10 Things and a Self-Portrait

So, this has been floating around a bit. I figured I'd do it. Why not? I cheated a bit and used a wedding picture of myself, because I struggle majorly with taking self-portraits...
Anyway, here it is! Ten things you don't know, and probably don't really care about. :-)






1. I think (most) rodents are extremely cute. When I see a really cute one, my toes curl and I can't help but smile.
2. I've lived in ten different houses/apartments to date...five of them before I turned two.
3. In high school I was involved in almost every single activity possible (not kidding) - Cross-Country, Track, Basketball, Band, Choir, Jazz Band, Speech, One Act Play, Fall Play, FFA, Student Council, and Knowledge Bowl. (Yep, nerd.)
4. Someday, I want to live in a barn-house. Yep, a barn converted into a gorgeous living space.
5. In high-school, I drove a little turquoise pick-up that couldn't go in reverse.
6. One of my favorite memories: the summer after I started dating Keagan, he went to Virginia for ten weeks of training. I wrote him a letter (almost) every day while working at one of my favorite places in the world, Shetek Baptist Camp.
7. I have an inner-dialogue constantly going through my head- much like J.D. on Scrubs.
8. I've never broken a bone, but I have sprained my right ankle so many times that it is noticably larger than the left.
9. More nerd-isms: I really like numbers. Sometimes, when I get bored at work, I'll do all of my math by hand, even though I have a calculator. I also love sorting things and making lists of things. Something about having everything in the right place is just so magical.
10. If I had a choice, I would only ever write with Pilot G-2 pens (07, not 10). It's all I ever use at home.

How to Stuff a Chicken Breast

Solved.

source

Weekend Recap...

today i am:

thankful for a busy, yet fun weekend with family and friends
marveling at how my whole family got sick, except for me. (my immune system is finally working, yay!)
wishing for snow to fall tonight.
missing the rush of snow days and late starts. remember how exciting it was hoping, waiting, and finally hearing those words??
breathing when i remember to. work has been a rush.

our weekend was a bit of a whirlwind.

saturday included: treking up to minnesota to watch my little sister and her school win a one act play festival (on to sections for them!), pizza and catching up with the whole family (minus the brother-in-law), and a quick visit with one of my best friends from high school

sunday included: an icy morning (so icy that our cat couldn't even walk on the driveway), a slow trek into church, a pot-luck type lunch at keagan's parent's house, The Logo Game, and Pub Trivia.

we wrapped up the weekend by watching a few episodes of Scrubs.

busy. relaxing. fun.

now on to the week ahead!

"Oooh, Limey!" and How Not to Stuff a Chicken Breast

We were whipping up a new dish last night and Keagan said, "You're gonna take pictures of this and post it on your blog, right?" It just wouldn't be a blog without a recipe now and then, would it? I didn't decide if I would post it or not until we started eating. After a couple of bites- it was a no-brainer! Delicious.

This is a very easy recipe to make if you've got the time. It's even easier if you've got a husband who likes cooking and helps you get it all together!

Comments received during supper:

"Oooh, limey!"

"Whoa. That was the best bite of chicken I've ever had. Ever."

"There's so many flavors mingling here."

Sound enticing? If your tastebuds are tingling, keep on reading.

Pesto Ricotta Chicken (with Tomato Vinaigrette)

**It sounds so fancy, but it's easy!

adapted a tiny bit from this cookbook

You will need:
4 chicken breasts (the plumper the better)
4 oz. ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp. pesto sauce (we used about 3...we like more pesto)
Olive oil
Pepper

Tomato Vinaigrette:
1/4 c. olive oil
1 bunch fresh chives (we used dried, to taste)
1 lb tomatoes (peel, seed, dice, or use a can of diced tomatoes)
Finely grated rind of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

1.Mix the ricotta and pesto in a small bowl
2. Cut a slit down the middle of each chicken breast to make a pocket. Fill w/ ricotta mixture and reshape the chicken back together
3. Brush each chicken breast w/ olive oil and season w/ pepper
4. Bake or grill until chicken is done all the way through. (we used our large George Foreman)
In the meantime...
5. Combine olive oil and fresh chives in a food processor and blend until smooth (if using dry chives, skip this step)
6. Combine tomatoes, olive oil, and chives.
7. Finely grate the rind of 1 lime. Add to mixture. (i love grating citrus. this smells incredible)
8. Add juice of 1 lime.
9. Mix all ingredients together and add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Once chicken is done, spoon tomato vinaigrette on top...and enjoy!

