Post Christmas Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

December 29, 2011 Leave a Comment
Because of our many Christmas events I haven’t had to make dinner in about a week. While that is super awesome, it also means I haven’t been to the grocery store and our fridge is pretty empty. I had a hankering to cook tonight so I logged on to Pinterest and browsed a few things I had saved on my Beautiful Food board. Fortunately, I had just about everything I needed for these Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups. I randomly had leftover lasagna noodles from the Crock Pot Lasagna I made a few months ago, so I was in luck!

…And it was delicious! I think it will taste even better tomorrow. I didn’t have ricotta cheese on hand so I substituted with a sour cream and cream cheese mixture. The spinach is such a super food that I believe it outweighs the unhealthy stuff!

Have you made any good recipes from Pinterest lately?
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…Laughing all the way!

December 24, 2011 2 Comments
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
May 2012 be filled with lots of laughter and love!
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Hey, It’s OK…#12

December 15, 2011 Leave a Comment
Hey, It’s OK…
…to get a giant fist in my stomach when I think about completing our Christmas cards. Taking the perfect picture, finding the perfect card, even getting the perfect corresponding return address labels… maybe if I eliminate the word “perfect” the fist will magically disappear. 
…to think a good mascara can change your whole perspective. 
…to get hyper-obsessed with one thing for hours on end. Current obsession: finding the perfect pair of grey/taupe boots. Follow my boot addiction here.
…to not wear super-festive red or green themed outfits to all of my upcoming holiday functions.
…to be perfectly satisfied with just a five minute session of yoga. Five minutes feels better than no minutes. 
…to not enjoy baking. There are plenty of other ways to be domesticated…or not!

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Choose Love

December 9, 2011 5 Comments
I’ve been pretty anxious this week.
 
For people who struggle with general, everyday anxiety, you know you don’t need a reason to be anxious…you just are.
 
All week I’ve been repeating my own little form of therapeutic self-talk, without really knowing or remembering what it is that was bothering me:
 
“Bad things happen every day. But it doesn’t mean they will happen to you, or those you love. Tragic, horrible, heartbreaking things happen all the time and there is nothing you can do about it. Stop worrying.”
 
These words haunt me in light of what happened today on the Virginia Tech campus. Another undeserved tragedy. Another day plagued with fear. Another unfair, horrible, heartbreaking scene.
 
And as I sit down to write, to really write for the first time in what feels like forever, the past ten months come to a head and I find the source of my anxiety this week.
My body remembers. My heart remembers. 
And the tears come.
Our baby #2 was due to be born today.
And all at once it fills me with sadness and love and loss and awe.
 
These kinds of things just don’t make sense. 
 
And all we can do is pray. When fear, anxiety, tragedy, loss, sadness and heartbreak take over, all we can do is pray. Pray for the people going through bad times. Pray to find peace in the situation. Pray for the ability to live in the moment and find beauty. Pray for peace of mind.
 
As I find peace in my own loss, I pray for all those affected by the events today at Virginia Teach and once again find solace in the words of Marianne Williamson.
“Every situation we find ourselves in is an opportunity, 
perfectly planned by the Holy Spirit, to teach love instead of fear.”
 
Choose love.
 
Everyday.
 
I am trying my hardest.
And I am praying for miracles. 
Sunset tonight on the VT campus, taken by our cousin Trey, a current senior at VT
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Hey, It’s OK…#11

December 7, 2011 2 Comments
Hey, It’s OK…
…to let Cheddar and Sour Cream potato chips ruin my dinner. 
…to be really excited about the season premiere of The Bachelor. Follow my commentary @makeitbeautyful on Twitter. It’s gonna be epic.
…to go from The Avett Brothers to Keith Sweat on Spotify. 
…to find great joy in singing my guts out in my car to passerby’s, complete with Jessica Simpson-esque faces. Especially to older men who give me the “cuckoo sign” as they pass.
…to want to be best friends with Cam on Modern Family. 

…to eat a hamburger (and a half) at Five Guys.  Yum. Yum. 

…to be kind of excited about seeing Dolly on the big screen again. How can you resist her self-deprecating one-liners and fitted choir robe (as my sis and Valerie so aptly put after watching the trailer). 

…to realize you’re wearing headphones and there is no music coming out…30 minutes later. 


What are your favorite “Hey, It’s OK…” moments of the week?



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The Lake of Dreams: Act from Love

December 1, 2011 1 Comment
I just finished reading The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards for the BlogHer Book Review Program and though I felt the 377 page novel had a slow start, I found myself sobbing and overcome with emotion after getting a little past the half-way point. 

While I wished I felt more of an attachment to the main character, Lucy Jarrett, what saved me from becoming totally bored with this book was the story of her long, lost ancestor Rose Jarrett in the letters written to her daughter, Iris. 

Being a mother to a young daughter, reading the excerpts she wrote after leaving Iris during the woman’s suffrage movement, literally tore out my heart. I had to annoyingly leave my cozy couch to retrieve piles of tissues while I read as the tears wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t fathom having to make the decision to leave my daughter to have a “better” or more stable life, knowing she may forever feel disconnected and unwanted by her own mother.

Gut-wrenching. 

Leading back to this distressing decision was a quote from Rose’s letters:

For this is what I have learned, in my short life: do not act out of anger. Act from love, or not at all. p. 273. 

When she chose to leave her daughter in the care of her brother and his wife she was acting from love, and I like to think that even if her daughter felt abandoned, when intentions are based from love they can never be wrong.

This particular excerpt has made me question my own intentions and how choosing love over anger and fear have been such a huge part of the journey I share on this blog to “live in the moment and make it beautiful.” The simple decision to choose love over fear (or anger) has helped me get through some difficult times, as well as a lot of anxiety.
After going through a particularly hard time, in fact, this quote from Marianne Williamson, was what helped me to pull through.
“Every situation we find ourselves in is an opportunity, 

perfectly planned by the Holy Spirit, to teach love instead of fear.”

If I take anything at all from this long story of interwoven ancestors it is not only to act from love over anger but to “act from love, or not at all.” It is one lesson that I plan on passing down to my own daughter. 
And her daughter. 
And all of those who follow.

How do you choose love over anger or fear in your own life?
Leave a comment below and join the conversation on BlogHer here! 

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
Filed Under: Beautiful Things, Entertainment Tagged With: ,

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