Karie Herring, Author at The Five Fish

January 17, 2010May 8, 2019

Morsel Monday and NutraSalt Giveaway

If you haven’t already please partake in the Extraordinary Mothers Morsel Monday link up! Participating is a lot of fun and a great way to find new dining delights for the family and hey, linky love!

This week I am “spicing” up the post with a review and giveaway of a product I received to try from the fabulous folks at NutraSalt. You are probably wondering what NutraSalt is and how nutra and salt can be combined together and not be an oxymoron. The NutraSalt product is a balanced product of sodium and potassium, 66% less sodium, to be exact, compared to common table salt. The proprietary product in NutraSalt’s recipe is the harvesting of Red Sea and Dead Sea salts from the Mediterranean.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the extra pinch of salt here and there can add up resulting in excessive sodium intake based on levels of sodium in processed foods, natural sources, and the extra shake during food preparation and at meal time.

Excessive sodium intake lead to conditions such as high blood pressure, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease which results in hundreds of thousands of deaths a year if not lifetime treatments such as dialysis for kidney disease. NutraSalt helps to replace the use of common salt in a healthier alternative to traditional table salt, allowing for the flavor but not the health risks often associated with excess salt intake.

NutraSalt comes in a variety salts and seasonings to “spice” up any recipe:

Low Sodium Sea Salt
Seasoned Salt
Texas BBQ
Savory Garlic
Zesty Italian
Lemon Dill
Lemon Herbs
Robusto Adobo
Spicy Cajun
Bold Chipotle
African Medley
Asian Fusion
Classic Curry

I received to try in my home the Low Sodium Sea Salt, Savory Garlic Lemon Dill, Bold Chipotle, Asian Fusion and the African Medley. I used every single one on some of my favorite meals. The Asian Fusion is absolutely divine on chicken and pork, I used them both on the grill and they added just that extra kick of spice to the flavor. Savory Garlic, I used that on my spaghetti dish when making garlic bread. Finally, my favorite is the African Medley which I used to make my Turkey Chili. The African Medley has flavors of cinnamon, peppers, ginger, and again the right balance of sodium and potassium. I know you are thinking “cinnamon? In my Chili?” YES!

How can you enjoy a 4-pack of your choice of NutraSalt and make this a staple in your home? Go to the NutraSalt site and tell me ONE fact in a comment (that I did not mention above. As a recap I mentioned it is derived from Sea Salt, is 66% lower in sodium, is rich in potassium).

Extra Entries:

Follow my blog or tell me you do
Follow me on Twitter or tell me you do
Tweet another fact about NutraSalt making sure to use @KariewithaK, the link to this giveaway, so I see your tweets. Daily RT’s are available!
Subscribe to The Fish in a Reader or via email (at the top)
Blog this Giveaway! (worth 10 entries if you mention a fact, link to NutraSalt and this giveaway!)
Email this giveaway to a friend (worth 3 entries)
Fan The Fish on Facebook

CONTEST ENDS JANUARY 30TH

@ 11:59PM ARIZONA TIME

Best of luck!

Turkey Chili:

1.5lbs ground Turkey

1 can Pinto Beans

1 can Black Beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 can of corn

1/4 cup onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, diced

2 T. finely chopped Italian Parsley

2 T. finely chopped Cilantro

2 T. Olive Oil

1/4 c. Nutra Salt African Medley, divided (can be substituted with 2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. ground corriander, 1 T. chili powder, 1 tsp red peppers, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp onion powder)

I used my Cuisinart Multi-Cooker but a stove top cook pot works well too. Pour Olive oil into pan heating over medium heat, sautee onions and garlic until almost translucent add in ground turkey, parsley, cilantro, and 1/8 c. of NutraSalt African Medley (or the above substitutes halved). Cook until meat is browned and spices are mixed well. Add the can of tomatoes, beans, corn and remaining spices. Bring to a boil (add water if needed, but the canned juices should provide enough), stirring well, reduce to a simmer for at least an hour to let all the flavors mix. Serve with cornbread.

VOILA!

