A Twist on Vegetarian Enchiladas

Last weekend, I caught the cooking bug (a bug that had been lacking lately!) and decided to make a tasty dinner for my hubs.  What was on the menu, you ask?  Healthy vegetarian enchiladas!  It was a random, throw-things-together-and-see-how-it-tastes kind of cooking experiment, but they ended up tasting amazing! (I love it when that happens...)

Since there wasn't a specific recipe I was following, I will do my best to do one on the spot for you.

8 - white corn tortillas (I prefer them to flour...)

1 cup - black beans

1 cup - fresh spinach

1/2 cup - tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup - avocado, chopped

1/2 cup - cheese of your choise (I used Tillamook Cheddar)

Medium enchilada sauce (I used sparingly, as I don't like them smothered in sauce.  I put some inside each enchilada and then put a few spoonfuls over the top of the completed dish before I popped it in the oven.)

I pre-cooked my shells so that they wouldn't crack when I rolled up each enchilada.  It worked like a charm!

This is such an easy dish to make, because you really can include any vegetables, etc. that you have on hand.  I might have to make some of this on Thursday night to enjoy while I am recovering from surgery.

Let me know if you make your own version of these enchiladas, or if you try my recipe above!  I hope you enjoy it!

The Grind

Okay, let's be real.  No matter how much you love the work you do, there are times where you ask yourself, 'what am I doing?!'.  I mean -- really -- how important can spreadsheets and flyers really be?!  I spent my entire morning today writing copy for a sales flyer that will never see the light of day, and making meaningless changes to an already finalized spreadsheet.  This is definitely not the reason I became an editor.  

Now, don't get me wrong, I realize that every job has aspects of it that are less than desirable, yet require our attention.  But the more time that passes for me, the more I long for freedom and flexibility.  To be freed from the ball and chain that is my office and create my own place in the world of entrepreneurship.  

I think that becoming an entrepreneur takes a great deal of motivation, hard work and faith.  Trust me, I have seen Chris go through this very interesting process and come out successful on the other end.  But it is always an unknown.  You constantly wonder where the next paycheck is coming from and when.  And I get it.  This is what drives the motivation to keep pushing forward: desperation.  So, yes, having a regular 9 to 5 job gives you security in knowing where your next paycheck is coming from, but it also comes at a price of its own.  

I don't know that I have the nerves to handle becoming an entrepreneur, heck I can barely handle Chris being one!  But I have a feeling that at some point in the near future, I will overstay my welcome in the corporate world and run blindly into that unknown, scary world of entrepreneurship.

The things that keep me up at night thinking about that possibility?  How will I pay for my healthcare?  How will I save for retirement?  Is it a smart decision to give up the security of my future just to pursue my passion and live out my dream?  What is freedom really worth, anyway?

Well, safe, follow-the-rules little old me already has a dream of something I want to create and a way to make money at it.  And the best part?  It is something that I can start while I still have the security of my 9-to-5. So that's exactly what I am going to do.  It will take a lot of hard work and effort on my part, but hopefully at some point it will provide the liberation I so desperately seek.  I don't want to share too much right now, and although it might be a long process, I promise to share once it is appropriate for me to do so. I would like to ask for any positive energy you can spare to be sent my way as I embark on this journey towards freedom and the ideal of living out my dream.

End rant.  :)

{ Boring } Tales of our Backyard Experiment

Listen, I get it.  This is likely not interesting to anyone but us.  And even we are only mildly interested in the goings on in our back yard.  So we don't blame you if you skip right past this post entirely.  I do, however, want to document the transformation for all of the projects we do at our house.  So, here we go...

Over the past few weeks everything bloomed really quickly - including the weeds!  We need to have a few trees removed, and are then going to be tilling and reseeding our entire back yard.  

Step one was weed removal (The really annoying part?  I am pretty sure these are the same weeds we pulled last Fall!  We just can't get ahead of the curve on this project with just the two of us... but we are determined!), and since Chris had to work all last weekend on a tight deadline, I was determined to tackle it myself.  That is until our awesome neighbor, Sarah, so kindly offered to help!  Seriously who offers to help weed someone else's back yard?!  It was actually really nice to have some help, but even more than that to get to know Sarah a bit better.  We chatted nonstop as we carried on weeding for nearly 3 hours!  We basically finished the entire yard in that time!  I had a lot of other general cleanup that I managed to get done before she came over, so I spent nearly my entire Saturday on the yard.  But it was worth it!  It was really nice out, not too hot, and it looks so much better!