**We used dried chives and canned tomatoes, because there wasn't anything fresh at our store. It was good, but would be way better fresh.

Things that went well

• As I mentioned before...this was super easy to make and takes a relatively little amount of time to assemble
• It was a nice mix of flavors
• The chicken was very moist

Things we would have changed

• As much as we've experimented w/ stuffing chicken breasts, we can't seem to do it quite right. We lost almost all of the cheese as it grilled. We've tried cutting vertically and making a pocket, cutting horizontally and sealing w/ egg, etc., and holding it shut with toothpicks. Does anyone have any tips??
• I would use a little less lime juice next time- it was a bit sour for my taste.
• The vinaigrette recipe could probably be halved...we didn't use nearly enough of it.

Overall- we're keeping this recipe! It'd be so good on a spring or summer day and served with a side salad!

How do you stuff your chicken?

Thanks & A Thought

Somewhere in the midst of going from full-time, to part-time, to full-time again, exploding lightbulbs, lettuce gone bad, trying hard to fight insecurities, and taking encouragement...I finally let this blog of almost 1 1/2 years go a bit more public.

To be honest, it was really hard. I'm not great at being vulnerable. I like to be anonymous. I like when people know less about me. But in the past few months that I have been writing, I've shared this blog with a few people who are close to me and received a lot of encouragement to let others see it. So, I did it.

Thank you- for your kind words, for telling me that my ramblings aren't just silly, for letting me know it encouraged you. It meant a lot to me to receive positive feedback for doing something that was (and is) hard for me. 

I don't know where this blog will be going in the future, but for now I'm happy where it's at. It'll be nice to share thoughts and stories with you as our lives will soon begin to change quite a bit. I share a lot of stories from personal experience. I'm definitely not an expert on life and I do not think I know it all. I share these thoughts because they are what I'm currently learning or working through, and I hope that it might just be encouragement for someone else. For now, thank you for reading and sharing kind words. It means a lot to this girl. :)

And now, just a brief note about my thoughts today:
I believe that when we get better at something that is good for us...we're going to face opposition. He will do anything he can in his power to get us to turn around and revert to our weaknesses. He doesn't like our success and wants us to stop trying. That's what I'm realizing more and more as I am trying to step forward past my emotions and insecurities. I've been fighting them hard the past couple of weeks and in turn I feel them attacking me more and more. But I also believe in God's faithfulness and truth and I know that seeking Him is never easy, but worth it. So, here's to whatever you're working on. Don't give up, even though it seems to be getting harder.

Happy Tuesday.
-Hannah

On Life- How Inspiration Can Lead to Deflation

We are living in the era of social media. (Duh, Hannah, you don't have to say that). Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Pinterest. Blogs. If you don't have all of those...you probably don't actually exist. At times, I love the internet. I absolutely love it. I love seeing what people are up to. I love seeing recipes, or projects, or ideas. I love that it gives me something to do that doesn't take much effort. I love hearing about how people are walking with the Lord. I love reading tips and tricks and things to try.

At other times...
I. Hate. The. Internet.

Have you ever gone browsing, hoping to be inspired, but instead felt so behind, so boring, so not "hip", that instead of doing anything at all...you decided to do nothing but wallow in self-pity because you aren't "one of those people?" That's me. And it's paralyzing.

I want to be crafty. I want to be an organizational super-star. I want my house to be super cute. I want to be able to whip up a delicious, healthy, incredible meal like it's a piece of cake (only not cake, because cake is unhealthy). I want to have an awesome, stress-free exercise plan. I want to eat healthier and not just stick with my bad habits. I want to do these things because they're fun. I want to spend life trying new things. So why isn't it good for me to go on the internet and get ideas? In the midst of trying to do something fun, beneficial, or healthy...why do I instead experience unfortunate amounts on self-consciousness and inadequacy? Why do I shut down and try nothing instead of anything?

