Katie's World

The Little Puppy

2010-03-11T19:58:00.000-06:00

In January I signed up to be a substitute teacher for grades Head Start-1st. I have had a wonderful time doing this! My favorite class is Kindergarten. One day I hope to be a Kindergarten teacher. :) This is from today:

Yesterday morning one little boy brought a tiny stuffed puppy from home. He had been told several times to stop playing with it and pay attention to the teacher. Well he just couldn't keep his hands off his little puppy so the teacher had to take it away. She told him that it would spend the night and he could have it back today. Fast forward to today... This little boy had to go visit the office and ended up getting spankings. The first thing he asked when he got back to class was if he could have his little puppy back. The teacher said he could as long as he had a good afternoon. He got all excited and started telling her that today was it's birthday and that he had to take him home so he wouldn't miss his party. He continued talking about the party for a few mins and then the teacher asked him if he was the dogs dad or if he was just a friend. The little boy said no I'm his Uncle. We just laughed and laughed at this little boys story about the party and being the the Uncle. He was just too cute! I wish I could say that he was able to take his puppy home but he ended up getting in trouble again. The puppy missed his party and will have to spend a few more nights at school. :(

Opening Up

2010-03-07T22:19:00.000-06:00

It has been way too long since I have written here. I wish I could say that this post is going to be happy & fun but I don't think it will. What I'm going to be writing is something that has been on my mind a lot lately but I have just ignored it. It's something I don't want to admit but I feel the need to. It won't be easy to hit publish but I know when I do a huge weight will be lifted off of me. So here I go...

Growing up I have been the shy one, I didn't like crowds of new people I didn't know, I even went through a period of not going to Church when my parents were out of town. I felt most comfortable in my house or with people I knew. When I was a teenager I went through a period of depression, & my Mom & I had daily fights where we both ended up hurt & crying. I went to counseling & took some meds for my depression & got much better. I still wasn't the person I should/could have been, but I was better. When I moved out on my own for the first time it was because I couldn't respect my Mom enough to obey & not cause daily arguments. So I moved out. It took some time but our relationship grew. I feel like we repaired our broken relationship & got better. Looking back now I wish I had acted different then but I didn't. I lived in Tyler for about 2 years, had a pretty good job, and was enjoying my life. Only problem was I wasn't enjoying life like I should have. I met a Christian guy and we started dating, we really liked each other but our relationship didn't last for several reasons. One of those being sin. I won't go into detail but I did some things I shouldn't have done. That was about three years ago. During these past three years I have still struggled with different things. At times I like to think I'm perfect but I'm not. I'm far from it. I haven't been as close to God as I need to be. As much as I don't want to admit it, I pushed Him away. I turned to other things/people when I should have & needed to turn to God. Today I'm slowing crawling back to Him. I'm not where I need to be. I'm far from it. There are still many times when I don't turn to God, I ignore him. I know deep down inside that I need to change that but change is hard. I have been in a Beth Moore Bible study the past few weeks & it has made me really start to think about things & my life. I have ignored a lot but tonight I was opened back up & made myself think about some things. I realized that I can't go on living my life without God. He MUST be in my life daily, no matter what. There are several things in my life that I have been wanting lately but I haven't gotten them. I believe part of that is that my relationship with God hasn't been what it should be. Once I let Him back in my life he will start to bless me with things I have been wanting. I realized something: Why should He even bother giving me something now when I don't have my full faith in Him? I'm not trying to say that once I'm back on the right path and with Him 100% that he will grant me all my dreams & wishes. He may & he may not. I do know that as long as I'm off by myself & on vacation from Him then He won't. Life is hard & not easy at times but with God I can do it. Without Him, I am nothing. I don't want to be nothing, I want to be something. I want to be Katie. I want to be a Godly women not only for me but for my family, friends, & future Husband that is out there somewhere.

Sorry if that made no sense at all or was just a mess. I was mostly writing things from my heart. It feels good to have that weight lifted off of me!

Pictures

2010-02-03T20:55:00.000-06:00

Today I got out my camera and how some fun! Took pics of the first flower in the yard this year, my dog, and one of the cats. Then I played around with photo editing software. Enjoy!

Lola's pics will come another day. Hope you enjoyed these! I had fun playing around with them!

