Category: Soul

Save $$$ Menu Planning with the Weekly Publix Ad

SuzetteNutrition / Recipes

This is an unusual week – looking at the Publix ad, there is literally nothing I can use.  But that’s okay, because when they had good deals in recent weeks I did the “prep once, eat twice” routine, so I have plenty in my freezer from previous weeks.

I also have extra meatballs in the freezer from the big batch I made on Sunday for tonight’s Bunco party.  I have four dozen in the crockpot ready for tonight’s gathering, but that still leaves me with another two dozen in the freezer for another meal.  I also enjoyed a meatloaf earlier in the week from the same batch – definitely worth the 45 minutes spent to prep last weekend!

I hope your week is beautifully healthy.  Shalom!

Improve Your Productivity With Some Down Time

SuzetteGarlic Galore Seasoning Blend Recipes

Life is busy these days.  Has there ever been a generation who didn’t say that?  I know I say it all the time.  And it is true.  I don’t just say “refuse to choose,” I walk the talk.  I manage a law firm part time while also owning a renovation business with my husband, while also running a Wildtree business, and working on my writing, music and creations.  And let’s not forget our families, who we want to spend as much time with as we can, especially our three beautiful grandsons and two beautiful nieces who live nearby.

And then there’s “girl time.”  With so much else happening in life, I tend to let that one slip by.  When I finally force myself to take the time though, I realize how much I need it and that I need to do it more.  If you put your mind to it, you can come up with ways to make it all happen.  Really, you can.

This Thursday is Bunco night.  A “girl time” fest.  Something that I normally miss because I am “too busy.”  I refuse to miss out again this month though.  I am trying to do better at planning.

Our Bunco group shares the responsibility of bringing a dish to pass so that the hostess isn’t left with having to do it all.  That’s a wonderful opportunity for me, because I love to cook for and serve others.  I can tend to let that clog up my brain though, with everything else on my plate.  Especially right now, with a major hotel renovation in its final stages.  In the past I would have taken a pass in light of my busy calendar.  This month I am following my own advice instead.  I am using a make ahead meal to make life easier and make sure that I don’t miss out on this fun – and much needed – event.

Last night I enjoyed another much needed event – a sleepover with my two beautiful nieces.  I enjoyed the opportunity to put all of my responsibilities aside for a day and live in the moment, creating with them in the studio, taking in a movie and dinner, feeding the chickens at our recording studio, and doing needlework in the marshmallow – our nickname for our big comfy king-size bed – without giving a second thought to work and the responsibilities that have been swimming through my brain all week.

It is amazing what that time off will do for you.  Although we were up until 11:00 (don’t tell their mom and dad!), I was awake at 4:30 this morning, rested and ready to go.  After some time spent in my office, I headed to the kitchen at 7:00 to prepare the meatballs for this week’s Bunco.  You can find my make ahead meatball recipe here.  By 8:00, I had six dozen meatballs in my freezer, a meatloaf in the fridge for tonight’s dinner, and all before the girls were awake.    It’s going to be another great day.

 

meatballs 7

Let the Universe Rise Up to Meet You

SuzettePersonal Growth

india arie

Oprah’s interview with India Arie is a beautiful lesson in having the confidence to follow your own God-given instincts.  Of the many lessons in this interview well worth watching, one valuable take away that India shares is this:  When you follow your instincts for God’s plan on your life, the Universe will rise up to meet you where you are.

My reading this morning from Marianne Williamson’s book A Return to Love:  Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, continued this theme for me.  Marianne’s book carries the blessings of a daily devotional.  I relate to her teachings because she is preaching what I believe: God Is Love.  Jesus Is Love.  If we all conducted ourselves from this foundation, I believe the travesties of today’s society would cease.

This morning’s reading resonated with me not because of its impact on a global level but because it hits me where I am today.  A creative with an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong desire to help others, I am as far removed from a “salesperson” as you could be.  My “anti-sales” attitude causes me to stand in my own way in my desire to help others, however.  I am so strongly opposed to “selling” someone that I sometimes prevent myself from doing what I really want to do:  help them.