January 15, 2010May 8, 2019

The Warm Fuzzy Mommy Moment

A lot of moments in a child’s life can be considered proud parental moments but none so bright as watching your child evolve. When I had Grant I was a full time career woman, basically a child was extracurricular for me at the time. Call it status quo of life, having a child at 25 was something I was suppose to do and internally I had this drive, a desire to be a mother. I did not quite grasp the motherhood warm and fuzzy until Big G was about three. The Chad and I experienced a lot of emotional and trying ups and downs early into Grant’s life; with living in a nice but cramped Scottsdale apartment as we waited for our home to sell in Albuquerque so that we could buy another home here in Arizona, putting a dog down, losing employment, gaining employment, having a child, moving again, getting pregnant again (with twins) and losing the pregnancy, losing employment again, gaining employment again. We went through a lot so we were busy trying to be the responsible adults and basically in survival mode to care for our child that I did not get to stop and say, “Hey I am a mom, my child is unbelieveable.”

I finally was able to experience that warm fuzzy, the emotional wave of the real connection of motherhood only after our turmoils, only after I received the opportunity to stay at home with Grant and work out of the house. My baby boy was sent to daycare at the ripe age of seven weeks. I missed almost everything, but experienced and learned a lot. I look back now and am sad that our life circumstances were such, but I do not carry any regret just a pain in my heart that I know will be healed over time. But I had my moment where I watched my boy play and smile, cause trouble and push the envelope of what was allowed in our home and I was awe struck. Dumbfounded at best. I could spend all day with him, uninterrupted, raw, precious.

He is my child. I gave birth to him. No aliens will be back to take him home. He is not leaving, he’s all mine, to love and guide through life. To watch him fall down and get up, to watch him follow his dreams, to gaze upon him and he in turns looks at me to embrace me with the largest hug his small arms can muster and say:

“I wub joo mama”

I have watched him as he has evolved in his young life. I will watch him as he continues to evolve, grow and mature into a wonderfully brilliant young man. From the day he was born I knew he was brilliant. Not because of his father and I (although we do make damn fine children), but he has a spark like that of a growing star. His spark will one day reach a super nova and revolve in that state for all eternity as I do not see his brilliance overtaking him. But in the last few years I have really watched him change and become his own person.

So today was like any other day with the exception of a parent teacher conference. I chalked this visit to be like the rest, minus The Chad again as he is traveling for business. Upon walking into this meeting though I did have a new feeling, the warm and fuzzy that has swept me before, came in waves again. I began to recall Grant through the various stages of his life. From the bean sized shadow on a black and white ultrasound printout, an infant, an adventurous tot, and now he is a young boy, almost a young man with his demeanor.

One day I felt I woke up and he was this magnificent creature who has a wide and wondrous mind that sees no boundaries in his fellow man. Each carries the same features and abilities as he, ever accepting, ever loving, and he treats everyone as an equal. I am speechless to watch him interact, his bold blindness as if he were Eve prior to the apple debacle. The meeting commenced and when they told me of his educational brilliance I felt another wave, deeper than the one before. I could not believe the accomplishments of my child. Math, addition and subtraction, graphing, time and money, grammar and grammatical tenses, reading books at the first and second grade levels and progressing rapidly. My eyes began to well and I fought back the tears. I fought my feelings in the middle of a mundane, seemingly average parent teacher conference.

Tears of grief for the fact that I am slowly losing more and more time with my boy as he becomes a man. I want nothing more than to hold him tight to take in as much as I can during the ever fast moving continuum of time. Soaking in everything as I watch as the gears turn and lights click with him. Of course my tears of joy at his singular accomplishments. While I know I am his mother, and his father and I have played an intricate role at home, I know he is on his own. I am not there to hold his hand but I gave him tools and he is creating a masterpiece. For which I will always be his biggest fan, ever so proud of him in everything he does from his most prestigious accomplishments to the most dolt fall backs, he amazes me still and forever. I also know that your brother and sister are so lucky to have you as an older brother. I am so proud of you.

January 12, 2010May 8, 2019

Take What You Need and Walk Away

In the dark side of light I was philosophical. I was, truly gnawing, chewing, digesting, spitting up and in my own smitten, selfish way, smiling at the awful incident. One that I thought might have pushed me to my outer edges of passionate, top end emotions.

Jogging in the cold, whipping air, in the twinkles of the cosmos I saw her, the flash, the defeat, the mourning. What was so special about her to cause me to feel the pain, to cry and half throw a fit over the casualty? The damage was done, I made attempts to repair, The Chad came in and made attempts to repair, we walked away, we let the situation simmer.

