Tasteful Thursdays!

For today’s Tasteful Thursday post, I thought I’d offer you some ‘tasteful’ music. Hope you like my selection of songs!

1. “Give Me” by New World Son

2. “Brave” by Josh Groban (I recently got his CD “All That Echoes”, so adding this song was a MUST!)

3. “Find You” by Zedd (From Divergent Soundtrack)

4. “You’re Not Alone” by Owl City ft. Britt Nicole

5. “Waterfall” by Chris Tomlin

I know these songs are very ‘divergent’ (haha – get it? Divergent. Okay, moving on), but I hope you enjoy them. What are some of your favourite new songs?

Poetry Fridays!

Over the land is April, 
Over my heart a rose;
Over the high, brown mountain
The sound of singing goes.
Say, love, do you hear me,
Hear my sonnets ring?
Over the high, brown mountain,
Love, do you hear me sing?

By highway, love, and byway
The snows succeed the rose.
Over the high, brown mountain
The wind of winter blows.
Say, love, do you hear me,
Hear my sonnets ring?
Over the high, brown mountain
I sound the song of spring,
I throw the flowers of spring.
Do you hear the song of spring?
Hear you the songs of spring?

---

Robert Louis Stevenson

Tasteful Thursdays!

Today I looked at this blank space and thought what do I write about? Tasteful… something tasteful… Nothing was coming to me. So, what do millions of modern youngsters do when we have questions? Google it!

I found myself looking up things about February 19th. Here is a flash back to the past with some interesting events, and such, that have taken place on Feb. 19th!

• 1878. Thomas Edison patents the phonograph
• 1881. State of Kansas 1st to make all alcohol illegal  — Just found this interesting!
• 1928. Canadian hockey team wins 3rd consecutive gold medal — what gets me here is that they don’t even say what team or anything. And I’ve checked other sites as well!
• 1963. Poet Robert Frost wins Bollingen Prize  — because I like poetry!
• 1985. Mickey Mouse is welcomed by China — this actually made me so happy to read! Good job Disney! 🙂 it’s kind of amusing how this is actually something that’s included as a memorable event in the history of Feb. 19ths!

Note: Upon further searching, I see that there’s more poets that win the Bollingen Prize and all on February 19th! Crazy! Is this actually the official day to hand out that award?

And here are some February 19th birthdays! Personally, I don’t really know any of these people, but maybe some of you recognize the names. (Let me know in the comments! Maybe I’m just really out of the loop with famous people.)

• 1939. Gwen Taylor, English actor
• 1975. Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer (Nickelback and 3 Doors Down)
• 1985. Haylie Duff, American actress and singer (also older sister of Hilary Duff)
• 1988. Shawn Matthias, Canadian hockey player (Vancouver Canucks)

Hopefully these little bits of information make this Thursday February 19th a better one! Shine bright and let’s make the rest of today a good one!

http://www.historyorb.com/events/february/19

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_19 (Of course wikipedia is a reliable source! Don’t judge me… you know you use it too.)

Poetry Fridays!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

————————————————————————————————-

Robert Frost

Tasteful Thursdays!

So, let’s just come out and say the obvious… It’s really really cold outside. It seems that increasingly each year my body is disliking the cold winters more and more. I do like having snow on Christmas, however, unfortunately for all you lovers of this cold season, I’m one of those people who’d want snow for December 25th but have it disappear the very next day. Whether you love or hate the cold, are hibernating as much as you can or are out there in the snow everyday, everyone likes to come inside after and warm up. Especially those of us who’d rather not have been outside in the first place.

Here are a few of my favourite things to do inside to warm up or as an activity on an “inside” kind of day.

1. Hot drinks!

Oh look! One of my favourite things: chocolate! And HOT chocolate is even better to combat the freezing temperatures! Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you another of my favourite drinks is TEA. Herbal, white, red… I like all kinds of varieties. However tempting it may be to sit inside and consume large amounts of chocolate daily, hot drinks is a better and more healthy way to get comfort and warmth.

