Mmmm. Doesn't this cupcake look delicious? I tried a new recipe yesterday for my cooking blog and it was a sticky disaster. Yes, this cupcake may look perfect, but this was the only one that turned out that way. Let me just say that marshmallows and I don't go together. For this recipe, I was attempting to use marshmallows as my frosting.
Here is what the cupcakes looked like before they went in the oven.
Here is what they looked like after they came out. I think I should of cut my marshmallows in half as they might of been to big for the cupcakes! Oops!
This was one big, gloppy and sticky mess that was not fun to clean up. We had to eat those cupcakes though as I was not going to put them to waste. The cupcakes themselves were super yummy. I will use definitely use that cake recipe again but with my cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmmm, want one?
I have extras!
I did have one success in the kitchen yesterday as these popovers I made turned out amazing! I posted them on my cooking blog. I am going to make dinner easy tonight and cook up one of our favorite pastas.
The chaos on my island is exactly how I feel right now, overwhelmed. This time of year is bittersweet, it's a wonderful time to spend with loved ones and to share in the celebrations of the Holidays, but it's also a non-stop crazy time filled with parties, school obligations and not to mention endless trips to the grocery store.
That is it for today. I am off to run yet another errand but first I think I need to organize and clean up my kitchen! Have a great Monday :)
Happy 11.11.11.! Today is a day to create magic, to create the life you want. I wanted to pass along a simple but powerful intention from my soul coach.
At 11.11.11 (AM or PM) just say...
" Activate The Divine Blueprint..."
In all situations this is a powerful, magical and holy command.
Simple but transformational.
" Activate The Divine Blueprint."
This is a call that you can ask for yourself, your mind, your body, your family, your relations,
your community, mama nature, the animals, your business, your finances and the world.
Don't worry if you don't understand what any of this means, just say it as your higher self and soul knows.
The following message came to me on a run the other day. Running is my meditation and often these thoughts of wisdom come into my head. I think its because I am open when I am running and my mind is quiet. I just thought I would share it with you!
Were always use to traveling down
the windy path of life. Why do we
choose this path? Because it seems
like the way we are destined to go. "Why should our path be easy we ask, isn't life suppose to be a struggle?" Why should it not be easy? It's been embedded in our brains and
psyches that life is suppose to be hard and rewards are suppose to be small and that life is not supposed to be this easy.
Life is supposed to be easy and breezy and full of wonderment and bliss. Take that road that is open, straight
and full of ease and see where it leads you and how fun your journey is along the way.
Look at the
redwoods, they grow large and straight, there are no twists or turns to
them. Have you ever seen a more
beautiful and powerful tree? The
redwoods hold the key to eternal life and are full of wisdom. They have been here for ages and will
continue to be here, growing stronger and taller. They have learned the secret to life; and that is to grow
tall and take the easy path of straight and narrow, not the windy path full of
obstacles and hurdles.
Zoe feeling the bliss of life while in nature! We should all aim for this feeling!
Give
yourselves a break and start to believe that this is the way life was destined
to be. Know within your self that
all is good and will continue to be good.
We set our own course in life, so why not set it to be an easy and blissful course? Make things easier on
yourself and get out there and enjoy more, love more, play more. You chose to come here and experience life, so go experience it and have some fun while doing it!
NOTE: Go to bottom of post first for special treat and then come back up and read it!
OK, so I'm driving in the car today shuffling through the radio channels and I hear Carly Simon's "Your so Vain" (BTW, I came home and uploaded this song from i-tunes since I did not have it). I get excited because I have not heard that song in like forever!!! So I start singing away at the top of my lungs & getting into the groove of that song, feeling pretty cool because I know ALL the words. Then the radio announcer comes on and says "your listening to 103.7 the oldies". What, the oldies? You mean the songs I listened to as a child are now considered oldies? What went through my mind was, "hey, wait, I'm only 41, I'm not old, I'm in the prime of my life here." But, I guess music wise; songs from the 70's are considered "the oldies." It brought me back to when my parents would be singing to their favorite growing up songs and my brother and I would cover our ears and say" that song is so old, turn it off, gag me." I have not had to deal with that yet, as my 11 year old loves my music. She is not into Pop at all. She loves my alternative, rock and oldies! Eli on the other hand loves my music style but also is totally into Pop music! Anytime the song "Moves like Jagger" comes on, he is singing and doing the moves!
OK, so lets get back to age here. To tell you the truth, I honestly feel physically like I'm 29, I don't know why I always go to that number but that is how I physically feel. I have wisdom like a 41 year old, which I am thankful for, but I don't feel like 41 physically, does that make sense? I know so many moms my age that feel this way as well. When I was younger, 40 seemed so old, but now 40 seems so young. I feel in the prime of my life. I love being 41 :). Its like you allow your true self to emerge. You no longer care what others think of you so much and you follow your own guidance, wisdom and self. I have also become comfortable over the years in my own skin. I love all my different selves. I have my spiritual "ohm" side, my practical, care taking, loving mother & wife side, my happy go lucky "Whoo hooo" side (which my friends know me best), my rocker chick side (Go Cathie!), my hippie organic side, my designer and chef side. There are many more, but I can't think of them all right now. I mean we all have so many different parts/personalities to us that make us who we are and those different sides come out all the time. I have learned to embrace all my sides and let them shine when they want to shine. I use to hold back some aspects of my personality to fit in with whatever crowd I was with at the moment, but that got tiring and I was not feeling true to myself. I now say and be who I am. If someone doesn't like or get me, then their loss, right? So basically I'm saying, embrace and love all your different selves and go listen to some Carly Simon :)
I've made it easy for you and uploaded the song from You Tube for your listening pleasure.