Ten in 10 Week 2

2010-01-16T10:00:00.002-06:00

Hope you have had a good week. How did you do for week 2 of Ten in 10? I didn't do so well. I failed big time. Notice there is no list of foods I had or how much I walked. Yeah it was bad. I went way off this week. I'm happy to say that tomorrow is another day and a brand new week! I have 8 weeks to get back on this train and lose weight! For week 1 I ate better. I had salads for lunch, cut back on food intake, and walked. During this past week I didn't do hardly any of those. I ate junk food, didn't walk at all, and ate what I wanted. I think part of the reason I failed is that during week 1 I had a root canal. I couldn't eat much for about 5 days and what I could eat was nasty soft foods. It helped me lose 5 pounds during that first week but then when I could eat normal foods I just stuffed them in. I craved them. Like I said before I'm happy that tomorrow is a new day and a new week. A chance to start fresh! That is just what I'm going to do!

Here is my plan for week 3:

Go back to having a salad at lunch. Put some turkey or chicken on it, a few nuts, and a boiled egg.
Start walking again. I felt so much better when I was moving.
Tuesday I'm joining a weight loss challenge group. This will be my fourth. I have gotten 2nd and 3rd place before and now I want to be 1st! I know I can do it! I just have to set my mind on it and go!
Keep a food diary to post next week.

One new thing I did this week was to add a weight loss counter at the bottom of my blog. I have to say I didn't want to put it up. I think having it there where the world (and me) can see it will help encourage me to want to get this weight off so I can take that thing down!

I didn't want to get on my scale this week but I did. I knew I hadn't lost any weight. I could feel it. I was right. I gained 2 pounds. Yuck! This next week I want to get those back off and lose some more! I hope you all have a great week and good luck!

January Update

2010-01-13T20:11:00.000-06:00

Wow this year is flying by already!! I hope that you are all having a great year! This next Tuesday I start back at collge. Last semester I was at TJC but this semester I will be at Kilgore College. I will miss TJC but it is not in our district and since Dad no longer teaches there it has just gotten too expensive for me to go. So back to KC I go. Last time I went to KC(about 5 years ago, yikes!) ~~I didn't enjoy it that much.~~ I hated it! Of course I had just graduated and school of any kind was the last thing on my mind! With this being a new year things are bound to be better! :) I'm just going to enjoy my last week off before school and stay positive about it all. Monday I will start helping out at the school where Mom works. I did this about 6 years ago and LOVED it! I'm also going to get on the Sub list so that I can possibly make some money. I'm excited about that! I think that is the latest news for me. Life is just flying by way too fast!

Stop back by on Friday for a coupon giveaway! :) It will be my first!

Something Magical

2010-01-13T19:46:00.001-06:00

Got your attention didn't I?? :) Yes, you read that correctly. Something Magical. I'm sure your wondering what it could be. Well that something magical is...Magical Peanut Butter Cookies! These magical cookies are easy to make and taste great! I wish I could say I came up with the recipe but I didn't. Another wonderful chef(in my opinion) is the one that came up with these Magical Peanut Butter Cookies. Let me give you a hint: She LOVES and I mean LOVES to cook with butter. Hmmm...you can think about who it is and I will tell you later. Sorry no prizes to give out just a magical recipe.

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 Cup Peanut Butter, creamy or crunchy
1 Cup Splenda Baking Blend
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Optional: Splenda to coat your fork with and to dust cookies

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or foil a large baking sheet.

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter and Splenda. Mix together with a fork. Add the egg and vanilla, stir well. Spoon or roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts(or your desired size). Place the balls on the baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in Splenda(prevents sticking), press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle with Splenda. Cool slightly before removing from the pan. Makes about 18 cookies.

Note: I used natural crunchy PB and it worked just fine. I used the full cup of Splenda and it was too sweet. Next time I'm going to try just 1/2 cup of the Splenda. Also I didn't dust the cookies when they came out of the oven. I'm glad I didn't since I thought they were a little too sweet tasting.

These cookies would go great with a glass of milk. I hope you enjoy them! In case you didn't know, these are from Paula Deen.

Ten in 10 Week 1:

2010-01-09T11:00:00.005-06:00

I have made it through week one! Yay! One week down and nine left! I have decided to post what I eat(Mon-Fri) here each night and at the end of the week I will publish the post. I think this will help me keep on track. At least for now. I might change my mind later.

