Margo is FREE

I strive to live simply,
and add sparkle wherever I go.
But life isn't as simple as I would hope.
The world is constantly throwing curveballs our way...
some times we can quickly grab a bat, swing, and
knock that ball out of the park.
Other times,
you just look up and the ball is headed straight at you...
no warning,
no signal flashing it's presence.
Nope.
Just a curveball smacking you right in the face.

But there is something that makes
going through challenges a little easier,
a dog.
A dog can make life a little easier to handle.
No matter what,
you have a friend that is ready to love you through it.
And I agree with Margo's human...
I'd live in my car and be happy if it meant that I could keep my dog.
I feel that, right down into the center of my heart...
that's love and devotion.

Margo is lucky, because he is loved.
He (yes, he) is loved a lot.
His human was connected with Fences For Fido,
and we made it possible for Margo to live, life, free.
There is nothing I like better!

Want to see this love in action?

Of course you do!

Take a look and soak in the unbridled love.

MARGO

Silly picture time! Why? Well, because I'm a weirdo and proud of it!

~LIVE- LIFE- FREE- and SPARKLY~

Now go spread it around the world!

A Little True Tale

 There once was a sweet little dog named Sisi.
She lived her life on a chain,
until one day a group of happy people showed up.
They moved around,
made a lot of noise,
and gave her many yummy treats.
Pretty soon this guy in an orange rain suit came over
and unhooked her chain.
Whoa!
Sisi thought that was really cool.
He gave her a big hug,
and she knew that everything was okay.
He took her over to where all of the noise was being made.
She was greeted with sweet words and many loving pats.
Next thing Sisi knew, she was off the chain completely and RUNNING!
Yes, she was running fast around a fenced yard.
Not only was the yard hers,
but she had a dry dog house too!
Little Sisi knew her life would never be the same.
And as for all of the happy people,
well, their lives are never the same either
for they knew she would enjoy a life of freedom.

Happy Hearts with Giving Hands...that's joy.

May you find your joy.

Lori

Live-Life-Free

Fences For Fido

Happy Betty Day!

Today is the day!
On January 17, 1922, the world was blessed with her birth.

Yep.
It's Betty White, all day long
and it's just the way it should be.

Here or some of my favorite things floating around the web...

1. The first thing that is just awesome, is my tribute/dream of having Betty White as my neighbor.
This choice was a no brainer...I love this lady.
If Betty White was my neighbor...

2. Huffpost- 5 Timeless Lessons from Betty White
She has it right.
Her first lesson is "Animals have so much more to teach us than we realize."

"In her book, If You Ask Me, White writes: "Animals don't lie. Animals don't criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do.'"

So true Betty.

3. Yahoo TV- 93 Things You Need to Know About Betty White

4. Mental Floss- 15 Things You Didn't Know About Betty

5. ET Online- Betty White Trades 'Rocker' for 'Wrecking Ball'

 Happy Birthday Betty!

Rainy Day Potato and Ham Chowder

I'm soooooo in love with this soup.

And I'm sooooo in love with this pot.

Seriously, it's just the best thing and it's my yellow!

It combines all of my favorite things;

potatoes, ham, garlic, and rosemary!

Delicious.

My mom had cooked a ham,
and like me, when she cooks it's for a group, 
not just the one or two people that actually live in the home.
I'm going to apologize to my vegetarian and vegan friends,
because this is going to be one in a couple of ham related recipe posts.
To everyone else...
seriously, you need to make this!

There is nothing really healthy to this recipe,
except that it's all natural and made from scratch.
So there is that.
But on a drizzly day,
this is a perfect, hardy meal for a Chambers.

Rainy Day Potato and Ham Chowder

Recipe modified from Recipe Knead
I like my chowder to be filled with potato goodness,
so I've upped quite a few things in my modifications.

4 slices thick-cut bacon

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp of garlic powder)

1 onion, diced

2 cups frozen corn kernels

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary- chopped 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 1/2- 5 cups milk, or more, as needed

4-5 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2-3 cups of cooked ham, diced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cooking Directions:

1) Heat a thick-bottom pot over or Dutch over medium high heat. Add diced bacon and cook until brown and super crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Remove crispy bacon onto a paper towel.  Drain the bacon grease. (Heck.  Save that goodness for something else.)

2) Use the same pot.  It has all of the  Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in corn and thyme until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

3) Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.

4) Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in ham, salt and pepper, to taste. If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.

5) Serve immediately, garnished with bacon, if desired.

Enjoy!

Believe me, you will.

Vegan Bourbon Apple Pie Cake

Apples and Bourbon.
Bourbon and Apples...
It's a match made in Heaven.
After using bourbon in so many of my desserts of the holidays,
I figure, why stop now?
People love bourbon!
And they also love when I add bourbon into anything that I bake.
So, what could be better than combining my apple pie cake with my bourbon apple pie.
Boom!
Delicious!

Vegan Bourbon Apple Pie Cake
*Prepare the apple marinade and soak apples overnight

Apple Marinade:
3-5 Granny Smith apples or other tart apple
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
3-4 Tablespoons of bourbon
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
1 cup non-dairy milk (soy, rice, coconut, almond- whichever you prefer)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Night Before:
1. Peel and slice apples.
2. Place apples in a medium bowl and add the marinade ingredients.
3. Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Next Day:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour cake pan.  The more design on the pan, the better it turns out since this cake just has a glaze.
3. Combine all of the dry cake ingredients and mix well.
4. Add non-dairy milk, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar into the dry ingredients.
5. Place a layer of marinated apples in the bottom of the pan. (This will be the top of the cake)

6. Pour a layer of cake batter over the top of the apples.
7.  Now alternate layering apples and batter until you've used it all up.
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Let it cool completely before adding a sugar glaze.
Share and enjoy with those you love!

