Well hello Snow

My most favorite season of all is Fall.  Sadly, here in Minnesota the fall lasts all of a couple weeks if I'm lucky. I love the crisp weather, and the leaves. I love apple cider and pumpkins, and more than anything I love Halloween. This year my life was sort of in transition. I've been moving, things have been changing, it's been painful and amazing at the same time. Painful in the sense that I lost a lot of what I thought made me, me. Amazing in the sense that I found out that there is a heck of a lot more to me than I thought. I'm still finding those things, and it's scary. It's sort of like working out, and the next day you hurt in places you didn't even know you had muscles. This year I am hurting in places in my soul that I didn't know existed, but that's good! It's making me grow in ways I never thought I would! One thing I am making sure to do is try new things, and while what I'm going to share below is not some super amazing thing like jumping out of a plane (like my super cool cousin Sarah), or traveling to cool new cities (like my sister Megan), it's still pretty good! And don't think I won't be jumping out of planes soon, or traveling to cool cities, just starting small!

I watched Top Chef the other night and everyone was making Arancini. According to wikipedia "Arancini or arancine are fried rice balls coated with breadcrumbs." It smells amazing in my house right now, all thanks to this yummy recipe.

Arancini
Recipe from: Here!
I made rice earlier this week for a recipe, so it was perfect! Here are the ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan
3 eggs
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
Vegetable Oil- enough to fry these goodies!

In a bowl mix the rice with both cheeses and one egg. When fully mixed, make small balls and set them aside on wax paper.

In a separate bowl whisk the 2 remaining eggs, and in another put the bread crumbs. In a deep frying pan pour about 3 inches of vegetable oil- enough for frying the arancini. Take the arancini and dip them first in the eggs, then coat them in the bread crumbs. Heat the oil to 375 degrees, and place the rice balls in the oil.

Fry them until they are heated through, and golden brown.

Serve while hot with marinara sauce.

These little things were good, but next time I think I will add some herbs like fresh basil or maybe some garlic and red pepper flakes to add a kick.

 For dessert, what better than chocolate chip cookies? These are a staple in my family.  The recipe is here!

See that little lady down below? That's Abbey, one of my pretty babies. She's trying to say- please can I have some of your supper? Tell me how anyone can say no to that face?

 And now, a little reading. I am SO excited for this cookbook!!!

Happy fall y'all, and in this month of Thanksgiving, let me be the first to say, I am thankful for YOU!

Overanalyzing

Life is complicated.  How's that for a loaded comment?  It's the truth though- the past year has shown me that not only is life complicated, but it's completely unpredictable.  Approximately 75% of the things I thought I was sure about fell through, and that is a really scary place to be, but it's also sort of exciting.  That probably sounds weird, so let me explain.  5 years ago I thought I had life figured out.  Sure, I was still open to learning new things, but I was fairly certain that I could see the path that my life would take.  It was pretty much all that I had ever thought it would be, and I was okay with that. Truthfully I was more than okay with that- I was thrilled.  There were bumps in the road, but there always are, and they didn't scare me.  Why should you be scared when you are doing everything that fits inside the little box of what you thought life was supposed to be?  Turns out that plan was flawed, fatally flawed, and as I learned that, I was scared out of my mind.  There are times when I think to myself, what did I do wrong to have all of this happen?  That's when I realize that pity parties are not attractive.  Bad things happen to good people, but good things happen to good people too.  Sometimes when you are in a situation that is so painful that you just want to retreat into hibernation, you have to take yourself out of the mess.  In my case, this meant walking away from a situation that I thought initially was going to be my dream.  I can look at it now and realize that I did the right thing, but when you are making that decision you doubt yourself a lot.  Going through this process causes you to question your very being, and I gotta tell you, that sucks.  In the last few months I have moved, changed jobs, realized that the dreams I had were not meant to be, but you know what?  I also realized that the new dreams are even bigger, and far better.  I am nowhere near finished with the process that is life, and I am nowhere near figuring life out, but I am a much stronger person than I was even a year ago.  Heck, I'm stronger than I was a month ago, and I'm eager to see what the next month brings.  One thing that a good friend told me was to make small goals.  When you are trying to change a million aspects of yourself and your life, if you look too far ahead you will want to go back into hibernation mode.  Now my goals are more like- get through work, find something new and exciting to do, take my dog for a walk, don't eat all of the chocolate you can find, etc...  I used to think of myself as outgoing, and maybe I was, but now it's something I push myself to be.  I do love to go out and meet new people, but it scares me to no end some days as well.  I went from the big city to a small town, a place where you could blend in and no one ever noticed you, to a place where you stand out just because you're new, and truthfully, I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything.  I have no idea what my future holds, but I am making small goals every day, and I am no longer planing my entire future based on what I always thought it would be.  The bottom can fall out at anytime, but that doesn't mean you will fall to your doom, that just means that you have the chance to start over, and become even stronger.  I'm not an incredibly religious person, but I do believe that God has a plan, and quite frankly, if He's got it covered, what do I need to worry about?

