Revived Community
We were created to be in community with others. Whether it’s friends, co workers, aquaintances, family, etc., we weren’t meant to do this life alone. I think that is why we get that ache of feeling like we are missing something when we are alone, when we are trying to fight battles on our own, or when we isolate ourselves from the people around us. We have a real and genuine need and desire to be surrounded by people. People encourage you, people challenge you, people love you, people accept you, and people even sometimes rub you the wrong way. …
Read MoreRevived Perspective of Social Media
Social media can also be known as “Social Comparison”. How often do you scroll through Facebook or Instagram and feel jealous of what someone else has or what she is wearing…and the list goes on…and then leave your computer or phone feeling like you or your life isn’t enough? But, how often are your images not even really “truth” of what your reality truly is that day or that moment?
“…because you and I put up our very best moments on social media to show our friends, family, and acquaintances, it paints a picture about our lives that just isn’t true.”
The below blog post that I’m sharing is originally from FIELEKEFRONTPORCH — Adventures in Ministry, Marriage, and Parenting. Check out their blog and more about them from the link above. In this post, she puts social media in a really good perspective and how we should respond with appreciation and intentionality.
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I’M NOT A LIAR BUT FACEBOOK SURE IS.
I have some confessions about pictures I pulled from my Facebook feed…
In this picture, what you see is my sweet Ru & I, snuggled up happy as can be. What you don’t see is that my best friend was in town visiting me taking care of me because I really hate it when Josh travels for work for a week and I have to hold down the fort with a 2 & 4 year old.
In this picture, what you see are the cutest little girls ever with their beaming proud Momma. What you can’t see is that this was the day after our social worker told us it will probably be a long wait to adopt a baby, longer than we hoped, and I was still processing and grieving that news.
In this picture,
Chinese Chicken Salad Revived with a Healthy Twist
The beautiful evenings in spring invite a desire for lighter dinner options. This hearty dinner salad gives you a delicious option for those warmers nights as spring turns into summer. And with many folks wanting to get into better shape before the beach weather is here….this salad is worth adding to your repitoire of light and healthy dinner options.
Chinese Chicken Salad
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded or cubed
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 head napa cabbage
2-3 cups chopped kale or spinach
3 stalks celery sliced thin
2 carrots peeled and sliced thin (you can spiral slice them with a messermeister peeler or a Paderno spiral slicer-see below)
1 zucchini sliced thin
3 green onions sliced
1 can water chesnuts sliced
1 cup toasted almonds or cashews chopped
1 jicama peeled and cut into small cubes
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 cucumber peeled and sliced (no need to peel if using english cucumber)
1 yellow or orange bell pepper cut into small chunks
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
Dressing
1 cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon honey
Cook chicken.
Shred or cut into cubes and mix with hoisin sauce.
Mix shredded napa cabbage, chopped kale or spinach, celery, carrots, green onions, water chestnuts, jicama, cilantro, cucumber and peppers in a large bowl.
Mix all dressing ingredients and set aside.
Add chicken and toasted almonds (or cashews) and sesame seeds to greens.
Toss dressing into salad and mix thoroughly. chill and serve.
Serves 8-10
Revived Mindset
Do you Instagram? I just love it. There are so many people doing awesome projects to encourage others it fills my heart with joy.
I particularly like the #30DayVeggie Challenge from The Body Dept because it is all about MINDSET! I love what contributor Karen Psiask says when she writes, “I’m tired of always being told what NOT to do when it comes to health and nutrition. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that. This is bad for you. That is bad for you. Most of it is good, accurate advice, but after a while, all that negativity starts to become overwhelming! So this spring, I’ve decided to change my way of thinking by focusing on what I WILL do.”
This type of mindset is so key in any area of our lives. Focusing on the positive, on things we can control and change, rather than the negative.
So the challenge is simple: eat vegetables at every meal. YEP! EVERY meal. I have been doing the challenge for two days and I love it. I have identified some weak areas when it comes to eating vegetables — mostly lunch time — and I realized how easy it is to have some veggies at every meal.
