From our snowglobe to yours!! Merry Christmas!!

Just in case I don't get back here before Christmas! Which is entirely possible!!

Just when you think you don't do enough.........

Here's a challenge for you! For some reason this morning I decided to go in and clean up my photo files. When I load my pics to my editing program they automatically go in by date. If I'm in a hurry, I grab the one I want and post it to facebook, my blog, or send it to a client. So at the end of each year I'm left with lots of files that just have dates on them..............come to find out 2011 was a pretty epic year for me!! It started out with me floundering for direction, ambition and ispiration.................then I took Soul Restoration 1 and 2, from Brave Girls Club, found this photo of my vision board which I LOVE!!

Then we all packed up and went to Sayulita, Mexico.....the whole crew and it was magical!! And WARM!!

There were graduations, first day of highschool, first day of junior high, therefore lots of lasts as well.....

We had lots of parties, birthdays and weddings, and some just for the heck of it!!

And I went to Brave Girls Camp in McCall, Idaho and came home with 30 plus new, amazing friends!!

Here's a pic of me and my roommate!

Kathy and Melody, the founders of Brave Girls and who made it all a reality!

The fall out from these photos was I realized how much weight I had gained, 30 pounds in the past three years......thus September 1st I went back to my trainer, cleaned up my food and started doing my cardio on off days, 10 down, many inches gone. 2012 will see a slimmer, fitter, healthier me!!

Another of my big dreams came true in October, Born in a Barn was birthed and what a great success!!

And what I've noticed about everything I write about this past year, it's not ever about things, but who was there..........because in the end you really do just remember how people make you feel!!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I have a few weaknesses...............okay, alot of weaknesses!! But one in particular is for the Buffalo Chicken Salad at the Rib and Chop House here in good old Sheridan, Wyoming. They take an innocent fat free chicken breast, cut it up in pieces, deep fry it, coat it in hot sauce, then into a bed of greens (the healthy part), sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and bacon (cause, why not?) and two big fat sides of creamy blue cheese dressing. And oh ya, my girlfriend and I like to order a side of fries and toss those into the salad! In my quest to lose some pounds, (by the way I weigh and measure this Friday, so we'll see if this helped), I had to find an alternative to my weakness. After much trial and error......I have succeeded!! And here you go!!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

2 pound chicken breast, pounded and cut into pieces

2/3 c flour
6 T cornstarch
¼ t cayenne pepper
1 t garlic powder
2/3 c Franks hot sauce
1 T olive oil
Heat pan to medium-high, combine flour, cornstarch, cayenne, and garlic powder in a Ziploc bag. Toss in the chicken and shake it up to coat.
Add olive oil to pan and once hot, add chicken and cook on both sides.
Once chicken is cooked put it in a bowl and cover and toss with the hot sauce.
Serve 6.4 ounces of chicken (180 calories) on a bed of greens with lowfat blue cheese dressing.

Lowfat Blue Cheese dressing (best to make day before, tastes just like the really fattening kind)
½ c crumbled blue cheese
6 oz greek yogurt fat free
1 T lemon juice
1 T white wine vinegar
Combine all in a bowl and wah-lah!! Only 85 calories in ¼ cup!!
Total salad calories 265!!

There are just some battles I can't win and craving this is one of them, so why not figure it out!!
I don't have a photo but I'll take one of the real one and my reduced version so you can see it for real!!



Wings for Minnie

A real sweetheart named Rach Rogers wrote to me on my blog about getting a pair of wings for her daughter, Minnie. I tried to e-mail her back but I'm pretty sure I've got something wrong with my blog settings because I can never e-mail back....this of course makes me all the more determined to find this person. I found her, and her sweet blog and her story about Minnie. Minnie has had many surgeries and her Mom, Rach, tell her that the scars on her back are her angel wings. I asked Rach why so many surgeries and her reply was,

"She was born with cancer, when they took her tumor out it caused her to get sever scoliosis.
I have almost everything blogged...
blog.rachelrogers.com
she had her first surgery when she was one day old.
her last big one one was last February, she has had a rough ride since this last surgery...",

I don't know if it is because I am nosy, or what, but I always have to know who I am making my wings for, so I can think about them while I am making them, and I like to write a personal note on the back.
These wings are for a very special little girl, and I'm pretty sure this is why they have so much spirit! I hope she likes them and she can fly with no more surgeries.

Just for you, Minnie!



..

Born in a Barn Photos!!

This sale was an amazing success!! The vendors, the weather, the stock, the energy, everything combined to make our very first Born in a Barn an amazing event!! Stay tuned for our next one in June, 2012!!

Chicken, chicken, chicken..............I love chicken!!

I wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but I did see it! I baked 6 chicken breast at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. As soon as they came out I put them in the bowl of my kitchen aid with the paddle attachement (not the dough hook), turned it on to 4 speed for 20 seconds, instant shredded chicken!! I love, love, love it!! So here, is my new taquito recipe with shredded chicken. Yumola!!

Chicken Taquitos:

300 grams shredded chicken breast

8 T La Victoria green chili salsa

1/3 c. Greek yogurt

1 c. fat free cheddar cheese
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t garlic powder

6 La Tortilla Factory low fat/low carb tortillas

Mix first 4 ingrediants together and spices, divide evenly between the 6 tortillas, bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes until edges start to brown. These are off the hook good. 187 calories each, 15 carbs, 6 grams of fat, 29 grams of protien. And then a little dish of greek yogurt to dip in or salsa.

