Day 484 ~ Happy Thursdays!

Seems like recently I am really liking Thursdays ... why, you ask? 

Thursday is the night that ladies from my church come over to my house... we pray a little for each other... we share a little of ourselves... how our week went... how we can help one another... and most importantly...  we share our great recipes with one another.

We talk about food... healthy cooking methods... and how we can better our lives.  

What better camaraderie can one ask for?

There isn't one.  Big Smile.  :)

I think one of the neat things about our Food Lovers group is that we have at least one gal in 20's, one in their 30's, another in their 40's, another in their 50's and one in their 60's.  I think this is really cool because we are able to counsel one another... while some of us have been there ... others are on their way.  Pretty cool, huh?

Day 465 - User Friendly Pasta Salad

So... here I go again... wink, wink... I'm thinking that Thursdays should be Try a new recipe day here on my blog... where I will share the recipes we are sharing each week in our meetings.  Great idea... big smile.

Here's to Try a New Recipe Thursdays!  Looking forward to sharing a new recipe next week.  Can't wait?  Then check out the link for my User Friendly Pasta Salad under my picture above. 

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” ~Matthew 18:19-20

[here's to you finding your... ]

Peace...

I am second..

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Took It... Making It... Living It... My Life .  © 2012  U.S Copyright Laws apply.

Day 464 ~ Is Perfection Overrated?

I am a perfectionist.  I have known this for quite sometime. Since I was very young, that's for sure.  When I had a party... well everything had to be perfect down to the napkins.  This started at a very young age.  wink, wink.

As I became an adult... the week leading up to an event, be it a dinner party, birthday party, shower, lunch, tea party, you name it... it had to flow.

I would plan down to the minute as to the time I have to pick up a cake, food, balloons or flowers, what day I would clean, when I would set everything up, shower, hair and make-up.  

Everything needed to go according to plan.

Oh and never mind if something wasn't ready- according to plan... that would not be good.

Forget Martha Stewart... it's Carla Barila! 

Honestly, it would get a little stressful to say the least... but the end result would be worth it.

Well... that was some time ago.  I have turned a new leaf since.

Oh I still entertain... BIG time!  I will even take over for my in-laws when they entertain and handle things for them... 

However, I have a different way of putting it all together, a different mind set if you will.

Oh I still will plan everything down to the minute, wink, wink- and I do still want everything to be perfect and just right... but that's where it stops.

I don't worry... I do not stress... I do not concern myself..

Everything that happens after the planning stage... well it is what it is.

What I mean is that I accept anything that comes my way or in my way and shrug it off.  Down to the guest list.  Meaning if 15 people RSVP to my event and only 3 show up... maybe there was a day that this may have bothered me... that was then.

Last night I held my first Food Lover's/Bible Study meeting and I was expecting around 15 guests, cooked for 15 guests... but only three people showed up.

I was so fine with it... it did not stress me out one bit.

My evening went as it should have.  Those who wanted to be here, were here.  That's all that mattered.  {and} me... well I was perfectly fine with it.  100% fine.  After all it was God's will.

"If a person wants to be a part of your life [or a part of your party/event,] they will make an obvious effort to do so..." ~unknown author

[here's to you finding your... ]

Peace... 

I am second..

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Took It... Making It... Living It... My Life .  © 2012  U.S Copyright Laws apply.

Day 463 ~ First of Many

SO... today is finally here.... My first Food Lovers' group meeting.*

My husband has been such a sport... fixing things in the yard, pulling weeds, putting up fences... and  making everything just so right for me...

All so I can have people over so we can talk FOOD!

Oh ... as I sit here writing my post today a little early- can't stay up so late anymore with Calley in school [gotta get up at O:dark thirty now-a-days] ...as I was saying... as I sit here writing my post early... I sooo appreciate all that my husband does for me.

It was my idea to have this Food group... he had nothing to do with it, yet he has been at my beckon call for the last few weeks just so everything is "just" right.

The other day Dean asked me what I needed done... because all that mattered to him was my happiness....

Seriously.. that's what he said.  Now a few days later I am savoring his words as if he just finished speaking them... how sweet they were!

Oh how I love my husband!!  ...let me count the ways!!

So... as I was saying... everything has been washed, dusted, staged, cooked, mixed and I even have twinkle lights on in the yard... all is set!

Now... I just have to wait another ... oh about forty-five minutes or so and we'll be on our way!

As I mentioned last night.. I made a delicious Chicken Pasta Salad (I'll share more tomorrow after the fact) and I can't wait to share it with everyone.  

I have an idea of how I want things to go tonight, however, knowing that I am such a control freak I have decided that the chips will fall where they may and leaving the rest to God.  wink, wink.  

*Want more details on this event, click here to read yesterday's post.

With this mindset... nothing will go wrong.  BIG SMILE.

“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” ~ Anthony Robbins

[here's to you finding your... ]

Peace...

I am second..

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Took It... Making It... Living It... My Life .  © 2012  U.S Copyright Laws apply.

Day 462 ~ Giving Back with Food

Wow.. so excited right now!  I'm besides myself!

Tomorrow I take the first of many steps towards my goal of working with food and giving back.

I know I've mentioned to you all about my involvement in my Church..  well... I signed up to hold a themed fellowship meeting at my house each Thursday...

the theme...

FOOD!!

Yes... food!

As if I don't complain about it enough... or rather the after effects it has on my body!!  LOL!!

No.. but seriously...

Starting tomorrow... I am holding a Church fellowship meeting at my home each week where each week we will feature a new "healthy" recipe or a recipe where we will discuss how "WE" can make it healthy.

Soooo...
  
Tomorrow I will be sharing my Chicken Pasta Salad...  Ohhh this is soooo good too!  I'll think about sharing my recipe with you on Friday... wink, wink.

Okay.  I do have to admit to one thing.  About a month ago or so... I had NEVER.. yes never... made a Pasta Salad, let alone a Chicken Pasta Salad.  It wasn't until I invited my friend Kristen to come over and cook (we cook together all the time teaching each other new recipes) that SHE taught me how EASY it was to make a Pasta Salad... let alone how healthy it is.  Big smile.

So ... to be very honest with you... the only thing on my mind tonight is my Food Lovers' get-together tomorrow night and having my house just right...  dusted, swept, floors and windows cleaned and the yard intact!

{and} with that said...

There really isn't anything else that matters today!  wink, wink.

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” ~Albert Einstein

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~Mahatma Gandhi 

[here's to you finding your... ]

Peace...

I am second..

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Took It... Making It... Living It... My Life .  © 2012  U.S Copyright Laws apply.