2014 – Page 18 – Silver Linings

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On to February

I’m so happy January is over. My mom always says we shouldn’t wish away time but I really can’t wait for Spring! I’ve never experienced a more intense Winter. Perhaps I’ve seen colder weather and more snow in the past in Utah or Kentucky, but nothing compares to living in Winter without a car. Walking everywhere through the snow, cold, and wind… oh, goodness… don’t get me started about the wind… I just can’t wait to be done with this season! And it’s right around the corner, even though we had another snow storm today!

So, what have we been up to?

T.J.’s dad came in town for business and took us out to eat. We went to Little Town in Hoboken, which was delicious. We are so lucky that Mark has been sent to NJ three (going to be four tonight) times already since we’ve moved here! And twice during T.J.’s internship two summers ago.

We finished Law and Order: SVU. So, that’s something we really need to brag about. HA! We watched the seasons kind of out of order… which is why this is a picture of Elliott even though he’s gone in the later seasons. I’m so obsessed with SVU!

We put up black out curtains in the main room to try and warm up our apartment. Our electric bill is as much as a car payment, so we are not thrilled about that. It could be worse though… my friend’s was nearly double ours this last month! Why does everything have to be so expensive out here? On the bright side of all of this, the black-out curtains really block out the light and back when Eva was on MT, we were sleeping in until 10 or 11 every morning. #btoml

Eva has been as crazy and fun as ever. Always wearing princess dresses and playing in her tent.

We survived several snow storms.

On snowy days, I let Eva run up and down the hallways. She had a blast and I pretended like I was just sitting on my front porch, relaxing in a lawn chair.

I finally found a category of food Eva will always eat: Breakfast food. She’s a little Leslie Knope in the making, I guess. So, I made tons of waffles, pancakes, and eggs in January.

We celebrated turning our taxes by going out to eat. Why don’t I buy corn on the cob ALL THE TIME? She chowed that thing down to the core! When I make regular corn on the stove, she’ll only take a couple of bites. So nuts.

My friend rented a car and invited us to go shopping at Garden State Plaza, which is a HUGE mall nearby. Nordstrom, Macy’s, Lord and Taylor, Neiman Marcus, JCPenny, Uniqlo, H&M, Anthro, and about 300 other stores! I didn’t want to spend much money, so I just bought a yellow dress at BabyGap on Clearance (you should click through and take a look at how darling it is! And then buy one for your daughter/future daughter/niece/stranger) and then a JCrew bracelet on sale for $5.00. Yes, FIVE DOLLARS. So, I’d say the shopping trip was a success!

Oh, just more snow.

We bought bath paints and Eva was so excited to use them, she took a bath in the middle of the day.

I finally saw Frozen and there were a handful of people singing along (and no, it was not really a sing-along!). Besides the annoying people, I reallllllly LOVED it! I had my doubts, but I thought it was one of the best Disney movies recently!

I went to the gym a bunch, which meant babysitting switch-offs with these besties. Eva can’t get enough of Brooks! And quite frankly, neither can I!

And that’s about it! Hope you had a good January and celebrated Groundhog Day this weekend! We’re going to watch the movie tonight 🙂

February 3, 2014/0 Comments/by Katie

Food

Drop Sugar Cookies

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight and so I wanted to make some treats. Plus, it’s Superbowl. So, lots of excuses to make a dessert. I really wanted to make sugar cookies because they are absolutely delicious but they take so much time when you factor in chilling the dough, rolling them out, cutting, baking, cooling, and frosting. It’s like an all day event when I make sugar cookies. But still. I needed sugar cookies.

Enter the drop sugar cookie idea. I’ve only made them from a cookie mix and for a mix, they were pretty good. So, I looked up a recipe online knowing the problem was solved and hoped for the best.

Well, they were amazing and I’m definitely going to make them again! I was a little sad they weren’t in cute shapes (I have woodland creatures cookie cutters, dinosaurs, along with the classic cutters), but they satisfied my sugar cookie craving and only took about an hour start to finish. Make them next time you have a little party or get together!

Recipe and photo from Lulu the Baker

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup crisco
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, crisco, and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; mix. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to mixer and combine. Add milk and stir until completely incorporated. Roll dough into Tablespoon-sized balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten balls slightly with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in flour. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just beginning to turn golden on the edges. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

February 2, 2014/0 Comments/by Katie

Baby Mama

25 Months

It feels ridiculous to call Eva’s age, “25 months.” But I like documenting what’s going on in Eva’s life each month, and we already have the system in place… so why change it?

So, now that Eva is 25 months old, she is as silly as ever. Today at church, she was looking at her picture book and there was a girl doing a hand stand. What did Eva do then? Tried to do a hand stand. Right there in church.

Her speech has also taken off, which is so exciting. It’s not just words now, she’s saying short sentences! The best one? “I love you.” Then we’ve got, “Mom, come here.” And, “Me help?” Which doesn’t mean, “Can I help?” It means, “Help me.”