Grow Up

I love reality television. It's sort of sad.   My name is Laura, and I'm a reality TV addict.  You know why I love it so much?  Sometimes it's nice to watch someone else's life that's a bigger mess than your own life.  I love to talk to my friends while it's on and ooh and aah over their ridiculous clothes (seriously, that one girl was wearing the sheets from the bed!!), the things they fight about that are so silly, and the absolutely terrible decisions that they make.  You know what though?  I'm so glad no one is watching my life, making fun of my clothes, my frustrations, and my decisions.  I have been known to make bad decisions sometimes.  The one thing that I've learned though from reality television is generally, the issues we dwell on the most are the ones that really aren't worth it.  There are people out there that are mean, rude, and petty, and they are capable of ruining your day.  I know this far too well because lately I've run into a few people who, for whatever reason, are just not nice people.  There will always be people who judge, and who want to hurt your feelings.  Want to know what I've learned about them? There is no reason to try to get through to them.  Sure, I have been tempted to punch them in the face, but I am sure that the reason they are so mean is that they are unhappy with their own life.  Why do they choose who to point their aggression at?  Probably because they are insecure, and something about you makes that feeling intensified.  Some may say that you should take it as a compliment.  I can't quite get to that point.  When people are mean to me, I tend to want to turn into a hermit and shut the world out. I don't think- gee, that person thinks I'm pretty cool so they're being a big jerk, but I'm working on it.  I'd prefer people be nice, but to those who are insecure, and feel the need to be mean, here's my advice.  Suck it up.  You will never grow by taking your fears out on others. This is advice I have to take too on days when I am frustrated and don't want to take the blame. I am dealing with some of the hardest stuff that I've ever dealt with right now.  I hate it.  I hate feeling vulnerable, but I am growing through this.  This past week I've had to learn that there are times when people suck, but it doesn't have to control us.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, meet my friend Clay, and see who he's based on!

This little owl was made by my mom, and I love him!

This really sexy man is Clay Matthews.  While I have yet to meet him, at least I have my silly Clay owl to make me giggle :)

This and That

I was going to do a Wordless Wednesday post, but as it is no longer Wednesday, here are a few pictures of what's going on in my life right now. Enjoy!

 This is Abbey- thinking she found a sucker for free snacks.

And here is Abbey, thinking she found a cat to eat.

 This is Bailey.  She's a little princess. 

This is Barney (named this because he was born in a barn- no really, he was born in a barn). My sister's cat.  This cat is... devious.

 Maybe it was the full moon making Barney so devious?

This was some delicious wine, and a glass I got at World Market.  Love that store! 

 See that big black lab in the middle?  Thinking she found a sucker for free snacks too?  Her name is Pal, and she is a sweet girl.

 RAIN!

The effect of the rain.

My most favorite cheese shop in all of Wisconsin.

Hope you enjoyed the little show.  See you soon!

Life is Ever Changing

Dear friends, family, and anyone else who would like to read my blog.  If you know me, than you know I had a blog for a while, but as my life is changing, I thought it was time for a fresh start on my blog as well.  So welcome to my new blog!  I don't know how often I'll be posting, but I will try to keep you all interested and reading.  

As I mentioned, life is ever changing.  I am starting over in almost all areas of my life.  I'll be honest, it's ridiculously scary, but it's also opening doors that I never thought would open.  I will continue to keep you posted, but if I can give anyone a word of encouragement today, it's to live through your fears.  Fear is normal, and most people find that when they are scared, they remain in the same position.  It's much easier to face what you know, even if it's hard, than to step out of your comfort zone, and risk things getting worse, but also knowing that things could get much better.  I don't know what my future holds, but I know there are so many options, and so many chances to grow.  

There's a flower that I love- it's called phlox.  I've seen people sell them in pots before, or sell seeds to plant in your garden.  Where I am living now it grows wild all over.  It smells fabulous, and it's so bright and pretty.  Every day when I see it, it reminds me that you don't always have to live inside the box of expectation.  You can let yourself grow outside of your comfort zone, and you can be beautiful and thrive.