I was struck, like lightning with my epiphany about how the damage happened, about accepting that I could not mend what I could truly explain as wrecked. Destroyed. Obliterated. I did what any other person would do after digesting such an event.

Call Dell.

My poor hard drive crashed and I realized I felt so much pain for this. I was upset, emotionally tearful for my computer. WHY? I was asking myself and fighting with the situation, “Why are you crying? It’s a machine!” But the machine held a LOT of others secrets, information, it held parts of me, lots of good parts of me. I had come to think I had a “relation” of sorts with my computer. You see she saw me through last year…from beginning to end, so when she crashed I felt myself crash with her.

But I saw this brilliance. On my jog. I saw why I was mourning my hard drive. Crazy as the thought may sound. I was mourning a relationship that was damaged beyond all repair. I could not fix it, there was no reason, shit. just. happened! My brilliance was that hard drives are so much like people, relationships, relations. They crash, for no reason, totally unexpected, and the only thing you can do is make an honest attempt to repair. I F2’ed, I F12’ed, I F8’ed until I finally said F it and accepted the crash.

What helped me to accept the crash was The Chad. Telling me, “these things happen, hard drives crash, they are man made, they spin around and they just break.” That is what hit me on my jog. My dark side of light, to see that people we have in our lives spin around and around, they have a purpose, they offer us something, we reciprocate, and sometimes they crash because they have spun themselves out in an unhealthy way.

The crash is the hardest. I realized that I have had crashes, we all have crashes. But coming to the realization. that continuing to work on something that spun itself into a cosmic oblivion of nothingness, is toxic and is the first step to acceptance, to moving on. I found so much relief to know that what I needed from my hard drive could be salvaged via an external box. I will leave the technical mumbo out. By understanding that certain snips and scraps if not everything but the OLD operating system could be saved, I realized that in myself. I was salvaging from these crashes everything but the old operating system, I was evolving. I was letting go.

My hard drives have crashed with other people, I made every attempt to repair (including myself) and saw that I was not in repair but that those who I thought needed the mend were crashed. They are gone, they brought nothing else to a life, my life, anyone’s life. They are broken, NO ONE, not even their own repair system could fix them. I came to see that sometimes we have to accept things, people, relationships, crash and are broken, but if we can try to revive after the crash walking away with what really matters, taking the vital shards of what was scathed that we can move on. We can learn, we can eliminate the garbage, that what might have spun us into oblivion. Walking away taking pride, love, self respect, courage, honesty, justice, patience, forgiveness, to name a few and above else walking away with wisdom showed me that the damage really was not all that devastating. I walked away with A LOT!

Mourning was quick. I found that the drawn out mourning of a relationship was more of guilt. The Monday morning quarterback as I like to call it, “shoulda, coulda, woulda’,” or the face you feel some neglect, that you could have done more and I didn’t do that. I laughed. I laughed and smiled and felt such a relief that so much was gone that really was petty. I was starting new in a sense, only that much smarter, that much wiser, and that much lighter by not having that spinning hard drive, the constant spinning of toxic people in my life. So we have to look at when a crash happens, do we want to salvage the WHOLE drive or do we want to salvage just the parts that matter? Our own parts, our own operations, or do we want the supporting systems that really are the most vital?

After you repair do you ignore the crash or do you take away what you need, still remembering the fragility of man and that sometimes things, people, relationships crash. All we can do is call in our support, accept, move on and grow; grow up and away from that which was damaging. A new year, a new hard drive, new lessons.

January 11, 2010May 8, 2019

Crock Pot Chicken Dumplings Recipe

Are you looking for some great recipes? If so link yours up and find a new one every Monday over at Extraordinary Mothers where my friend Casey hosts Morsel Mondays!

Last week I did some desserts so this week let’s do some favorite dinner recipes, and my favorite, southern or cold weather recipe is Chicken and Dumplings. I actually did my recipe in my Cuisinart Multi-Cooker and it was EASY, no hassle, no fuss. Here are your ingredients:

4-6 chicken breasts, cooked, diced and or shredded

Mixed vegetables (potatoes, corn, green beans, carrots, celery), you can also use a frozen bag of mixed vegetables.

