100 Things that make me happy part II

I've been alone for 16 days so far.  I cannot begin to express how much I enjoy being by myself.  I love my husband, don't get me wrong, but I absolutely crave alone-in-my-own-house time.   I lived with a man at one point in my life who was in a wheelchair and didn't drive.  He never left the house unless I took him.  In the years that I was with him, I think I was alone in that house for a few dozen hours.  In order for me to have some alone time, I had to leave.  Ultimately, I left!   I'm glad I finally realized what my soul needed to be happy.  I need alone time.

My husband and I both work mainly from home, so we are together all day, every day, most days.  I think it is sanity saving for me to take the month of October and travel to Michigan.  Then a week after I get home my husband leaves for his three to four weeks in Michigan.   We get nearly two months to do our own thing, not have each other in our ear and to once again figure out who we are as an individual.

I've always done the happy dance when my husband leaves town.  He once told me that he'd appreciate it if I did the dance after he left the house instead of the few days before his departure!  (He was getting a complex I guess.)  My happy dance is usually spontaneous giggling and a beaming smile.  Like I said, I crave alone in my own house time.

Well, all of this scattered chatter is leading up to the point of this whole post!  I tend to stay up way too late when I'm alone, but the last few nights I have forced myself to go to bed at an earlier time.  A few nights ago I went to bed with a piece of paper and a pen and started listing all the things I could think of that made me happy.  I have to say, it made for a nice relaxing way to get me to go to sleep.  I fell asleep thinking about Kleenex and chapstick!

The top of that list was being alone in the house.  haha!

I shared the first 15 on my quest to list 100 Things that make me Happy already, if you'd like to visit part I.   I'd like to continue with the happy things that I wrote down the other night.  At some point I'll get to 100!

16.  Being alone in my house.

17.  Watching my sister draw. 

18. Reading books on my Kindle.  Love my Kindle.

19.  IKEA lighting.  If I had timers for all of the outlets in my home, I would seriously buy an array of IKEA lamps and have them go on and off all around the house.  I love lamps, but I rarely turn them on!

20.  Alabaster -  I really like the dream-like quality it has.  Alabaster looks like it has been spun from clouds.

21.  Black out curtains in a bedroom.

22.  Black yoga pants.  I don't go anywhere without them if I can help it.  They are my daily uniform.

23.  Multi-colored Christmas Tree lights.

24.  Junk mail art.  A lot of it anyway.  I'm a sucker for advertising.

25.  Systane eyedrops for dry eyes.

26.  Palm trees.  This includes palm tree paintings, photographs and real life. 

from the Thomas McKnight website

27.  Thomas McKnight artwork. 

28.  Kleenex  - real Kleenex.  Not medicated, lotioned, scented or extra strength.  Plain, white Kleenex is what makes me happy.

29. Sharpies.  Clickables Sharpies are my favorites, but all Sharpies are wonderful.

30.  Super Sticky Post-it Notes.

31.  Chapstick medicated in the blue tube.  I use it each night as I get into bed.  A little swipe across my lips and they stay hydrated all night.

32.  Photographs.  Landscapes, people, interior, exterior, funny, sad.  Carnivals, animals, barns and buildings.  I love looking at photographs.

33.  Tagless T-Shirts

34.  Listening to Hillary tell a story.  She is the best!

Milkwright website

35.  Those funny cards that pair a vintage photo with a humorous tag.  (example above)

36.  flocked wrapping paper.

37.  front loading washer and dryers.  They really do make me happy.

38.  The green McCoy pitcher that I use to fill up my kitties water bowl each day.

39.  Saying Thank You makes me very happy.  I make an effort to say Thank you and look at the person to whom I'm saying it.  I don't want it to be a throw away response like "hi, how are you today?"  People who say that rarely care about the response.

Wow - I'm at 40.  I was really on a roll! 

40.  taking my car through the car wash.

On this day before Thanksgiving (in the United States, that is) I wish you all a blessed day.  I hope you can be with family and/or  friends this weekend. My husband will be with his family in Michigan and I will be with my support group friends.  We are both very fortunate to be with people who love us. 