“When we are motivated by the desire to sell, we are only looking out for ourselves.  When we are motivated by the desire to serve, we are looking out for others.”  Marianne Williamson

The Universe is truly meeting me where I am this morning, leading me to read this chapter at a time when I needed it most.  Mary Ann talks about the concept of refusing to do what you feel called to do because you “can’t make a living doing it.”  In the interview I watched last night between Oprah and India, they talked about the “walking dead,” people who are just existing in the world, not doing what they were sent here to do because they don’t see how they could support themselves doing it, or they lack the confidence to follow their instincts and just do it. They end up just going through the motions of life, not truly living.  Even worse, the failure to do what you were created to do causes depression, irritability, and physical disease.

“Whatever it is you want to do, give it away to your community.”  Marianne Williamson

This is so in keeping with where I am today.  In a conference call with my Wildtree director last week, I told her I just don’t want to be a salesperson.  I cannot approach my business that way.  It is the total antithesis of who I am.  I have to work in service to others, and if God wants me to make a living doing it, that’s great, but that cannot be my reason for doing it.  I am doing it for the shear pleasure of helping others, and I am letting God decide what that will look like.

Thank you, Universe, for rising up to meet me where I am with these messages from my Sisters in Christ.

Shalom!

Lift Your Spirit with Some Creativity

SuzetteCreativity / Art / Design

Art Centric 1

It’s the facts.  Our creator made us to be creative.  No matter who you are, you are creative, regardless of what you may think.  If you think you aren’t, then you just haven’t found your niche yet.

It can be difficult to find time for creativity in today’s hectic pace, but when you force yourself to slow down and take the time, what a difference it can make.  This week has been a crazy one for Art Centric 2me, and I almost didn’t make it to this class at Art Centric Studio in Lakeland, but I am so glad I did.  An evening spent creating and socializing with other creatives was just what the doctor ordered.  I can’t begin to express how good I felt when I left this class.

If you aren’t familiar with Art Centric Studio, check out their website.  They are partnering with Randy Glotfelty of Jen-Ken Kilns for these Mug-A-Month classes (the mugs will be fired and glazed for us at Jen-Ken too!), and they also offer painting classes for adults and children.

Jen-Ken also offers classes, in glass (I have enjoyed a class there myself and am blessed to have a Jen-Ken glass kiln), as well as pottery throwing.  Looking at their current offerings, I could keep a smile on my face for a long, long time!  Now if I can just add a few more hours to every day …

Shalom!

Art Centric 3

Organic: To Buy or Not To Buy?

SuzetteBody

eat with that mask on

 

I made the decision to increase organic / decrease non-organic food intake in 2014 based on the obvious issue of the chemical pesticides found in our fruits and vegetables and the chemical preservatives found in processed food.  While this is still my number one reason for continuing the move toward a more organic lifestyle, there is more than just the hazard of ingesting chemicals to be considered.  Time.com points out that in the latest studies focusing on nutrition, 12 studies have found evidence that organic is more nutritious than conventional by having more vitamin C, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids.  The July 2014 British Journal of Nutrition reports that organic crops contain, on average, 17% more antioxidants than crops grown conventionally.   Continue reading “Organic: To Buy or Not To Buy?” →

Elizabeth Gilbert on Super Soul Sunday

SuzetteSpirituality

Elizabeth Gilbert on Super Soul Sunday

Elizabeth Gilbert on Super Soul Sunday

“What have I come here to do with my life?  You can choose to ignore that question, or you can pursue it.  The pursuit is the beginning of the journey.”  Elizabeth Gilbert

Most women know Elizabeth Gilbert as the author of Eat, Pray, Love, the woman who took a year to travel the world in pursuit of her purpose.  While most of us don’t have the luxury of running away for a year the way she did, we do have the power to change our lives in significant ways.  We just have to put one foot in front of the other and begin the pursuit, even if the only steps we can currently take are to start making a plan.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”  Anais Nin

Everyone has a calling on their life, a reason they are here.  Many of us choose to ignore the call out of fear, or give up on the call at some point along the path because the road becomes too difficult.  Elizabeth shares how extraordinary life can become if you hang on tight through the rocky terrain  and see it through to the pinnacle of your calling.  Give it a listen.  You’ll be glad you did.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”  Anais Nin