What's on TV anyway?

It's been quite a while since I've had cable.
Murphy too.
Years in fact.
This fact always sends my students for a loop.
They're shocked that I survived in the world without cable for so long.
It really wasn't that difficult.
I had high-speed cable and Netflix,
what more could I need?


Oh wait.
There's this channel called HGTV
and another one called The Food Network.



I could watch a marathon of Property Brothers,
Love it or List it,
and Chopped
any day and every day of the week.
Man, I totally forgot how awesome Chopped was
...that's a show that's not on Netflix.

One of the main problems with not having cable for so long,
is that I have literally NO IDEA what times or channel the shows are on.
No idea at all.
Now, sure.
I could look up each one and find out,
but who has time for that!
Thankfully there are people out there who do
and they have created plenty of show premier list to help me out.

To find out when my favorite shows are on and set my DVR accordingly,
I used two lists.
The first one is from a fabulous site, named and designed to distract, Distractify.
TV Show Premiere List 2015

The second site is one that I visit every day
                    ...It's really how I know that is happening in the world.
Sad, but true.
Buzzfeed.
There is a page for news and politics,
so it really does inform.
It's just fabulous and helps fill the section of my brain
dedicated to "useless" but useful information and "facts".
2015 TV Premiere Dates

So what will I be watching this season?
Well, I have set my DVR for these shows,
but if there is something that I'm really missing out on
please let me know.
I have a lot to catch up on!
Since the sun sets so early,
it's amazing how much time I have to binge watch shows.

Tonight- Sunday, January 4th
The Good Wife- 9pm CBS
Revenge- 10pm ABC

Monday, January 5th
2 Broke Girls- 8pm, CBS
State of Affairs- 10pm, NBC

Tuesday, January 6th
Pretty Little Liars- 8pm, ABC Family
MasterChef Junior- 8pm, FOX
New Girl 9pm, FOX

Wednesday, January 7th
Poperty Brothers, Season 7-9pm, HGTV
Top Chef: Boston- 10pm, Bravo
Wahlburgers- 10pm, A&E

Thursday, January 8th
The McCarthys- 9:30pm, CBS
Parenthood- 10pm, NBC
Portlandia- 10pm, IFC

Friday, January 9th
Hart of Dixie- 9pm, The CW

Saturday, January 10th
Nada



Sunday, January 11th
Shameless- 9pm, Showtime
Girls- 9pm, HBO
House of Lies- 10pm, Showtime

Geesh!  When I look at this list I look like I won't do anything ever again!
I'll be too busy watching TV.
Ha! Nah...don't start to worry.
I set my DVR so that I can watch them when I have time.
Usually it's a Sunday Marathon like it was today.

Who knew that January was when shows started?
Huh.
Probably everyone but me.
Oh well...see you all in the spring.
Just kidding...kind of.

Let's make an epidemic!

Joy and happiness can be contagious,
I hope to make it so contagious that it's an epidemic.
Can you imagine it?
I can.

I don't mean the fake kind of happiness or joy
that you see in the movies or in the mall.
The joyful tone that you know only comes
because of the potential commission that they'll get from your purchase.
You know...the happy face that makes you
wonder how many "upers" they are taking.
Yeah.
I'm not talking about that kind of happy.
That's definitely not a happy that lasts.
It's not a true happy.

What I'm talking about is the happy that lasts a lifetime.
It's Christmas morning, when you see your pony for the first time.
It's the happy of arriving back in the US after studying abroad in Spain, and seeing your family waiting for you.
It's the hug that engulfs you.
The embrace that smothers you,
in the best possible way.
The smothering that makes you want to
curl up and stay there watching a movie.
The happy that tells you that you are safe and loved.
Yep.
That's the happy I'm talking about.

Some people search their entire life for happiness.
They believe that it can be found in the perfect person.
When that doesn't work, they think that it must be in how much money they make.
Nope. Not there either.
Sadly, they are looking in the wrong direction!
They think that happiness can be found in other things...
that their joy will be achieved when they get something.
Those are nice thoughts,
but not true.

Happiness is not achieved when you get anything.
I find happiness when my hands are empty.
I'm happiest when I've given it all away.

I'm happy when I teach.
Do middle students give much praise for your creative teaching?
No, they don't.
But when I see them graduate from high school, then college...
When they have families, and their kids grow to be strong people,
I'm happy.

I'm happy when I volunteer.
My hands are dirty, but the hearts around me are clean.
They give with their time, energy, and a spirit to make the world better.
Do the families we help heap praise on us?
Nope.  Many don't want us there at all.
But I'm not there for them.
I can't control the actions of others.
I can make a difference in the quality of life for an animal.
Seeing the dog run free and safe is a tear-inducing happiness.

I'm happy when I create pies, cookies, or treats.
I know that with each one,
money can be given to charities that I respect.
For me, it's not about the money.
Yes, money is great.
Could I use more?
Sure, who couldn't!
But do I really need more?
No.
I don't.

When you look back on your year,
what is in your hands?
Are you holding on tight to external things?
A person? Money? Objects?
If I could give you one gift this new year,
I would give you the gift of empty hands.
I would pass to you the feelings that it's taken me 37 years to get to.
Contentment.
Joy.
and the best one yet...
Happiness.

Simple, yet profound.

Will you join me in spreading the epidemic of joy and happiness?
Once you catch it,
you never want it to go away.
And you'll never regret it.
That's my promise to you.

Cheers of love, joy, and never-ending happiness in 2015.