Welcome 2014!

I hope you're ringing in the New Year with a BANG!  We are planning a shin dig with my cousin and her littles.  Food, games and fun!  I have had a few quiet moments to do my "planning retreat!" and I've found that it may take longer than just one session, perhaps a planning month is more my style.  I am planning meals (loose meal plans, I've discovered I don't like things to be too set in stone....funny the things you learn about yourself as you get older.) I've thought a lot about my word......My one word goal for 2014 is:

ACT

Are you EXCITED?!?!?!  I really like this word.  It can mean so many different things.  You can ACT appropriately, you can ACT your age, you can ACT when something difficult is thrown your way.  You can ACT up, you can ACT out.  Act, just a smalll simple word yet it's meaning is so deep.  My Jo recently came home from church and showed me a very inspiring video.   "Only a Stonecutter" is a powerful video clip about the faith and persistence of one man.  Regardless of your religious affiliation, his dedication and determination are unlike anyone I've ever met!  I encourage you to watch it!  This is the main reason I chose the word ACT.  In the beginning of the clip the son says that there are two kinds of people in the world those that act and those that are acted upon! ...............WOW!  

I won't give the rest of it away, seriously watch it!! It's AMAZING!  For this reason, I choose to be a kind of person that acts!  I want my children to remember me as the mom who did her best, worked hard and made every moment count. ACT....I want to act on the promptings and stirrings I have to help others.  I often feel the need to call someone or write a letter or drop something off but I neglect these feelings and just let my own busy-ness get in the way.  I want to ACT first, and by doing so I hope to have less busy-ness and more I'm so glad I did's.  Act.....when life get's rough I want to ACT, I don't want to sit idly by or wish I would've done something to make the situation better.  For instance I have been trying so hard to be a morning person, it. just. doesn't. work.  I will keep trying however, but when my night owl is bursting at the seams to get out...I'll let it out and make the most of it.  By doing things that are productive and bettering my self, my family's life, maybe even filling my bucket so I can better serve and do and help those around me.

I don't know about you, but my TO DO LIST keeps growing.... but I'm not going to let that get me down.  I'm going to love that I have stuff that needs done, love that I can keep improving, keep plodding along and making progress.  I WILL ACT in 2014!  In Lieu of pictures....(because my google plus isn't allowing me to upload any at the moment HAHA!) I found a bunch of really cool quotes on my favorite pinning place that are all about ACT!  Enjoy ~

Clam Chowder ~ Yum

I LOVE WINTER!  Okay I think we all have heard enough of that.  But it's not that I love freezing weather in fact I don't really like it when it's -18... No... No ... I don't.  But I love soup and warm mittens and brown paper packages tied up with string... THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!  Okay enough singing.  I truly love the warm foods, the wood burning in our fireplace, snuggling down with a good book and hot cocoa.  I love the very essence of winter!  Plus I love SOUP!  And soup just isn't good when it's 70 degrees outside.

CLAM CHOWDER was calling my name.  In all the eleven years I've been a wife..and mother for that matter, I've never once made clam chowder.  WHY?!  I have no clue, I simply love the stuff but it seemed just too difficult to make.  My mom gave me some canned clams a while back and I needed to use them... so I whipped out my trusty smart phone with my well used pinning app and searched up some 'easy clam chowder' because I thought that easy would be necessary cause it looked difficult :).  BINGO...WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER (or clam chowder).  I found a FABULOUS recipe that was OH SO YUMMY! Even HANK said "this is really good!"  Okay I give him a hard time (rightfully so, he's forever teasing me and I don't know that we've ever had a serious conversation our whole married life...or have we? no one will ever know ha!) but really he is easy to fee, he pretty much eats whatever I make just doesn't usually LOVE it very often.  So the moment he said it was "really good!" I had Jo make him put it in writing.  Yes, I have a piece of paper with his signature stating that the soup I made was "really good!" :) (insert proud wife face here).  I made it for our family cmas party at my parent's house too!  REALLY GOOD SOUP PEOPLE!!!!  So try it out.  I doubled it the first time (we fed 5 people with not very much left over) then I quadrupled it for our party and it was plenty. I adapted it a little as I did not have any bottled clam juice so I just used chicken stock (I did use the clam juice from the canned clams but didn't really count that as it wasn't much.) I also used a lot more cream than they suggest...really it's a very adaptable recipe and very forgiving you can make it as thick or thin as you want and you could add peas or other veggies to it as well.  Enjoy ~  Recipe courtesy of Chef Ron Lock @ chefronlock.com 

Ingredients

• 2 (6-1/2-ounce) cans minced clams, with their juices
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
• 1 cup small-dice yellow onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
• 1 slice thick-cut bacon, finely chopped
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups bottled clam juice
• 1 pound russet potatoes (about 2 medium), peeled and cut into medium dice
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• Sea Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Strain the clams over a bowl. Reserve Juice and set clams aside.
   
