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This recipe is for an individual sized salad to make ahead for on the go.

2020. I think we can all agree it didn’t turn out the way we had planned it to a year ago. Our 2020 started out right on track but quickly derailed like everyone else’s. We moved into our new home. We went to The Grove Park Inn for a long, family weekend. I had a hysterectomy. Then right at two weeks post-surgery, everything shut down. It was Friday, March 13 and my son had a baseball game and when we drove into our driveway that evening we didn’t leave again for a long time. I did a lot of reflection throughout 2020. I was able to recognize who I missed. And who I didn’t. What I missed. And what I didn’t. What I enjoyed. And what I didn’t. And what I realized was that I wasn’t fulfilling my purpose. I had spent decades wasting time. My time was occupied fulfilling the expectations of others; their purpose. I had created side goals in an effort to find purpose because my head and heart were wandering. Don’t get me wrong, I still had some wonderful times with my family, traveling, and things like that but it was the bulk of my day that was unfulfilling. Then the trauma of 2017 happened followed by two hard years of enduring the hurt of betrayal and slander. I had to search my heart repeatedly because all I kept asking was “why? Why was this happening? How could anything good come from it?” But what I have realized is that we have to ask ourselves what is the blessing in this hardship? What is the lesson? It’s when we find the blessing and the lesson that we begin to steer towards our purpose. And when we begin to fulfill our purpose, we become a blessing to others. The quiet of 2020 left me with a lot of time to think about my purpose. I quickly saw that I had been chasing goals that I didn’t care about; I was still in the rut of spending the bulk of my time unfulfilled. When life changes so abruptly, as it did in 2020, you realize how precious time is. Every single day. And you realize that you don’t want to waste any more time not being fulfilled and not discovering and living your purpose. There is an old saying that if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. I could not agree more. I have made a point to be intentional about everything I do. For example, cooking supper? I am going to make it a wonderful meal and I am going to set the table and my husband, son, and I are going to talk about our day and we are going to linger in conversation. Intentional time. Fulfilled. If we do all the little things with intention, they become the big things. They fulfill us and guide us towards more purpose in our lives. I have discovered a new me in this 43 year old body. I am the most joyful and happy that I have ever been in my life. I want to be my best self at all times. Making every moment count. I do not have any New Year’s resolutions so to speak, just the commitment to be intentional. Intentional in everything I do. The joy is in the journey and our journey becomes our story. And I am going to make my story one that is filled with intention and purpose.

Not sure what to do with the leftover Christmas ham? Have you not been getting your veggies over the holidays? This easy chowder fixes that!

Low carb can still be delicious! Growing up fettuccini alfredo was hands down my favorite food.

Comfort food at it's finest! The perfect soup to let cook all day in the crock pot and serve up with a grilled cheese sandwich!

