What I'm Reading Wednesday

What I'm Reading:
I am still working away at my devotional: The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs, and I still love it. It is a great way to dig into the Word to start the day.
I am almost done with the The Art of Being a Healing Presence: A Guide for Those in Caring Relationships. I am reading this book lent to me from our Care Ministries department in church, in the hopes of preparing me for being of service, serving more at church. I am excited at the prospect! The book isn't difficult, it is easy to understand and goes quickly, if I don't have distractions at home. ;) But isn't that the case with most reading at home? ;)
My other reading choices listed from last week were left by the wayside. I have spent my time reading the two above books or-don't laugh-digging into an old favorite. I needed something to soothe the soul and I decided to start the Mitford Series again. I have read the first book 1 1/2 times, and read every other book by Jan Karon. I loved these books. They are "a balm for the soul" as Pastor Tim (main character from the books) would say. I plan on reading them all in order again. So, don't be surprised if you see them in this weekly segment. If you haven't read them, please do! They are a wonderful series. The first book started slow because the author is introducing so many characters and the setting, but about 1/2 way through or 3/4 of the first book, you will want to read them all. They have nice stories and just leave you feeling good! :)
I may pick up A Peach of a Murder again, but we'll see. Been a busy couple of days, here, so we'll see. I do still have two books to meet my goal for 2013! :)
What are you reading, Reader? Do you have any long-time favorites to suggest?

Social Media Monday on Tuesday

We had a very busy weekend! So, today I will catch up from our busy weekend, to talking about family and Social Media. :) Our oldest daughter wasn't going to come home this past weekend. It was her fall break (no classes Fri.-Sun.) However, all her activities and observations for Friday were canceled. She had plans with another girl who was staying on campus, but our girl was homesick because her younger sister's family birthday get together was Sunday morning. We've always all been together for birthday celebrations, so this was a bummer of a milestone-I do understand that will soon be the norm, not the exception. However, my in-laws said they'd drive 2.5 hours to get her and surprise our younger daughter. They didn't get back until 11pm and our oldest couldn't wait so she went in and woke our youngest. Our youngest has no recollection of this and slept-talked through it. In the morning, as our youngest was getting ready for her cross country meet, I told her to be careful not to be too loud. She asked why and I said because Sis was still sleeping. She ran in and crawled into bed with older sis, not knowing she had come in the night. :) It was a sweet sight to see. It will be nice to see our oldest again so soon when she comes back this weekend for the half-marathon the three of us are running in.
On Sunday we made a breakfast/brunch with some new recipes (which I will share on Friday!) And spent time celebrating our youngest, being together and then we all four headed to take our oldest back to school. We stopped at a local on-campus favorite restaurant for lunch and enjoyed just a little more time together.
Our oldest has started to think about transferring colleges for next year. Her roommate now, whom she adores, will be rooming in another dorm so she will have to find another or "wing it". Plus, she is a family girl, a homebody and I think she would like to transfer closer. However, she likes it where she is... So, another adventure. We told her she at least has a one year commitment, but she does need to be looking ahead to find the transfer information in advance.

I went back through my Twitter and Facebook posts for my Social Media Monday post and found that I tweeted/re-tweeted several quotes (see below), a link to Runner's World where they discuss running the muscle issue I have (piriformis), and this: 10 Apps to Relax Your Body and Mind from PBS. I haven't gotten any but some sounded interesting. (Some sounded silly, but who am I to judge. ;))

I hope you are feeling relaxed and healthy today, Reader!

• RT"@DrHenryCloud: Remember....when we open our mouths, something happens. Words are difficult to take back. Use them wisely.”

  • RT "@LiveInspired: Every smile makes you a day younger.
    -Chinese Proverb”

    • RT "@RealSimple: Today's thought: "It is never too late to do right." —Ralph Waldo Emerson #quotes”

Recipes I've Tried This Week

As you may have read, my youngest daughter had a birthday last week. We went out and about and stopped into a French restaurant for brunch. We all loved our foods! They had lovely spinach quiches, so I ordered one of those. They were on the small side, my eyes said ;), so I also ordered an orange chocolate muffin. The combination of quiche and coffee filled me almost all the way so I took a taste of the muffin and then brought the rest home. It was almost rich, which I have rarely said of a baked good. It was moist and had a lovely flavor! So, I looked up a recipe. This seems to be close, but the one I had also had some bits of fruit in it, as well, almost the texture of a moist dried apricot... So, I technically haven't tried this recipe, yet, but as the air gets colder and I make warm coffee here at home with free time on my hands, I will turn, as my mom does, to baking. :) I'd better keep running! ;)

Ann Marie Kostyk's Chocolate Orange Muffins

Also, I had vegetables left from a cross country dinner for my youngest daughter and her team. I looked for a "roasted vegetable" recipe, but I also wanted to add pasta. So, I found this: Roasted Vegetable Pasta from the Food Network. The vegetables I had were broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and a few snap peas. Also, I didn't have a can of tomatoes, but I had some yellow pear tomatoes-the last from my garden-that needed to be used. So, I put those into my saucepan instead of the diced tomatoes. It turned out delicious! Was a nice, fairly low-fat meal, and vegetarian for our daughter. We could have served it with meat-chicken cubes may go along nicely with it. It was delicious, and easy, Reader! And warm-great for fall weather and using up those last garden harvests!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta from the Food Network