   
2. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add in the onion and the bacon. Cook, stirring now and then until the fat from the bacon has rendered. 8-10 minutes.
   
   
3. Add the garlic and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, 2-3 minutes but do not brown the flour.
   
   
4. Stirring constantly, slowly add the reserved strained clam juice and bottled clam juice. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally and making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the potatoes, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are knife tender, about 15 minutes.
   
   
5. Stir in the cream and reserved clams and return to a simmer. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Out with the old...

As 2013 comes to a close I reflect on the things I had set out to do.  My "word" for 2013 was Strengthen. Although I did not accomplish all that I thought I would, but I did strengthen many things this year.  I set out to strengthen all areas of my life, my family, my mind, my body, my spirit....I like this 'one word' goal because it is easy to remember and I often found myself thinking about my "word".  I don't know that I accomplished all that I needed to or all that I would've liked, but I did make a great effort to Strengthen the things I could.  My family was strengthened by me spending time with them, teaching them and doing things for and with them, we were also blessed (or maybe it was procrastination HA!) with me taking a little break in school while I got ready for my big test this fall/winter.  It was LOVELY to have a break but it was even sweeter to pass the test (with the exception of the writing part...still waiting on the results)! It is so true that you don't know what you have until it's gone.  My brain NEEDED a break! I felt my sanity starting to wobble and so the break was welcomed and I read a lot more (things that didn't pertain to school....there is life out there!:))  I was able to focus on things I needed to and was able to get a few little projects done, which is good for the mind and body. But as I dreaded the return of school and all that it entails ....I realized how much I miss it!  I miss studying and writing papers (SICK.... I KNOW!) I miss the interaction I have with classmates and the instructors.  I also feel that when I am pressed for time I generally make the most of the time I have.  School makes me prioritize more and I seem to function better.  2013 was EPIC just as I thought it would be!  We farmed more than we ever have before, we had a baby horse and he's healthy and happy, all three little ones are schooling and loving it, we are experimenting with our "style" of schooling and we love learning how we learn and what we want to learn.  I'd say 2013 was a success!

As we prepare for 2014 which brings a new start, new goals and new plans....we begin with what we know will happen: I will start school again the first week of January, Hank will have more land to farm, we will continue to homeschool.  Those things we know are certain!  Recently I read a blog post from somewhere in blog land that had a new year planning retreat......what a great idea!! This retreat includes YOU yourself, a quiet place where you will not be interrupted, something good to munch on and something warm to drink, a pad of paper and pen.  I have a goal to DO this planning session, whether it be 2 days after the new year or today!  I will make this happen! I think planning is such a great thing, goals are so great and they help us to realize what is most important to us.  I want to make plans for being productive, make plans for my new "word" (stay tuned....it's a good one), make plans for homeschooling, make plans for serving, make plans for creating and make goals for where I want to be next year.  I use to look as goals as something I didn't want to make because at the end of the year... when I had forgotten my goals.....I would just feel discouraged but if I have a plan and a few good motto's/words that I know I want to work on, they will constantly remind me of what I want and what I am working towards.  Goals aren't suppose to be depressing they are suppose to help us find focus and lead us in the direction we want to go.  Whether we get there in 12 months or in 12 years doesn't matter, it only matters that we keep making progress!

Thinking about this blog, I sometimes write consistently......... then at times I hardly write at all.  I became discouraged about that and thought maybe it was best if I just didn't blog. But then I went back to the reasons I started blogging in the first place:  I love to share my ideas, I love to write, I love to express myself through written word and tend to do so a lot better than I do verbally ;).  So the Blog stays!  I mainly write for my own purpose anyway and if I happen to inspire one or two of you out there along the way that will just be icing on the cake.

So here's to Planning Retreats and new things to come! I hope your 2013 was as EPIC as mine! A big thanks to all those who read my blog once, or always....I'm happy you do!