On Chick-fil-a and starvation.

(Disclaimer... before reading this, please, please, please read Jen Hatmaker's post In the Basement.
Please.   I don't care where you stand of the Chick-fil-a controversy.  If you are a human, you need to read it.  Now.  Go...)

My family is no stranger to Chick-fil-a campouts.
We love them.  They are fun and crazy and sometimes hard, but always worth it.

Last week we spent a better part of a day preparing for one.
Jason put a vacation day request in at work.
We packed the car.  PACKED.
If you have ever gone camping, you know that it pretty much takes the same amount of work, gear and prep, regardless of if your stay will be one night or one week.  The only thing that changes is the food.
A heck of a lot of stuff.

We woke up in the dark, and headed out.
Us and 350 some other crazy people.
Sad, sleepy, Shane tucked into the Ergo.

Nervous excitement as we each were handed a ticket for the raffle.

Scanning the crowd, we knew our odds were not great.
But I had faith.  I hoped upon hope that either my ticket or Jason's would be picked.

One by one, each number was called.
We cheered and screamed when it was someone from our group.
Fifty were picked.
Then 75.
Then 95.
My hope stood firm.

I awaited my numbers.
100.
Still not picked.

On to the alternates.
We were not among them
No chicken for us.

I was fine.  Happy for our friends that were chosen.  
Sort of happy that I wouldn't have to sleep in a hot parking lot.

We walked back to our cars.
Jason ended up going into work anyway.
I went home to unpack.

My peace about the situation dissipated.  My disappointment set in.  I let myself wallow in it for a bit.
Convinced myself that we deserved to be picked.
How much we needed to be picked.
In this time of extremely limited "fun" money, and with the days of all the kids sharing one meal long gone, going out to eat together has become a rare luxury.

I wasted away the day with a raincloud over my head.

Dumb. So very dumb.

My whole life is really a luxury.  The fact that we still have tickets leftover from previous campouts is a luxury.  

The simple truth that we have never, ever, ever, for a single day gone hungry, is a luxury.

Yes, we didn't get picked.  Yes, it is in my nature to be disappointed.
But it is in God's nature to see past our small, silly, sadness and to enable us to look beyond our circumstances.

People are legitimately starving all over the world.
Hope for Sudan has a plan to help remedy that need.
My heart breaks.  My heart wants to help.

Thank you so very much for your hearts to help.  
They are halfway to their goal.

Our God is the God of hope.
His love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out.


(Two new printables are available in the shop.
Each one feeds 83 people.
Even better than a year of free Chick-fil-a.)

(P.S.  If you want to leave a comment about Chick-fil-a no matter which side you are on, I will delete it.    This is not the place or the post for that.  I'm in the basement.)

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I still love Chick-fil-A.


Tonight I am sleeping under the stars.
In a parking lot.
All because I am in love with Chick-fil-A.

I blame it on the waffle fries.
They have powers that make you do such crazy things.

More than once.



JUST KIDDING.


Fail, fail, fail.


170 people showed up at 6am for only 100 slots.



My lucky ticket wasn't so lucky.
I held out hope until the very end.
But they had no love for my sad little 483988, or for Jason's 484062.
So we walked away sad and chicken-less.


We commiserated over our favorite breakfast,


and napped off the sadness on the beach.

Not the same as a hot, noisy, crowed parking lot.
But not too bad either.

We'll get you next time Chick-fil-A.
We love you that much.

Even though you broke our hearts a little bit.


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An unconventional vacation day.

Would I love to hop on a plane headed for Kauai?
Absolutely.
Is that my reality right now?
Not so much.
All I have been wanting was a day filled with nothing.
No meals to cook.
No people needing things.
No list of things to do.
No laundry.
Just quiet, some reading, perhaps a nap or two, and all of meals brought to me.
Who knew that all of that and more could be found in a tent in a Chick-fil-a parking lot.

(Before sunrise and right after we collected our prizes.
who needs Kauai?)

Twenty four hours of doing absolutely nada.
Noisy?
Yes.
Cold?
Yes.
People singing karaoke who had no business holding a microphone?
Yes.
But it is exactly what I wanted and precisely what I needed.
Did I do it for the free chicken?
Honestly, not really.  I did it for the break.
I'll take what I can get.  The free meals for a year?  Total bonus.