Thank you for coming by!
Kristin

POTD - Step Up

POTD - Step Up

©2010 Kristin Corlett

This is one of those details where a little bit makes a huge impact.  Don't these tiles make the pinky-beige tiles just sing?!  I've always wanted decorative tiles on the risers of stairs, but so far I've never had the opportunity.  For right now I'll have to live vicariously through others :)

Enjoy!
Kristin

wind and waves

The photo of the day this morning was causing a ruckus!  Well, I found another photo that I took of the beach and ocean.  Click to enlarge the photo above to really see the sand and waves.  The dry sand is at the bottom of the frame and it's blowing across the wet sand toward the water.  It was really windy this particular day - wind gusts in the 50 mph range - but a constant wind at about 30mph for most of the day.

You can see the ripples in the water from the wind, too.  They are indeed moving the water in the opposite direction - so probably that's why there were no waves.  They were literally blown away!


Below is the POTD from this morning and the three comments that had a life of its own! I hope I got the questions answered about the wind and the waves.

Oh and to answer Ann's question (below).  Yes, you can smell the ocean as you get closer to it.  I noticed it more in Daytona Beach than I do here in Jacksonville, but that's probably because I worked down by the ocean when I lived in Daytona.  The humidity is different, the wind is stronger, and it smells like shells.  Smelling like shells in the way I describe the fishy, salty, seaweed ocean smell.  If i bring shells home from the beach, they have that smell - fishy, salty, seaweedy, ocean smell.  That's the best I can describe it.  I live about 15 miles from the ocean and I can't smell it all from here.

Caution Flag said...

I am so ocean ignorant. I thought wind = waves. Maybe I need to do some first hand research.

Keetha Denise Broyles said...

Nope Caution Flag, you are not mistaken about wind and waves! This is very interesting Miss Kristin! Wave height = speed of wind x distance traveled over water x length of time wind blows. So - - - I'm scratching my BRAIN trying to figure why there were no waves. Had the wind JUST started? OR - - - was it a LAND breeze, which was blowing from the land TOWARD the water - - - that would mean the waves were being pushed out to sea. You have given us QUITE a conundrum this morning!

Ann in the UP said...

I was puzzled too. But I guess it makes sense that wind direction would make a difference in the wave height. Ask Dr. Science! BTW, can any of you detect the ocean by the smell of the air on the shore? I keep reading that people do that, but I guess I'm olfactory-impaired.

Thanks everyone! Have a great day!

Kristin

POTD - Smooth Waters

POTD - Smooth Waters

©2010 Kristin Corlett

The wind was blowing so hard that there was hardly a wave coming ashore.  It's interesting to see the ocean so smooth!

Enjoy!
Kristin

How I cook chicken breasts

Chicken was once banned from my house. 

Well, raw chicken was banned.

I didn't like to touch it and I never felt I could get anything clean that touched that raw chicken.

A few years ago I had to start eating chicken at home, I just couldn't have all the pasta I was eating!

So I started buying chicken breasts and tried many different ways to cook them so that they would still be juicy.

Fail. Fail. Fail.

I thought I was doomed to eat dry chicken.

Then!

Then I came up with this way to cook chicken and I love it!

Wanna see?

Here are the the cast of characters.

A large package of split chicken breasts with ribs and skin. (about $2.50 lb)
Chicken stock (mine is a homemade frozen cube) + water
skillets that can go into the oven.

Take the chicken out of the package and put it directly into the pan.  Don't wash it, don't cut it, don't do anything to it.   This means no raw chicken on anything but the pan that going into the oven.

I fill up the measuring cup with water & the stock cube.  Microwave until the cube has melted and incorporated into the water.  I pour half the stock into one pan and half into the other and then continue filling the pans to half - three quarters with water.  

Here they are all filled and ready to bake.

Bake on the center rack 350º for about 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer into the middle of the thickest part of the breast reads 170º

...or really close! 