Chicken broth (generally about 3-4 cups depending on how many people you are feeding)

Cream of Chicken soup, or you can use plain cream

Salt and pepper to flavor
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 c. Bisquick (or other baking mix)
2/3 c. milk

In a large pot, crock pot, or Cuisinart Multi-Cooker like mine, simmer chicken, broth, vegetables, until vegetables are tender maybe an hour or more depending on how much flaror you want your vegetables to absorb. Slowly add cream of chicken (or cream) and stir gently ever careful not to boil. Add bay leaf and let simmer for 20 minutes. While simmering mix the Bisquick and milk until a dough forms and slowly drop into soup mixture, cover and let cook for 10 minutes or until dough rises like bread and biscuits form. Remove from heat and ladel out into a bowl, serve with butter and pepper.

For more tasty morsels, visit Extraordinary Mothers.

January 9, 2010May 8, 2019

Business Cards Giveaway

Welcome to the new year and with the new year brings new opportunities right? In the new year are also new events, conferences, meetings, and with those events you want to be prepared right? I know everywhere I go I bring my business cards, I leave them for my server with my tip and by tipping a bit extra they also remember me, when I introduce myself to friends of friends I also give them a business card, I even use my business card in business meetings and for referrals.

Why?

You need something to identify who you are, your business, how to contact you. UPrinting is offering business cards to win that do just that! You can customize your cards with different sizes from standard 2 x 3.5″ rectangle, 2 x 3″. 2 x 2″ square or the sleek 1.5 x 3.5″ skiny card. Each card is printing on your choice of cardstock from 14pt gloss, matte, or 13 pt recycled uncoated for those of you with an eco conscious message.

With all of the blog conferences coming up from EVO, Mom 2.0 Summit, Blissdom, BlogHer now is the time to enter to win your business cards from UPrinting so that you are ready to network and connect to your fullest. Telling people all about your blog, your business, who you are! Here’s how you can win 250 business cards (you pay shipping):

Mandatory Entry: Tell me if you plan on attending any blog conferences, where, and what might you put on your card to really show of your blog?

Extra Entries:

Follow my blog (tell me you do)
Follow me on Twitter
Follow UPrinting on Twitter
Tweet this giveaway with daily RT entries available: Win 250 business cards in time for all the big blog conferences with @KariewithaK and @Uprinting https://thefivefish.com/
Subscribe to my blog via email or a reader (tell me you do/did)
Leave a substantial comment on a NON review and giveaway post (Worth 2 extra entries)
Email a Friend (Worth 2 entries) and if you friend enters the giveaway (5 extra entries)
Blog this giveaway with a link back
Stumble my blog

CONTEST ENDS JANUARY 16TH 2010

@ 11:59PM ARIZONA TIME.

Winners will be drawn that Sunday the 17th.

Best of luck!

*The Five Fish will be provided with 250 free business cards in conjunction with this post.

January 7, 2010May 8, 2019

Twin Talk

The Squids are coming into their own, more and more they are true gnomes becoming the funniest little people I have yet to meet. Here they are in all their glory. They are excited…can you see it?

Sara, what is your brother’s name? Sess

Seth, what is your sister’s name? Can you say Sara? Bitty

Sara’s words:

Sass = Trash.

Sometimes the trash can be a little sassy. Pew…what’s that funk?

Buh bye = buh bye

I’m leaving with you….let me get my shoes…NOW. (insert screaming toddler)

Gee gee = Ginger

The family Bulldog.

Kee = kitty

Do you remember the girl from the Looney Tunes?

I want to hug them, love them, pet them, yeah, she is pretty ape shit crazy over kitties.

Shoos = shoes

Pretty clear on this…she manages her way into my closet and clomps around the house in my heels. Impressive for a two year old toddler to manage 3-5inch heels.

Ugh ugh = That

Grunting that suggests she wants whatever the hell you have….fork it over.

All duh = All done

Whatever I am doing, eating, pooping, getting into trouble…all done.

Shit = Ship, chip

We really have no effing clue. She uses it frequently and in the correct text. We are thinking shit is shit. All duh.

Seth’s words:

Shoos = Shoes

Gingrr = Ginger

The “e” in Ginger is just completely silent or more of a “u” sound.

Spee = Fork, spoon

We know he wants utensils when he asks for spee

Ny Ny = Night Night

Hi Ho Hi Ho off to bed we go.

Ah = Bye

Just a quick wave is the only indicator of the word he is saying.

Dada = Mom and Dad

Whomever is in range of his parental demands gets the Dada call

HELL-LOW = Hello

The happiest hello you will ever hear…ever!