(Click here to read about our other Chick-fil-a vacays.)

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10 on 2-10-2011

Ten on Ten: Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments.



Today was weird.
I was... off.
When I plan my day to go one way and it goes sideways, sometimes it takes me a while to recover.
So dramatic. I am not terribly structured.  But also not very flexible.
The dichotomies of my personality are exhausting.
Sigh.
I'm working on it.
Our neighbor's beautiful tree grew over our shared wall and rested on top of our house, damaging the roof.  It had to come down.  I hate to see a healthy tree go to waste.  But, surprisingly enough, our side yard which was once too shady to grow really anything, now sees a tiny bit of the sun.  Spring time will mean planting in the newly liberated dirt.  Hello hydrangeas!
Play date with a friend and her little one at Chick-fil-a.
Love, love, love the sparkly clean play place.
Love my fiesty bald-ish (still a little greasy) baby getting her wiggles out.
School pickup.
The little ones earned a pajama day.
She has been looking forward to debuting her Rapunzel jammies for months.
Adorable.
The second I walked back in the door, I got a call from the school.
Isn't that how it always is?
Seems my big girl was running a fever.
Back in the swagger wagon I went.
Do you have those days, when you can't take another minute of noise?
Today was that day.
With a sick husband, sick daughter and whole household sleeping, I snuck out to someplace I normally would dread.  But I was so in need of silence.  The silence of a drive.  The silence of a lab waiting room.
Hear that?
Nothing?
It's awesome.
How obnoxiously giant do my sunglasses look?
How adorable is my favey Allora necklace?  It alone should have kicked me out of my mood.
Only six vials today.
But one she drew by mistake, then threw it in the biohazard bin.
Thanks.
Why would anyone EVER want to become a phlebotomist?  EVER?
Unless they were vampires.
I don't get it.
Nobody is excited to be there.  
Nobody likes getting blood drawn.
Except vampires.
So weird.
I snuck back home to stitch up some sunshine for someone who has had one too many snow days this winter.  
Thinking I need to make myself a matching set.
Then was pleasantly surprised by this special delivery on my doorstep by a sweet friend.
Yes.  They are exactly what they look like.
Brownie covered Oreos,
and they are just as good as you could imagine.
How I wish that this was for me.
Alas, a chilled and feverish family member took precedence.
Next time I am first in line.
Warm quilt.  Cozy chair.  Hot tea.  Soothing, challenging, encouraging words.
This is what should have started my day instead of finishing it.
I have a feeling that everything would have been much, much different.
Maybe read it in the bath.  With the Oreos, the tea, and the quiet.
That is a morning that I could look forward to.

Tomorrow will be better.
I will do better.
Come what may.

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Hungry?

Thanks to last week's adventure, we will be eating for free at Chick-fil-a for quite some time. Want to know a bit about our 26 hours in the parking lot?

This is my third CFA camp out.
Jason and Janey's first.
The other two I attended, we all arrived after lunch and they didn't reach 100 until much after 4 p.m. Now that has changed. We arrived at 5 a.m. Along with nearly 100 other people.
When 6 a.m. rolled around the numbers were nearing 150.
Each person there got a raffle ticket.
It is the new way to ensure fairness and prevent chaos.
Jason got picked third.
One by one, each person in our group was picked.
Except me.
Ticket by ticket I waited with a big L on my forehead.
Until ticket number 75.
I was in!
The sun was rising... the day began.
Because Jason was picked third he was able to get us this sweet corner spot.
EZ ups were placed, tables and chairs came out, tents were piled in.
At 7 a.m. we were no longer allowed to leave the flagged in area.
All day long people driving by stopped to ask us what was going on.
At first we told them the real reason.
Then after answering the same question 500 times we got wacky and started making up stories.
Some of them were funny (to us at least):
-Harry Potter 7 is opening.
-Robert Pattinson is signing autographs.
-Star Wars 8 is opening.
-We are from PETA and we are protesting.
-We lost our homes (To which a lady stared at me horrified. She totally believed it. That was awkward.)
It began to get hot.
HOT!!!
Over 100 degrees
stinking hot.
Janey has inherited my disdain for heat.
My super easy, happy baby was ANGRY!
We took little A/C breaks in the bathroom.
Perhaps a bit crazy...
but I need me some A/C
and if I have to stand in a fast food restaurant to get it, so be it.
The next opening better be in winter.