The water has mostly boiled away keeping the oven steamy and not allowing the chicken to dry out.  The skin keeps the outside of the chicken breast from becoming a piece of leather.

I use tongs and take the breasts out of the pans onto a plate.  I suggest a plate with a little lip on it as the chicken may hide a bit of water.

I allow the chicken to cool off a bit.

When the chicken has barely cooled, because I can't wait, I wash my hands and then I pull off the skin and get as much of the meat off the bones as I can.  By the time I get to the last breast they have cooled enough that I stop wincing at the heat :^)  or maybe my hands are just immune by that time!

If I'm planning on using the chicken breasts immediately, then I just peel off the skin and give a tug on the breast meat and pull it off the bone.  It's really that easy.   I don't worry about cleaning all the little bits off the bone right now.  I toss all of the remaining chicken and bones into a container and put in the fridge and get ready to eat my dinner.  

The little bits and pieces of chicken that are left on the bones are just so good.  I use them in my chicken salad, so it doesn't matter that it's not in the perfect chicken breast shape. 

The chicken is so moist, juicy, delicious.  It's not loaded with salt because my chicken stock is not salty.  The chicken isn't tasteless because it was cooked with stock and bones and skin.  There's a real flavor that was baked right in. 

When I discovered this method (which I'm sure isn't new, but I had never seen it done before) I was elated that I could have chicken that was good for days because it wasn't dry.  I could freeze it and it didn't dry out. 

Are you catching a theme here? 

I don't like dry chicken.


On to the stock -

I save all of the bones and a piece of skin or two because this is what I use to make my chicken stock.  I usually save up two or three batches of chicken bones as well as celery tops and carrots and I put them all together in a big pot to make my stock.

It does take a little bit of time to take all of the chicken off the bones, but it's worth it for the taste and frankly, for the price!  I have been known to come home with several large packages of chicken because it was on sale for $1.50 a pound. 

I don't feel bad if I do miss some of the meat on the bone, it'll just be more flavor for my chicken stock!

Add water and boil for awhile.  (30 minutes)

Then I allow it to low boil for awhile.  (an hour or so)

Usually until the liquid has been reduced by half. 

Then I strain out all of the bones and veggies.

It's really easy.

But I do set a timer so that I don't forget I have it on the stove!

I pour it into a large glass measuring cup and put in the fridge.  The little particles settle to the bottom and the fat all goes to the top.  After a few hours I take the fat off the top, pour the thick gel into large ice cube trays (mine are 4 big cubes per tray) and freeze.  I pop those out in a few days and put them in a baggie - then back in the freezer.  I will have lots of homemade chicken stock, no preservatives, no MSG, no additional cost, ready to use in my freezer.

POTD - Lighthouse Mailbox

POTD - Lighthouse Mailbox

©2010 Kristin Corlett

Making Christmas cards always gets me thinking about mailboxes.  I found this lighthouse mailbox months ago while I was on one of my neighborhood tours.  I'm also in a black and white theme, so I might as well continue!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Fun Stuff on Sunday

This is sort of like Friday Fragments, but it's more of a link parade.  It's a collection of fun stuff I've found and thought it might be nice to share.  


Enjoy!!





NPR is asking for your mail.  They are looking for letters, postcards or interesting items that you have received through the mail.  You can read about it HERE. You don't have to send it to them, you only need to scan it and upload it to their Flickr account.  If you, like me, like to read other peoples mail then take a look at the Flickr page.  There's a lot of fun stuff over there.

Speaking of mail.  Have you ever been to the Letter Writers Alliance blog?  If you like to write letters, receive letters or like stamp and mail related items, this blog is a lot of fun.

Who would have imagined that a Matchbook Registry would exist?  You can see photos of matchbooks that have been collected over the years.  My parents collected matchbooks for years.  When I think back I can still see the glass container they were kept in.  I don't think she has them anymore, if I recall correctly.  You don't see a lot of matchbooks anymore, that's for sure so you can be assured that The Matchbook Registry is full of great vintage stuff.