I think it's the overload. When I click on my feeds, I see someone mountains ahead of me, and forget about the mountain i'm building. Instead of looking at the one recipe I want to try, I see hundreds. Instead of searching for a way to organize my space I find a mansion that is spic-and-span and perfect in everyway. Look at all of those perfect projects. Wow, her house is so beautiful, so well put together. Man, she really has everything together and organized! Jealousy. Boom. Inadequacy. Boom. Shutting down now. See ya later, computer. Hello, couch.

Am I the only one who feels this way? Why is it so easy?

To work on: get inspired, but zero in on one thing and do it. Enjoy that one thing you're doing- you're doing it for happiness or growth, not to catch up to or compare to someone. Don't scan the pages looking at the picture-perfect illusion of everyone's life. Life isn't lived on a webpage. It's lived away from the screen. Start where you're at, not where they're at.

Goodbye, computer. Hello, having fun trying something new.

Emotional Girl...

Today I woke up at a nice, lovely time of 8:45. Compared to my normal alarm of 6:20, this was wonderful. I slowly got ready, ate a nice breakfast of strawberries and cream oatmeal with a slice of buttery toast, opened up my devotional...and got hit pretty hard.

I thought about the devotional a bit, but had to get on my way to work. It was beautiful- the sun was shining, it was almost 40 degrees, and the radio played a song I liked. Hmm...today should be okay. Thoughts of my convicting devotional fell away. But man, when God wants to speak to us through something, he doesn't let it go.

Fast forward a couple of hours into the workday. I'm sitting there and, BOOM, instantly a thought comes into my head. Instantly my chronic jealousy and insecurity kicks in. Instantly, I remember something greater.

That devotional I read was about two things- emotions and protecting our hearts. As a female, I think it's pretty well known that we sometimes let our emotions get the best of us...either that or we have crazy mood swings that leave everyone else around in a bit of a shock. Sorry, world. I'm not going to say emotions aren't important, because they definitely are, but when we let our emotions override the truths we have been taught, then we've got trouble. In regards to protecting our hearts- it's one of the most important things. Proverbs 4:23 says we need to do it above all things. Above what? All things.

One line in the devotional mentioned that sometimes when we struggle with sin, we wonder, "Why hasn't he changed my heart yet? I gave it to him...he promised to change me!" Yes, the Lord promises to change us, but we must do our part first. What if, before he can change our hearts, we need to protect it? We must protect our hearts from what we see, hear, touch, taste, smell, do, all of it. Why? Because how can he change our hearts when we're filling it with the same unnecessary junk we filled it with before? We often expect Him to change our heart, and then everything will work out. Really, we must protect our hearts in order to let him change them. We must intentionally evaluate what we're letting in.

Sorting out the thoughts of this devotional, three things stuck out in my life- reckless emotions, jealousy, and insecurity. These are three things I've struggled with all of my life. There are circumstances and stories that I could go into detail about how I got here, but that's beside the point. It's hard to remember, sometimes, that some things that seems so natural (emotions, jealousy, insecurity) are actually sins. They are not what our God wants for us. He wants us to rest in him- trust him, accept his overwhelming grace, and let his love take over our lives.

So, that's what I'm thinking about today. How many times does a simple emotion wash over and completely change the day you're having? How often does an emotion sweep in and clear your mind of the truth that you are forgiven, redeemed, and completely loved? I'm going to work on protecting my heart from reckless emotions, jealousy, and insecurity. That means taking thoughts captive and not letting them seep into my heart. There's someone who knows our weaknesses and how to attack us with them. So I'm taking them captive, and the more I do this to protect my heart, the more the Lord will help my heart change. And I know that he will.

So what is it that you need to protect your heart from? What truths do you need to let override your emotions? Go, do it. If you do your part, he will help you get where you want to be.