The president of CFA came to speak to all of us.
He was amazing and encouraging.
If you don't like chicken or fast food, you have to appreciate the values that CFA has founded its business upon.
By far the best customer service any place as far as I am concerned,
they support their local communities in so many ways,
the list goes on and on...
Rick Warren was there as his guest.
Awesome.

They had a DJ and games well into the night,
fed us all of our meals and even treated everyone to an Icedream bar after dinner.
Jason won a CFA beach towel. Rad.

After midnight it got quiet and we retired to our tent under the brightest spotlight in the world.
Janey tried to keep the party going.
It was a looooong night.

At 6am the CFA president woke us all up with his bugle.
He bugled that wake up song...
For reals.
We staggered out of our tents and lined up awaiting our prizes.

Everyone put on their CFA hats and shirts and one by one walked through the restaurant to get our 52 value meal cards. (One a week for a year... free chicken for a year!)
All of the employees were banging pots and pans and cheering.
It was hilarious.

Then we packed up as the sun was rising, chatting about when we can do it again.
Yes, we are super crazy. Crazy for chicken. Or for a break from our lives. Even if that break involves baking in a parking lot all day.



But, if chicken and camp outs aren't your thing, and you are still hungry, why not snack on this little bit of scrumptious.
Could you not eat this kid up?
Janey got to spend some time in front of the magical camera of DrewB.
It was better than a year of free food.
She is edible,
as well as a fun parking lot camping companion,
even if she whined about the heat and can't eat chicken yet.

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will camp for food.

I have been hanging on to this very last of my 104 free Chick-fil-a coupons for months and months. I just haven't been able to use it. But as of tomorrow we will have a whole new stack of gratis chicken-y goodness.

Why?
Because I am camping it up in the 100 degree weather all in the name of free food.
I heart you Chick-fil-a!
Thanks for your awesome first 100 promotion.
If only you could open a new one nearby again soon!

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Salsa- no chips required.

I'm a tortilla chip snob.  My favorite place to buy them is closed on Sunday.  Many a sad Sunday has been spent chipless.  Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-a, and the chip store, all break my heart on Sunday.

More than anything I am a salsa snob.
Not in the whole Pace Picante MADE IN NEW YORK CITY kind of way either.

When Drew made this salsa I fell in love.  It became known to us as Pilgrim salsa, just so we could find a way to deem it appropriate to make for Thanksgiving.  For sure it was in the larder on the Mayflower.  FOR SURE.  It is that good.

However, Pilgrim salsa is sort of labor intensive.

Then she got me hooked on Trader Joe's Salsa Especial.  It's unreal how good it tastes.  I can and eat a whole container with no chips- just a spoon, in one sitting.

My newest love, Salsa Especial, ain't cheap.

What is a girl who needs salsa, almost as much as she needs oxygen, to do?

Find an easy recipe, and then tweak it obvs.  In my beloved Ninja.  That thing is working overtime lately.  Smoothies by day.  Salsa and Awesomesauce by night.  (Please ignore the cupcakes.  They are evil to this whole fasting from sugar nonsense.)

Just to be nice, I made two different versions,because not everyone likes to eat fire from the face of the sun.

Gringa Version
(Less spicy)
1 can Original or Mild Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 jalapeño, diced with seeds removed
Large handful of cilantro
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons lime juice

Throw everything into a blender or food processor.
Blend and EAT!
Makes 3 cups


 Señorita Version
(Way more awesome and SPICY)

1 can HOT Rotel
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed
1 1/2  jalapeños, diced (Do not remove the seeds.  They contain the awesome.)
Large handful of cilantro
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons lime juice

Throw everything into a blender or food processor.
Blend and EAT!
Makes 3 cups


Kim gets it.  Who needs the dumb chips?
Just throw a straw in that action.
Or pour it in a bowl, gazpacho style.
Mmmmmmmmm.
MyFitnessPal approved.


