The Power of Lyrics

My eyes are open wide
By the way I made it through the day
I watch the world outside
By the way I'm leaving out today

I just saw Haley's Comet, she waved
Said, "Why are you always running in place?"
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere

Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Please don't cry one tear for me
I'm not afraid of what I have to say
This is my one and only voice
So listen close, it's only for today

I just saw Haley's Comet, she waved
Said, "Why are you always running in place?"
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere"

Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Here is my chance
This is my chance

Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Wordless Wednesday (double shot)

Tennant Tuesday!

Yup, it's that time again....

Yummy....Scottish tan! {aka freckles}

And just so you can HEAR him....BBC translated 'Hamlet' from stage to DVD after worldwide demand, based on David's performance.

And his Scottish accent...

I'm off to slide into the gutter now...see y'all tomorrow!

Very Pinteresting....

Just thought I'd share a bit of what I've been looking through over on Pinterest today:

{PLEASE NOTE: the titles under the pix will take you to the actual sources, NOT the Pinterest pages}

Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese Sammies

Paris by Anti Pati

(thinking about printing this one onto some fabric...just not sure if I want a pillow or a t-shirt...)

Kai Lounge Pool Float

(just looks so COMFY! and it's kinda warm here today, so being near a pool would be nice...)

Drawer Pull Hanger Bar

(wouldn't this be cute for necklaces & scarves?)

Detoxifying Smoothies that have bonus benefits

Chicken Enchiladas in chipotle sour cream sauce

Being totally jealous of Becca's Cards

Christmas ornaments

I'll warn ya right now...Pinterest is highly ADDICTIVE...some folks get sucked in & aren't heard from for days on end! I can, at times, be one of those people, but today I have to help Youngest Child's teacher mark reading fluency charts, so I'm setting it aside...at least till tomorrow! *LOL*

Had a dream this weekend...I was leaving my house to run errands and found two white hawks lying dead on my doorstep. I just looked down at them for a moment, stepped over them, and never gave them another thought...wonder what that means?

Show n Tell

Confession: I haven't used my COPIC markers in a while...nearly a year, in fact. I love them, though. When I was coloring my stamped or digital images 9 times out of 10 I used my COPIC markers...they're so easy to use and blend like a dream.

We were issued a challenge at the COPIC Markers blog to color a given image with 6 colors (some folks used less). Since I don't have the entire line of Sketch markers (300+colors) I figured this would be a good one for me to enter. I needed to be creative again, I needed a challenge to get my juices flowing, and it's also nice for those that are interested in COPICs or thinking about making the investment to see that you don't need an entire product line to get really amazing results. We were allowed to enter as many times as we'd like...I submitted two.

My first entry..... {you should be able to right click on the photos & open in new tab to see them a bit larger}

My second entry I decided to go monochromatic....
So, what do yo think? Could you color an image with 6 colors or less? I bet you can! The challenge ends tomorrow and you can see the entries HERE.

DIY Mascara

Okay, so I mentioned last week that I tried making my own mascara. It was a semi-success and I thought I'd share how I did it. First, I figured out what ingredients would be "good" for my eyelashes, so I grabbed some vitamin E oil, organic aloe gel, and for the "coloring" I thought that activated charcoal would be a good choice.

A small pot from the natural food store and a couple of toothpicks to stir my chemistry experiment...
There are no exact measurements, I just kinda went with my instincts on this...a small squeeze of aloe, 4-5 drops of vitamin e oil, and 2 capsules opened, then stirred... {sorry it's a tad blurry}
A $3 pack of mascara wands from Sally Beauty Supply...
And the result.....
Not bad, but I think it could be thicker for more volume. I'm pondering adding a smidge of emulsifying wax, but I need to talk to some "experts" before giving it a try...I'll let ya know how it turns out.

I also thought y'all would like to see the progression of my hair growth since I donated 10 inches to Locks of Love back in late March. This is about 2 weeks after the cut & as you can see it's a good bit above my shoulders...
In July, with longer bangs and it's brushing my shoulders....
And as of last week....my bangs had hit my chin, so I grabbed my scissors & chopped 'em off, and curled it. When it's straight, it's 2 inches BELOW my shoulders. Love that my hair grows so fast!
I have a crafty/creative share for y'all tomorrow, so I hope to see ya again real soon. Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of your day!

Tennant Tuesday/ Wordless Wednesday Combo

A Different Kind of Candy

The blog candy alerts that I've posted in the past usually have tied to crafts. This ties to creativity of another kind...makeup as art. I have to confess ~~ I have makeup issues. My mother used to inundate her bathroom with Clinique and a few other pricey brands. I swore I'd NEVER spend for foundation what I could spend on an entire outfit in my closet. To me that was crazy! I was, for years, the "cheapo girl" - Maybelline, Cover Girl, NYC, Rimmel London, etc - and I was good with it. (NOTHING against them...for their cost, they were good makeup brands at the time).

Now, after 3 kids, living in the mountain desert for almost 15yrs, and just flat-out getting older, my skin needs have changed, so my makeup needs have, as well. I don't wear makeup most days. I'm too busy & don't get out as much as I used to so I don't need it as often. The biggest reason, it really screws up my skin. Too many chemicals. They either leave me with big dry flaky areas or I blister and break out. I even have problems with it making me itch and BURN. Not cool any time, but on your face? YIKES!