Monday:

Breakfast: Turkey and cheese, bread, grapes
Snack: Cheese stick(low fat)
Lunch: Green salad with grilled turkey breast, cheese, sliced salad almonds, ranch dressing(I measured out a serving, and it was plenty!)
Dinner: Chicken salad on bread
Snack: Nuts and popcorn

Drinks: Water, sparkling water, diet cranberry juice, iced tea, hot chocolate
Exercise: Treadmill walked for a mile

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, turkey sausage, banana with yogurt
Lunch: Green salad with grilled turkey breast, cheese, sliced salad almonds, ranch dressing
Dinner: Spagehtti with meat sauce(ate way too much)

Drinks: Water, tea, sparkling water
Exercise: 45 mins(almost 2 miles) on treadmill

Wednesday: Went in for a root canal and have not wanted much to eat. Have only been able to eat soft foods so far.

Breakfast: Chicken salad on sandwhich thin, grapes
Snack: Cheese stick
Lunch: No lunch-had dental appt and didn't want to go on a full stomach
Dinner: Soup

Drinks: Water, tea(cold & hot), cranberry juice
Exercise: None :(

Thursday:

Breakfast: Yogurt
Lunch: Soup
Dinner: Noodles with cheese

Drinks: Tea, water, Juice
Exercise: None

Friday:

Breakfast: Yogurt
Lunch: Cheese, banana, bread
Dinner: Noodles with cheese & red sauce
Snack: PB crackers

Drinks: Water, juice
Exercise: None

I lost a total of 5 pounds! Yay!!

Goals for this next week I'm going to try and cut out some carbs(I love my carbs!), eat more veggies & fruits, & try and have salads for lunch! Stop by next Saturday to find out how I did!

A New Year!

2010-01-02T16:54:00.000-06:00

2010 is a new year, it is the start of a new decade, and the start of the new me! 2010 is the year for me to lose weight and get healthy! Over the summer and fall I had lost just over 10 pounds. During the past few months I have gained most of it back. I have decided that it is time to lose the weight and keep it off for good! To help me get started I have joined the Ten in 10 challenge. During these 10 weeks I plan to:

Lose at least 10 pounds
Lower my blood sugar
Exercise at least 5 times a week
Cut out soft drinks

It seems like it might be easy to accomplish that now but I know that it won't be. I'm happy to say that by joining the Ten in 10 Challenge I will have a support group of other people doing the same thing. I know that they will help encourage and support me along the way. I have also joined sparkpeople.com to help track what I eat, how much I exercise and more. I'm excited to start along this journey and can't wait to see where it takes me!

For more information or how to join just go here. Stay tuned for updates along the way!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!!

Away I go!

2009-12-18T09:00:00.001-06:00

By the time you read this I will be on a train on my way to Dallas! I'm going for a fun girls weekend with one of our close family friends! Will be gone through Monday or Tuesday. It all depends when I'm ready to come back home. Well I'm not going to be ready but I must come home sometime so I can get ready to leave for OKC on Thursday morning. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! I will try to take lots of pics just depends on what mood my camera is in. I will give you an update when I get back!

Note: The true meaning of the post is not to tell you I'm going away for the weekend. It was to test the scheduled times thing so I could make sure it works!

PS~ Christmas is one week away!! Yay! :)

Baking Day-Chunky Peanut Butter Bars

2009-12-17T15:00:00.000-06:00

Don't those look yummy?? Well the one on the left IS yummy! The one on the right is well not. If you like to eat pumpkin out of a can with oats and chocolate on top then you will like them. I didn't. Even with all that chocolate. If you do want the recipe for those then go here. Don't say I didn't warn you about them.

Now those yummy things on the left are dangerous. Very dangerous. :) Here is the recipe:

Chunky Peanut Butter Bars

1 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 C. Creamy or Chunky Peanut Butter
1/2 C. Light Butter, Softened
1/4 C. Splenda Sugar Blend
1/3 C. Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 11.5 ounce Package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine flour and baking soda in small bowl, set aside
3. Combine PB, butter, and both sugars in large bowl, beat at medium spead until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks. Press into ungressed 13 by 9 inch baking pan, distributing chocolate chunks evenly.
4. Bake 18-20 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note: I used creamy peanut butter. Also next time I would not add the whole bag of chocolate chunks. I think it was too much.

