bad news sweet tooth.

It's 4:30 pm and here I sit, avoiding doing anything productive and meaningful.  I guess I've officially gone on strike until I HAVE to go to work next Monday.  I had drill team practice this morning for three hours, then ran out to the school to plan for the first week of classes.  That was sort of my limit for today...the only thing I wanna do is play on the computer.  Bo is at a tennis match (that I'm afraid is about to be rained out) and the dogs are sound asleep, meaning I've got the house all to myself :)

Last night, Bo and I had a delicious meal of spaghetti squash with a "creamy" broccoli and mushroom sauce.  The sauce was actually a little bit of a fail.  It was supposed to creamy, but turned out a little watery, so I refuse to post pictures or a recipe.  I must have done something wrong but I haven't figured it out yet.  The good news is I made a batch of perfect cookies for dessert.  The bad news is I've got a sweet tooth that gets me in a lot of trouble.  I had leftover chocolate chips from the cookies I made last week and I was itching to use them up.  I found this recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies on the Taste of Home website.  I tweaked it slightly by substituting whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour and taking out the nuts.  I also made the cookies without the instant vanilla pudding mix.  Still turned out way too edible!

To make these...

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups quick-cook oats
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 - 3.4 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until lightly and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.

2.  Combine the oats, flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt.

3.  Gradually add to the creamed mixture; mix well.  Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

4.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, approx. 2 in. apart.  Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

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Looking forward to tonight's birthday festivities!  My dad turns 56 today and he's still the most handsome man I know (other than my husband, of course!).  I always love spending time with the family.  Reminds me how blessed I am.  I don't always remember to give thanks for all I have been given.  Today, I'm giving thanks for a wonderful daddy :)  Pictures to follow.  

I want to leave you with something I read today that really spoke to me.  This comes from a book titled Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.  Hopefully, it'll speak to you too, or at least get you thinking...what are you living for??

"Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory.  Living for something is the hard thing.  Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition.  We live for what we believe."