Doh = Door

He has an OCD obsession about doors…clearly gets the door part from him father.

Oh nee = bologna

Yum buddy!

Twin Talk from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

January 7, 2010March 2, 2020

Monave: Beautiful New Year Giveaway

Welcome to a New Year and a new you right? Exactly!

I say new you because so often with a new year many men and women resolve to make the year a mulligan of sorts, start over, start fresh. Well I like to say that a new year and a new you means that you are reinventing yourself. So if you are reinventing yourself why not do so with a new look?

The wonderful team at Monave was so gracious to let me review the New York gift set, which includes the powder blush, foundation, eye shadows and corresponding brushes. I also reviewed the lip glosses if you recall correctly. I found Monave on my quest to find a better, healthier cosmetic line for my already “going green” reinvention of myself last year. As most of you know, I am a skeptic. I am always wanting to see the proof in the pudding with products; marketing is always great and sounds great, but I am a results driven individual. I want to see how the product really works for myself first hand to share with you, how well (or not so well) the product stands up past marketing.

If you read my gloss post you know how wonderfully rich and luscious the products are for women. Well the mineral line is just as fabulous. Honest! What I have found in using mineral products is that they tend to be cakey looking, albeit they make you look older, MUCH older, because the mineral powders settle into your fine lines and wrinkles. Especially if you use too much powder and your face is not properly hydrated and or moisturized. Not to mention that the coverage is not all that fantastic with some mineral powders; again the problem of too much or too little and a non-even look.

What I have thoroughly enjoyed about Monave mineral cosmetics is the amount of coverage with such little powder. This product is truly the swirl and tap that other powders claim to be. I have used everything too from Bare Minerals, Sheer Cover, Pure Minerals, Arbonne, you name it, I bought it and used it and was never satisfied. With Monave, my skin and make-up looks natural, bold, daring, or subtle if I want it to just based on application. But the bottom line is that the mineral foundation does not sink into my fine smile lines (yes I do have some even though I am in my 30s…the downfall of being a former smoker) around my eyes the powder does not look cakey and best of all, the tone is totally natural, totally true to the color of my skin.

Have you noticed that makeups have a pink hue? Um, the only person I know with pink skin is generally plastic and is branded with a toy name of sorts. Our skin has a yellow base, we all do, not pink, and the Monave line has wonderful products that are true to the tone of a woman’s skin no matter how fair or how dark.

Do you want to win this beautiful mini set? Oh you do? Well I am happy to say that THREE, yes you got it!

3 LUCKY ladies (well men too if I don’t want to be discriminatory here) can win this wonderful set of cosmetics from Monave!

January 5, 2010May 8, 2019

Extraordinary Tuesdays: Two For Tuesday

Welcome to “Two For Tuesday” a post every Tuesday for us Extraordinary Mothers (over @ Extraordinary Mothers) on how we deal and cope with motherhood, the pains, angst’s, joys, and triumphs. I am Karie of The Five Fish and as a mother of twins and a singleton I know all too well the “two” sides to each coin, our children and ourselves and how to find answers and balance.

Happy New Year. Another year, another opportunity to start fresh right? I read today on a friend’s blog about how each new year is not a fresh start but yet a continuation of the chapters of our book. She could not be more true with her words. Wiping our slate clean would only suggest that we did not learn from the events of the previous year, day, and months. A new slate also means we are starting at the bottom, new, fresh, no ground work already laid, which makes annual goals that much more unattainable.

How many of you have already made annual resolutions? Lose weight? Quit smoking? Quit cursing? Join a gym, club, church, whatever the case may be. How about any family goals? Any goals and resolutions for the year that mean the entire family? Everyone pitches in, everyone is involved, including the kids towards family goals and resolutions. No family goals? Why not?

Crazy as the idea may sound a family goal creates a healthy foundation for children to set realistic goals, for us as parents to set realistic goals, and everyone is involved which promotes the overall family structure. A starting family goal could be to agree to family dinners each night and maybe everyone takes turns making the meal, setting the table, or cleaning up afterward. A goal to create a stronger family unit. A goal to spend more quality time together. Even the goal of taking a family vacation even if just a stay-cation.

The goal could be anything as a family, anything promoting togetherness and individuality within the family unit. Goals are great fun as long as they are realistic, attainable, and best of all when they’re fun and yield results. So this year when making some resolutions, goals, look at a way to include the family, have some fun with it, encourage the kids and the entire family to think of some great resolutions and goals that everyone can partake. Because each new year that passes is not a clean slate, but another chapter of life.

