Leftover Soup

I am getting better at using what is on hand to figure out dinner, last night I made a soup with what was in the fridge and it turned out pretty good so I thought I would write it down. Keep in mind that you can use pretty much whatever you have on hand in this soup.

1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
olive oil
pint of white mushrooms stems removed and sliced
3 ears of corn, kernals removed cobs thrown in compost
about 1 cup peas
1 cup whole wheat pasta (I used elbow)
2 big handfuls baby spinach
leftover baked chicken cut in cubes
chicken broth (low-sodium)
salt & pepper
basil
1 bay leaf

saute onion in olive oil, after about 1 minute add garlic mushrooms, peas, corn and saute for another minute or until veggies are tender
add about 6 cups chicken broth, pasta bring to boil
lower heat to simmer add spinach and chicken and herbs
let simmer for 10-20 minutes season with S&P

Enjoy!

Finding Your Passion

Recently my grandpa handed me a book to read by Maria Bartiromo called "The 10 Laws of Enduring Success". This is such a great book to read for people of all ages, backgrounds and anyone who wants to be successful in life. I am almost finished with it and it has been inspiring. One thing that it has made me pause and think about is exploring my passion. My whole life I have always been searching for that one thing that keeps me excited and motivated. I have a lot of things that I enjoy doing and a lot of things that I could picture myself doing but there is always that question I often stop and wonder. If I had all the money in the world and could do anything, what would that be? The answer to that question is that I would be with my kids. That's it, I would hang out with my kids and be there for them the way my mom was for me. I finally found my passion, my children. I know some of you think this is absolutely absurd but I am not lying. In our 6 years of knowing each other, Ry and I still have never been on vacation just the 2 of us because I enjoy having Eoin and now Emmi around.
So, I am at a crossroads right now. I registered for school so that I may finish my bachelors degree in nursing. I am worried though because the majority of nursing jobs are 12 hour shifts which means 2 nights out of the week I won't be home to cook dinner and do homework etc. That also means that I may have to work holidays and summers. The ideal job for a mom who wants to spend time with kids is a teacher. I thought about getting a bachelors degree for that but I don't want to do that. I love being a nurse and ya know what? I am a damn good nurse! I know my stuff, I am caring and compassionate. I love taking care of people. So here it is, I need to get my BSN (Bachelors science nursing) it is what I was meant to do. I guess I will just find a manager who doesn't mind me doing 8 hour shifts and taking summers off. After my BSN I can get my masters and teach at college level, or maybe even be a Nurse Practicioner hmmm....One thing at a time.
What is important out of this whole thing is that we need to look deep within ourselves and figure out what we are passionate about. Take a look into the future 5 years and what do you see yourself doing? What makes you truly happy? If it isn't what you are doing now, then start making steps toward achieving that goal.
So I want to hear it. What is your passion?

I'm Baaaaaack!!

Whoa...what a month! April is more exhausting than the holidays. It all began in the last week of March with final planning touches on Eoin's 5th birthday party. When April 1st came it was like a whirlwind, that is when Stacey (my sister), Kassidy (my niece), and Jason (nephew) came from North Carolina for the festivities. Eoin and Kassidy are best friends but after a day of being together they fight like brother and sister. After the dust settles though they are back to being best friends again. I guess that is what it would be like to have twins seeing as though they are only 9 months apart. Hopefully Emmi and Jason will not follow suit.
April 3rd was my birthday, my 29th birthday to be exact. Oh deer this is my last year being a twenty-something, I feel like I should do something really awesome this year just haven't figured out what yet. Any suggestions? I woke up to a birthday breakfast with matching PJs for the whole fam, except my dad who loves spongebob so much that he had to wear those.

On that same day was Eoin's birthday party with his friends. We had it at "My Gym" and we all had so much fun, I felt like I was turning 5.

There are many many more pictures from Eoin's birthday party, if you would like to see them all let me know.