Wildtree Freezer Meals

SuzetteNutrition / Recipes

Freezer meals are great for busy families – you can spend 90 minutes preparing 10 meals, pop them in the freezer, and pull one out as needed with the prep already done.  Since there are only two of us, I don’t make large batches of freezer meals for Danny and myself very often, but I do love them as an option for helping others.  Recently my Mom had surgery, and I was able to put together several meals that can go in her freezer so that she has them at the ready as she needs them.  My Dad likes to grill, so meals from the Get Your Grill On set from Wildtree was a great choice for them.

Although the freezer meal workshops from Wildtree come with 10 different meal recipes, you don’t have to make them all if some don’t look like something your family would like.  You will use the leftover seasonings for other meals regardless!  There were 7 meals in this set that I thought my parents would like, and they make enough that I was able to split some off to keep for Danny and me!

 

I can’t tell you what a good feeling it was to fill my parents’ freezer with prepared meals so that they have one less thing to think about for a while.  Giving is such a blessing!  Shalom!

Workshop_Options v3 graphic (1)

Love Is Strength

SuzetteSpirituality

As so often happens in life, the idea of forgiveness that I was being led to follow and share yesterday was “coincidentally” continued this morning through the book I am currently reading.  If you have not read Marianne Williamson’s “A Return to Love:  Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles,” it is worth your effort.  If more people in this world followed these principles, we would share a peaceful existence that would bless every one of us.

“To the ego, love is weakness.  To the Holy Spirit, love is strength.”

Marianne shares a story in which she had been hurt by someone.  To any one of us, she would have been justified to be very angry and react accordingly to the other individual in the situation.  Because she was practicing the principles taught by Helen Schucman and William Thetford in “A Course in Miracles,” she knew she would not get the results she wanted if she reacted the same way she had in similar past situations.  We all know that definition of insanity, right?

“I gave the situation to God and remembered that I need do nothing.”

Marianne doesn’t claim that this new found practice was easy.  But she does share that by working to release the situation to God and let Him handle it rather than react toward a brother in anger, she achieved the results that she desired.  What were those results?  They were not to allow that individual to continue in her life in the same context that he had been involved with her before – that would indeed be weakness.  But it was the ability to deal with the individual from a place of peace and love while at the same time disallowing him to be in her life in the way he had been previously.  She was able to hold her head high as she dealt with the situation from a place of love, which in the end demonstrated great strength that would never have been achieved had she lashed out in anger.  She was able to walk away from the situation in peace and contentment, which is all she really wanted in the first place.  Don’t we all?

“As long as I was not at peace, my behavior would carry the energy of my conflict.  Conflicted behavior cannot bring peace.  It can only produce more conflict.”

Marianne’s story is nothing compared to the conflicts that we are experiencing today, but the principles are the same.  We cannot eradicate evil with evil.  We cannot heal hurt by inflicting hurt, and we cannot heal anger with anger.  If this song did not make sense yesterday, I hope Marianne’s story will help shed light on it today.

We All Bleed Red

SuzetteSpirituality

 

http://iframe%20src=https://player.vimeo.com/video/171168771%20width=640%20height=360%20frameborder=0%20webkitallowfullscreen%20mozallowfullscreen%20allowfullscreen/iframe

When I heard this song on my Itunes playlist on my way to work this morning, I knew I had to learn it as soon as I returned home this afternoon.  It is so timely, with all of the pain we are experiencing today.  I couldn’t wait and do it proper-like, recording it in the studio and letting Danny do his magic on the recording and video – I just had to send the message out now, without a minute to waste, so I settled for an Iphone recording.  There is so much pain and hurt and suffering.  But we cannot heal pain by inflicting more pain.  We cannot heal hurt by inflicting more hurt.  We cannot eradicate evil with evil.  We are all human beings, all children of God who share one Father and one Mother Earth.  None of us can be completely healed until we all are healed.  And that can only be done with love.  God bless you.  #orlandostrong

Thank you Ronnie Dunn for recording this beautiful song.