What will you write in your chapter this year? What kind of family goals can you make? Will make?

January 4, 2010May 8, 2019

Organic Pumpkin Pie Recipe

While these recipes may be a bit out of “season” now as we have moved past Thanksgiving and Christmas pumpkin pie is always a favorite, especially because it is so easy….when not from a can. Plus more likely the pumpkin pie is cheaper with a fresh pumpkin than one out of the can. Plus I shared I made a cake size Swiss roll, well here is that recipe. The Swiss roll may be a bit bitter as it is a Turkish chocolate style recipe, but still sweet and delish!

Pumpkin Pie

1 pumpkin
6 c. water for boiling

2 c. flour (for crust, obviously)
1/2 c. water (for crust)
1 c. shortening
Heat oven to 425*
1 3/4 c. mashed pumpkin
1 3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 T. sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves (be sure to ONLY use a 1/4 tsp or your pie will be very SPICY and the cloves will be overbearing)

Gut the pumpkin and all seeds. Cut into two inch cubes leaving skin on the meat during boiling. The boil time for an average size to a small pumpkin is roughly 25-35 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool somewhat before removing skin to avoid burning. Once all skin is removed, mash or puree until desired consistency. Allow the mashed pumpkin to be completely cool before adding to pie mixture.

While pumpkin is cooling, mix flour, water, shortening together until dough forms. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Add to pie pan and flute edges. Fluting can be done with fingers, fork, or a spoon.

Mix together sugar and eggs until a creamed consistency, adding in mashed pumpkin. Mix thoroughly slowly adding milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and the cloves. By following these steps your pie will have a smooth consistency allowing all the ingredients to blend well together. Cook for 45-55 minutes using a toothpick to determine if the center is done. The pie will have a rich golden hue as will the crust.

Swiss Cake Roll

Preheat oven to 400*
2 eggs (separate yolks from whites)
3 T. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 T. warm water (I used day old warm coffee, adds a bitterness and a wonderful rich sweet taste)
1 oz cube of melted Bakers Semi-Sweet baking chocolate (or 2T melted chocolate chips)
Filling:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 T. confectioners sugar (or 1/4 c. sugar)
May add fresh fruit or flavor or your choice, almond, etc.

I also apologize for the poor picture quality….the cake was being eaten so fast to take when it was at it’s “prettiest.”

Beat together egg yolks and sugar until creamy, slowly adding the chocolate (be sure not too hot or will cook the eggs) and warm water. Then beat until foamy the egg whites, slowly adding in the flour, baking powder mix. Once the eggs and flour, baking powder are completely combined, slowly begin to add in the chocolate mixture. Once completely blended pour into waxed lined baking pan (13X9, buttered or greased then lined with wax paper or freezer paper for best results and lightly greased again). Bake for 12 minutes, remove immediately and place face down on freezer paper (or wax paper) dusted with powdered sugar. Place damp cloth on top to ease cooling time and allow cake to be easily rolled while warm, removing hard or rough edges, unroll after completely cooled and add cream filling.

Beat together sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until a creamy, comes to a bit of a peak consistency. Do not over beat…filling will be ruined. Slowly spread along inside of cake, roll again and serve dusted with confectioners sugar or topped with drizzled chocolate or fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

January 3, 2010May 8, 2019

Growing Up is Hard to Do

After posting my New Year’s montage the comments from you, my readers, triggered a whirlwind of thoughts. One comment specifically from my friend over @ A Nut In a Nutshell mentioned how I appeared to be a bit of a party girl.

I used to be.

I used to party every night I could from the time I had my own car in high school until….well I grew up. Until sometime in my 20s I found that partying and going to the bars and dealing with all that minutiae was just that. CRAP. A load of bullshit and really, what was the point? What point was there to hitting the bar and drinking until buzzed or partially intoxicated? Fun?! What was so fun about making an ass of oneself? What was so fun about chugging water and taking B12 the following day, possibly even a Bloody Mary for a taste of the hair of the dog that bit you.

