Vermont, Indiana, Ohio, Chicago (it is a state right?), and exploring Tennessee. 

The past 2 years I worked as an occupational therapist in the schools.  This last fall I worked part time and right now I am not working outside of the home.  I'm having fun organizing, getting pictures up to date, reading, doing water aerobics, and having to time to eat healthy and take naps to let my body build a baby. 

10.  You!

I look forward to hearing from you!