Posts Tagged With: blogging

Sunshine, questions and a big juicy life

Posted on July 15, 2018 by emjayandthem

A while back, a blogging friend Dor, awarded me the “Sunshine Blogger Award” – this award is as special as sunshine on my shoulders, sunshine on my toes… Or saying my future’s so bright I just gotta wear shades!

taken yesterday

Thank you Dor for your kindness & for including me. The rules are to do the following –

Give a Big Hearty Thanks to the blogger who nominated you & link back to them (Check!)
Answer the questions the other blogger asked you (See below)
Nominate a host of others (rules suggest 8-11) but I’m just gonna leave this open whomever wants to play along and 😀
List the rules/display the Sunshine Blogger Award on your site. (done)

Here are the questions Dor posed for me:

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you wish you were the other and why?
- Gemini ~ both, depends on the day and situation. I can work the room at a conference or cocoon myself away with my books ~ it all depends.
Are you an animal lover? What pets do you have and love?
- Yes, no pets right now but our Grand-Dogs and a Stray Cat warm my ❤ regularly
Who was your favorite teacher and why?
- Mr. Corbett; he was smart, strict and fun
Have you ever had a bad habit you broke? What was it and how did you change it?
- I’ve stopped asking for permission to enjoy myself!
What is your favorite place to relax? Explain where it is and why it helps.
- Home or outside / outside at home / the beach! I’m cozy at home and comfy outside, provided it’s not 95F+
What is your favorite movie of all time?
- One I watch every time it’s on is “Something’s Gotta Give.” ~sigh
Do you love to travel or do you hate it? Why?
- Love to travel for vacation and I tolerate business travel.
- I love the coming & going, but I don’t love impatient flyers trying to fit a couch into the overhead compartment. Remember when flying used to be fun?
Are you an organized or a disorganized person?
- Organized. My grocery list is typed in the order of the store. I admit it 😉
Are you always late, early, or right on time? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to your timing?
- Always early. A disadvantage is that not everyone riding with me is ready on time!
Do you create lots of blog posts in advance of publishing or do you do one at a time?
- As they come to me
What inspires you to create a blog post?
- see answer to #1 😉

And here are your questions, friends:

What’s a scent or fragrance that takes you back to summers as a child?
What dessert item do you remember savoring at family reunions, parties or weddings?
Name a song that makes you want to get up & dance.
What ability do you wish you had and why?
Who do you wish you could have a conversation with?
And lastly, what are you looking forward to?

Categories: Animals, Attitude, Beauty, Blogging, Confidence at any age, Determination, Family, Food, Friendship, Fun, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, music, News, Opinion, Personal, Relationships, Seasons, Thoughts, Travel, Wisdom, Women | Tags: abilities, animals, Annie Lamott, bad habits, blogging, desserts, Diane Keaton, don't wait, early or on time, extrovert, family reunions, fragrances, fruits, home, imagination and radical silliness, introvert, Jack Nicholson, looking forward to, missing someone, movies, music, organized or not, pets, questions, relax, scents, Something's Gotta Give, songs, summer, sunshine blogger, teachers, travel | 4 Comments

On taking breaks and restoring vessels

Posted on April 3, 2016 by emjayandthem

Apparently I’ve taken a break from blogging. I didn’t intend to but life has gotten in the way and before I knew it weeks had passed.

I’ve thought about you all and I’ve missed our interactions, but there’s so much going on that I struggle to get it all done much less articulate it.

Cleaning, sorting, gifting, going. 16 years in this house, and oh the stuff I’ve found stuffed in drawers and cupboards – oy! 3 – soon to be 4- trips to Goodwill, piles and piles of clothes, toys, and household items. But the treasures found have out-weighed the dust and the mess. Baby shoes. Boxes of photos. Keepsakes from another time. My 4-H badges, Hubbs basketball pictures, our marriage license. The love letters sent back and forth- be still my heart <3!

It is cathartic to rid ourselves of clutter. It’s also hard work – I’ve averaged 6-7 miles per day in the house! Up the stairs, down the stairs, back up the stairs, out to the dumpster or to my car — my arms and legs and even my hands are weary. When I lie down at night my body melts into the bed and the alarm screams for me way too soon.

But still with this, with all of this, my soul sings – why? Letting things go – clearing out clutter – keeping what matters and jettisoning the rest ~Liberating!

I’ve missed you and I will return but I’m not sure when. I miss the release I get from expressing my thoughts and connecting with all of you. But I’ve also learned I cannot pour from an empty cup.

And on that note, at least I still have a cup, in fact I have many and that cupboard’s next!

How about you? Have you found yourself in a similar position? How did you handle it?

