Today is a Day for Birthdays!

First off, today is my friend Kit's, over at A Step into My Life, birthday! Happy happy Birthday! I hope your day is full of gumdrops and rainbows and may all of your birthday wishes come true!

Now, on to my very best friend: Miss Shmu!

Today, this beautiful woman turns 24.

Now on for 24 reason why I love her... {in any order}

She is always smiling

She has the most contagious laugh

She is small...and feisty

She knows exactly what to say to make me feel better

She farts and poops in front of me

We can make anything into an inside joke

No matter what, I know she would do anything for me

It never feels like a moment has passed once we get on the phone after not talking for a while

She has a kind soul

We can laugh at anything

The "Tick in my ass" story {need I say more?!}

She is a strong woman who is admired by all

She has a beautiful voice!

{I am not sure if you can see this...try anyway-it's worth it if you can see it!}

She has the biggest heart

She is beautiful, inside and out

She is a great listener

She has great morals and sticks to her guns

She has a positive outlook at life

We can make anything into an adventure

She is outdoorsy

She genuinely cares

She is supportive

She loves me for who I am

She is who she is, and she won't let anyone tell her different!

She is my Shmu, and I love her for being her!

Happy Happy Birthday, my love!

12 Days of Christmas Challenge- Day 6

Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want? We all have family/friends reading our blogs...so let them know!) 

  I love love homemade things that people put some thought in to, instead of generic.
Last Christmas, I really wanted to make favored Olive Oil. I actually bought all of the ingredients and supplies and I ended up changing my mind. I still think that it would be an awesome gift!
I also love scrapbooks and memory books. Those always can be a good go-to! I also think that making some sort of a pampering item would be fun: like a bath salt or something. Or even some kind of a recipe and make a dry recipe and tell then to just add water, or something like that!  These are gifts that I would love!
I look forward to reading about things that you would like/would give!

Can-Do Challenge- Tense to Relax

As I mentioned a few Sunday's ago, the next few Can-Do Challenges will be coming from a book that I bought as a result of a college class that I ended up dropping and I was unable to part with this book!

I hope that these are as helpful and beneficial for all of you, as they were for me!

Stress Free For Good, written by Dr Fred Luskin & Dr. Kenneth R Pelletier, is a book that has seriously changed my life and how I manage myself :-) I hope that you all have the opportunity to read this book, and if not, please read my posts because they really do help :-)

The third life skill written about in this book is: Tense to Relax

"When you have thoughts of good things, when your mind pictures loving scenes, your body has no need for tension and high blood pressure.  In fact, loving thoughts and the emotions of gratitude are as good for the bosy as a relaxing massage on the beach in Hawaii" (p.82).

Purpose:

~Know the difference between muscle tension and relaxation

~Be able to relax deeply and fully

Practice:

~On your 3rd deep belly inhale (more here) tighten your right arm from your shoulder to your hand and hold it tightly for 2-3 seconds
~On the exhale, relax fully and let your arm drop
~Repeat on your other arm, both legs and entire body
~As you repeat these steps, repeat relaxing affirmations to yourself

Tips:

~When you tense your muscles...really tense them and when you relax, really relax
~Remind yourself of your positive and relaxing affirmations

Application:

~Before going to sleep

~Before physical activities
~When you need to wake up
~When you are stuck in traffic

Life Skill:

"When you tense your muscles, letting go allows you to relax deeply" (102).

Again, all of this information comes straight from the book...I have paraphrased and generally it is not verbatim-I only chose a few items that have really helped me, that I hope will help you :-)

Italia- Siena

I went to Italia in the summer of 2008. I studied Art, Music and Culture in Firenze for a month.  

From now on, my adventures were mainly shared with my two roommates: Jodi and Stephanie, people in my program, Bev or random people we met along the way!

Now on to my Firenze adventures--a lot of site seeing, staying up late, and wine! How to travel in Europe when you are 20!

I have decided that I will take you along my journey based on the places I went :-)

Siena

Of all of the cities that I visited while on my Italian adventure, Siena was one of my all time favorites. We took a tour with a very animated and passionate tour guide who was extremely knowledgeable.

I know that we all learned so much!

If I could pick a place to live (besides my house in Bassano, I would live here: in Siena!