The design and letterpress website, Tokketok, posted a photo and titled it "pops of color for you." I'd love to frame them!  Sometimes it's the really simple things that just make me smile.

I found this interesting photo story on the Jeff Bridges website - It's called Catfish. I didn't think I'd ever feel sorry for a catfish.

While hanging out with my BFF Bob in Michigan she played a little joke on my sister, Alison.  

We were headed over to the Alison's by way of a coffee shop and asked her if she'd like anything.  

Then, because my sister is incredibly polite, she asked how much she owed for lunch the day before and to be sure and add in the latte.

Bob decided to write up a bill.

1 - Veggie Burrito no corn green salso (plus delivery) tip not included

$1000.00

2 - Med skim latter (plus delivery) tip not included

$575.00

3 - Interaction with older sister and older sister's BFF (plus delivery) tip not included

$ priceless

She's so funny!

So that last little bit wasn't a link, but I've been wanting to post it!


Hope you had a wonderful weekend!  May this week be full of blessings.


Kristin

POTD - Boardwalk to the beach

POTD - Boardwalk to the beach

©2010 Kristin Corlett

I showed a sneak peak of this photo the other day as a part of my photo assignment, but I wanted it full sized as a photo of the day.   I will be going back to get more photos like this - I really like this vantage point and would like to play with it a bit.  Maybe next time I'll pick a boardwalk that doesn't have a pole at the end of it.  Still, I really like the shadows of this one. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Goin' to the movies

I've been to the movies twice this week.

That's a shocker really because I'm not much of a movie goer.

At one point fairly recently I had gone 4 years without going to the movies.

I watch plenty of them, don't get me wrong, but at home on any one of the numerous movie channels.

I've been wanting to get Netflix, but can't really see spending the additional money.

There's hardly a movie that doesn't come out on a movie channel.

The big advantage of having Netflix is that I could catch up on some TV series that I have missed.

That's not enough of a draw yet, but almost. 

I love watching movies though.

My favorites are romantic comedies, comedy dramas and some action. Mostly romantic comedies. 

I saw Morning Glory last Sunday.  (To see the trailer click here)

Harrison Ford was fun to watch as a grumpy man.  Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Noah Bean  - it was a good cast.  I have to say that I fully enjoyed the movie.  I'll see it again when it comes on cable. 

Today I saw Secretariat.  I loved it.  I loved it.  (To see the trailer click here)

Diane Lane and John Malkovich are wonderful in this movie.   The horses aren't too bad either!

I have to say that I've had a crush on Diane Lane ever since I was a kid when I saw her in the movie A Little Romance.    That was one of the first movies on HBO, so it played all the time.  I think I saw it a few dozen times.

If you've never seen A Little Romance put it in your queue on Netflix.

and if you haven't seen Secretariat, go ahead and see it in the theaters if it's still in your area.



All of the photos above are from the Regency Theater in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a corner of the building, the same corner, different views.




For more Sundays in My City please visit Unknown Mami.  She has a great group of folks that show off their towns around the world.  Thanks, Mami!


Have a wonderful day!
Kristin

POTD - Cafe

POTD - Cafe

©2010 Kristin Corlett

I remember taking this photo at a stop light, but I don't remember exactly where it is just that it's around Gulf Shores, AL.  I'm bummed that the silver pole is in the way, but I love the 217,  the red handle looking things in the lower left, the phone booth, the yellow awning, the red brick and the green trim.   It's one of the few times when I really like how busy it is.  If I could photoshop, I'd have that pole outta there, though!  Next time I go back to Gulf Shores I'm going to have to find this place and actually get out of the car to get the cafe sign. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Purple Haze

Purple Muhly Grass is an ornamental grass hardy in zones 7-9.  As a perennial it loves full sun - perfect for mass planting in this median on a busy road in Jacksonville.   The purple haze above the foliage are the blooms that appear in October around these parts and last until the landscape guys come and chop them off!

Last year I missed getting a photo of the Muhly Grass because the landscape guys came quite early!  The purple grasses didn't even get a chance to fade to brown before the plants were cut to about 6" high.