2020 has been quite the year. The fear and panic of a pandemic, the hate and divisiveness all over social media, and uncertainty about when normal will return. If the word normal can still be defined. Many have struggled to find gratitude during this time. The shutdown for our area began the evening of Friday, March 13. My son had a baseball game and when we got home the news was announcing it all. This was just a couple weeks after my hysterectomy so I had already mostly been home. My son adjusted to virtual learning as well as any teenager could. His school did a great job continuing the curriculum so he was quite busy with schoolwork. My husband and I are both self-employed and our work drastically slowed down. So, we just embraced the shutdown as best we could. We began spending an hour over coffee every morning. We cooked amazing meals. Brunch on the porch with bacon and eggs, sausage, French toast, and a mimosa (on more occasions that I probably needed). Full hibachi with fried rice, steaks and shrimp, and loads of veggies. A glass of wine on the porch and watched the sunset. Boat rides on weekday mornings. I could just go on and on about all the little things we did. Over and over. But they never felt mundane. We had fully embraced simple. We had slowed down long enough to see the blessings in the everyday. One of my favorite things about the shutdown was that expectations went away. What a weight that is when you realize it's gone. I have been guilty of fulfilling expectations for a long time. A few weeks ago I started a devotional by Ann Voskamp and there was a lesson the other day that was perfect timing for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. It was about love being in the little things. All the little things we do and receive all add up to really big love. But if you don’t have love in the little things then there will never be big love. And this is what got me thinking about a heart to heart conversation I had with an older friend. She didn’t have love in the little things. I don’t think she even had the little things. She proceeded to tell me how terrible her marriage had been even though it appeared storied from the outside. Her husband was habitually unfaithful for decades. She went into elaborate details and my heart hurt just listening to the stories. I couldn’t help but think about my own marriage as she spoke and how thankful and blessed I am by a wonderful man. After she had told countless stories, I asked her why she had chosen to stay with this man all these years. I expected her to say she stayed for her children (even though they were now grown), but what she said floored me. She told me that she stayed for the lifestyle. I stoically said to her that she would have gotten at least half and her response was that she wanted it all. All will continue to be more and more and you will never be satisfied. And my heart hurt again for an entirely new reason. I could not imagine a lifestyle being so important to me to endure an unfaithful and loveless marriage. I could tell her heart was full of anger and bitterness. And a heart like that misses out on gratitude. Gratitude has to be nurtured. A garden can not grow from darkness and without water and gratitude can not grow when it is fed anger and bitterness. When I left the conversation, I knew that I would actively focus on keeping anger and bitterness out of my heart and feed it joy, peace, and contentment. We nurture our hearts with the little things. And that is how our hearts become grateful. I have had the most peace, joy, love, and fullness of heart since the pandemic started. I recognized all the joy in the little things. It’s not fancy vacations (although they can be nice too) and things of the like, it’s the people you do life with. Simple, mundane, everyday life. When we are grateful for all those little things, we nurture a big, grateful heart that can show the world just what love and gratitude really are. Voskamp’s lesson stated that small acts of intentional love trigger oxytocin, the soothing hormone of maternal bonding. And that little acts of large love release dopamine, the hormone of positive emotions and the feeling of a natural high. And that is where I have been all this time. On a natural high. My heart truly feels full. I am so grateful to bring my husband coffee in the morning because I have a loving husband that appreciates it and does the same for me too. I am grateful for cooking dinner for my family because I have food to eat and a family to share it with. And I am grateful when they clean up the kitchen afterwards to show their love and appreciation. I am grateful to do our laundry because we have clothes to wear. I am grateful to run the vacuum because I have a home that is lived in (by our 4 legged family members too). I could go on and on but when you pause long enough to truly be grateful for all the little things, the love and gratitude you exude is contagious. So this Thanksgiving, I encourage you to reflect on the little things. Be grateful for them. Even if you have had a hard year. I know the pandemic has caused differing degrees of emotional, financial, and physical hardship. A tiny seed of gratefulness can grow into a garden full of gratitude.

Simple, weeknight comfort food! This delicious casserole always gets gobbled right up!

This simple recipe is perfect for a quick weeknight meal that the whole family will love!

This simple soup is perfect for an easy weeknight meal. Pair it with a grilled cheese for the ultimate in comfort food!

This simple baked chicken recipe is quick and easy and is packed full of flavor!

This has been my go to Thanksgiving dessert for years!

This yummy creamy and cheesy baked chicken tortellini is ultimate comfort food.

Originally posted October 7, 2019 on From the Corner Booth The other day I was driving home from picking my son up at school and the alert went off for low tire pressure. I was about a mile from home and the PSI was only slightly low so I continued on. When I pulled in, I got out and checked the tire and sure enough there was a nail in it. I called the local tire place but since my car has a special key for the wheels, they weren’t going to be able to plug it for me. My husband checked it and said it was a slow leak and should be fine to make the 2 hour trek to Wilmington. Since it was a Friday I decided to just wait and go the next week. The night before I was going to go, my husband added some air to the tire and decided maybe he should go with me. Just in case something happened. Definitely a perk of us both being self-employed is we can dictate our schedules however we need to. My sister said she could pick my son up from school so the next morning we headed to Wilmington. We had a nice drive down, the tire held up fine, and we just listened to music and had adult conversation. Once we got there, they gave us a loaner car so we decided to head over to Wrightsville Beach and have a lovely outdoor lunch at Bluewater Waterfront Grill. We blew our healthy eating diet with some delicious fried calamari and just sat and enjoyed the breeze and the boats going by. Once we left there we headed over to our favorite grocery store, The Fresh Market. (One thing we miss about our days living in Raleigh) We lingered about the store making the slowest decisions from wine to fresh roasted coffee beans to filet mignon. We eventually checked out, packed the Yeti we had brought to its fullest, and then went back to the dealership. The tire was all fixed so we headed back home and had a wonderful drive. More great music and talked about some house projects we wanted to do. Once we got home, we just continued the nice day by opening one of those bottles of wine and sitting on the porch together with our son. We decided to save the steaks for the next night since my son had a full belly. He had talked his aunt into a Bojangle’s stop on their way home. As I sat on the porch that evening reflecting on the day, I thought about how our reactions to things can truly shape the joy in our own life and those around us as well. There was a time when my heart wasn’t at peace. I was full of anxiety and worry and when something didn’t go as I had planned, my reaction just made everything worse. Sometimes I have to pause and just tell myself, “React better. Be better.” I don’t think anyone wants a nail in their tire but that nail in my tire created a date day for my husband and me. Something we hadn’t had in awhile. We were able to connect, talk, and just enjoy each other’s company doing simple things. We could say that we technically wasted a work day, but what we gained in time together has only recharged us to be better, to lead better, and be a better example. A marriage is only as good as its weakest member so staying united and in communication is a top priority for us. And sometimes you just need to be in each other’s presence, windows down, radio on, and holding hands to say it all.