So on to the next day.. April 4th, Easter, my dad's 60th birthday. The day started out with a visit from the easter bunny and a little egg hunt. After that we chose to do something a little different this year and rent out a pavillion at a park. The weather was perfect, the company was great, the food was delicious. We flew kites, had a couple of games of kick ball, an easter egg hunt, and Eoin even got stuck beneath a garbage can lid.... He claims that he was walking by and the lid just fell off of the garbage can right on top of him. Nobody knew it until my mom was walking by and heard screaming coming from underneath the lid, he was stuck. I couldn't do anything else but laugh at this situation, I am still laughing out loud as I type this. Only Eoin. Again, there are many more pictures besides these.

Now on to April 5th...Eoin's real birthday, tired yet?

We decided to go have a picnic in the park for his birthday, and after that we had dinner and ice cream at Jackson's Ice Cream Parlor. We had lots of fun!

After this weekend we were beat. But we couldn't let it end there.

Grandpa (dad) took us to Red Reef Park in Boca, beautiful beach! What a great day, the breeze was blowing, sun was shining and best of all, Eoin and Kassidy were riding with grandpa. He got to experience first-hand a car ride with the 2 of them in the back seat fighting. Stacey, Jason, Emmi and I rode in my car behind them.

This picture is my favorite from the day, I glance up at the beach and I see my dad struggling with the wind trying to put up tents and umbrellas and chairs.

After the beach my dad had a special place in mind for dinner, so we went along with it not knowing that it was an additional 30 minute drive north from where we were. We finally arrived in West Palm Beach at

Jon Smith Subs.  Those people will never forget us.

We then departed to North Carolina for Jason's 2nd birthday. He had a party on a real live caboose it was so cool!

I think this blog post is neverending. You guys are probably wondering when it will be finished. Soon I promise!

When we came back from NC Ryan's mom Wendy was here to greet us all the way from Ticonderoga, NY and guess what....She took us to Disney World!

Emmi LOVED her first visit with the characters. She should be a Disney poster child.

Ok and that brings us to the present time. We had so much fun these past couple of weeks, I would say that I wish life was like this all the time buuuuttttt.....I wouldn't be telling the truth. I was/am so exhausted from this whirlwind. Give me a week, or better yet a year and I'll be ready to do it all over again.

Strawberry Picking

It officially takes me almost a week to post something now. By the time I get a chance to sit down and do it, I just feel like laying there and going to sleep. But anyway, we had a great Saturday last weekend picking strawberries and going to the beach.
I am always whining about how I wish I lived somewhere that has farmers markets, and u-pick farms and things of that nature. So I took it upon myself to actually look into where I am presently living and make the best of it. To my surprise, I DO live near farmers markets and u-pick farms. I need to just stop dwelling on where I don't live (Vermont) and may never live and enjoy the present situation.
Here are some pictures from our day.

                                             This is what Eoin chose to wear for the day...
                                                 Hey at least he's getting himself dressed

I guess we didn't get a picture of the barn/market but here's the website, it is called Bedners Farm Fresh Market, it is really clean, has fresh produce mostly if not all locally produced, homemade ice cream. I highly recommend it to anybody who feels like taking a drive up to Delray/Boynton. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Since it was so beautiful out we decided to head east for an improptu visit to Delray Beach

To The Beach!!

Eoin saw a guy with no shirt on, he thought that was really awesome so he took his shirt off.

He also saw these statues and loed this little boy.

What an awesome day!

St. Pattys Day

Being of Irish decent we feel very enthusiastic on St. Patricks Day. The holiday actually began for us on Saturday with the celebration in Ft. Lauderdale. It worked out beautifully that we had already made plans to visit the science museum on that day with one of Eoin's classmates.

Eoin was getting windblown downtown

Well Ry, I think it's time...

Eoin and his friend at the museum

Couldn't pass up a Guinness at the St. Patricks Day Fest

Em girl and I at the parade

The fam

 The morning of the actual St. Patrick's Day (today) started with a delivery from the leprechaun who came overnight.

The card from the Leprechaun

The day proceeded like any normal day. Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner, then we had a nice surprise from my cousin Brian and 3 dozen donuts.

Made some Irish Soda bread to go with our Corned beef and cabbage...YUM!

Now Ryan and Brian are out drinking some green beer....I can't wait to go to bed.

Hope everyone had a great day! I would love to hear what everyone else did.