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Insta-Friday.

A little peek into the simple and happy of our week.

 1.  My husband the comedian.  Yes that is Taylor Hicks.  Of whom I am not a fan.  Yes, it led to an awkward conversation with one of my girls:  "Mommy, what does hot mean?"  Ugh.  On the fridge no less.  2.  A drive thru Chick Fil A run and a get the wiggles out at the fountain session is one of our favorite summer nights.  3. Vote with me:  which is more horrid?  Moon Sand?  Or ginormous stuffed animals?

4.  Quilting!  Not quitting!  5.  Because this guy is tired of laying on a girly quilt.  6.  My goal was to finish the top by his one month pictures.  Goal accomplished.  Now on to finishing the backing and sending it off to the long arm quilter.  Yay!

7.   Things I have learned from the OldBooth app:  I am easily entertained and I will never cut Halley's hair short.  Ever.  8.  We have been doing a little bit of pre-sewing lessons with these sweet lacing cards. 9.  I decided to start an outdoor project on the hottest day of the summer.  Thus the outdoor project moving indoor and taking over the kitchen.  Smart, I am.

1.  Otter Pops.  They are exempt from my popsicle ban because they have no sticks.  But they are not exempt from my food coloring OCD.  They are relegated to consumption in either the pool or bath.  Issues.  2.  We all had a VERY VERY BAD day.  The kind of day that can only be cured with cookie baking during naptime.  BAD DAY.  Good cookies.  3.  Really good cookies.  The kind that make you forget that you dropped an egg on your foot and the floor.  Or that your baby didn't get the memo that it was nap time.

4. Late night and early morning feedings have led to informerical watching.  Informercial watching has led to infomercial buying.  The Ninja 1100 just came and let me tell you, WE ARE IN LOVE.  Crazy stupid love.  With an appliance that actually is just as great as the infomercial states.  I don't work for them, but I totally would.  It is epic.  Like a ninja.  5.  Bakers twine.  I could marry it.  It makes everything prettier.  6.  Tell me you fill cupcake tins with batter in a Ziploc.  Because if you don't, you should.  No mess.

7.  Rolled tacos are fun to make for five people.  They are CRAZYTOWN to make for thirty.  One job I hope to never, ever, ever have is that of fry cook.  Those guys do not get paid enough.  8.  Pancake art is a happy way to start the day.  Inspired by Ashley Ann's pancake post.  9.  Cake batter and sprinkles.  Yes.  Blondies.  Hello.

Happy weekend to you.  Have anything fun planned?

Link up your little moments each week at Life Rearranged.
life rearranged

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The deets on Diet Pepsi...

So, yes, the Diet Pepsi solution was quite random and unexpected.
How did I arrive at it?
Great question.

Honestly, I was SO OVER it.  So done with taking way too many showers, using way too much Dawn,  looking way too hot mess greasy everyday.

I was really open to any suggestions.

Crystal, a wealth of random knowledge, (the solver of my crayon quilt catastrophe), suggested Diet Coke.

This didn't sound weird to me, since I remember the email that circulated a while ago saying the things that Coke can do...
The main thing I remember from it, is how cops carry it in their trunks to clean blood off asphalt.  If it can get blood off the street, for sure it can get Clear out of my hair, right?  (The blood theory was a hoax, apparently.  But it can clean a mean toilet ring, plus a lot of other crazy things.)

Back to the Diet Coke...
Since I have been really, really good at my whole quitting of the Diet Poison thing, I didn't have any in the house.  I am not to be trusted with it.  My rules for DP rehab, are: only from a fountain, only at Wahoo's.  Rules that have been occasionally broken at Chick-fil-a with a Diet Dr. Pepper, but that is another story...

I decided to try Diet Pepsi, in the chance that if it didn't work, I could at least wallow in my jacked up hair misery, enjoying the rest of the bottle.

I didn't have high hopes, but after an afternoon swim, I gave it a try.
Sparkling unicorns, soared over rainbows that day.
For the first time in nearly a month my hair felt normal.

Was Diet Pepsi the answer I had been looking for?  Or was it the culmination of everything that I had already tried?  Who knows.  I will be forever grateful either way.