2. Bundle Up!

Being inside is the perfect time to pull out the sweaters and sweat pants, or to cocoon oneself within a blanket. I’m not trying to make it sound like I laze around during the winter months, but come on, who doesn’t like cuddling up?

3. Watching Movies!

If I’m going to be hanging around indoors, watching movies can be a fun pass time. You can watch your favourite flicks alone or with others. Action movies, romance (“chick”) flicks, and there’s so much more to choose from! I like seeing and can relate to the characters overcoming their challenges, as I daily take on my personal challenge of facing the brisk cold head on! (Last movie I watched was “the Giver” — and I recommend it!)

One of the best things about winter is that it doesn’t come to stay. Each season comes and goes. I’ll do the best that I can to enjoy each time of the year, and/or appreciate the life lessons learned through them.

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ― Edith Sitwell

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
― Yoko Ono

What are some of your favourite warm winter activities?

Very Inspiring Blog Award Nominees

Thank you very much to Susan Barclay for nominating me for the ‘Very Inspiring Blogger’ award. As my mom, you may be a little biased, but I am honoured to receive this recognition. Sorry that it took me a while to make this responding post. I’ve been bad in the past of keeping up with reading other people’s blogs, but it’s been something I’m working on. I finally feel like I have a few great bloggers I can share! Click on Susan’s name above to see her blog, “Notes From Innisfree”.
The rules for accepting this award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.

2. Display the award logo.

3. Nominate as many blogs as you see fit and provide a link where they may be found.

4. Then, go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated, and where to find the information they need to accept (rules).

5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

Blogs I Am Nominating

1. Lashes-to-Lunges – Because I find her posts challenging to me and inspiring.

2. Megra12’s Meanderings – Because I love Meaghan’s thoughts and posts on books, music, and other miscellaneous topics!

3. Story Shucker – Becasuse Stuart M. Perkins tells fun and amusing stories related to everyday life!

4. Double U – Because John White’s writing and poems are inspiring, creative, and picturesque!

5. Magnumlady’s Blog – Because I love Ireland and her pictures of the Ireland are amazing! So talented!

These are the blogs that stood out to me. A small number can be just as enriching as a large number.

3 Inspiring Things From This Past Week

1. The number of people who have been supporting me through a difficult time is very inspiring. It’s encouraging to know that I have some great friends and family here for me!

2. On the topic of family, is my younger brother! I find him very inspiring. We have a great relationship, so much so that people often mistake us for dating (what?! No! Siblings!). He’s dramatic and always knows how to make me laugh. He likes spending time together, or even just having me around as company while he’s doing something else. He’s thoughtful and inspiring in his character.

3. An afternoon hangout with a good friend. I found out that in the past my friend had gone through some of the problems I’m struggling with now. It was inspiring to know someone who has gone through the grinder and come out on the other side healed and happy.

Poetry Fridays!

“How sweet is the Shepherd‘s sweet lot!

From the morn to the evening he strays;

He shall follow his sheep all the day,

And his tongue shall be filled with praise.

For he hears the lamb’s innocent call,

And he hears the ewe’s tender reply;

He is watchful while they are in peace,

For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.

---

~William Blake

Tasteful Thursdays!

I saw this recipe through a friend called “Strawberry Coconut Smoothie“. But I didn’t have some of the ingredients to make it with (i.e. the coconut milk & Greek yogurt!) So I decided to do my own smoothie creation somewhat based on that recipe. I call mine “A Berry Smoothie”. So I thought I’d share my recipe with you all.

• approx. 1 cup (or about 5 ) frozen strawberries
• 1/4 cup of almond milk
• 1/4 cup of dark choc. almond milk
• 1 vanilla Greek yogurt
• Approx. tablespoon of peanut butter – (or you can substitute other nut butter, but I used peanut butter)
• Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Teaspoon of flaxseed

I don’t like the blender we have right now, so I used a food processor to mix all of these ingredients. I think it turned out well. Yum! And if you make this recipe, let me know what you think! How can I make it better?

What are your favourite smoothie recipes?