Enjoy! :)

Starbucks Love Project

2009-12-17T11:09:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of the Starbucks Love Project? On December 7th 156 countries joined together to sing at exactly the same time to raise awareness of AIDS in Africa. Go here to see the video. It might take a few minutes to load but it is well worth the wait. This gave me chills. It is amazing! While your there be sure to share it with friends and family.

Thankful

2009-12-16T16:40:00.001-06:00

If you follow me on Twitter then you have probably read my tweets from a few weeks ago that we didn't have water. We ended up not having water for about 30 minutes. I was not a happy camper. In the small town that we live in the power goes off frequently(for no reason), we have brown drinking water that is supposedly safe to drink(we buy bottled), and at times the water has very little pressure or is just simply shut off for no reason. Later that day I was thinking about my tweets and how I was not happy to not have water when it hit me. There are THOUSANDS of people all over this world(some even in my own town) that don't have the money to pay for water, or just simply don't have it where they live. They also might not have electricity, food, or even a house to stay in. I don't know about you but I realized that while it may be a pain, I can live for a few minutes and even longer with no water, electricity, and food. I will survive and be just fine. While I wasn't happy that I didn't have water to wash my hair with or do the dishes with, I realized I needed to be thankful for what I did have. I have so much compared to some people that live in our world. I have a family that loves me(even through the bad times); I have water, electricity, food, a house to live in, a computer and internet, a TV with cable, and SO much more.

You may be wondering how you can help. One way to help is to sponsor a child. There are several organizations that you can do this with. Our family uses World Vision. We have sponsored a child for many years. For about $1 a day you can sponsor a child in another part of the world that is in need. Just go here to learn more and sign up with World Vision. When you sponsor a child you will get a welcome kit that includes a picture and information of your child, the option to write and receive letters(even email!) your child, annual progress reports on your child, and updated pictures. For our family it is so neat to see a new picture and receive a letter from our child. We can keep up with how they are doing in school, their favorite things to do, and more.

I realize that some of you may not be able to sponsor a child right now but you can do something. You can pray. While we may not be able to see it, prayer does amazing things!

Update!

2009-12-08T22:07:00.004-06:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted a real post. Sorry friends! I'm back now and ready to blog again! :) Let me get you up to date on a few things:

This past Friday December 4th we had our FIRST SNOW!! I was so excited! Snow in Texas on the first Friday of December! {Insert squeal here} It wasn't much and it didn't stick but hey it was snow and still fun! :)

Today I took my last final of the year! {Insert another squeal and happy dance here} I'm super happy to have school done with for this semester! Next semester I will be taking night classes and will work during the day. I'm excited. I'm ready to work again.

Well that is the latest update. I do have one more Christmas picture to share.

Hope you are having a great week!

Caramel Pecan Apple Pie-WFMW

2009-12-08T21:19:00.005-06:00

I got this recipe from a friend of mine. I made it at Thanksgiving and it is wonderful!! So good I didn't get a picture!

Caramel Pecan Apple Pie

7 c. sliced peeled tart apples
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ C. finely chopped pecans
¼ C. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
¼ C. caramel ice cream topping
1 unbaked pastry shell ( I made my own crust)

Topping:
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cold butter
½ C. finely ground pecans
¼ C. caramel ice cream topping, room temperature

1. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice and vanilla. Combine the pecans, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch; add to apple mixture and toss to coat. Pour caramel topping in the bottom of pastry shell. Then transfer apple mixture to pastry shell.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over filling.
3. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is browned. Immediately drizzle with caramel topping. Cool on a wire rack.

Note: I substituted Splenda Brown sugar and regular Splenda for sugars. I also used the sugar-free caramel ice cream topping. Instead of the pastry shell I used 2 deep dish pie crusts. Easy to make one and then save the other for later. Enjoy!!

For more WFMW tips and recipes go here!