I would love for you to join me the rest of this month to eat veggies at every meal and revive your mindset about healthy eating. Just be sure to use #30DayVeggie in your post and tag me @princessessandprotein and the original challenge creators @thebodydept and @karenpsiask
Happy Veggie-ing!
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Revived Lifestyle
Image from http://www.genpink.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cinderella-havecourage.jpg
A few days ago we celebrated Easter. It was a day to celebrate Christ’s journey. To celebrate the new life filled with grace and truth that we can receive in Him. To live in the miracle of His resurrection. Leading up to Easter, many people enter the season of lent, either giving up something, or adding something new to their routine. Lent lasts for forty days. But why do we just take this time to focus on these things the forty days leading up to Easter. Why aren’t we continually doing an assessment of ourselves and our lives that we are always looking for ways we can grow and change. I don’t want to just live in a season of lent. I want to live a lifestyle of continual growth. I want to take what has been learned in lent or some season of growth and incorporate it into my normal life. Not just change things for a season.
I saw Cinderella this past weekend. (It is a great movie by the way) But Cinderella lived by the motto “Have courage and be kind.” That one simple statement impacted and changed her whole life. Her thoughts, actions, relationships, all came down to that one thing. What if we lived our lives this way. What if we had one motto that could impact everything. What would yours be? I think for me, I would want to Live Abundantly. I want to love abundantly, laugh abundantly, enjoy abundantly, and experience life to the fullest. And not just to live this one day but to live it every day.
To revive oneself is to “regain life, consciousness, or strength.” It is to “restore to life or consciousness and to give new strength or energy to.” I want to live a …
Read MoreCurried Chicken and Brown Rice Salad Revived
Remember the old school Chicken and Rice salad that was served at many potlucks? I think it was made from a box of Rice-A-Roni and it had chicken, celery, pimentos and mayonnaise in it. Well the times have changed and so has that old school chicken and rice salad recipe…it has been REVIVED! Olive oil and lemon juice instead of mayonnaise and some other yummy ingredients added to the rice and chicken base and viola…a delicious and nutritious dinner salad that is sure to please!
Ingredients
1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
½ onion chopped
2 ½ teaspoons curry powder (divided)
2 cups cooked long grain brown rice
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
2-3 green onions sliced thin
½ cup raisins
1 medium apple (granny smith or fuji) cored, peeled and chopped
Dressing:
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½-1 teaspoon sea salt
In a large pan over medium heat, add 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil, chicken pieces, chopped onion and ½ teaspoon curry powder. Saute until chicken is cooked, about 5-8 minutes. Cook brown rice according to package directions, allow 20-30 minutes. In a large bowl, combine brown rice with bell pepper, green onion, raisins and apple. In a small bowl, whisk 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, remaining 1 teaspoon curry powder, salt and pepper to make dressing. Add the cooked chicken and onion sauté to the rice. Add the dressing and combine thoroughly. Serve with pita or naan bread, hummus and a place on a bed of greens if desired.
Revived by My Own Challenges
Revive means to activate, set in motion or take up again, to renew……..As a verb, “to be revived” means to return to life, to restore consciousness or return to a flourishing condition.
During the past few weeks, I have felt like my life has become a 3 ring circus-or maybe a 5 ring circus. Each one of my passions I am currently involved in pursuing, increased in demands and time commitments. I found myself feeling like there were not enough hours in the day to get everything done. We had special birthdays and then the blessing of gathering for Easter which are always fun celebrations but for me and my schedule…it involves a 6-8 hour drive to these events. But how could anyone miss out on spending time with these precious people?
But of course these important events happened during my most important month of preparation for a speaking engagement I had volunteered for almost a year ago. My teaching topic was based on a life principle that I am totally committed to, so it didn’t surprise me that I was being challenged from every angle to live out the very thing I would be teaching on. I believe you are tested the most when you are taking risks and are willing to step outside of your comfort zone, but those tests…when passed and survived are the very things that “REVIVE” your life.
