Recipe: Black Bean Soup

Today, I decided to try something new. I had a bunch of fresh veggies in my fridge, and I wanted to use them in a different way. I must say that this soup is better than any I have ever made. I love my chicken-less noodle soup and my broccoli/cauliflower/carrot and cheese soup, but this one is so unique. I made enough for four servings, and I put them in individual mason jars to have for lunch this week!

I made up this recipe off the top of my head, so I'm sure you could make adjustments wherever you wanted to.

Ingredients:
zucchini (one)
carrots (four)
celery (four stalks)
onion (half of one)
jalepeno pepper (one)
garlic (one clove)
bell pepper (half of one)
roma tomatos (two)
black beans (30 ounces or two cans)
olive oil (enough to sauté vegetables)
chicken broth or vegetable broth (four cups)
spices (I used pepper, crushed red pepper, chili powder, and Red Robin seasoning)

Directions:
1. Chop up all of the vegetables. Make them as big or as small as you'd like.
2. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add carrots, celery, onion, jalepeno pepper, and bell pepper. Cook for 7 minutes on medium heat.
3. Make your broth. I use bouillon cubes, so I dissolve it in boiling water while I wait for the vegetables to cook.
4. Add zucchini and garlic to the veggies. Cook for 3 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes to the veggies. Cook for 3 minutes.
6. Add broth to veggies. Bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
7. Rinse black beans (pre-cooked) in a strainer with cold water.
8. Add black beans to soup mixture. Cook for 15 minutes.
9. Scoop out about 75% of soup into large blender. Puree it until it's at the consistency you like.
10. Add the spices -- however much you want of whichever ones you like!
11. Add the pureed soup back into the soup in the sauce pan. Mix well.
12. Scoop into individual servings. I use mason jars because they are easy to grab on the go.
13. ENJOY! :)

As you can see, this recipe made four servings for me. I am going to have a French baguette with it, and I cannot wait! Let me know what you think of this recipe! 

Liebster Award

My friend (and fellow USAFA significant other) Emily chose me for this fun blog post! You can find her at Inhabit Your Moments, and I'm sure she'd appreciate it if you checked out her blog! :) 

Basically, she answered 11 questions herself that a previous blogger asked, and then she nominated five lucky bloggers to answer 11 questions that she came up with herself! I am one of them, so here goes! 

 Here's the Deal: 

• Answer the 11 questions asked.
• Leave a link back to the blogger(s) that nominated you.
• Choose 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate.
• Write 11 new questions for them to answer.  

Questions From Emily; Answers From Me:

1. What is your favorite song and why?

When You Come Back Down by Nickel Creek -- I love it because I found it when Dan was in USAFA Prep School Basic Training, and the lyrics really spoke to me. It's a wonderful song, and I listen to it when I'm feeling down. You can hear it BY CLICKING HERE.

2. What is something beautiful (no matter how small) about today?

I was able to have some really in depth conversations about life in general with a few of my students after we finished testing. Instead of playing on the computer and listening to music, some of them CHOSE to spend time with me. It was awesome.

3. What is your favorite quote?

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists. It is real. It is possible. It's yours." -Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged

4. What is your favorite book?

Oh boy. This is a tough question. I read so much. In fact, I have already read 16 books this year, and it's only early March. This is probably the craziest question I could EVER be asked. Although Jodi Picoult is my favorite author, and I love all of her books, my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I put off reading it for a long time, but when I finally took the time to sit down with it, I was completely captured. I couldn't put it down. I sat outside on my deck at my old apartment with a glass (or bottle) of wine and just kept reading. That book was the most connected I have EVER felt to a piece of literature. You can check out my review of it BY CLICKING HERE.

5. If you could hop on a plane right now, where would you go?

Anywhere? In the entire world? South Africa. Have I been there before? Nope. But it's #1 on my Bucket List, and I can't wait to explore it someday with my handsome fiancé (who will undoubtedly be my handsome husband by then). I am dying to go on a no-kill safari and see all of my favorite animals in their natural habitats. Yep, I'm a sucker for African animals. 