The problem with this area is that there isn't a good place to park the car.   Ideally I would have liked to just drive up to the prettiest spot, let the car idle while I hop out, snap a few shots, get back in and go.

Ideally.

Today as I was planning my photography attack on the Muhly Grass I noticed a bank - just on the far side of that white rail on the right hand side.  Ah-ha!  I had a place to park without holding up traffic, being a danger to traffic or illegally parking at the entrance to a neighborhood.

I was afraid that I might be a distraction to drivers going by, but I hurried and tried not act like I was flagging anyone down.

Funny thing though, as I was parking the car at the bank a woman walking out of the bank smiled at me.  I smiled back (I hope!)  About 5 minutes later she pulled up in her car where I was snapping photos and handed me her business card out of her car window.  She wanted me to email her a photo if I would please.  I decided to just send her a link to this post. 

What fun!

I got chased out of Borders Books today.  I was taking a picture of their Christmas Tree in the front entry and I guess that's not allowed!  ooops.   :^)

Oh what I do for a photo.

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Above and Below

POTD - Above and Below

©2010 Kristin Corlett

I find it interesting that there can be such a difference in the sky above the overpass and below it -- a darkening sky above and the yellows and oranges of the sunset below.   This was my view on Beach Blvd while I was sitting in the left hand turn lane waiting for my light to change. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

Our fearless leader is Mrs. 4444 whose blog, Half Past Kissing Time, is a JOY to read.  She has gathered many wonderful bloggers to Frag on Fridays and we love her for getting us all together.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

My first attempt at college was the fall of 1984 and I was attending the University of New Mexico.  One of the very first people I met was a girl named Suzanne.  She didn't live in the dorm, but a good friend of hers did, just across the hall from me, so Suzanne came by quite often.  We got to know each other pretty well and have managed to stay in touch all these years later.

I met her family a few years ago when I was traveling through Arizona, where she now lives.  One of her children, Riley, was there that day.  I had no idea that I was meeting a future recording star!

Riley Rae just recently recorded a song called 7 Short Days.  It's really good!

You can preview the song here on youTube and if you'd like to add it to your music library you can purchase Riley's single, 7 Short Days on iTunes. 

I know this is a mini commercial, but I'm so excited for my friend and her daughter.  Not to mention I really enjoyed the music, so I'm proud to show it off :)

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

I have lunch with my support group friends nearly every Thursday.   I am never really sure who's going to come from week to week or even if I'm going to know everyone, but I do know that the conversation is going to be fun and interesting.  Today we discovered that all 6 of us having lunch together were all gallbladderless.  Everyone at Mayo who receives a liver transplant receives that liver but not a gallbladder.  I guess they don't transplant well, so they are expendable.  The two of us who were the caregivers had our gallbladders removed years ago.   It's funny where conversations take us!

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

I do love being a dork.  It's one of my best qualities.  However that dorkiness makes me hyper emotional at the strangest times.  Let me tell you a quick story -- I have been looking forward to the Pioneer Woman Thanksgiving Throwdown with Bobby Flay ever since I heard about it last week.   I love PW.  It's amaing how someone you've never met can be so influential in ones life.  I really started taking photos of absoluetly everything because of PW, started cooking more because of her and I love her blog.

OK so the TV show was beginning.  PW had a little video where she challenged Bobby Flay to a Throwdown, Bobby accepted and then they cut to the Lodge where PW was going to talk about she was going to make.  I completely burst into tears.  I had to push pause on the TV.  I was so choked up.  I did manage to pull myself together and watch the show.  It was Fabulous!  If you didn't catch it last night, you still have a few shots left to see it on the Food Network.