Categories: Attitude, Blogging, Faith, Family, Gratitude, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, Opinion, Personal, Relationships, Thoughts, Writing | Tags: blogging, clutter, life changes, moving, packing, rest, self-care, sorting, stress, taking a break, will return later, you cannot serve from an empty vessel | 20 Comments

Random Five Friday

Posted on October 17, 2014 by emjayandthem

It’s Friday! It’s random! Let’s go ….!

1. Our trees are have peaked and with the rain this week many have let go. There are still beautiful scenes to behold and yesterday I noticed another favorite of fall – that rich autumn smell. The fresh smell of wet leaves and plants letting go of their summer glory. The fragrance that reminds us all what Mother Earth smells like and all that she gives us.

Many scenes like this one right now google.images.com

2. I’ve taken the past 3 days off. Why? Because after leading an 8 1/2 month project while also covering another’s duties for 7 of those same months, I hit the wall. Everyone around me asked the same questions: what are you taking time off for? Where are you going? Are you going away? What are you going to do with all that time???? And my answer was the same: nothing. I’m not committing to anything. I’m going to rest, read, rest and read, in that order. And I have. I don’t feel the urge to “fill up” every spare minute with more to do. You?

3. Heard this morning of that a friend’s Dad passed away last night. That’s the stage of life we’re in now-a-days. Most of us have (mostly) grown children + aging parents and there’s a whole lot of both. Tomorrow I’ll make up some soup & other foods and have Hubbs drop it off to the family. Good thing I am rested and had that time off ~ see how that works?

4. Tomorrow marks 4 years of blogging. 4 years! In my very first post “Who’s the turkey” I wrote about things that I still write today – Mom, cooking, traditions, personal, relationships, joys, life lessons, and faith. Some topics can stand the test of time.

5. And this last photo is for my blogging buddy Dianna who writes at “These Days of Mine.” She has a pair of wild swans who visit their yard in S.E. Virginia and when I saw this picture I had to snag it for her. Taken in my home province of Saskatchewan, Canada earlier this fall, I call this one “Seven Swans a Swimming.” Millions of birds are very happy to summer “up north” where the world’s wheat basket is located. And yes, there are only 68 days till Christmas!

photo credit: Owen Lasseur

How’s your week been? Do you ever take time off just to “be?” Are you seeing migratory birds in your neck of the woods?

Categories: Animals, Faith, Family, Friendship, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, Personal, Relationships, Thoughts, Women, Writing | Tags: anniversaries, Autumn, being good to yourself, blogging, comfort, death is part of life, exhaustion, four years of blogging, grief, helping others, migratory birds, milestones, quiet, swans, time off, wet leaves | 22 Comments

Vegorama Pizza

Posted on November 8, 2013 by emjayandthem

‘Tis the season again! The Fall/Holiday potlucks have begun. 🙂

In a quest to eat a bit healthier, I made this dish recently. For my office-mates. You know, the team who rarely touch vegetables.

Yep, at our office we have four important food categories: cheese, bbq sauce, cool whip and chocolate.

If a pot-luck dish doesn’t contain one of those four items (and lots of it), it’s out like a fat kid in dodge-ball.

photo from Allrecipes.com

Make no mistake, this shouldn’t be considered health food. The base of crescent dough, cream cheese and sour cream is enough to slow a few arteries down. But the crunchy fresh veggies on top counteract the richness of the base resulting in a creamy/crunchy and tasty appetizer.

Here’s how to make your very own Vegorama Pizza:

You’ll need:

2 – 8 oz packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup of sour cream
1 – 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened (I used Jalapeno flavored)
1 teaspoon dried dill (don’t skip this!)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 package of dry ranch dressing mix (I use 1/2)

Toppings

1 green onion, chopped with greens
3-4 radishes, chopped
½ red pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 large bunch of broccoli (about 1 cup), chopped
Shredded cheese

Directions

Remove crescent dough from the fridge and let it sit on the counter while you pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Coat a large cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Roll out the crescent roll and press it into the pan; you’ll want to “connect-the-dots” as in pieces so you end up with one solid piece of dough. Pierce the dough with a fork and then let stand for about 5 minutes.
Next, bake for 11 minutes; remove from oven and let cool 20 minutes.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine sour cream, cream cheese, dill, garlic and ranch dip mix.
Spread this mixture all over the cooled crust.
Top with onion, carrot, broccoli, radish, bell pepper and broccoli and then sprinkle shredded cheese across the top.
Cover and let chill about an hour.
Once chilled, cut it into squares and serve. (I made this the night before a pot-luck and simply cut into squares, layered with waxed paper, covered and served the next day.. Results? Zip. Bang. Gone!)