Oh, by the way, guess who called me at 7:45 a.m. Saturday?
Yep.  Clear.
Really?  Now they call?  NOW????


Guess who is allowed to call me before 9:00 on the ONE DAY OF THE WEEK THAT IS WRITTEN IN THE FAMILY SCHEDULE that mom gets to sleep in?
NOBODY!!!!
If my house is burning down, don't call me.  Call the fire department.  They can wake me up with their axes at the door.

Yep.  Not cool Clear.  Not cool.  

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Five minutes to ruin.

Non-blogging Alica, of Toffee Crack and Santa Fe Soup fame, as well as my Chick-fil-a partner in crime, shared this seemingly impossibly easy fudge recipe with me as we sat chatting in beach chairs in the parking lot.
Two ingredient fudge.
Incredulous, right?
She promised me it was really, really good.
Like from the fancy fudge store at the mall, good.
So, being the sugar and chocolate fiend skeptic that I am, I decided to try it out.

 I just happened to have some frosting and white chocolate chips in the pantry.  Apparently the recipe works in any combination of frosting and chips.  Off the top of my head I can think of dozens of fun combinations and add-ins.
 So here is how you make it:
Pour chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl.
Microwave in one minute intervals, stirring in between, until melted.
Pour entire frosting tub into melted chocolate.  Stir to combine.
(I also added a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla to make the frosting taste a tiny bit homemade.  It is a great trick anytime you use a tub of frosting.  So I guess technically this is now four ingredient fudge.  Semantics.)
Put bowl back in microwave and cook for one more minute.  Stir thoroughly.
Then pour in to a greased or wax paper lined 8x8 pan.
Pop the dish in the fridge to chill and set.
The results:
I am a wholly admitted frosting snob.  I honestly didn't think that this fudge would be anything like my favorite fudge recipes, and I feared it would taste all chemically, and a bit too much like tub frosting.
Wow.  I was wrong.  So wrong.
It is rich and creamy, the texture is phenomenal, not dry in the least.  It tastes homemade.

Now I wish I didn't know how good it tastes and how easy it is to make.
Because give me five minutes and my power to avoid sugar suddenly dissolves in to nothingness.

Next up?  Chocolate frosting and peanut butter chips, or lemon frosting and vanilla chips, no wait, Funfetti frosting and white chocolate chips, chocolate frosting, milk chocolate chips, chopped up Skor bars sprinkled on top.... Need I go on?

What combos would you try?  Where was this easy-peasyness back during Christmas cookie exchange time?

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In a van down by the river.

What can I even say to explain what this day was like?
What words could possibly contain enough depth and meaning?
While I try to think of them, I just look at these images.
Then I look again.
I smile remembering the craziness.
I smile because when I am older and grayer, I will remember exactly how blessed we are. 
I will remember the van that wouldn't start.
Me, stranded, freaking out in my driveway, sweating, knowing that we were chasing daylight and Drew was at the secret location with no cell service.
Never more thankful for my neighbor with a questionable past, who was quick to come over, and ready to hotwire it.  (It didn't happen... thankfully, but we were like a second away.  Desperate times.  Desperate measures.)
 This boy.  Who had a crying party in the tent while we tried to pretend all was unicorns and rainbows.
 Or this girl who wanted real hooks and real bait on her prop fishing pole.
 This girl, ever in her element being able to roam free, looking for her beloved squirrels.
This tent, a super lucky Craigslist find.
Until I opened it.  Hello wet dogs and gallons of Febreze.  Not information that was included in the ad.
 Remembering all of the places that we have camped together.  Yes.  Even Chick-fil-a.
Lighting ten wish lanterns, remembering how our lives changed ten years ago.

I will remember that through the craziness, that there is so much love, friendship, celebration, adventure and fun in our lives.  None of it is perfect.  But all of it is beautiful.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Drew is love, magic, calm, skillz, and beauty.
She captures our crazy.  Our chaos.  Our family.
She gives us gifts that we could never, ever, ever repay.
She stops time.
She celebrates moments.
She even shoots movies.
She is our favorite.
See all of the happy shots here.
Tell her she's rad.
Because she is so rad.

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