Ashley was watching her the other day and she couldn’t get a toy to work. Eva then said, “It’s not working.” It’s so crazy to hear her say new things everyday. I’m such a proud momma.

Eva loves arts and crafts. We water-color, do play-dough, color, draw, and paint all the time. Eva also loves princesses and babies. If she can wear a princess dress while tending to her babies, life is bliss. She loves dancing, playing patty-cake, reading, playing in her tent, and running (“ME RUN, PEEEEEASE?”). I think my favorite thing though about Eva right now is how she is always singing a little song. Most of the time it’s Twinkle, but she occasionally switches it up.

January 27, 2014/3 Comments/by Katie

Fashion

Sunday Best

My good friend, Sarah, over here at Life is Beautiful, does a post series called His & Hers Sunday Best. I think it’s such a cute idea, plus I love seeing pictures of her darling son dressed up. So, I thought I’d start doing a Sunday Best post each week. Since I don’t dress up much anymore, but I still love fashion, I think this will motivate me to add a little style posts to my blog. (Please don’t compare these to Sarah’s posts… she’s crazy talented and fashionable. If you don’t follow her, start now!)

Ignore my “I feel very awkward posing” face.

Then Eva and I did cheesy faces. Doesn’t Eva look darling in her pink skirt and leopard print top? Of course, she had to wear a necklace like her momma.

January 26, 2014/2 Comments/by Katie

Life as Katie Lee

insta

January 24, 2014/0 Comments/by Katie

Family

From Iowa to NJ

A couple weeks ago, my cousin came into town for a funeral. She was able to stop by for a couple of hours and visit! My family is very spread out and we don’t get together often, so it was such a treat to see Becca! Thanks for coming by and bringing your sweet kiddo with you!

January 24, 2014/0 Comments/by Katie

Food

White Bean Chicken Chili

I’ve made a white bean chili once before and I was very surprised on how delicious it was… I’m a red chili type of girl usually. But I decided I wanted to make it again today, although didn’t feel like going to the grocery store today because it is a frigid 18 degrees. So, I found a different recipe that I had most of the ingredients for and then modified it a bit. I made it immediately for lunch and I can’t get enough. I just used up a lot of my calories and fat for the day… oh well! It was delicious!

White Bean Chicken Chili

ingredients:
1 t onion powder
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T butter
2 tablespoons flour (more or less, or you can use cornstarch)
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 can Navy beans (drained)

1 can cannelini beans (drained)
1-2 cans of Chicken broth (depends how thick you like it)
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken*

toppings (optional):
lots of shredded cheese
sour cream

tortilla chips

*I just used precooked fajita chicken strips I had in the freezer.

Pour can of chicken broth into large pot-cook on stovetop on medium. Add butter, and whisk in onion powder, garlic, and cumin. Once butter is melted, add beans and chicken. Sprinkle in flour (or corn starch/cold water mixture) to thicken, if you’d like. Stir to combine and let simmer until it thickens. Serve with or without toppings.

January 22, 2014/3 Comments/by Katie

I'm a Mormon, Life as Katie Lee

Faith over Fear

I worry a lot. It’s not just here in New Jersey, I’ve always been this way. I just worry and think about all the things that could happen. I’m guessing a lot of the worrying comes from TV shows. SVU is one of my favorite shows, so that doesn’t help the situation for obvious reasons. And then just the world we live in… crazy things happen all the time, and they’re happening more and more frequently. Rapes, murders, robberies, shootings.

For instance, I’ll be walking by myself at night and pass a man wearing a hood. Nevermind the fact that it’s 10 degrees outside and he’s probably just trying to keep warm, no… in my mind, I think he’s wearing the hood so he can come mug me and I won’t see his face. And then he’s going to rape me too, because that’s what hooded figures do.

Well, turns out , I’m a crazy person. I should probably be more afraid of my imagination than the man wearing a hood in the winter.

My worrying at one point got WAY out of control. I used to think T.J. was going to get in a car accident all the time. Once I was for SURE my imagination was a prompting so I gave him extra kisses as he left. At that point, when T.J. arrived back home without getting in an accident, I really knew I needed to get help. I remember hearing a talk by President Monson saying,

Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time.

It’s a little out of context. I think he was talking about having faith in the gospel. But his words are applicable to this situation as well. And I think I need to relearn the lesson again.

When I’m constantly worrying, I’m not having faith that Heavenly Father will take care of us. Everyday I pray for our safety, yet I am doubting things will be okay. I need to cast out the doubt and have faith over fear.

