Follow Faithfully

I thought I’d try to start a new blog tradition on Fridays. I’d like to highlight five blogs I follow. This could work out pretty well for awhile until I run out of blogs. Until then, I’ll stick with it.

Anne and May – This is the blog of two Christian fiction authors, Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. Their blog is always well written. I often find myself nodding along, smiling or even all out laughing. These ladies are REAL. They are honest, edgy at times and always great to read.

Kelly’s Korner – I can’t remember how I found Kelly’s blog, but I am glad I did. Kelly has a beautiful daughter named Harper who is the subject of most of her blog posts. She also posts about faith, fashion, family, friends and food – some of my favorite things!! I enjoy reading Kelly’s blog because she is so down to earth and just so genuine.

Make and Takes – This is a FUN blog. It is chock full of so many ideas including crafts, recipes, games and more. Definitely bookmark this one if you have children. It’s a winner!!

My Charming Kids – The author of this blog is Jennifer, aka MckMama. She has four beautiful children and another on the way. Her youngest, Stellan, went through a very difficult (to put it entirely too mildly) time with a heart condition, but he received some pretty awesome miracles and is now as healthy as can be. MckMama writes like I assume she talks. In other words, you can just imagine her blog being a part of a conversation with a friend.

Wife and Mommy – Great reading from a metro-DC mom. She is another one that is refreshing to read because of her honesty and her willingness to blog about sometimes tough to talk about topics.

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Hope you’ll enjoy reading these blogs as much as I do. Stay tuned for me. And, please feel free to post more blogs for me to check out as well.

Blessings,
Kelly

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Have any of y’all taken a Zumba class? I have heard about it for awhile and finally got up my nerve to take a class at the Y last fall. I loved it! It’s an intense workout, but it’s so much fun!! I haven’t been in a couple of months, but I’m planning to go back this morning. It’s a rainy day here today, so I wish I could say that I’m excited and ready to go to Zumba, but I’d really like to just curl up in bed with a book. However, I know I need this workout, so I’ll dig up the motivation and go to Zumba. I think.

If you haven’t heard of Zumba, it’s a workout that blends aerobics and dance, basically. It’s mostly Latin dance inspired. Constant motion is the key. I was hesitant to try it initially. I love to dance, but I’m not exactly the most coordinated person in the world. (My most embarrassing workout story is from the 90s. I was taking step aerobics and could NOT get coordinated enough to step, swing my arms, etc. all in the right timing. The step instructor literally got ON my step with me and I still couldn’t quite get it quickly. Yikes!) Several friends encouraged me to just TRY Zumba and assured me I’d like it. The key, I was told, is to just keep moving. Even if you’re not doing what the rest of the class is doing at the time, just MOVE. So, I did it. I’m not going to say I got all the moves right, but I did it. And, I really enjoyed it! Zumba really gets the blood pumping and is a great calorie burner. What’s not to like about that? I enjoy the Thursday morning class at the Y, so I really need to get in gear and get going this morning so I can get there and get my dance on!

Happy Thursday!

Filed under: Health & Fitness, Kelly | 2 Comments »

I made oven “fried” chicken tonight for dinner and it was so tasty!! The recipe calls for chicken parts, but I don’t mess with whole chickens, so I used chicken breast strips. (The thought of cutting up a chicken squidges me out!) This was so easy to make, tasted delicious and is healthy too! So, I’m sharing for others to enjoy.

Oven “Fried” Chicken
Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/2 cup cornflakes, crushed
3T all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2lb chicken parts, skinned
4 teaspoons canola oil

Preheat oven to 400; spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour the buttermilk into a large shallow bowl. On a sheet of wax paper, combine the cornflake crumbs, flour, salt and pepper. Dip the chicken into the buttermilk, then dredge in the cornflake mixture, coating completely. Place the chicken on the baking sheet; drizzle with the oil. Bake 30 minutes, then turn the chicken over. Bake until cooked through, about 15-20 minutes longer.

229 cal, 10g fat, 2g sat fat, 0 trans fat, 64mg chol, 295mg sodium, 11g carb, 23g protein, 49mg cal

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I have been such a blog slacker again. No excuses. Yes, life is busy. Yes, the whole holiday season (Thanksgiving through New Years) was super busy. Yes, I’m on the GO a lot. Still, I would like to be better about attending to my blog. I need to find a way to make it a daily priority. Any suggestions?