This is panforte. It is a mixture of dried fruit and nuts. Oh my, it is soo tasty!

This was made when there was little food to eat. The people took what they had and just put it all together to create this!

It is sweet {well, depending on the kind that you get} and it is filling!

Isn't this Duomo gorgeous! I am sad for all of the scaffolding--oh well, it is still picturesque! Everything inside and outside is striped black and white. It is soo beautiful!

These are the different Contrade of the city of Siena.  One of the things that our tour guide told us is that we had to pick a contrade that we wanted to be part of. I chose Nicchio which is a Seashell. {the one on in the far left column 4th from the top}

A person is born into their Contrade. Each Contrade has its own church and has a lot of spirit when it comes to the Palio.

These pictures are all in front of the Piazza del Campo where the Palio takes place.

The Palio is a horse race that occurs twice a year in the summer time. We had just missed the first race and were too soon for the second.

The race is between the contrade. And like I said before, it gets very competitive. The people from each Contrade form alliances with other contrade and they have shady sportsmanship tactics!

You can imaging my excitement when I got home and the James Bond Movie: Quantum of Solice came out. The opening scene is of the Palio! I screamed in excitement in the movie theater! ;-)

 

When you go to Siena, make sure that you go when there is a Palio. It will be so busy and so packed in the Pizza del Campo and I promise the crowd will seem small when you see it! And bring me along too!!

Until next time, Buon Giorno

12 Days of Christmas Challenge- Day 5

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special 

  The Grinch!
 

12 Days of Christmas Challenge- Day 4

{Oops, I accidentally published Day 9...Sorry about the confusion!}

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

I think that it would do you all some good if I didn't give you budget tips! ha!

It would be better if I listened to all of you!!

I guess the one piece of advice that I have is:

Make a list of the things that you want to get for all of the people on your list.

When you go to the store stick to your list.

If you see something else for a friend...

think about it,

sleep on it,

but it.

ha! 

I told you I wasn't good for advice on a budget! ;-)

Best of luck on your holiday shopping!

Aloha!

12 Days of Christmas Challenge- Day 9

Day 9: Favorite Holiday recipe 

 

For Thanksgiving we spent the week with my aunt and uncle.

My aunt doesn't like all of the Thanksgiving food so she found this Giada recipe.

It is thanksgiving all in a ravioli and we ate it the night before Thanksgiving.

They were delicious!! I would definitely recommend them!

recipe

The one thing that I recommend, well that my aunt recommends is to double the gravy and to have more cranberries on the side!

Sooo, yummy!

Ingredients

Ravioli:

• 1/4 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
• 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
• 2 tablespoons grated Romano
• 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 20 store-bought wonton wrappers

Gravy:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To make the ravioli: in a medium bowl, stir together the turkey, cranberry sauce, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, egg, salt, and pepper. Place 10 wonton wrappers on a work surface. Brush lightly with water using a pastry brush. Place 1 tablespoon of the turkey mixture on each of the wonton wrappers. Top with another wonton wrapper. Push out any air bubbles and press the edges tightly to seal.

To make the gravy: in a medium, heavy skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir until cooked, about 1 minute. Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring quickly to avoid lumps. Add the cream, parley, salt, and pepper and cook, without boiling, for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the ravioli and cook until tender but still firm to the bite and the turkey is cooked, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Drain the ravioli into the gravy and stir to coat. Serve immediately in individual dishes, drizzled with the remaining gravy.

Help Me

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you all find many reasons to be thankful!
Eat lots of yummy food and spend all the time you have with your family...because at the end of the day...they are all you have!

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I cannot accept,

And the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill because they pissed me off.

And Also, help me to be careful of the toes I step on today 

as they may be connected to the ass that I may kiss tomorrow.

 Help me to always give 100% at work....

12% on Monday, 23% on Tuesday, 40% on Wednesday, 

20% on Thursday, and 5% on Friday.

And, help me to remember....

When I am having a really bad day,

and it seems that people are trying to piss me off,

that it takes 42 muscles to frown 

and only 4 to extend my middle finger and tell them to bite me.

I saw this on my Auntie's fridge and I almost wet myself!

So funny and I just had to share!

Ha! 

I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving!