WAKE UP!! Join us!

It's that time again! I would like to personally invite you to be a part of OCC's 2nd Annual Women's Event, AWAKE 2009, "Dangerous Faith!" Mark your calendars for March 6th and 7th!

Come get connected to the OCC community and learn how to begin living out a Dangerous Faith. If you have been a follower of Jesus for a long time or are just beginning the process of investigating faith, this is the event for you!

Although we are all women, we are a diverse bunch! Single, married, divorced, widowed, mother, career focused, young, old, strong, quiet, hurting. There is amazing strength in our diversity and when we come together to celebrate our uniqueness, amazing things happen!

Join me Jodie Howerton, speaker/missionary/Human Trafficking Warrior Leah Cypert, author/speaker Linda Vujnov, OCC's Lynne Ellis, and the AWAKE Worship Band (led by me - scary, I know) for a weekend of fun and challenge as we take a look at what living a life fully awake and completely tuned in to God's call looks like! We have 3 main sessions, a beautiful (non boxed) luncheon and six different workshops to choose from!

Here is a list of the workshops...

SEX in Sixty Minutes
Life Hurts, God Heals
Discovering my Purpose – Exploring and Developing Spiritual Gifts
Practical Compassion: How can I change the world?
Learning to Live Dangerously
Parenting under Pressure

Invite a friend or neighbor! There is still room left! Register online today!! www.occfamily.org/events/events.asp

Kicking Boxes

I have taken a couple of Kick Boxing classes thanks to my friend Sadie generously letting me join her as a guest at her gym. They kick my butt.

Jesse and his brother Bo came home last week to join us for dinner and relieve me of my motherly duties so that I could attend my class. After I left, Liam informed Jesse and Bo that his mama was going to kick boxes.

Could he be any cuter? I doubt it.

Down 13 lbs (and hopefully counting!)

Valentines Day Chocolate

Just heard about a great event taking place this Saturday, February 14th near Union Square in Manhattan, organized by a newly formed network called the Global Giving Circle. They support innovative solutions to alleviate poverty. Cool, huh?

It is a Valentine’s Day chocolate tasting fundraiser benefiting Project Hope & Fairness, an organization which supports African cocoa farmers and their families. The event funds will specifically go towards helping the farmers purchase weighing scales, as well as towards building a well in their village. I’m really excited about this because, of course, I LOVE Project Hope & Fairness, and I really love when people realize the extreme poverty that chocolate farmers are in AND care to do something about it. The poverty is one reason why there is slavery and human trafficking in the chocolate industry. This has to be stopped people!

It sounds like a cool event, so if you are in NYC, please GO! You won’t miss out on your sweet Valentine’s dinner because it’s from 3-5pm in the afternoon. Good planning, Global Giving Circle.

It’s being sponsored by some great chocolatiers, including Seattle’s own Theo Chocolate. To see more sponsors, details, and buy tickets, click here.

So, since Valentine’s Day is coming up, and if this wasn’t enough of a reminder, PLEASE buy fair-trade certified chocolate, or at the very least, organic, to ensure that it is slave-free. If you need some help on which companies are good, (and bad), click here. There is a list at the bottom of the post. (Keep in mind, the list is not all inclusive.)

For my info on WHY THIS MATTERS, please visit my friend Amy's blog.

A Few Great Recipes!

Yes, I am still on Weight Watchers. I am one of those people that LOVE food (is there anyone that doesn't) and have been on a quest to find low fat, high fiber, veggie rich foods these past 5 weeks. Here's what I've been enjoying...

• I've been loving salads! Here is what I hate about salads... 1) I don't like all the chopping. 2) I don't like eating the same salad over and over again. 3) Sometimes salads seem too much like I'm eating a bush. So here is what I've done to help myself...
  

I have been food processing my salads to a chop (not a mush) so that it is roughly the texture of a chunky salsa. I throw all the veggies (minus the lettuce) in the processor so that I don't have to do much cutting. I throw lunch meat or chicken in there after the veggies. I throw berries or apples in there. Whatever I have in the house goes in the salad. I put the lettuce on a plate and pour the veggies and meat over the top and voila! It's delish and you hardly need any dressing because of the texture of the veggies. These salads haven't ever topped 3.5 points and I get at least 3 servings of veggies in one sitting!

• I LOVE the following recipe for Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies from WW.

2 tbsp butter, melted 2 tsp canola oil 1/2 cup(s) packed brown sugar, dark-variety 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 tsp table salt 1 large egg white(s) 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure that they are organic to ensure that they are "slave free", about 1/2 cup or cut up dark chocolate pieces. Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine. In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout. Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes (I do 4); cool on a wire rack. Yields 2 cookies per serving. YES!! Two mini cookies for 1 point!!! Glorious!! I have a total sweet tooth and feel deprived if I don't have something for dessert so here comes another GREAT recipe for a "Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake" from "The Hungry Girl Cookbook." It is REALLY good and totally satisfied my ice cream/sweet craving. Plus, it took me 2 minutes to make it. It is 4 pts. per serving but worth every point. 1/2 cup light chocolate soymilk 1 Jello Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding Snack 2 teaspoons reduced-fat peanut butter 3 no-calorie sweetener packets 11 ice cubes or 1 cup crushed ice Optional: Fat Free Reddi-Wip (note: totally worth it and 5 calories for every 2 tablespoons) Place all ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed for 45 to 60 seconds (until smooth). Pour into a tall glass and enjoy! (MAKES 1 SERVING) So there it is. I have more faves... but not enough time to post them! Enjoy!