As usual, things are frequently clicking at a fast pace around here, but we are all doing well in our family. Here’s a mini update:

Macey is really enjoying first grade. She is doing so well and absolutely loves school. She’s having a great time taking tap/jazz once a week at a local dance school as well. And, just recently she started taking gymnastics at the Y and that’s a great thrill for her. She turned six and a half on New Year’s Day and is very proud of that “and a half”, thank you very much.

Mariana continues to think that preschool is the best thing EVER. She goes three mornings per week and always looks forward to school. She had been taking dance at the same studio as Macey, but we recently decided to let her stay after preschool one day per week to take dance there. She stays another day for a princess party. Both of her extended day activities are BIG deals to Miss Mariana. She is having a blast!

Mickey is working for himself full time now and his business is really doing well. We are so thankful for the opportunity for him to finally work from home. God has really shown us that this is the right move and the business is truly blessed. He gets “Husband of the Year” because he planned an awesome surprise for me as part of my Christmas. He is taking me to NYC for a weekend in February. I am SO excited! Giddy, actually! We are going to see “Wicked” on Broadway while we are there and I just cannot wait. Yay!!

I am doing exceptionally well these days. I had been slacking on more than just blogging and had not been in a regular work-out routine over the holidays. Well, that is no more. I’m going back to the Y to work-out a few times a week and I love it! I’m still busy with various things, but couldn’t be happier.

Hope everyone has a blessed Tuesday!!

Filed under: Daily Life, Family, Health & Fitness, Kelly, Kids, Marriage | 1 Comment »

Petit Elefant is at it again. Another great giveaway opportunity is in the works. This time it’s really cool kids’ kitchen stuff!! This stuff is seriously cool and I really want to win. I have to admit that I’m posting partly to get an additional entry for the giveaway, but I also wanted to pass the word around. This is too cute and fun not to go for, right? So GO enter! And, then wish ME luck. LOL! Just kiddin’. Sorta…

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The Duggar family has welcomed their 19th child into the world a few months early. According to several reports, baby girl Josie was born on Thursday, December 10th, and is in NICU. Please join me in praying for the Duggars and their baby girl.

More information can be found by clicking here.

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I cannot believe that Christmas is two weeks away. 14 days. Well, less now considering that today is almost done. Wow. This year has positively flown by, hasn’t it? Doesn’t seem like last Christmas was that long ago and another one is almost here.

I do love this time of year though. I love decorating our house and yard for Christmas. I love receiving cards and letters in the mail. I also must confess I love receiving packages in the mail because I do so much of my shopping online. I love baking Christmas goodies and sharing with family and friends. I really love the spirit of giving and helping others. And, of course, I truly love sharing the joy of the season which is the celebration of the birth of our savior, Jesus. Our preschool hosts an annual “Happy Birthday, Jesus” party and that was held this week. We went as a family and had a ball. Mariana was excited that they even had cake for Jesus. I love it!! It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the busyness of this time of year. There is always something to do, something to buy, something to ship, etc. But, I encourage each of us (myself included) to make a special effort to remember each day what this Advent season is really all about. We celebrate the birth of the One that came to save the world from our sins. It’s not always easy to remember the greatness of this Gift, but I am reminding myself to do just this.

Hope you all have a blessed Advent!

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Allison over at Petit Elefant is having a giveaway for an entire Shade outfit. And, it’s SO cute! I have put my name in the running to win, but I couldn’t keep this great giveaway opportunity all to myself, so I’m sharing the love over here on my little blog. Click here to see the gorgeous outfit and you can also get the details on how to enter the giveaway contest. If I win, you’ll practically hear me shouting from the rooftops. If one of you win, I hope you’ll post here and let me know so I can celebrate with you.

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I owe a proper update. I realize I fell off the blogging band wagon. Gracious, things have been SO busy. I hope to get to catch up properly tomorrow.

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I am so thankful to be on a wonderful Disney vacation with my family. We are having such a blast! The girls are loving it! They have met so many characters and just think that is too cool for words! We have ridden fun rides, seen great shows, had the best possible seats for the electric light parade, eaten delicious food and much more. This trip has been a dream come true for us as a family and we feel so blesssed to be here! I’m taking tons of pics and will share some next week.
Happy Thanksgiving week!!

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