But I got over it. I got over the need to sow any wild oats, I got tired of the wasteful spending on alcohol, the running amok and doing what I wanted got old. Real. Fast. Why? Because from 18-25 I got to be me. I had the opportunity to evaluate crucial moments in my life, I lived, I effed up, A LOT, I learned, I was me, for me, and only me. What people don’t realize is how much really truly happens in the pivotal age range of 18-25:

Graduate High school and move out
Go to College, live on your own, maybe with roommates
Work first REAL job, maybe while attending college
Meet life long friends, or continue friendships forged previous to high school
Graduate college
Obtain first REAL job with college credentials
Gain life experience
Possibly buy first car, open first credit card, maybe buy a house
Do the walk of shame (maybe more than once)
Get arrested
Avoid getting arrested
Get married
Figure out what you are going to do with your life (generally at age 20 this comes to mind)
Figure out what you are going to be when you grow up
Meet a future spouse, or get engaged

As you can see a general and brief smorgasbord of events happen from the time you age from 18-25. However, some people never experience these events and the reason why is their life choices which makes their growing up experience much more different. Because their experiences will vary so greatly, their experiences during the pivotal age range will shape their adulthood beyond age 25. Even one (possibly two) bad decisions will transform your life.

The Chad was a wise young man when he shared these facts with me. He was maybe, at best, cresting 25 himself when he shared the fact of growing up to me when I was barely cresting 20. By the time I was 20 I had done almost everything stated above….except get married, figure out what I want to be when I grow up, have kids, I mean I was still a kid myself.

During the time of 18-25 you figure yourself out as a person. A singular person. No longer are you a child in your parents home. No longer are you a student in an “elementary” school, requiring your attendance. You are an adult. A singular being deciphering the game of life, day by day, moment by moment. Curfew is something for kids who “live at home” or at best “Minors” for the sake of calling a legal adult an adult. More time is spent with your friends in a non-parental defying manner. Responsibility is learned, respect, self-respect, boundaries, self-awareness, quite literally you become a person you never thought you knew you could be, were or are. All the while the only responsibility you had…was to yourself. No one else, not to your parents, just yourself, and self-discipline was actualized.

But some do not evolve in this same manner. They missed the polar age range of evolution into albeit adulthood. Because once you crown your late 20s and truly are a “20 something” finally certain life aspects begin to click, the biological clock begins to tick for some, the desire to settle down, the want to be more in life, want more out of life, the realization of some form of deprivation exists in your life. Some desired affirmations:

I want to get married
I want to have children
I want to buy a house, a Lexus, furniture
I want to remodel
I want to be and do more

You begin to sound and act like your parents in a sense. The way they might have acted before having children. The standard progression into “adulthood” if I may. I look back at my pictures that The Chad and I took and we did A LOT. We traveled, we partied (a LOT because we had the means), we bought lots of luxury cars before I was even old enough to receive the late 20s auto insurance discount, I bought a house, got credit cards that were maxed and paid off a lot, and shortly before I turned 25 I realized I wanted more.

So in my time frame I did a lot, I learned A LOT, I cried a lot, cursed growing up, was frustrated, pissed, confused, lost and found, but most of all I had fun. I had fun figuring out what the hell I was doing, where I was going, who I wanted to be, what I wanted out of life. I realized what I was and was not ready for, what I could and could not handle, the events that needed time and the events that needed to be put on hold. More so, I saw those who missed out. People who missed the 18-25 bus and did not get the chance to fail and succeed, live and learn, be an individual without anyone or anything tying them down, they missed out on being an “adult” and figuring out how to grow up. I found that I truly grew up, that my late teens and my earliest 20s were for fun. My mid-20s I started to have everything click, my late 20s I truly settled down. I had a son by this time, we bought another house, celebrated some wedding anniversaries, fell down and picked ourselves back up again. I am lucky I had my late teens and early 20s to figure life out by myself, no tie downs, no responsibility except to myself, no boundaries except my own, just me, by myself.

Now moving well into my 30s I can look back and laugh. I can enjoy my life of what I did, some of the mistakes I made and definitely learned from, the choice to marry when I did, have kids when I did, to look at the life I was leading and the life I wanted to lead. I grew up. I am still growing up. But now I can admit I know a lot of nothing, where before I thought I knew everything. I can also look back and know I have NO REGRETS. If I regretted any decisions I made, didn’t make, should have made, I would not be where I am today. What were your choices? Where are you in your life? Are you still figuring life out?

Here is a beautifully written post by my friend Jenine. You know her as Badger Momma, absolutely breath taking the way 18-25 can shape your life in one way or another.