Do you listen to yourself? I mean really listen to yourself every day to see where you're being led or what you really want to do? Do you ever stop to get clear guidance from yourself? I have been doing that lately. I have been trying to stop and listen to my heart and myself before I jump into something. I sit and see what "I" really want to do in that moment and then I go from there.
I have learned over the years to stop listening to what everyone else is doing and to listen to what my family and I want to do, what speaks to us and what we enjoy. It's easy to get caught in the "herd" and "to follow the pack," but what fun is that? I mean if were doing what everyone else is doing, then where is our growth? Also, following the herd takes away our uniqueness and doesn't let us figure out what really makes us tick and come alive. Slowing down gives you time to reflect and figure out what you like and dislike. It gives you time to create and use your imagination to create your dreams. How many of us know what we really want? If we got quiet once in a while and slowed down our pace, we would figure it out.
I see people racing around working so hard all the time and doing every activity under the sun, but where is the joy in that? How do you connect with yourself and others when you're racing around? What are we all working so hard for and what is our end goal? It's easy to race around because then we don't have to think and be, but that is a scary place for some people. We have been taught and programmed to believe that life is suppose to be hard and that you're suppose to suffer. I have come to see that's not the case. Were supposed to enjoy this life that were given. We should be swimming downstream the river of life instead of swimming upstream. Upstream is hard, downstream is easy, but that doesn't sit well with us because we have been told that if something is easy then its to good to be true, right? Well, let me change your way of thinking, try the easy way, and see where it leads you. Swim down the river of life and slow down your pace while you're at it! Be present with yourself, family and friends. Your life will be blessed in so many ways. Cheers!
Ahh... Running! Its one of my favorite things to do. Its my form of meditation and time for me to just be one with nature and the earth. When I am running my spirit shines and I feel almost like a bird in flight. I get lost in my run and my body gets in its own rhythm and groove. Its so amazing the high I get while running.
This is where I get to run, isn't it beautiful?
These are the steps that I warm up with. Isn't the greenery and moss so amazing?
I never take this beauty for granted and each time I run this trail, I see something new. I love that this is my backyard (not literally, but a 5 minute drive from my house). I am so grateful and appreciative of the beauty that surrounds me and I am grateful for these amazing legs that carry me on my runs!
OK, if you happened to ready my little side post as to why I named this blog blue jay and crow you will get this next posting. Blue jays are one of my spirit birds and I don't see them all the time, so I know when I see one, it has a meaning for me. They showed up in my life a few years back when I started my spiritual transformation. They are there to tell me that everything is going to be all right. Just like that song by Bob Marley, "Don't worry about a thing, because every little think is going to be all right." That song speaks to me as well as it always pops into my mind when I have a fear based thought.
Anyway, I had terrible dreams last night of doom and gloom and woke up a bit fearful. In the back of my mind, I heard that little voice telling me, it was just a dream, not a prediction of what is to come, but a dream. Sometimes it can be tough to trust that voice. It seems so easy right, trust that voice, that quiet voice that only says things you want to hear and is based on love? I have learned that if I hear something that feels bad to me or is fearful to me that it isnot my truth. Anything that is truthful, will make me feel safe, happy, calm, clear and free! One of the lessons I am learning in this lifetime is to rid my self of fear and to trust more. Trust the universe and my own guidance. I will go more into that on another post!! I have learned so much these past few years and to really trust the signs around me and inside of me. To listen to my guidance!
Anyway, I am getting off course here. You all want to know what the blue jay's had to do with this post, right? Well, I got up from bed and got my day going and the dreams found their way to the back of my mind as I was focused on the family and the beautiful day that we beginning. After breakfast, I went to my friend Hilary's house to drop off her son. Right when I got out of the car, I heard above me in her tree tons of blue jays. They were squawking and making such a ruckus that you just had to notice them (its funny that my two spirit birds are so loud :). It then and there clicked in my mind that they were giving me a sign. I noticed their sign to me :) They flew to her tree at that moment to tell me, "Jackie, everything is going to be all right, that dream was just a dream, this isustelling you to let it go, that all is OK and will always be OK, so trust!! I looked at Hilary and told her I needed that sign, and she got it, she knows about me and those blue jays (her nickname for me is Blue Jay!). She told me that she gets blue jays up there at times but never as much as were there at that moment. We both knew and felt confident that they came to give me that message. She gets it all, as she is one of my spirit/soul sisters.
Anyway, I just felt the need to post this, as I want everyone to listen to their guidance and intuition, because when we do get quiet and start looking for the signs, they will show themselves fully! It becomes obvious! We are all connected to each other and everything on this universe and isn't that cool?