Originally posted September 27, 2019 on From the Corner Booth We hear a lot these days about the importance of self care. Taking time out for ourselves. Everything from a pampering spa day to making sure you get annual well check-ups with your doctor. While all of these are important, the truth is, one spa day isn’t going to make up for months of not taking care of yourself. I think of self care along the lines of self respect and self love. Self care is how we treat ourselves each and every day. Our routines, our habits, our daily choices. Often easier said than done. I love summer schedule. I am just as excited about the last day of school as my son. But by the end of this past summer, I was ready for school to start back. I was ready for more routine because I had completely fallen out of what works for me to be my best. I had let the slow of summer turn into complacency. Instead of cooking dinner, we ate out or ordered out all the time. All that boat and pool time turned into less exercise and more fruity cocktails. Evening porch sitting turned into going to bed too late and not getting enough sleep. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy every minute of it but I could have enjoyed summer more if I felt better. By summer’s end, I had gained some weight and just overall did not feel good. In retrospect, my productivity and motivation faltered along the way too. I used the start of school to be my reset button. As women and moms, we often feel like we are constantly doing for others and that occupies all of our time. Doing for our kids, our spouse, our job, the PTO, a sick friend, and the list goes on and on. I love doing for others, especially my husband and son. I love them both so big and it brings me so much joy to do for them. But I can’t show them my best love unless I have loved myself first. And I want to be my best for them at all times. So I knew I had to revamp the way I was living each day. First, I wanted to get back to eating healthier. It would help me drop a few pounds and make me feel better overall. This is where meal planning comes into the picture. I had let my meal planning go during the summer because I had told myself we had plenty of time each day and I didn’t need to do it. It is super hard to eat healthy if you don’t have the right foods in the fridge. Eating healthy is not cheap and I find that meal planning makes me eat better and lowers my grocery bill. I sit down on Saturday and meal plan for the entire week ahead. (Eating Well has some wonderful full week and even 30 day meal plan ideas with easy recipes.) From the meal plan and related recipes, I make a grocery list and then order everything online. I pick it up on Sunday after church and organize it as soon as we get home and I am set for the week! The old saying “you are what you eat” is so true! It has been almost one month since school started and I am down 6 pounds and having so much fun cooking lots of new recipes each evening! Which has in turn created better family time and meal time together. Second, exercise is so important. Whether you like barre or running, exercise is essential in self care. My husband and I walk (briskly) 3 miles together each morning and a few days a week I go for a short run. It makes such a difference in how I feel and sets the pace for the day. Third, we all need a little me time each day. This is probably the hardest one because we feel guilty if we stop for ourselves. Don’t feel guilty about this! You have to stop your car and refuel it or else it won’t keep running! Think the same way about yourself. I like to have my me time in the morning. Coffee, my devotional and journal, and my planner. It truly gets my head and heart set for the day which motivates me to plan out a great and productive day. I have never been a morning person but I enjoy my morning time so much now that I actually get right out of bed. I never thought I would look forward to getting up early. I even wake up early on Saturdays now. Fourth, take a shower. Now this one may be the hardest if you have little ones. I get it. And we all are going to have days where we stay in Lululemon all day. That’s okay too. But I have found that the days where I just stay in my workout clothes always turn out to be the least productive. When I left corporate America, the only thing I missed (besides SOME of the people), was getting dressed up! A dress and heels and a little make-up can really make you feel better about yourself. I don’t get that dressed up anymore, it’s more like jeans and a cute top and comfy flats for the office but I feel so much better about myself when I don’t go about my days in yoga pants and greasy hair. Lastly, get enough sleep! Some people can thrive on 5-6 hours a night. I need the true 7-8 hours. I get up at 6:00 so I am lights out between 10:00 and 11:00. I am normally on my way to bed about 9:00 so I have time to decompress before I actually try to fall asleep. Sometimes I will unwind with a hot bath but I typically just like to get in bed and read for a bit. I wasn’t much of a reader when I was younger but I sure do love a good book these days. I hardly ever watch TV besides the news being on while I cook dinner. There are lots of good shows but I feel like they begin to consume my evenings rather than things that matter. Self care is a daily choice for long term happiness and health. Finding a routine that works for you is key! Bad habits and bad routines are hard to break. It truly is a commitment to create a new routine and stick to it! What are your priorities and goals? Make a list and let them guide you in creating your new routine. And don’t be afraid to commit to putting yourself first! Love yourself big and you will love those around you better!

A fresh take on traditional egg salad. Makes the perfect wrap or sandwich with avocado!