Tune In:  Throwdown
Nov 20, 2010 7:00 PM ET/PT
Nov 21, 2010 11:00 PM ET/PT
Nov 22, 2010 2:00 AM ET/PT

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

One of the most popular blog posts of mine is my cooking tutorial on How to Bake Sweet Potatoes.  My tutorial is for baking two potatoes, but I'm sure if you were cooking a dozen or so you could alter the cooking times a bit and have them turn out just as wonderful.  The method that I describe makes the best baked sweet potatoes I have ever had and the easiest to get out of the skin.  Click the link and jot down the directions just in case you need it for next week.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

Thanks so much for stopping by.  What a joy it is.
Kristin

POTD - Mocha

POTD - Mocha

©2010 Kristin Corlett

I can't believe Mocha has been featured as the photo of the day twice this week, but honestly, I couldn't wait to post this photo of her.   She was hoping I'd jump up from photographing the crayons to get her her evening treat.  It was about two in the afternoon, so she was out of luck.  Thankfully though, she sat on top of this little file box and posed for me for a few minutes, although she was very unhappy about it.  She really dislikes the camera.  She'd rather rub her face up against the lens, which is exactly what she tried to do just a few frames later.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Fly Fishy Fly

Enough already on the photography class, right?

ha! ha!

I had a lab appointment this morning at 8:30 so I figured while I was up and out of the house, I might as well take a trip down to the beach with my camera. I thought it might be fun to use the new lens and to complete the "outdoor sunlight" part of the class assignment.

My goal today was to get the week one assignment completely finished and submitted.

Wanna see?

These are the four photos that were submitted for critique. They are SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera) and have no editing whatsoever.    They didn't even need to be in focus, they just needed to have the right exposure according to our class assignment.  These all do.

...and they are in focus :)


I got some really good shots of Mocha, and some really bad shots, too, now that I think about it.  She was so curious why I kept laying on the floor.  A few days earlier I was on the floor with the Christmas lights and today I'm on the floor with glass jars with matches.

When I was in the office photographing the crayons, Mocha was right next to me, so I photographed her there, too.

I think it was nearing treat time, so she probably was making sure I didn't forget.

That was an old box of crayons.  I had never opened it.  I thought it would probably be worth more if it had never been opened.

It probably would have, but it's been banging around for about 20 years and it's been suitably antiqued on the outside.  Today was just the perfect day to open up the box and photograph the wonderful waxy goodness :) 

When I went to the beach I happened to see this large bird dive for a fish!

It was so cool!

Can you see him - he's beak first into the water.

The first time he dove (that I saw) he missed, but he circled around and got 'em!

I sure wish I had my zoom lens, so this is the best I could get for as far away as I was.

There's a little white fish being hauled out of the water...

...and taken away.

The bird got too far away for me to photograph it, but four or five seagulls were trying their damnedest to get this fish from the bird.  He was flying up and down and sideways to get the birds off his fish.  I hope he succeeded.  The seagulls don't need to steal the food from the bird that caught it.  The catcher should be able to decide if he wants to share!

Ahhh, life lessons.

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Fifty-five

POTD - Fifty-five

©2010 Kristin Corlett

One of the many interesting places on Main St. in Franklin, TN is a restaurant called 55 South - they take credit for the sign, but not for the reflection.  I only spent a few hours in Franklin, most of it chatting with a high school friend, but I would love to go back and spend a few days! 

Enjoy!
Kristin

What do you get?

What do you get when you combine snowmen

 (via google images)

glitter glue

and a little bit of sparkle?

You get a little blurry ornament!

Just a mini preview of the ornaments that I have finished.

Yes indeedy, they are finished!  

I don't want to give away all of their fabulousness yet because I haven't mailed them out to my swap partners, so I obscured the image a bit.

I feel so mean!

but I love the finished product and want to show it off!

Have you seen the e-zine Gifted?  

Oh goodness, the folks over at Creature Comforts blog have gone above and beyond in creating this free magazine for the holidays. 

Lots of ideas, gifts, DIY and more.  I've looked through the magazine several times already and I've found lots of things to love, make and give.

You can click on the magazine to make it full screen and you can zoom in on any part of the page to make that part larger to see the details.

I think Gifted is just beautiful and quite clever.

I hope you get a chance to browse and ooh and ahh.

You might even find a unique gift to make or give!

Have a great day!
Kristin