About 5yrs ago, I moved to Neutrogena for my mascara & have done really well, and the Physician's Formula for eyes, lips & foundation was working. Now the makeup is giving me problems, and the mascara? OMGosh...itchy, blistering, watery...making my eyelashes fall out! I cannot believe how sensitive I've become to things that I took for granted every day. It's very disheartening at times.

I'm considering trying new brands, but some of the "better" cosmetics are so EXPENSIVE...I bought a sampler of Bare Minerals last month to the tune of $20 plus tax...folks, I've had lip gloss pots that were bigger, lemme tell ya! I'm okay with their foundations, but I really like their concealer. Nice & smooth going on and doesn't cake up in those teeny creases...you know the ones I'm talking about.

I even like the matte moisturizer from Lauren Hutton, but at $30 for a small bottle, I haven't ordered any in quite some time. I'm perfectly content with my Dr Bronner's/baking soda facial scrub, apple cider toner, & grapeseed oil moisturizer. For now, it works and works well, so I'm sticking with it.

I have found a place online where I can buy minerals to MAKE my own - foundations, eye shadows, & lip colors. I just have to wait till I can afford it...the starter kits aren't cheap. Everything but the mascara. I did make some of that last month & it was a success, to a degree, meaning my eyes didn't water or burn, but it's missing something to make it thicker & I think I know what it is, but I want to verify with some experts first. I'll share that with you tomorrow.

Today, though, I thought you'd like to know about a GIVEAWAY from Jangsara...yup, you guessed it...makeup! {You knew I'd get to the candy portion eventually, right?} Sign up once between now & the 30th of this month & you could win what's pictured below. Click her name under the picture to head that way....good luck!

Jangsara

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Happy Tennant Tuesday

Here's your weekly fix...okay FINE...*sigh*... MY weekly fix of David. *LOL* These are shots taken from BBC Scotland's movie "Single Father."

Two Recipes for You Today!

Yes, I have two recipes...aren't you excited? The first one is a cream soup base recipe that I found yesterday thanks to Pinterest. I've had to tweak it though, because the original recipe called for 1/4 cup of bouillon cubes and most on the market contain MSG. I'm allergic to MSG. Now, when I say "allergic," I don't mean "Ugh! My tummy was upset for two days." No, no, no my friends...allergic...as in "Oh my gosh! My tongue is swelling, my throat itches, and my lips feel REALLY weird!" ALLERGIC. I'm not the only one that suffers from this issue and sometimes it can be difficult to find food that you can make without MSG. This soup base, happens to be one that we CAN work around the MSG issue...

First, gather your supplies - measuring cups, measuring spoons, powdered milk, cornstarch, spices, small spoon for stirring, & a container. This will yield a 3 cup batch, so make sure your container can hold what you're putting together.

In the container mix:

2 cups powdered milk

1 1/2 cups cornstarch

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1 tablespoon dried chopped garlic

3 tablespoons dried onion, minced or chopped

1 teaspoon black pepper

Gently stir, until all ingredients look to be incorporated fairly well. They'll look like this...
This is officially your substitute for any "cream" soup that your recipes call for. The original recipe said 2/3 cup of dry mix with 1 1/4 cups of water is equal to 1 can of condensed cream soup. I think that you can use 3/4 cup of water AND 3/4 cup of chicken, beef, or turkey stock and be just fine, since we went sans bouillon cubes in this batch. To get the equivalent of a family size can, you'd use 1 1/3 of the dry mix & tonight in my crock pot, I just used the stock that was already in without measuring. Worked beautifully.

I did find out that should you want to add in the bouillon cubes, and you still want to stay as MSG-free as possible, think about Wyler's brand and Hormel's HerbOx. Both manufacturers say "No added MSG...contains naturally occurring glutamines." Personally, with the real chicken broth that I used tonight, I didn't miss them one little bit.

Now, here's your second recipe, that will cook up in a 6qt crock pot:

On HIGH, cook 5-6 medium frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts in 5 cups of water for 3-4 hours till all of the pink is gone. Pull out the breasts and shred. While you're shredding the breasts, put your dry cream soup mix (1 1/3 cups) into the broth sitting in the crock pot and stir gently. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot.
Add in cooked bacon (I didn't have any to fry up, so I just used a small bag of fresh bacon pieces that I had in the cupboard), and 1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach. Continue to cook on HIGH for one hour. Add in elbow macaroni (approx 1lb bag), 1 brick of room temp cream cheese (DO NOT skimp on this step & go with low fat, get the rich stuff) and cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring to aid in the cheese melting and avoid sticking to the bottom. Add 1/2 cup milk and 1-2 cups of shredded cheese. Reduce heat & let mixture warm back up gradually.
Serve and enjoy! This was SO GOOD...seriously smelled AND tasted just like my favorite pizza from Papa John's. Lucky Me, there's just enough for lunch tomorrow.Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of your day!!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Tennant Tuesday!

An open letter to "The Powers That Be" at NBC Offices -

Please, please, PLEASE....put the pilot for 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer' on the air & give it a go...David worked so hard for his American accent and his loyal fans here on this side of the pond would LOVE to see him weekly! Won't you give him a chance to show you what we, the fans, already know? He's awesome!

Source

signed,

A shameless, hopelessly devoted fangirl

Miscellaneous Monday

*sigh* I was trying to make some word art for y'all , as a gift for my not being here the last few days, but everything I came up with was rubbish...it's making me bonkers. Pretty sure it has to do with having the monkeys all by myself this weekend. While I empty my mind & gear up for the week, I'll leave you with one of my favorite groups, Mumford & Sons, singing "Little Lion Man." Hope you have a great week!