NeedLess Deal of the Week

One of my resolutions is to spend more time with the hubby, but I also don't want to bust the budget. I am determined to have date nights for $100 or less (including babysitter). Sound impossible? Well, check out this week's deal at restaurant.com - purchase $25 gift certificates for $5 each.

We used a gift certificate from restaurant.com a few weeks ago while we were in Austin and it was great! A $25 gift certificate for $5. There are restrictions to using the gift certificate - you can only use one per visit and they automatically include the tip based on your total prior to applying the gift certificate and they aren't available everywhere...but other than that, they're awesome!

Happy Date Night!!!

What does it mean to be NeedLess?

Being NeedLess doesn't mean being complacent. It just means reframing your current situation in order to live authentically today...not tomorrow, not yesterday, but right now. The goal is to be the best version of yourself with what you have at this very moment.

Back on the Blogging Train!

"Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit
there." - Will Rogers

Maybe it's the Oklahoma girl in me or maybe it's because my little boy adores trains or maybe it's because I can relate to what it feels like to be run over - whatever it is - this quote resonates with me today.

I feel like I was on the right track for a while, but lately I feel as though I have been left at the station collecting dust. I know, I know...the New Year is full of resolutions that most people forget by Valentine's day, but this year I resolve to take care of myself. That's it - nothing earth shattering - just evaluate what's working and what's not and make the necessary changes I need in order to be the best me I can be.

The last two years have been completely life altering. On December 8, 2008, I went back to work full-time after being a stay-at-home mom for over 5 years. It was like being shot out of a cannon. Friends ask me all of the time, "Which is harder- staying at home or working?" And I answer it like I answer most comparisons - "it depends." For me it is easier to go to work every day because of the financial uncertainty we had as a family with two young entrepreneurs. But the mommy guilt can get pretty intense sometimes. Balance is the key.

So that's where I am today - trying to balance the demands of being a wife, a working mother of three young kids and not lose myself in a sea of unrealistic expectations. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Martin Luther King Jr.

Check out this video! AWESOME!


http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1194962/john_legend_performs_pride_in_the_name_of_love/


I dig MLK Jr. and everything that he accomplished. I have to admit growing up, I really didn't get it. So I am trying to show my kids how different America was just a couple of generations ago. There are so many wonderful children's books that help them understand that we are "different but the same." And I LOVE that. I feel that the purpose of my life is to reach out to others and share what gifts I have to offer. I may not be able to change the world through politics or writing a best seller, but I can make some homeless people tuna sandwiches, or take portraits for at-risk children, or even just be an example of God's love in the lives of my children.

Mother Theresa once wrote that if we all just swept our own front porches, then this world would be a better place. So start at home. TODAY! Go grab your kids or friends or husband or cat and do something for someone else. Teach them that there is a world that needs them and that they are valuable right now. We are going to make Valentine's today. Someone in our church is going to deliver them to people in Hospice care in a few weeks. I am not telling you this to toot our horn, I am just telling you this so you can know how simple it can be. Pick something and make a difference on this day!

"by all means...keep moving!"

Depression Stinks

I have been in a serious funk. In November, my life took me by my feet, turned me upside down and shook the rest of what I had left tucked into my pockets onto the floor. It has been a seriously tough few years, but that was it. I hit my rock bottom and decided to get help. It is very personal and I don't want to go into it until I get my mini-series deal about my life, but just know that I am on the way back and I apologize for anything I may or may not have done.

Sometimes, we can get in our own ways. The dialogue that goes through my head is tougher than anything I would ever say out loud. I am my own worst enemy...wait, did I just quote Pink? That may have to be my new low. Anyway, I just don't get it? Why I have to continue to learn the same lessons over and over again.

BUT...I am back to blogging. I find it cathartic to share my thoughts with others. And I think I am to a place now that I won't be spreading the funk. But rather I am taking it day by day and learning who I want to be and finally let go of all of those expectations of others.

Music helps...so go create a "happy" station on http://www.pandora.com/.

Have a great day!

The Joy of a NeedLess Blog

Hi my friends-

So here's the thing...

I am absolutely knee deep in Christmas card orders and last minute holiday photo sessions. And since this blog is all about simplifying I am focusing on getting my orders complete for my clients before the holidays so I can enjoy them with my family.

I have some fun things I am doing for Thanksgiving and will share this weekend. One of them I got from the website FamilyFun.com. It's great...and somewhat realistic.

So slow down and enjoy the holidays. I will be back in no time!

Angela

What's Cookin'?

Not sure what's going on with this pic...it looks much better than this...or I wouldn't eat it.

I do not consider myself a cook as much as I am a coordinator of food. Some people have the gift of creativity in the kitchen and I am in awe of that talent. But for my family they eat very simple dishes with some (dare I say?) prepackaged/prepared foods.

Ahhhh! The organic police have probably sounded the alarms, but whatever. Rice-a-roni is still king and Stove Top Stuffing can pull up a chair too. After all...my kid's don't really eat...they graze. In fact, right now as I type dinner is ready...but they are still full from the bananas they had earlier to counteract the Halloween candy they had before that.

Life is about balance. Some prefer to carefully walk down the middle, but I prefer to zig zag my way through life.

Dinner tonight: Chinese Steak and Cous Cous

The meat is some cut of steak that a friend gave me from their share of a cow. (Yes, we are in Texas.) With garlic and herb cous cous (packaged) and steamed edamame (frozen).

All I did was throw some sesame oil in a skillet, brown the steak and then right when it was done I put soy sauce and garlic on the steak and then added some fresh spinach on top of it all. Put the lid on, took it off the heat. Made the cous cous in 5 minutes while I microwaved the edamame. Super easy and tasty.

I usually serve dinner up family style on this cool white plate that someone left at my cookie swap party in 2006. If it is yours, so sorry...but you are not getting it back. It is now an heirloom.

Happy Election Day!