Top Ten Favorite Podcasts

In my Thursday's Helpful Apps post earlier today, I mentioned the podcast app and I wanted to share some I like. A few of my favorites are: 

1.  The Alton Browncast via nerdist. Alton Brown does a great podcast where he talks with chefs and shares his culinary knowledge.  
2. Travel with Rick Steves is a good podcast, although I haven't listened to many, I loved his Italy book when we traveled there two years ago. I do enjoy his show, as well, and these podcasts are often full of information.  
3. NPR's Ask Me Another, which is a trivia game show for the ears. I love it! 
4. The Nutrition Diva's Quick and Dirty Tips for Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous shows you "simple and painless" ways to change your eating habits to head to a healthier you. 
5. Stuff You Should Know Podcast tells you lots about things you may not know. They discuss a variety of topics and I have found many of them interesting. 
6. NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is a show where they quiz you on current events-or quiz the guests. It is very funny! 
7. The Paperclipping Roundtable is a show about scrapbooking where they often talk to people about inspiration, creativity and educate you in the process. I often like the episodes with mainstream scrapbooking artists that I've seen online or in magazines the best.   
8. Stuff You Missed In History Class   This has long been one of my top favorite podcasts. I love listening to historical stories made interesting. I would often let my students listen to a podcast or make it "bonus" if they did so on a weekend, to supplement their learning about topics from our class. The topics range in areas and time periods. 
9. What Really Matters with Vicky and Jen "Each weekly show offers candid, entertaining and informative interviews with a wide variety of guests: professional organizers to chefs, parenting experts to doctors and television personalities to best-selling authors. Join us as we learn, laugh and grow together. And make every day matter." 
10. Another Mother Runner Podcast is a podcast where the authors of the Another Mother Runner book are "engaging and encouraging you to run like a mother"

I hope you find some to listen to, that you would like, Reader! They are a lovely way to pass the time when you aren't in the mood for music. On long driving trips, when I am the driver, and even when I am not, they help me pass the time.

Thursday's Helpful Apps

The apps I'm linking today are the apps I listen to. I listen to music or podcasts on them, normally. 
Those apps are:

• itunes- With iTunes, it’s easy to get all your music organized. Any song or album you purchase from iTunes goes straight into your music library. And when you import your CDs, iTunes automatically adds the album, artist, and song names, along with the album art. Then, with your whole collection to choose from, you can create the ultimate playlists for rocking out, working out, or chilling out. You can also rate your songs with one to five stars, so it’s easy to find your favorites later.
• iphone's app: "music" which plays my itunes songs-This is essentially itunes on my phone. It just lists it as a "music" app. However, it is organized the same as my itunes/music from my laptop. 
• podcasts-this is similar to the music app-but it is strictly for podcasts. Podcasts are so enjoyable for me to listen to! They are sometimes radio shows being replayed, sometimes stories, sometimes facts-whatever you'd like to listen to or learn about you can most likely find a podcast about! And quite frequently they are free to download. I listen to my favorites and then delete them when I am done. I will be posting my top ten favorite podcasts in another podcasts later today.
• Shazam is a fun app because it can tell me what song I am listening to. I can be in the car, hear a song I like and the radio personalities might not let me know the song or artist. While it is playing, I can hit the Shazam button and it will listen and promptly tell me both! It can't always, such as if there is too much other noise or a very new song, but it is often correct with its response. You can then, if you want, order the song from itunes or tag it for later.
• ESPN radio app-In the mornings, I often like to listen to the Mike and Mike radio show. Sometimes I want to work in the yard, especially in the summer, and I will listen to Mike and Mike from this app. Good sports information on some radio stations. This isn't a daily used app, but it it helpful when I want to use it. 
• Pandora-Here you can like or dislike songs on a radio-like station. Eventually, it will try to discover songs you like and play those streaming like a radio station. Here is what it tells you on itunes: Great music discovery is effortless and free with Pandora. Just start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs, genres or composers and we will do the rest. It’s easy to create personalized stations that play only music you’ll love.
  Tap into an entire world of music, including almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and obscure. Create up to 100 personalized radio stations with your free account.
  Not sure where to start? Create a free account to explore hundreds of music and comedy genre stations.
  Already a Pandora listener? Even easier. Just log in and enjoy the same free radio service. Your Pandora is the same across the web, on your TV and in your car—access your free personalized radio wherever you want to hear great music. Enjoy all your existing music and comedy stations - and create new ones right from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
• and itunes Radio-which is Apple's answer to Pandora and Spotify, where you can listen to a radio-like station to the genre of music of your choice, "liking" or "disliking" music so it will play more of the songs you like: "Check out iTunes Radio on your iPhone, iPad,iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV. You’ll have access to more than 250 DJ-curated and genre-focused stations — including everything from Hard Rock to Doo Wop, all with crystal-clear sound quality. Your stations evolve based on the music you play and download. So the more you use iTunes Radio and iTunes, the more iTunes Radio knows what you like to listen to — and the more it can play music you’ll love."