During this testing time, one of my 5 circus rings that had also increased in commitment level was my passionate involvement in our Growing Weisser blog. I am currently enrolled in a class with a few other bloggers to learn how to improve our blog by working SMART, CREATIVE, WISE and PRESENT! Our first assignment was to list our 5 top priorities in our life. So, in …
Read MoreCelebrating Bekah
Happy Birthday BEKAH!!! Today we are going to celebrate you! We LOVE you and are so blessed by the beautiful young woman you have become. As the baby of the family, you have been teased most of your life that you were spoiled…..but in reality you were irresistibly adorable. You were my little shadow and I cherish all the memories we have made together. Your sisters entertained you and you always giggled at their silliness. You wanted to be just like them as you grew up…….. it was easy for the entire family to spoil you because we had a lot of love to give you! You are creative, kind, organized, and know how to persevere to conquer every hardship. You are brave and courageous and you love and trust Jesus with all your heart. It is fun to be your mom! Happy Birthday, Bekah.
Her husband, Ashkon loves her so much and it has been a blessing to share Bekah with him, for LIFE!
We love your enthusiasm for all things Christmas and this year you hit a home run with your tacky sweater party outfits….chair back covers turned into vests!
We are so glad that you have moved back to the states so you can participate in family gatherings!Bike riding through your new community is a fun past-time for you and
We went on a lovely hike this past weekend and enjoyed God’s beautiful creation.
Bethany wrote you a tribute: “Bekah is a joyful spirit , a refreshing light, a steadfast friend, a compassionate giver, and a creative dreamer. She loves to bless other people through her creativity and her thoughtful gifts. She loves her friends and family with her whole heart. She is always so busy giving to others that it’s nice to be able to celebrate …
Read MoreEaster and Passover 2015
This is Easter week and the beginning of Passover so we are taking the week off here at Growing Weisser…..I am going to update and repost an Easter post to share with you today and make sure to check back on Thursday for a surprise……
When I was growing up, Easter season began with a Passover Seder meal at my grandparents home where we retold the Exodus story and said beautiful Hebrew prayers. This tradition became more meaningful to me as I learned that Christ became the Passover Lamb and He was the perfect sacrifice for all men for all time. He was nailed to the cross on that Friday (what we call “good Friday”) and was raised from the dead on what we call Easter-Resurrection Sunday. Resurrection Sunday, Good Friday and Passover celebrations are a time to reflect on all that Christ has done for me.
As we raised our family, we incorporated the celebration of Passover with our Easter festivities for a rich tradition of Old and New Testament blending to tell the entire story of God reaching out to man to initiate and open the door for an intimate relationship with His children.
Last year I had the awesome privilege of attending a Good Friday worship night with Bekah and Ashkon at their Christian Student Association at SGU in Grenada. It was a multicultural event including liturgical dance and worship for all with the worship team including special presentations from three groups of students singing in their native tongues-Indian, African and Spanish and two Asian students who shared a piano and violin worship song on prayer. The most moving part of the evening for me was the dramatic presentation of a skit done to a beautiful song called Everything-you can look it up on Youtube. If you …
Read MoreSaved by Smart Planning
Today I took my girls to Sea World with some friends. We loaded up my awesome van–even took my friend and her daughter–and drove down to San Diego. We had an amazing time.
I have learned a lot taking these small trips to fun places with my girls and I feel like I have finally got a good system down for saving time, money, and sanity when doing trips with kids. Here are a few of my tips:
1. Carpool – save on gas, split parking, and enjoy the time with another adult!! (That is something so precious in this stage of life). I LOVE my Toyota Sienna van and we recently put the two big girls in the back row together. They love it, and it easily frees up one of the captain’s chairs and our removable 8th seat for guests if and when we need it.
2. Pack your own food – I treated myself and my friend to a Starbucks for the drive, but other than that purchase I spend $0 today (not including gas). I pack lots of snacks, lunch, more snacks, water, and I ALWAYS bring my own treats for incentives. I like to occasionally reward good behavior with a little treat and they come in handy for unexpected wait times (such as our 1 hour wait today in the hot sun to redeem our passes! yikes!). I also try to pack the kid’s favorite meals and snacks to let this day be all about easy fun. Their favorite snacks are fruit snacks, pirate booty, raisins, freeze dried fruit, and pouches. They love lollipop so I usually throw in a dumb dumb lollipop for them.
3. Along the same lines – Pack your own treats! Like I said, little treats can be great incentives …
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