6. What is the last thing that made you laugh until you cried?

This is going to sound lame to everyone else, but I cried in the middle of class a couple weeks ago. Another teacher and I were putting grades in the grade book online while our students were taking a test (we co-teach the class together), and we were trying to give an abbreviation for our Bias, Assumption, and Generalization test because the system requires an abbreviation. Anyway, we were scoring the part where the students defined bias, assumption, and generalization. My co-worker whispers, "Just type: "D-BAG", so I did. And then I noticed what it said. And I started laughing and showed her. Then we both became hysterical because we had to remain quiet, and you know how that goes... when you're supposed to be quiet, everything is 6840950 times funnier, especially when 14 year olds keep looking at you like you're a raging lunatic. You had to be there, I guess.

7. What movie did you last see in theaters?

This is going to show how long it's been since I've seen a movie, but I saw Lincoln with Dan in early December. Yep, it's been that long. I don't typically see more than two or three movies a year. It's just not my thing. That said, Lincoln was PHENOMENAL. Good enough to last me at least three months, apparently! 

8. What piece of clothing could you not live without?

Gym shorts. I am THAT girl. I would wear them everywhere if I could. They are so comfortable, AND they've always been my style. I am NOT a girly-girl. I never have been. I have over 20 pairs of gym shorts. I wear them ALL THE TIME at home. Don't judge. 

9. What was the last spontaneous thing you did?

Hmm, this is a toughie as well because I am NOT a spontaneous person. I wish I was. I have tried. But when I tried, it turned into me PLANNING to do something spontaneous and completely canceling out the entire point of spontaneity. I honestly can't even think of ONE instance in which I was spontaneous. How sad. I am a complete planner by nature. 

10. What is your favorite season?

I love fall. Autumn. Call it what you want. But the smell of trees gets me every year. It smells like football. It smells like cross country. The weather is PERFECT that time of the year, and the colors are beautiful. Oh, and brand new school supplies. I AM HOOKED. Is anyone surprised? Thinking about the fall makes me anxious because I love it oh-so much. I've got a long time to wait, though, so I'll settle for spring arriving in a couple of weeks. I really am a seasons girl, though. If I ever have to live somewhere without all four seasons, I will be completely devastated. 

11. What is your favorite TV show and why?

This is going to show the complete and total nerd in me. I don't watch a lot of TV. I never have, really. Sure, I enjoy a few shows, but if I miss them, it's no big deal. The one I absolutely ADORE, though, is Jeopardy. Yep. I have a SLIGHT obsession with Alex Trebek. In fact, I ran up to the TV screen at my great grandparents house when I was only a year old or so and KISSED him on the screen! He may have been my very first crush. (How embarrassing). I would always rush home from track practice in high school to watch Jeopardy at 4:30. And now that it's on at 4:00 in Colorado, I started using the stair-climber machine at my gym because it's the only way I can see Jeopardy! I really should invest in DVR... Anyway, once upon a time, I tried out for Jeopardy. I took a few online tests but didn't make it past the third round of try-outs. Bummer. It is my biggest goal in life that I will probably never accomplish... such is life, I suppose. 

My Nominations (aka people who should participate in this!)

Lizzie at Sweet Kansas Girl

Megan at Identify My Design

Michele at Verbose Michele

Julie at The Girl in the Dress

Melanie at Tyler and Melanie

My Questions For You Ladies:

1. What is the story behind your given name? 

2. What is your birth order? (Are you the oldest, middle, youngest, only child, etc?)

3. What is/was your favorite subject in school?

4. What do you do when you are stressed out? 

5. What is your favorite fruit?

6. What is the best dish you make? Do you have a recipe? (sorry to double up!)

7. How did you meet your significant other? 

8. What kind of computer do you use? 

9. How many kids do you want (if any), and boys or girls?

10. Do you have one song that really pumps you up when working out?

11. What is your favorite school supply? Be as general or specific as you want. 

Painted Canvases

Most of you saw my anniversary gift for Dan in late February. I painted seven canvases and then painted quotes about flying on them. You can see them by checking out THIS BLOG POST if you missed it.

Anyway, while I was making those, I realized how fun it was, so I decided to make several more for myself. The only problem? You can only hang so many things up in your house without looking crazy, so I have these just sitting in my closet for now. Oops. I really do love them, though. A few friends suggested I open at Etsy shop to sell them, and I am going to do just that (but I'll post more about that later when it's all up and running). 