But at the same time, we need to listen to the Spirit and act on our promptings because things do happen. That’s why it’s important to live the gospel so we always can recognize if our worries are real promptings or not. And of course, we need to be cautious and be aware of our surroundings. I was walking to the grocery store a couple weeks ago and I noticed this couple screaming at each other ahead of me. They were pushing each other a bit, but it wasn’t a full out fight yet. I was going to have to pass them if I were to continue on my normal route to Target, but I felt like Eva and I should go the long way around so I wouldn’t get in the middle of it. No big deal, but better to be safe, right?

Well, one more story, which is why I wrote this post in the first place. Today, Eva and I were walking around the mall, just like we do about every day. We walked into JCPenney, and all of a sudden I met eyes with a man and noticed he was with another man across the escalator gap. They were both big, middle-aged men, leaning over the railings, looking down over the first floor and something just felt off about them. They were wearing long trench coats, kind of creepy clothes to be honest. But it knew it wasn’t just their clothes that made me feel like something was off, because I see a lot of different styles and people out here in Jersey City.

Okay, so I’ve told you I worry a lot, and I’ll just think of things like oh, that guy might come after me. But I never really feel like I’m in HUGE danger. I usually now can recognize that it’s just my imagination and tell myself I’m just being crazy, chill out. But guys, when I saw those two guys, for some reason I immediately felt sick to my stomach. My pulse started going crazy fast all of a sudden. And I just felt like I needed to get out of the mall right away.

I grabbed Eva, put her in the stroller, and we bolted out of there. Who knows what would have happened. Probably nothing. But, man. Something did not feel right about being there. Who knows. But with all of the shootings (there have been two shootings at malls near us just in the past couple months), I couldn’t take a chance especially with Evabug there.

So, I guess the point to this post is that we shouldn’t let worrying take over our life. We need to have faith and trust in the Lord (and probably watch a little less SVU on TV). But we also need to live righteously so we can always have the Spirit to be with us, so if something is actually wrong, we can be aware of the situation.

I’m sure I’m not the only woman out here in the blogging world who worries… I’d love to hear some of your stories and comments about how you deal with it.

We live in perilous times; nevertheless, we can find hope and peace for ourselves and for our families. Those living in sorrow, despairing at the possibility of children being rescued from where the world has taken them, must never give up. ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’ Righteousness is more powerful than wickedness. –Pres. Packer

Remember that faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other. Cast out doubt. Cultivate faith. –Pres. Monson

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. –Mark 5:36

Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come. –D&C 68:6

January 20, 2014/5 Comments/by Katie

Life as Katie Lee

Facelift

My blog got a little facelift today. It’s a work in progress though, so don’t mind the construction!

January 16, 2014/0 Comments/by Katie

Instagram, Life as Katie Lee

January in Jersey

We have had pretty decent weather for the past couple days. It’s been rainy and windy, but in the 30s-high 40s. When we first got back from UT, it was in the single digits, so I keep thinking Spring is here with this warmer weather.
Eva is out of control with wearing dresses. She’s always been a fan, but she insists on changing dresses about 10 times a day (not exaggerating). So, I hid them, thinking I’d just get one out for her a day. But she found them and now we’re back to where we were.
I’ve been documenting everything I eat on myfitnesspal for more than a week now and have already lost weight! It’s kind of addicting to see the nutrition breakdown. I realized I wasn’t getting nearly enough potassium or iron everyday. So, I’m now taking a daily vitamin. Exciting stuff.
The better I eat, the more I want to exercise. The more I want to exercise, the better I want to eat. (Until it’s 10 pm and I want to eat EVERYTHING.) But really, it is really neat to finally be on a health kick. But that doesn’t mean I don’t treat myself still. I just make sure it’s in the calorie limit. TREAT YO’SELF 2014.
I have journaled for 14 days straight now using my new one-line journal. I love it. It gives me a chance to write down something funny Eva has said that day or just write down a tender mercy/blessing that happened. I try to write down only happy things (because it’s a happiness journal) but I did write about Eva’s complete breakdown in Target last week. I thought it might be funny to read a couple years from now.
I’m watching The Bachelor with a group of girls in our ward again. That show… so dumb. I really couldn’t even watch certain parts because it was so awkward/weird. And the whole model/dog group date… the worst. But it’s fun to get together with ladies in the ward and have a night out.
My cold turned into a sinus infection last week so I had to go to the doctor. But after a long week of recovery, I’m finally feeling 95% better! Woo hoo!
There are so many sales going on at the mall right now. It’s hard to not shop because we walk around the mall so much to get around or just to get out. But I’ve held out and only bought one clearance item… a necklace from the Limited.
I learned how to make a vest from a scarf (google it!). So that’s kind of fun.

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The new necklace

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My new journal… it has space for five years!

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Juan-uary

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A vest out of a scarf

tent

Eva loves her tent from her Swainhart G-parents. And she’s of course, wearing a dress.

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My apartment during my sinus infection. It took me forever to unpack.

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Said goodbye to a friend in the ward who’s moving to Seattle!

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Lots of smoothies over here

January 15, 2014/2 Comments/by Katie