Cory and Kathi

This is my friend's Cory and Kathi getting ready for her sisters wedding. A little more about the photo later but first,

 Hello and Good Morning to everyone,

 Sheeesh it is cold in here. I am not sure what it is like outside but inside I had to turn the air up some. Yes you heard me right. The woman who could live in the Antarctic is cold. I am wrapped in my shawl that my daughter Karyn bought for me.
 According to my weather app it is just 70 degrees with 81% humidity... so the a/c was the culprit. Shiver.... Oh well I will be hot soon enough!

 Now about my scrap page. My friend Patsy Posted this picture of the sunset over the desert where she is now living in  California.

I put it over a dark purple background and then faded it out to blend in as close to the color of Kathi's dress as possible and then worked from there.
 Cory and Kathi attended her sisters wedding in Arizona last weekend and had a blast I have heard and was so very happy that she she and Cory could go and of course they supplied the music! Congratulations to the happy couple.

 Here is another photo I want to share. It is in the deciding stage right now. I will post a photo of the one that is actually chosen. Cory finished his album and now the cover for the album has to be decided. His band is Cory Wilkins And the Train Wreck. The ones that I am posting is my favorite but they are all good so which ever one he chooses will be a winner.

This is now my top favorite. and then this one..

But he has several more that I didn't share that might be the winner.
 I am so very happy for my friend Cory and his band and his family. They are just awesome fun loving down to earth people. I mentioned that Cory was blind before. He and his sister both were born with a degenerative eye disease and are both legally blind. My favorite song that he wrote and sings is called "Fight Like Hell" and it tells the story of how everyone tells him since he is blind that he can't do this or he can't do that and he sings..... So I fight like hell...... he and his sister have accomplished so much in their lives. He tweets, he has a group on Facebook, he has a blog and he is a practical joker. He and Kathi and their band are coming in the Fall to Austin and we are going to meet up and have some FUN! I can't wait.

 Ok I have the shawl off now. It sure helped taking the chill out of the room with the air conditioner turned up. I have a hot cup of coffee and I am good to go.  I did want to share with you that I am trying and so far it is semi working... I am trying to wean myself off of caffeine. I still have it in the mornings in my coffee. Some things are really hard to just give up. I had a horrible headache the first week. Oh I can't describe the pain of that but it was bad. So I had my coffee and I had a glass of regular diet soda and then I had water and if I drank a soda after that I drank caffeine free. Yesterday was a week. I am sleeping much better. I am not so jittery and I can actually tell that it is helping a lot. Next time that I buy coffee I am going to buy the 50/50 and gradually cut back there as well. But I will do it slowly. I put two and two together when I realized that my soda was caffeine free. So I had Nathan get me a regular diet soda and within an hour the headache had vanished so I said hmmm ok. Now I know.
 Sheesh I am in my mid 50's and learn something every day! So if you want to consciously cut out the caffeine in your diet, take my advice and do it slowly.... And drink more water. For every glass of soda or a cup of coffee, the next go round, grab a bottle of water. Don't refill that coffee cup or soda glass without a water break! Ok that is my health tip for the day.

 And now.... for you diabetics out there and even if your not a diabetic... I have a recipe to share with you. Diabetic friendly!

 Vegetable Garden Chicken Soup
 (You can use Turkey if you prefer)

 1 cup chopped Onion
 1 cup chopped thinly sliced Celery
 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
 6 cloves of minced Garlic
 2 14.5 oz cans of Chicken Broth (Sodium Free) if you prefer.
 2 cups of Water or use the broth from the chicken or turkey that you boil before hand.
 2-3 nice sized Potatoes quartered.
 12 oz fresh Green Beans washed, trimmed and cut into 1 inch strips. (I just break mine in half or use frozen).
 3 medium size Yellow Squash. Slice to medium thickness and cut in half if you prefer.
 4 cups of cooked Chicken or Turkey. (I actually boil my chicken and the recipe calls for white meat but I have found that dark meat makes a richer broth and I use the meat broth in place of the 2 cups of water. (Unless you choose to use a crock pot).
 3 Large Tomato's. (You can used canned but it is much better with fresh tomatoes). Wash and cut into coarse chunks.
 2 Tbsp fresh Thyme
 2 Tbsp fresh Rosemary
 4 tsp of fresh Sage.
 2 cups fresh Spinach
 Heat olive Oil in in large soup pot, saute onion, garlic and and celery for 2 minutes in a large pot. Add chicken  and stir for 1 minute on medium high heat.
  Add remaining ingredients except for spinach.
Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce Heat to a simmer and cook for 30 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add spinach and cook another 5 minutes. If you prefer coarse spinach, just turn off the heat and stir in spinach and let sit for a few minutes to desired consistency
 One serving is 14 carbs,
 155 calories
 3 grams of fat.
Of course it goes without saying to salt and pepper to your own taste.

 I love this recipe and I sometimes saute the ingredients and put all of this in a crock pot early in the morning and cook on High until heated thoroughly and  then turn it down on Low. If you decide to use the crock pot, just cut your chicken or turkey into chunks and use the 2 cups of water and it will make it's own broth.
 I usually do not serve bread with this, but if you do you can add the bread of your choice to the meal. I will sometimes have some crackers with my bowl of soup. . As for the fresh spinach, I leave it out until about a half hour before I am ready to eat and then add it in.
  I know a lot of people are not spinach lovers, so this recipe is adaptable. I have used cabbage before, I have also used Zucchini Squash along with the Yellow or by it's self. It is really what you like. You can slice carrots as well if you want it in your soup. Just remember that cooked carrots turn to carbs.

 Ok so I guess that I will get off here for now and do some blog reading. Have a fantastic day. BB