Chegg(Textbook rentals)-WFMW

2009-12-01T20:33:00.007-06:00

When I decided to go back to school this summer I had no idea how expensive college textbooks had gotten. I was shocked! For my summer classes I just bought my books at the college bookstore but this fall I found a MUCH cheaper place to get my books. I found Chegg! At Chegg you simply rent your textbook for the semester. They have several different rental periods for you to pick from. I went with the semester choice. This fall I saved over $123.00! That was just on two books! Chegg is easy to use. Simply find your book, pick your rental term, pay and in no time your books will be at your door! They even send you the return shipping labels. Oh and on my last Chegg order I found some freebies in the bottom of the box! :) For those of you that have bought your books and are needing/wanting to sell them back Chegg will also buy your books.

Go here to rent your textbooks and see how Chegg works for you! Be sure and use this special code to save even more! CC101919

Chegg definitely works for me! For more WFMW tips go here!

More Christmas pics

2009-12-01T15:06:00.006-06:00

Today I was having fun with my camera and enjoying this cool weather we have!

Me and Tiger

Hmmm wonder who this is? :)

Christmas kisses!

Missy(and some color!)

Yeah I was having a little fun with black & white! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T06:38:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope you all have a blessed day! I'm thankful for many things: my family, my friends, a house to live in, a car that is safe and runs well, a wonderful Church, and LOTS more! What are you thankful for?

Christmas Cards

2009-11-22T15:53:00.003-06:00

These are from the last card class.

My favorite! Love the little clip it has!

Yeah not so straight..oh well!

Free Photo Cards!

2009-11-18T22:37:00.003-06:00

Update: You now have to pay shipping. Still a good deal though! Ends November 30th!

I have been trying to find a good deal on some Christmas photo cards for this year and I found one! I ordered 50 cards all for a low price of FREE! For more info and to get the special code to order your own go here. The offer is good now through November 30! Hurry and go design and order your cards today! Thanks to Freebies 4 Mom for this free offer!

Click on the picture below to find more freebies!

Update...

2009-11-18T22:28:00.002-06:00

Just a little update about what's going on:

School is school...not very fun! It's hard to believe I have 3 weeks left in this semester! Yikes! I'm happy and not so happy about that. It's crunch time. Every free moment(except for this one) is used to study. I will be VERY happy when I'm done!

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away! Where did the time go?? Mom, Dad, and I will be going to OKC for Thanksgiving. Sorta looking forward to it. Will be nice to see all the family! What are you thankful for this year? I'm thankful for lots this year!

This weekend(or before) I will get my pictures up of the last Stampin Up class I went to. Very cute Christmas cards!!

I am off to get some sleep. Hope you are all having a great week! :)

Christmas pics...

2009-11-06T22:01:00.004-06:00

Today I thought I would try and take some Christmas pictures for Christmas cards. I wanted one of Lola and I together but that did not happen. She HATES the camera! She also didn't like the prop! Haha! She broke it after the first picture...I used a staple and fixed it! :) She did not like that! She tried to break it again but I got it before she could. Anyway here are some pictures. Cards are being designed as well! Enjoy!

Me trying out the prop!

Clack with her evil look!

Click with his stunned look!

The best picture I got today..going to try tomorrow!

I'm not looking..

Big smile!

Trying to take them off...

Trying to destroy them...

WFMW Baked Apples

2009-11-03T20:44:00.005-06:00

Here in Texas the fall weather is here! It has started to get cooler and it has been rainy. This cool and wet weather has me wanting to make some fall recipes. One of those is Baked Apples. These are easy to make and taste great!

What you need:
1 Apple
1 teaspoon Brown sugar(I used the Splenda blend for lower sugar)
1/2-1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Butter(use your desired amount)

To begin wash and peel your apple. Cut the apple into slices or bite size pieces like I did here. Place in a microwave safe bowl. In another bowl mix together your sugar and cinnamon. Put your desired amount of butter on the apples and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top.

Place apples in microwave and cook for 2 minutes. If you want your apples to be softer cook longer.

When apples are cooked stir well and enjoy!

This works for me because they are easy to make and fast! Click here for more WFMW tips!

Baked Apples

2009-10-31T23:40:00.004-05:00

To begin wash and peel your apple. Cut the apple into slices or bite size pieces like I did here. Place in a microwave safe bowl. In another bowl mix together your sugar and cinnamon. Put your desired amount of butter on the apples and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top.

Place apples in microwave and cook for 2 minutes. If you want your apples to be softer cook longer.

When apples are cooked stir well and enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T08:46:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!