And progress: I've been eating clean and doing cardio on my off days, the weight is coming off!!

My guitar and new soul sister!!

I posted on September 25th about "There are no coincidences" and there truly aren't. We are all meant to come into each others orbits for a reason, a season, a lifetime........so.........the day before my very first Born in a Barn sale a mysteriously shaped box arrives for me, from Shelly in Texas.........of course I know what is in it but refuse to open it because I am so busy and I want to enjoy it, love it, welcome it to my world!! So I wait until Sunday, I am deliriously tired, exhausted, messed up......but I take lovely box into my room and open it...........just like the picture!! Yea!! And here she is, on my mantel in my bedroom!!

But that's not all!! My friend also sent me this fabulous bracelet!! That I love!

She wanted me to wear it for the show......thank goodness I didn't, the rabid crowd would have ripped it from my arm and ran! But I'm hoping she will send a bunch up for my next sale!!

                                      
 

I know I should be posting Born in a Barn info but I have to get all of the photos from my sister and then I can share my big fat successful 2 day sale!! 

Born to be Brave!!

Lady Gaga sings a song called "Born this Way" and if you listen really closely at the very end she sings, "Born to be Brave", that song went through Soul Restoration 1, Soul Restoration 2, the long drive to Idaho for Brave Girls Camp with 30 + women I had never met before and now when I start doubting myself with the Born in a Barn concept.....I play it too! Then my sister did this wonderful poster to sell at Born in a Barn.....think I'm on the right road???

This print is available for sale, high quality suitable for framing, 24x24, $44 includes shipping. Contact Mindy @ mindywilsonphotography.com or e-mail her @ mindywilson97@msn.com Get your Brave on my friends!!

Born in a Barn......WHERE ARE YOU???

It has come to my attention that I have not  posted the exact location of the first Born in a Barn sale on my blog. So this is for Anonymous who asked where is this sale! I couldn't respond to you via e-mail so I hope this will do!!

Born in a Barn was created by Shelley Kinnison, Jill Chase and Mindy Wilson to support our serious addiction to repurposing, refurbishing and refreshing all kinds of junk. Luckily, we have found some others with similar issues. Even when your house is full these behaviors don’t go away, so we are having a sale and inviting the public to come and take it away! Friday, October 14^th and Saturday, October 15^th we will open the gates at 10:00; there is plenty of parking in the field and Barn Boys to help cart your treasures away. Join us at 415 Highway 14 for our very first Born in a Barn Sale!!

Lot's of pumpkins from Jill Chase!!

Wings............

The law of attraction is off the ricter scale in my little orbit right now! First, the guitar two weeks ago.....and it turns out she is also a big fan of Brave Girls, and was going to quit doing her beautiful guitars, and her name is Shelly (oh ya, I already said that part) and......ooops, off the train tracks. This post is about another connection that was AMAZING!! Last winter my friend and I did a makeover on another friends clothing store, she wanted more of an Anthropology look... so we drug in all kinds of stuff and I had been making angel wings ever since Brave Girls for all of my friends. So I thought, here's your chance to see if anyone will actually pay for your art. I made three big sets of wings......no one bought them....crap, everyone said they loved them, so maybe I over priced them? Oh well, alot of time and energy went into making them, I'm not going to pay people to have them. Then the store sold to a new owner and she is going for a totally different look so we need to go get our stuff. WoW, one pair of the wings sold....so I gather up the other two and bring them home. Then I have a baby shower for a friend and one of the guests asks if she can buy a set of wings..........WoW, a little more validation. So I gather my little artistic ego up off the floor and think I'll make some for the barn sale. One afternoon I'm sitting and folding to make wings and the phone rings, "Hi, this is Barbara from the Chamber of Commerce and I'm looking for an artist by the last name of Kinnison and just thought you might be able to help me?", I say, "My mother in-law does water color paintings, her name is Sharon, is that who you are looking for?", "No, this is a paper artist, she does things, with old books.", I actually laugh out loud.....there are quite a few people I consider artists, but I have never put myself in that category....."That's me!", "Great, there is a woman in town who is dying to find you and buy some of your wings, can I give her your number?", I say "Sure", still thinking this is so bizarre! Phone rings, "Shelley?", "Yes", some squealing and sounds of joy, "I can't believe I found you, I'm so excited, I need wings, don't think I'm a stalker, but I kinda of am, it was so hard to find you, I love your art...." , by now my head is so big I have to open double doors and go sideways to fit it outside.....but hey, you bet I'll meet you for coffee and let you adore me a little bit more! Next morning I get my butt up and out to meet for coffee and there is the sweetest soul I've met in a very long time and yes, she does need wings, because her name is Angela!!

Queen of a whole freakin lot!!

My yummy friend Dana, who often puts lovely little suprises in my mail box, seems to be under the mistaken impression that I am going over and beyond when it comes to her boys, who by the way are AMAZING, so on her return trip from San Fran she brought me these two great prints that pretty much describe me to a tee!!

I love the "Yea me!" at the bottom of this one! It goes along well with my other post about being Awesome!!

This one is harder to read, but it is true...."there comes a time in the day that no matter what the question.....the answer is wine", yep, yep, yep. They are both from erinsmithart.com.

I love surprise gifts, they are the very, very best!!

A little bit of staging............

Jill and I drug a few sale items out today and created some drool worthy photos!! All for Born in a Barn!!