Now fingers crossed that we can get the trees removed in the next few weeks before the weeds return!  But, seriously, who knew that having trees taken out was so darn expensive?!  This creates a minor speed bump as we can't move forward until the trees are gone.  Here's where we get creative!  I'm sure we will come up with something...

{ before photos }

{ in-progress photos }

We have found a ton of these flagstone (?) pavers throughout the back yard and are hoping to use them for a little fire pit project sometime this century!

We are in a bit of a time crunch to get the back yard in a bit better state as I am finally having knee surgery next Friday.  So we will see what we can do about having the trees removed and get it all leveled and reseeded before I am out of commission for a bit.

Fingers crossed that after photos arrive sometime this summer! Ha...

One Year Accomplishment: Soda

It occurred to me last week that I just hit the one year mark of... no soda!  Feels really good to reach this mark.  Not that I drank a ton before, but I wanted to make a conscious effort to remove it from my diet entirely.  And I feel much better for it.  

Slow and steady always works best for me.  I wonder what I will eliminate or add next?

Surprise!

Okay so apparently I spoke too soon.  It was a cool weekend, and then overnight this happened.  Haha.  I blame myself for this.  I totally jinxed us by proclaiming that Spring had finally arrived in Colorado.

The funny thing?  This weekend is supposed to be highs of 87 degrees!  Chalk it up to another quirky Colorado season.  I know that in just a few short weeks when we are sweating our socks off, we will be dreaming about this snowy surprise!

Happy Monday!

Springtime in Colorado

I love how Spring has crept up on us this year.  In the matter of a week, we had (what we hope is) our final snow of the Winter which turned into beautiful warm sunshine, bringing all of our favorite trees, bushes and flowers to bloom.  I love the fresh smell of Spring air.  Who's with me?

Fresh, evening walks around our neighborhood lake.

We have also spotted our favorite little muskrat at our neighborhood lake over the past few weeks.  So cute!

We are looking forward to planting some flowers in our front yard this year, and I can't wait to get started!  I love bringing fresh flowers into the house in the Spring and Summer.  We may even plant some lavender... heaven.

Has Spring sprung in your neck of the woods?

A Week of Creativity (in Photos)

I have managed to fit a few creative projects in over the past week or so, and am really loving the progress of our home decor.  It is finally starting to feel like our house.  It's all about the personal touches!

Two collage walls have been in progress for a while, and I finally finished one over the weekend while Chris worked.  Though, truth be told I feel like it could still use another photo or two!  Ha - typical!

A Whirlwind of Visitors

Well, there is really nothing else to say for my little disappearing act here on the blog, aside from sorry.  So, I'm sorry.  It has even been a little over a week since our visitors left, and I am just now getting around to writing about it.  

Throughout the month of April we had visitors for more than half of the month, but as usual I didn't take nearly enough photos.  (sorry, family!)

The first weekend, my sister, brother-in-law and niece (and soon-to-be nephew!) came to stay for four days.  It's so much fun to see my niece changing so much; she has definitely gotten so much more interactive since I last saw her.  So we had some fun auntie-niece time, and learned that uncle ("untle") can do no wrong when it comes to Avery.  Anything he says or does makes her laugh her cute little high-pitched laugh.  We had a really great weekend together.

We spent the second half of April hosting Chris' family from England.  We obviously had to work during the week both weeks, but we managed to get out and show them some cool parts of Colorado... and they managed to get out and explore a lot while we worked.  Chris' dad managed to get our hot tub working (the pump was playing up), so we had some great hot tub evenings, too.  Little Jonathan loved it!

{ So glad this photo of all of us on the train turned out so well!  A very fun day. }

We were so used to having visitors that I think we both had "visitor hangover" the day after we said goodbye to all of our family!  We had a really nice time hosting everyone and look forward to many more visits in the future with everyone!  It is definitely nice to be able to offer plenty of space for everyone during their stay now that we have a house!

Well, I spent this past GORGEOUS weekend doing plenty of yard work, plus some fun creative projects that I will share tomorrow!