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ernest Hemingway.

My little blog recently passed 130,000 beautiful readers. Thank you for riding along with me!

Categories: Blogging, Family, Food, Holidays, Home, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: BBQ sauce, blogging, cheese, chocolate, Cool Whip, easy recipe, Ernest Hemingway, Holidays, journey, milestones, pot-luck, quotes, traditions, Veggie Pizza | 21 Comments

You’re the apple

Posted on January 23, 2013 by emjayandthem

I shared a favorite quote with a fellow blogger who needed to read it.

And then I thought, you might need to read them, too.

Words to remember when the road gets rocky, the load is heavy, and you just can’t see the point.

“God knows your value; He sees your potential.

You may not understand everything you are going through right now.

But hold your head up high, knowing that God is in control and he has a great plan and purpose for your life.

Your dreams may not have turned out exactly as you’d hoped, but the Bible says that God’s ways are better and higher than our ways, even when everybody else rejects you, remember, God stands before you with His arms open wide.

google.images

He always accepts you.

He always confirms your value. God sees your two good moves!

You are His prized possession.

No matter what you go through in life, no matter how many disappointments you suffer, your value in God’s eyes always remains the same.

You will always be the apple of His eye.

He will never give up on you, so don’t give up on yourself.” – Joel Osteen

“Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious.” ~Bill Meyer

Categories: Attitude, Faith, Growth, Life, Love, Personal, Quotes, Self Discovery, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tags: apple of his eye, arms open wide, bill meyer, blogging, encouragement, faith, God, Joel Osteen, positive thinking, pupose, relationships, troubles, value | 13 Comments

Brown paper packages tied up with string

Posted on May 24, 2012 by emjayandthem

Brown paper packages tied up with string ….these are a few of my favorite things…

I rec’d these questions in an email and thought they would be fun to share here in the blogosphere. I’m posting the questions (and my answers) and hope you’ll consider “playing along.” Just for grins, I’ve answered in pictures because I’m goofy like that.

1. What’s a movie you’ve enjoyed more than once?

… a delicious little movie …

2. What recent book has been impactful on you?

by Laura Schroff

3. What chore would you happily pay someone else to do?

pulling weeds … ugh!

4. What song will you always crank up the volume for?

mmmm… Elvis

5. What’s a food you loved as a child? Do you still eat it?

mmmm black licorice !!

I’ve told you a few of my favorite things … Tag, you’re it!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. On Monday, I celebrated four years as a citizen. I’m grateful for the sacrifices of many … Land of the free, because of the brave!

*all images from Google.images.com

Categories: Attitude, Family, Fun, Holidays, Home, Joy, Life, music, Patriotic, Share | Tags: black licorice, blogging, Elvis Presley, favorites, Julie Andrews, Laura Schroff, Memorial Day, relationships | 30 Comments

Everyday is a winding road

Posted on November 9, 2010 by emjayandthem

So .. last month I was feeling a little bored, and in need of a creative kick-start. Admittedly, as a list maker, I always have something going on. Too much time on my hands is .. too much time on my hands. I knew that I didn’t want to pursue anything “serious,” I just wanted to take a class for the fun of it. I did a little sleuthing and stumbled across a blogging workshop being offered through the local adult education program. Perfect! Situated right around the corner from my office, it was a one day, one shot deal, not requiring a major time commitment on my part. Never having blogged, I thought this might be a fun way to learn the ropes and, for $35, why not give it a go?

Driving up to the class that night, I was suddenly overcome by nerves. I am usually very calm, very confident, and very much in control. Not then. All I kept thinking was: what if I don’t understand it? What if all the people there are experienced writers? What if I have nothing to offer?

I entered the classroom, glanced around, and made eye contact with several people. Everyone found their respective seat and sat politely as we waited for the instructor to setup her materials and begin.

The class started, some of the information went over my head but most of it, I got. Quite a bit of it I could relate to. Then .. something shifted. I started having fun. I relaxed. I found myself offering information, showing others shortcuts. I laughed and exchanged observations with a young woman seated across from me, who gave me a sly smile that said, “I got it, I get you, we’re good.”

The class ended, and a few of us lingered to talk with the instructor, share observations and exchange contact information. The woman across from me? That’s Terri and we met for lunch yesterday. She’s warm, smart and interesting. The instructor, Sheryl? Accomplished, approachable, and a veritable cheerleader, who sends me emails of encouragement on a regular basis.

I don’t know if others will follow what I write here or not. I hope they will, but, if they don’t that’s ok, too. I set off to find something new and interesting to do… and instead I met some interesting people who gave me new things to think about.

Life. It’s like that.