Simple Words to Live By..........

For the man sound of body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously. --George Gissing

I found some pictures in my files I had not seen since the day I uploaded them.  Among them were wonderful pictures of a storm that came through Seaside one morning. That morning I stayed on the beach and I took pictures to not only capture the wonderful colors of the storm, but also how people just kept going on with what they were doing. Even the people that left found things to do, like shop and eat at the beach front eateries.  I looked for a quote to go with the stormy picture. The quote I have included was perfect and spoke directly to me.  WAY TOO many times I let the (cold) weather get me down.  I need to remember this picture and how so many of us continued to find beauty in the midst of the storm. There truly is beauty in every. single. day.  Wow!  I didn't realize that a few pictures could be such a lesson to me. Have a great week and find beauty in your days.

I have linked this to Tracey's blog. Check out the inspiring quotes for the week.

Life by Numbers

O---Pop (soda) of any kind or sweets of any kind for this entire week. Hence writer's block. Hence everything block!
1---Month that I have already been in school. Other schools just started this week?!  I can't even talk about that!
2---Weeks until the first day of Fall. Mentally I already feel cooler (weather-wise of course).
3---Three months (and a few days) till Christmas break. That's a big WooHOOOOOOOO!!
4---Children in college at one time. Shoot me now.
5---Obviously. My children.
6---Six weeks until Fielding and Kelly's wedding.
7---Class periods I teach each day. Sometimes it feels like a cattle call. Somedays it feels like frozen molasses.
8---Months until Summer Break.  Can I get a double WOOOOHOOOOO and a back flip?
9---Letters in my alliterated name Lori Lucas.

Hopefully tomorrow I am more 'with it'....Or I've got more numbers!

Peaches and Cream

One of the great parts of summer is the abundance of great fruit.  The peaches this year were great. Last weekend I had some peaches that needed to be used.

I washed the peach, took the seed out, and dropped the entire peach into the blender, skin and all.  I added sugar-free vanilla ice cream and some 2 % milk and hit blend.

I poured the good-for-you (at least I like to think so) in a couple of glasses, topped them with whipped topping and had a perfect afternoon snack for the Hubs and me!

Flowers Good Enough to Eat!!!!

I love sunflowers. In Kansas, where the sunflower is the state flower, there would literally be fields of nothing but sunflowers. They were spectacular to see.
So, before pumpkins over take the house, I wanted to make something that is end-of-summerish-but-not-yet-pure-autumn.

I went with sunflower cupcakes.
Or at least my version.

Obviously, my decorating skills leave a lot to be desired.
On some of the cupcakes I used chocolate sprinkles for the middle.
On some of the cupcakes I used mini chocolate chips.

I always use gel coloring to get the brightest colors.

There is absolutely nothing special about the cupcakes. I just wanted to try to make some sunflowers. We used them as the birthday cake for Hubby as well.

What they lack in beauty, they made up for in taste.

Then after getting all the sunflowers made, Hubby told me for his birthday "cake" he wanted Key Lime Pie.

So what's a girl to do?

Make Key Lime Pie...of course.

Simple Words to Live By................................

Can you spot the 'tree' frog?

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away.
~ Sarah Helen Whitman

As we say goodbye to summer and all its great memories, we welcome the beautiful colors and feel of fall.  Join me at Tracey's for other thoughts for the week.