This is something I've found that I enjoy doing in my free time during the evenings (free time? as a teacher? you're right -- there's not much of it, but I make some time for myself). It's therapeutic, especially after a long day! I have many plans for more, so be on the look out! :)

Check out some of the canvases I have made so far. Some are better than others, and I can tell each one gets a little better as I gain confidence in what I'm doing. These are NOT posted in the order in which they were made... because I can't quite remember. 

Jason Mraz lyrics to a song that always reminds me of my relationship with Dan... we will be dancing to this song at our wedding for sure (although, it will not be our first dance song)

My favorite Bible verse

I love how this one looks like an anchor :) 

Thanks for looking! 

Gone Too Long

Seven years ago today, I lost the first man I ever loved.

My dad passed away from a massive heart attack when he was only two days shy of turning 45. I was 18 years old and just two and a half months away from graduating from high school. My little brother, Derek, was just an eighth grader, 14 years old.

From this point on, I apologize for the "stream-of-consciousness" writing. It's difficult to keep all of my thoughts straight as I write this...

From the day I was born, I was always "daddy's little girl". I was his mini-me in looks and personality. We got along so well, and I enjoyed spending time with him. We went running together, and I yelled from the sidelines at his softball games. He dragged me to Best Buy with him time after time when he needed new tunes, and I remember the time when I FINALLY wanted to go with him because I wanted a CD of my very own to play in my Sony Walkman. He was ecstatic because I wasn't complaining about going to "the most boring store on earth", so he bought me TWO CDs to begin my collection. I think he was SLIGHTLY embarrassed with my selections, though, as I chose the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys, naturally. ;) Although, he shouldn't have been TOO embarrassed about that because he used to do my hair and make-up for dance recitals if my mom was at work... totally.

Shortly after returning to school after taking a week off after his sudden death, I received a card FULL of notes from my friends and teachers offering their condolences. One thing in particular that one of my friends wrote sticks out to me, and I rely on this quote regularly: "Tough times don't last, but tough people do." That is always a nice reminder that although my dad is gone and that was definitely an extremely tough point in my life, I must go on. I must keep on living. I'd like to think that I am making him proud as a grow into a woman with a career of my own.

One thing that bugs me more than anything is that he will never meet Dan. Oh, how I wish he could have met Dan. It pains me to know that they will never get to joke around together. They will never sip beers and grill steaks together. They will never bowl or golf together. They will never get to both love me at the same time.

My dad won't be at my wedding in just over a year. He won't be there to walk me down the aisle. He won't be sitting there in the front row with my mom. He won't be able to dance with me in front of everyone. Isn't that what every bride dreams of? It feels difficult knowing I won't get any of those...

I miss my dad every single day. Time makes things easier, but I know that I will never let a day pass by without thinking of him. Sometimes, to this day, seven years later, I still hear something cool and think: "My dad would love that!" and make a plan to tell him, only to remember that I can't. And sometimes he appears in my dreams.

I want to share a few (okay, many) pictures with all of my readers. I chose these because they are my favorites. To all of you who knew him: enjoy. These truly are a blast from the past.

just after I was born :)

twins! 

I remember being carried around like this often...

one of my favorites! :)

just after my brother was born :)

one of my favorites :)

playing catch with the football :)

Royal Gorge Bridge :)

Pikes Peak :)

Pikes Peak :)

I LOVE this picture of us :)

I had the opportunity to be nominated for Homecoming Queen my senior year of high school. My dad got all dressed up to walk with me on the football field during the Homecoming football game. These are some of the last pictures we have together, and I will cherish them forever. 

I had the opportunity to be nominated for Homecoming Queen my senior year of high school. My dad got all dressed up to walk with me on the football field during the Homecoming football game. These are some of the last pictures we have together, and I will cherish them forever. 

I had the opportunity to be nominated for Homecoming Queen my senior year of high school. My dad got all dressed up to walk with me on the football field during the Homecoming football game. These are some of the last pictures we have together, and I will cherish them forever. 

I had the opportunity to be nominated for Homecoming Queen my senior year of high school. My dad got all dressed up to walk with me on the football field during the Homecoming football game. These are some of the last pictures we have together, and I will cherish them forever. 

a friend made this collage for me shortly after his death

And in his memory, I'll share his favorite song, the one I can't listen to without succumbing to my emotions, the one we played at his funeral... Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. You can listen to it by CLICKING HERE.